The rush of the puck down the glistening surface, the spray of ice in the face of an opposing player, the clash of sticks and skates, the ping of the shot off the post and the roar of the crowd when that red light goes off. These are just some of the sights and sounds that make up the game of hockey, and most of the time, it’s an exciting game. Lately though, I find the passion and exhilaration floating away anytime I catch a Boston University hockey game. Don’t misunderstand here, because Terrier hockey is still the best and most interesting thing this school can offer for sheer campus camaraderie, but I find something lacking recently.
Maybe the shine of the experience has rusted a bit, and maybe the team has been too inconsistent (getting swept by Boston College will tend to do that) or maybe the cold and bitter weather has eroded my emotions, but I can’t seem to find that deep-seeded involvement in the games anymore.
Perhaps I’ve been here too long and my appreciation for the team and the sport has grown thin. Perhaps I’ve just stayed up too late trying to put a finger on what’s wrong with the hockey team, and maybe nothing is wrong, and it’s just that my impatience has withered my brain into an indistinguishable mush of confused parts and revisionist memories of the ‘good old days’ at Walter Brown Arena. Or maybe I’m just crazy and my expectations for this year’s hockey team have exceeded the reality that is seen on the ice.
After a promising start at the IceBreaker Tournament, came the first upsetting sign, a 5-3 loss to the Merrimack Warriors. It was the first loss of the young season and a discouraging way to start off Hockey East play. Fans weren’t worried, it was just a bump in the road they said, and many would say they were right, as the team would rattle off four straight wins.
Then came the first big test of the year, the vital weekend in the early days of a newborn conference season. Two home games smack dab in the middle of November, Friday night against Boston College (the first chance to catch the hated Eagles, and initiation night for young BU freshman puck heads), and the following night a match up against the Black Bears of Maine. On that Friday night, Walter Brown was packed for what would be the first litmus test for Parker’s proficient puck handlers. When all was said and done that evening, too many penalties for BU led to a 3-2 victory for then-number one in the nation Boston College.
Okay, fine, that was a tough one, but then came Saturday night, and an opportunity for redemption against the strong, hard-hitting, 2002 NCAA runner-ups. In the 2,000th game in BU hockey history, the Terriers did not do live up to the teams of yesteryear as they came out flat and uninspired, losing to Maine 7-3. Was this weekend an early indication of what to expect this year from the Icedogs or was it still too early to pontificate on what it meant for the future of the club?
The roller coaster ride of a season would continue, winning two straight and then dropping three straight. When would the real Terrier squad come to play, was this them, or were they letting some awful doppelgangers get ice time, treating the fans to sub par and herky-jerky performances?
But then the Terrier faithful saw a turnaround, or at least they saw the start of a turnaround for on Saturday, Dec. 7, a day that may or may not live in infamy for BU hockey, Sabo and the gang handed the Minutemen of the University of Massachusetts Amherst a 3-1 loss at Walter Brown. After that, it was a win against RPI, and then winter break came for the students, but the hockey team wasn’t one to slack off, notching wins against the Michigans, state and university alike as the Terriers gathered the crown in the Great Lakes Invitational. Two wins against Northeastern and before you knew it the Icedogs had won six in a row.
However, things went downhill from there, starting with a tough overtime loss to Providence College, followed by back and forth trips on the Green Line where the Terriers dropped two decisions to BC, leaving those Chestnut Hillers to revel in their first season sweep in more than a dozen years. Who’d have thought it would have turned out the way it has? What does it all mean?
Looking back on it now, I realize that I haven’t lost my passion for the game. Rather, it just lost me along the way. In other words, I couldn’t keep up. I’m back on the wagon again, waiting to either circle our ranks in defeat or plow forward into new and bountiful regions, where the air is laced with the smell of victory and the land is full of the cold and brightness of a well-kept hockey rink.
My faith was deflated going into the game against the University of New Hampshire on Thursday night, but along came Freddy Meyer with an inspired performance that is sure to put some smiles back on the faces of the Terrier troupe. Last week’s game is one that restores your devotion to this club, and no follow-up 3-0 loss to New Hampshire last Saturday can shake that. As they face Merrimack tonight, their foes in the Beanpot and beyond, and as they prepare to weather the upcoming trials that will ultimately decide the character of this season, the question is: Are you ready?
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