BU-BC for all the beans

Until a college basketball team wins 89 straight games, UCLA will own NCAA history. Until an NBA team wins eight straight titles (or 11 of 13 for that matter), the Boston Celtics will set the bar. Until someone hits .407, Ted Williams will be the greatest hitter the game has ever seen.

And until someone decides to win more than a fluke trophy (meaning more than one every decade or so), the Beanpot will belong to Boston University.

Yes, the Terriers (8-11-6) are having a down year and have not sniffed the top 15 in months. And yes, the Boston College Eagles (20-3-4) are having an outstanding year and (barring a mental meltdown by pollsters) will be the No. 1 team in the nation in today’s rankings after No. 1 North Dakota was swept by the University of Wisconsin over the weekend.

But when it comes to the Beanpot, there is always that “BU magic.” And unless the Eagles can prove otherwise, the trophy will once again find a prominent home on the stained bar of The Dugout sometime around 11:30 tonight.

For any Terrier fan ready to take over the B-line and claim the trophy, hold on – these are not your father’s Eagles. The boys from Chestnut Hill have lost three games all season. Three.

This is a team that went to the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit and took down the University of Michigan and Michigan State University on consecutive nights. This is a team that dove into the bedlam that is North Dakota’s Engelstad Arena and earned a split with a team that has been No. 1 in the nation for most of the season. This is a team that has had two separate seven-game winning streaks, not to mention only one loss in the last three and a half months.

But if it’s any consolation to Terrier Nation, it comes in that one BC loss on Jan. 3. That loss was against Northeastern University. Yes, that Northeastern. And the Eagles were shut out.

Maybe none of that matters. In a tournament that BU coach Jack Parker calls “a separate season all to itself,” maybe the records really do go out the window when the ‘Dogs hit the ice on Causeway Street. If that’s true, maybe it hurts the opponent more than it helps the Terriers.

“Just because we have that reputation doesn’t mean we’re automatically gonna win,” said freshman forward Kenny Roche. “We still gotta come in and play tough and do all the things we’ve been doing well in practice and the last couple games and hopefully get going. I mean [BU] lost to BC the first three games last year, and when it counted in the Beanpot they beat ’em and they beat ’em in the Hockey East playoffs.

“Every time it counted last year, BU beat BC, and hopefully this year we can get one when it counts and take one from the Eagles,” Roche said.

Both teams are coming off a week that hit both ends of the emotional spectrum. Monday night, the Terriers were flying high after Season Revival No. 456, a very impressive 5-2 win over Northeastern. Five nights later, they were talking to themselves yet again after being frustrated by yet another career-night by an opposing goaltender – this time, a 36-save effort by Providence College goalie Bobby Goepfert.

BC earned an ugly 4-1 Beanpot win over Harvard University on Monday before old demons came back to haunt the Eagles Thursday, when the 2001-02 edition of Matti Kaltiainen decided to rear his ugly head, giving up four Merrimack College goals on only 26 shots. BC scored four goals on an absurd 45 shots, but came away with only a tie (read “loss”) in North Andover.

But even without Hobey Baker front-runner Ben Eaves, it’s safe to say the Eagles are more of a favorite tonight than in any of the 16 previous Beanpot Final meetings between the two teams (BU is 10-6 in such games). And if you want to attribute that solely to the Terriers’ downturn, then you have not seen BC play this season.

The Eagles are dominant on offense (eighth in the nation and third in Hockey East with 3.52 goals per game), dominant on defense (fourth in the nation and second in Hockey East allowing 1.89 goals per game) and stingy on the penalty kill (second in the nation and first in Hockey East, at nearly 90 percent, with 10 shorthanded goals).

Even without Eaves, who is expected to miss a few more weeks with a fractured left kneecap, the Eagles will have more than 80 goals taking the ice tonight, including a 20-goal scorer (Tony Voce) and seven players with double-digit points.

In comparison, the Terriers have an impressive 12 players with 10-plus points, but not a single BU player has reached double digits in goals. Oh, and BU will be missing senior Kenny Magowan (co-leader in goals with 8) and junior Dave Klema (4 goals, 10 assists) due to injury.

But all of that may not matter, especially for the five active Terrier freshmen experiencing their first Beanpot final.

“I’ve been dreaming about playing the Beanpot for years, I’ve been growing up watching it every year, always watching BU be successful,” said Roche, who grew up in South Boston. “Us not having the greatest season we’re having, then to come out and win the first Beanpot game was a great feeling. Hopefully we can go into Monday playing the same way and take the Beanpot.”

The seasoned Beanpot veterans, especially the seniors who remember the 5-3 loss to BC in the 2001 final that ended BU’s six-year run, know what tonight means.

“I’m pretty sure that the underclassmen knew from us upperclassmen that the Beanpot is something different,” said senior Frantisek Skladany. “It’s a totally new season, basically like an exhibition game you would play before the season.”

And while it may be like one in the standings, tonight’s game is a lot more important than a pre-season exhibition against Concordia or the University of Toronto. This one is for Boston bragging rights, that drink at The Dugout and the chance to hear Jim Prior introduce the Terriers before every game as “Your 2004 Beanpot Champions.”

The Beanpot is still BU’s show. Hell, they changed the rules because of the Terriers’ dominance – the defending champion used to always play in the late game in the first round until the other schools wanted a share of the prime time.

As if tonight’s game needs any added significance, BU coach Jack Parker and BC head man Jerry York are currently tied as the winningest active coaches (688 wins) in college hockey – meaning tonight’s winner takes the cake.

But when the Terriers go for No. 26 (half the total number of ‘pots, by the way) they will run into a maroon and gold squad flying higher than any opponent they have ever faced. And with two teams separated by 12 wins, a BC win – ironically – would be the farthest thing from an upset. But a BU win wouldn’t really surprise anyone.

And that includes a certain No. 1 team at the other end of Commonwealth Avenue.