The seeds are out, the teams are set and while the weather has warmed up, college hockey players all over the country are looking to stage their own showing of ‘The Big Chill’ as they start down that winding road to the Frozen Four. This year was a slight change from the norm, as the field of teams was expanded from 12 to 16, giving more schools the chance to participate in the exciting big dance on ice that is the NCAA hockey tournament. More schools are participating than ever before, but it still doesn’t have that national flavor, at least not yet.
Here at Boston University, the Terriers are heading to the tourney for the 27th time in program history, and that little distinction ties them with Minnesota, who will also be at the party this year. The fans are excited, as they should be, and the players are primed as well, with the team looking for its 25th win of the season when they drop the puck tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 in Worcester. Despite all the excitement surrounding BU’s trip to the NCAA’s, Jack Parker’s squad has to be a little disappointed, mainly because their road to the Frozen Four is paved with familiar foes.
You can look at it both ways, to say that their familiarity with a team like Harvard will help them out, but on the other hand, you can look at the prospect of watching BU play the Crimson again similar to that of watching the moon come out night after night. Sure it’s a beautiful sight to see, but if you watch it too much, it can get really tiresome.
BU vs. Harvard round three is not the best match-up for a national tournament, and it probably has Freddy Meyer and the gang singing this little ditty from Tom Petty:
‘I don’t feel you anymore You darken my door Whatever you’re looking for Hey, don’t come around here no more’
Nobody wants to see Harvard again, and while the Icedogs may not enjoy playing those smart skaters from across the Charles, playing them is something that they will have to do if they hope to bring a national title back to the BU campus for the first time since 1995. With four championship banners already hanging above the ice at Walter Brown Arena, the Terriers are looking to squeeze one more into the rafters.
While BU and Harvard were no strangers this season, as the Crimson lost to the Terriers 3-0 in November and 2-1 in the Beanpot, they are also old foes from BU’s days in the ECAC. In NCAA Tournament play, the Terriers have faced Harvard twice: in the 1974 and 1975 national consolation games, with the boys of Commonwealth Ave. prevailing both times. All this familiarity between the two clubs can certainly make a team get bored and complacent, but the Terriers are excited about the tournament and are looking to get the job done.
‘We’re really expecting them to come hard at us. The toughest thing to do is beat a team three times in a season,’ said freshman defenseman Dan Spang about playing Harvard for a third time. ‘We know what they’re going to be coming at us with, and we’re going to be up to the challenge.’
The hits just keep on coming for BU, and there is no room for easing up even if they get past Harvard. The No. 1 seed in the newly formed Northeast Regional is none other than our good friends from Durham, those Wildcats from the University of New Hampshire. If both teams do what they’re expected to do, we could be looking at a matchup between the first and second seeds in BU and UNH. It would be the fifth time the two teams would meet this season, and would be a flashback to the recent Hockey East Championship thriller between the two clubs.
It’s an exciting time for hockey fans, but despite the wonder of it all, you still have to wonder why BU has to see the same teams over and over again. With the expansion of the included squads into the tournament this year, the NCAA selection committee should have done a better job of setting up opponents. It’s a wonderful idea for future tournaments, but in this particular case, the NCAA got hamstrung by their own rules and regulations. With the committee focusing on avoiding in-conference contests in the first round, they were forced to move Maine out to the Midwest to take on Michigan (a tough draw for them, good luck to the Black Bears. Ha!). This aversion toward first round games between conference foes also hurt Cornell, which is the No. 1 seed overall according to the PairWise, but despite that the Big Red will play Minnesota State, the No. 13 seed in the tournament.
In every selection of teams, there will be inefficiencies and mistakes, this year being no exception. With the tournament getting underway, it’s time for all the teams to throw out their fears and get ready for some old-fashioned hard-nosed hockey. The BU Terriers are part of hockey’s sweet 16, but it won’t be too sweet unless they’re standing at the top of the mountain when it’s all said and done.
If the Terriers are smart, they’ll have another melody from Tom Petty in their heads, this one going a little like this:
‘There’s something good waitin’ down this road I’m pickin’ up whatever is mine Yeah runnin’ down a dream.’
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