The 51st annual Boston University Invitational Hockey Tournament (a.k.a. the Beanpot) begins next Monday. So it makes sense that a celebration of its history took place at Barnes and Noble at BU last night.
Bernard Corbett, a BU alumnus, hockey team manager from 1980-1983 and the voice of Terrier hockey on the radio for the last 18 years, discussed his book, titled The Beanpot: 50 Years of Thrills, Spills, and Chills. Due to his strong Icedog allegiances, however, it was difficult for him to title the book so neutrally.
‘I was at great duress to try to be objective,’ Corbett said. ‘There was a sentiment that I wasn’t going to pay proper respect to the other schools, that this was going to be a BU chronicle. To win it 24 out of 50 times, obviously there is going to be a strong degree of BU in it no matter what you do, but I think I did a fair job. I think I did an objective job.’
Corbett spoke about his sentiments for the tournament, as well as his motivation and intentions in writing the book.
‘It was a labor of love, something I was very pleased to have the opportunity to do,’ Corbett said. ‘We wanted to pay homage to this tournament that is so distinctly Boston. We wanted to do the 50th proud, and have something that would be a memoir of the first half-century.’
Also present at the event was the most successful man in Beanpot history, BU hockey coach Jack Parker. Parker has been a part of 23 Beanpot titles, including three as a player, four as assistant coach and 16 at the helm of Terrier hockey.
Between two national championships as coach and 30 years of immense success on Babcock Street, Parker still gave the Beanpot the ultimate compliment, acknowledging the importance of his hometown gem.
‘I think [my success at the Beanpot] fits in right at the very top,’ Parker said. ‘You can’t be the best team in the nation or the best team in the east if you aren’t the best team in Boston first. The prestige of that is as important as anything to us as a university and to me personally.’
That prestige goes along with a year’s worth of bragging rights, a unique situation that is unlike any other city. Boston is the only city that is home to four Division I hockey programs, and the rivalries that have developed have become a meaningful event in Beantown and one of growing interest nationwide.
‘It really is an attraction in recruiting throughout the nation,’ Parker said. ‘As we always tell a recruit, if you want to play in a Beanpot, there are only four schools you can go to.
‘Of course, if you want to win a Beanpot,’ Parker quipped, ‘that narrows it down a little bit more.’
Corbett’s book is a chronology of the event, covering the first Beanpot, held at Boston Arena in 1952. It goes on to devote a section to every year of the tournament, over which Terrier dominance constantly casts a shadow.
The early years were dominated by a BC-Harvard rivalry. Later, BU took the place of the Eagles in challenging the Crimson, while today BU-BC has developed into the main event of the tournament.
‘It isn’t quite the same Beanpot if we aren’t playing BC,’ Parker said. ‘It’s a better Beanpot if we are playing BC in the final.’
The team, however, cannot be looking ahead to that kind of a final this year. The Icedogs face a formidable Harvard team in the first round on Monday.
‘I think our biggest problem is getting by Harvard,’ Parker said. ‘They are a real good team. We’ve got to get to the final, and to do that we have to beat a hell of a team.’
Corbett also acknowledged the difficulty of simply getting to the final, a feat the Terriers have accomplished 34 of the last 38 years. They will try again just four days from now.
The discussion was just another way to build up to Monday night. Such a discussion, including the presence of a legend in Parker, was enough to make any BU hockey fan anxious for the puck to be dropped.
‘It’s a culmination of Boston hockey,’ said COM junior Adam Ostrowski, who was in attendance at the event. ‘There’s so much history and tradition behind it. It’s all about bragging rights; only first place will do in this tournament. The book is great. Fifty years seems like a great time to do something like this, and the book covers a lot of ground.’
As is true with any event, fans like Ostrowski really make the event what it is. Parker and his players are very aware of the fans’ influence.
‘One of the reasons why we have had the success we have had is because we have had a great following on campus,’ Parker said. ‘The BU community always shows up and supports Boston University hockey. That’s always worth a goal, goal and a half as far as we’re concerned.’
There is no question that the same following will be in full force at the FleetCenter next week as the Icedogs, in no need of any extra motivation, try to extend their dominance of the tournament into its next half-century.
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