It’s an anthem more often heard in Walter Brown Arena than Barbara Green-Glaz’s rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. Whether or not the Eagles are on the ice or even in the state, Boston University hockey fans are loud, boisterous and unrelenting in their bashing of Boston College, because, as they say, “BC sucks.”
But, Terrier fans, did you ever think you’d be rooting for the Eagles?
If BU can take care of its own business by beating the University of Maine on Friday and Saturday nights, Terrier Nation might be well served to board the B line and join the SuperFans at Conte Forum on Sunday afternoon when BC takes on the University of New Hampshire at 4 p.m.
That’s because if the Icedogs take four points from the Black Bears, UNH would need at least a win and a tie in its home-and-home set with BC this weekendto win the Hockey East regular season title. By virtue of its 6-0 win over the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on Tuesday night, New Hampshire is one point ahead of BU.
The battle for the top spot is one of several crazy possibilities to be determined in the final weekend of the regular season. After 101 league games, only two things have been determined: UMass will finish last, and Merrimack College has locked up the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament that begins next week.
But while the cellar dwellers had their basement rooms reserved for them in the preseason coaches’ poll, it would be difficult for anyone to predict what will come out of this weekend.
Three teams can still win the league championship, but it would take good play and better luck for Maine to finish at the top. The Black Bears have 30 points and would therefore need to sweep BU and have BC take both games against the Wildcats in order to wear the crown.
“It would be nice to say that you won the league, and we’d love to come in first, but the big thing we’ve always been talking about is getting home-ice advantage,” said BU freshman center Brian McConnell. “That’s been more important to us than winning the league, and it seemed for a while like New Hampshire was going to run away with it, but we’ve caught up to them.”
More likely, this weekend’s set at Walter Brown is a battle for second place. The Terriers come in holding a two-point advantage over the Black Bears, so a tie would assure them of the No. 2 seed, because even if Maine won the other game, the season series would be split 1-1-1, and BU would have one more league win.
Either way, both BU and Maine will host quarterfinal-round series, as will the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, winners over Northeastern University last night, 4-1.
“Home ice is real important,” said BU senior co-captain Chris Dyment. “It’s a lot more comfortable for the players to play at their home rink with their own fans. Especially if you have to play a team like Maine. It’s not real fun to go up there and play two games.”
BC enters the New Hampshire series with 21 points and on a roll since the return of sophomore center Ben Eaves. The Eagles could still finish as high as fifth, but could also fall victim to the strength of their schedule and finish sixth or seventh, traveling to either Babcock Street or Orono, Maine, for the first round.
“With some teams it’s different because there’s no big, big rivalry there,” McConnell said. “But with BC, anything can happen. We’ve had pretty good success against them this year, but me personally, I wouldn’t want to play BC in the first round because in those games you never seem to know what’s going to happen. Other games seem to be more predictable.”
After dropping a pair to BU last weekend, Providence College will need a win over Lowell and two BC losses to finish anywhere but seventh.
That means if BU holds onto second place, the Friars and Terriers will face off in a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal series, won by Providence, 2-1.
“We know what style they’d bring to us, and we obviously know we can beat them, so that’d give us a little more confidence,” Dyment said. “And they’ve put us out of it two out of the last three years, so it would be big to beat them.”
As a sophomore, Dyment was named an All-Hockey East defenseman, was selected to the All-New England team and was a second team All-American. But while those accolades may have been doled out as much for his 11-20-31 offensive production as for his defensive prowess, this season he is making a case for recognition without huge point totals.
“I think I’ve just got my confidence back,” Dyment said. “I was a real confident player sophomore year, and last year I was having some troubles getting it going. This year I think everyone’s playing better. It’s an overall team thing.”
Dyment has been as steady as any Terrier blue liner this season, seemingly always able to make the right read on the puck and knowing when to use his body or to play the puck. He has still contributed six goals and 13 assists for 19 points, but Dyment’s most impressive statistic is his team-leading plus-24.
“That’s just overall good team defense,” Dyment said. “Coach really stresses that a lot in practice, and the forwards are doing a great job backchecking. Playing with [freshman Ryan] Whitney is a great help, too, because he’s just an unbelievable defenseman.”
Dyment was plus-3 last weekend in BU’s sweep of Providence, earning his second Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week award of the season.
“That’s nothing,” he said. “Just go out there and play as hard as you can, and if things happen, that’s great.”
If BU beats Maine Friday night, it will be the second consecutive time a Terrier win streak reached double digits with a win over the Black Bears. The last time it happened was in the 1995 NCAA Tournament championship game, when BU won 6-2 … The Icedogs could have used a big upset from University of Massachusetts at Amherst on Tuesday, but its been a woeful season for the Minutemen. Freshman Greg Mauldin will most likely finish the year as the team’s leading scorer. He currently has 22 points. Nine New Hampshire players have at least 20 points … BU’s nine-game winning streak tied it with Lowell for the longest in Hockey East this season … Sophomore goalie Sean Fields’ goals against average in league games dropped to 2.27 this week, nearly a quarter of a goal below Hobey Baker Award candidate and Lowell goalie Cam McCormick’s.
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