Nightmare on ice; Freddy beats up on UNH

New Hampshire allowed its native son to slip to the south, and so, staked to a two-goal lead with less than four minutes to go, the Boston University hockey fans had a message of thanks for their northern neighbor.

‘We’ve got Freddy!’ the Walter Brown Arena crowd chanted last night after Terrier captain and the Granite State’s own Freddy Meyer tacked the insurance onto BU’s 5-2 win over the University of New Hampshire.

‘It’s always fun for me to go back and play the Wildcats,’ said Meyer, a native of Sanbornville, N.H. ‘[New Hampshire or BU] was one of my final decisions between colleges. I’m a hometown kid, kind of.’

Luckily for BU, Meyer wasn’t too tied to the hometown team. His goal and assist were his most obvious contributions to the Icedogs’ upset of the fifth-ranked Wildcats, but from the opening faceoff, the senior blue liner was dominant in all three zones, helping to keep New Hampshire’s first-rate first line off the scoreboard while finishing plus-two and being on the ice for four of BU’s five goals.

What was perhaps more important than Meyer’s on-ice production, however, was his role in BU’s quick recovery from last week’s sweep by archrival BC. Those defeats left the Icedogs sliding down a three-game slope, although, according to the captain, they were playing well. He saw no cause for alarm, and accentuated the positives when speaking to the team.

‘I just told them we just have to be thorough in the third period and cut down on giving them chances and bury our own chances,’ Meyer said.

And at a time when a disturbing loss might have spelled distress, Meyer’s message made it through to his teammates.

‘Freddy’s a good leader,’ said Meyer’s partner on the blue line, sophomore Bryan Miller. ‘A lot of people don’t see it in the locker room, but he’s real vocal and everyone looks up to him. Coach has been on both of us to keep our feet moving, and tonight he just took it to himself to lead by example and show us how to get going on the ice.’

The captain’s example was first apparent by the nifty play he made to keep the puck in the zone and allow Brian McConnell to notch BU’s second goal and tie the game at two. Then, after feeding David Klema for the eventual game-winner, Meyer combined the most impressive elements of his game to put together what can best be described as a ‘Freddy Meyer goal.’

First, in his role as one of Hockey East’s most steady defenders, Meyer slowed New Hampshire’s Colin Hemingway’s rush through the neutral zone by laying one of his patented hip checks on the star winger.

Then Meyer, always aware, gathered the puck from in front of the Terrier bench and carried it toward the Wildcat zone. Gaining steam, he put a quick move on the defender to buy himself some space near the right wall, where he ripped a rocket over the goalie’s glove and into the top corner.

‘I had a similar chance earlier in the game and I put it into his gut,’ Meyer said. ‘I saw a little glove-side opening and I tried to go for it.’

After putting BU ahead 4-2, Meyer turned to section 8 and found a sea of rabid red. The captain had succeeded in leading his team and its fans to its most exciting home win of the season, but one task still remains: Going home.

‘It’s always a little rivalry, and the fans usually give me a little hoot, a little holler,’ Meyer said of playing in Durham, N.H., where BU and New Hampshire meet again tomorrow night. ‘I’ll have a good crowd up there on Saturday, but it’s always fun to play those guys.’

If Meyer should score by the wall at the Whittemore Center, there will be no scarlet in the seats. Instead, it will be blue, grey and personal.

‘They put signs up and there’s always fans yelling at me,’ he said. ‘I don’t know if I got in fights with their kids in Little League or something, but it’s always fun for me to go up there. It’s important for me to keep my composure like I did tonight, and stay out of the penalty box.’