The scene in front of Sean Fields said it all as he sat in his crease, stunned, immediately following Saturday’s 1-0 overtime loss in the Hockey East final.
Straight ahead, the jubilant University of New Hampshire hockey team was jumping, screaming and celebrating its second consecutive conference tournament title, packed around defenseman Tyson Teplitsky, the unlikely hero who scored the game’s only goal.
And to the left, Fields’ Boston University teammates slowly made their way over the boards and sluggishly skated toward the junior netminder, lumbering lazily to the front of the net before giving their goalie a pat on the head and bending to offer encouragement.
It was a setting that told the story of the game’s final 40 minutes: from the mid-point of the second period, New Hampshire had all the energy while BU’s beleaguered squad slogged along like a team playing its seventh, eighth and ninth periods in a 26-hour span.
‘I liked the first period,’ BU coach Jack Parker said, referring to BU’s 12-5 shot advantage in Saturday’s first period. ‘We had some legs, we had some jump, we were controlling the game, and then I thought the second period slipped away and we just looked like we hit a wall.
‘I thought UNH played extremely well and it looked like we had two gears of slow tonight. I don’t know if we were just worn down from the long haul here, or we were just worn down from [Friday] night’s game, but we couldn’t generate much because of our lack of legs, more than anything else.’
The Terriers’ only chances came in spurts, none of which lasted long enough to be considered sustained pressure. They managed just four shots in each of the final two periods of regulation, and often struggled to get the puck out of their defensive zone, let alone create quality scoring chances.
‘Our lack of legs, with UNH’s great legs, turned the game into a Sean Fields show for a lot of it,’ Parker said.
And quite a show it was. Fields stopped 57 straight shots between the start of the first overtime against Boston College on Friday and 11:43 of Saturday’s overtime (a span of almost 97 minutes), using every inch of equipment to turn aside 40 shots and earn the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
The only puck that got past Fields actually came off the stick of BU sophomore Ryan Whitney, who despite playing huge minutes as part of a depleted Icedog defense that was without captain Freddy Meyer busted back into perfect position to break up Teplitsky’s cross-crease pass, but instead of whacking it away from danger, the puck bounced off his blade and into the net.
The goal snapped the longest scoreless stretch in Hockey East final history, but Fields wasn’t buying that it was the result of fatigue.
‘Between periods we kept just saying, ‘Tired is an attitude. We’re not tired,” he said. ‘Other people do more than this, like run 40 miles a day and stuff like that. We’re not even close to tired.’
However, Parker and New Hampshire forward Steve Saviano might disagree.
‘Two of the three games we played them, we outshot them badly,’ Parker said. ‘[Saturday], we got outshot badly. I think it has to do with the energy; [Saturday], we didn’t have enough energy.’
Said Saviano, ‘They just played overtime [Friday] night obviously. We tried to get the puck down low and we did that pretty much the whole game, and I think we did wear them down a little bit and it showed in overtime a little with that last five minutes we had.’
THE REST BEFORE THE REST
If BU’s exhaustion stems from the ‘long haul,’ as Parker suggested, the Terriers’ current 13-day layoff couldn’t come at a better time. The Icedogs will take the upcoming weekend to prepare for their opponent in the NCAA Tournament, which will be decided Sunday night.
After climbing to third in the PairWise Rankings after Friday’s win over BC, BU traded spots with New Hampshire after Saturday’s game. Nevertheless, at No. 4, the Terriers remain in line to receive the top spot in the Northeast Regional that begins in Worcester on March 29.
Because it is the host team, BU is bound to play in Worcester. As the consensus No. 1 team nationally, Colorado College figures to be a lock for the West bracket in Minnesota. That leaves the top spot in the Midwest (at Michigan) and the East (at Providence, R.I.), up for grabs.
One scenario could send No. 2 Cornell to the Midwest, clearing the way for UNH to play in Providence. That situation would reward each of the PWR’s top four squads with No. 1 seeds.
But there is also the possibility that the Big Red or Wildcats could be sent to Worcester, thus bumping the Terriers to the second spot. That chance becomes increasingly likely if the teams just behind BU Ferris State and the University of Minnesota fare well in the upcoming Central Collegiate Hockey Association tourney.
‘A lot will happen, obviously,’ Parker said. ‘We’ll definitely be a No. 2 seed, we’ll definitely be in Worcester. Either a 1 or a 2. The idea of being a 1-seed is that you don’t need to face another 1-seed to get out of that bracket.’
Parker’s preference is that the Hockey East teams be split up into different brackets. With as many as five teams still in contention, there is bound to be overlapping, but the coach said he would like to play some western schools.
‘It would be almost next to impossible for us to catch Colorado College,’ he said. ‘They’re not going to fall anywhere. There’s a couple teams just behind us that could jump up and pass us.’
EXTER IN SERIOUS CONDITION
Sadness struck Hockey East last week, when Merrimack College goalie Joe Exter collided with BC’s Patrick Eaves during a quarterfinal game, twice fracturing the Warrior captain’s skull and leaving him in serious condition at Beth Israel Hospital since March 8.
The injury occurred when Exter left the crease to play a loose puck while Eaves chased the puck at full steam. The two collided at the right faceoff dot, with Eaves’ left knee hitting Exter directly in the temple. Reports said Exter suffered a seizure and was hemorrhaging from his ears while lying on the ice during a 25-minute delay.
Eaves received two game disqualifications for the infractions, effectively ending his season with the five games he will be forced to sit. His record already included one game DQ, coming early in the season against New Hampshire, and so the second and third infractions carry two and three-game suspensions, respectively.
The Hockey East Association concluded last week there was no ‘intent to injure’ by Eaves, contradicting the original assessment by Jeff Bunyon, the on-ice official. Nevertheless, NCAA rules prohibit a conference from overturning any penalty called by the referee during the game, so Eaves’ suspension will stand. He has already missed two games, and will be eligible to return this season only if BC should reach the national championship game.
Exter remained at Beth Israel as of 2 p.m. yesterday, and continues to receive an outpouring of support from the hockey community, including BU fans that brought a get-well card to the Terriers’ quarterfinal clincher at Providence. Nearly every member of the large BU contingent, in addition to the Terrier Pep Band along with friends and families of the players signed the card before it was delivered to North Andover.
AWARDS AND REWARDS
On a more positive note in Hockey East, the league recently announced its League All-Stars and players of the year at its annual banquet. Exter, and five Icedogs, were among the honorees.
BU junior Mark Mullen was named the Top Defensive Forward, while Meyer was a first-team All-Conference selection. Fields earned an honorable mention in goal, while Dave VanderGulik and Jekabs Redlihs were each named to the All-Rookie Team.
Exter tied with Ben Eaves, Patrick Eaves’ brother, to win the ITECH Three Stars Award. Ben Eaves (42 points) was named co-player of the year, along with New Hampshire goalie Mike Ayers (.926 save percentage, six shutouts).
University of Massachusetts coach Toot Cahoon was the Coach of the Year. Maine’s Jim Howard was the Rookie of the Year, while teammate Cliff Loya was the league’s Best Defensive Defenseman. Another Black Bear, Martin Kariya, was given the Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award.
TERRIER TIDBITS
Throughout the season, Parker has referred to Fields as BU’s MVP. Apparently it’s not just Parker’s opinion: the Canadian has now won three most valuable awards this year, adding the Hockey East tourney’s to those of the Beanpot and the Great Lakes Invitational. Fields has now started 28 straight games and played 2316:57 minutes between the pipes this season, a new school record. He played every possible minute in the conference tournament (284:46) and yesterday was named the league’s Player of the Week … Fields was joined on the All-Tournament team by sophomore winger Justin Maiser, whose hat trick beat BC on Friday … The Terriers may not have a point-a-game scorer, but they do have eight 10-goal scorers … Senior center Brian Collins is just two points shy of 100 for his career … Despite beating BC on Friday, the Terriers remain behind the Eagles in this week’s USCHO.com poll, moving up a spot to No. 7.
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