The Beanpot Tournament may be the most anticipated midseason event in college hockey ‘-‘- certainly it is in New England. It may springboard a victorious team toward a successful stretch run, or, conversely, sink the ship of a losing squad.
It may separate Boston’s best from the rest, but it means nothing in the Hockey East standings.
The top-ranked Boston University men’s hockey team meets the University of Massachusetts-Lowell tonight at Agganis Arena with two points on the line. So, before the Terriers worry about the Beanpot final Monday against No. 3 Northeastern University, there is a meaningful league game to play first.
The season series with the River Hawks (12-12-0, 9-8-0 Hockey East) wraps up tonight, with the Terriers (20-5-1, 12-5-1) looking for the sweep. BU dropped UML, 6-4, at Tsongas Arena on Nov. 7 and again, 3-2, at Agganis on Dec. 12. The River Hawks, sitting at fifth in the league standings, represent yet another stiff test for BU, which cannot afford to overlook tonight’s game in favor of the enticing Beanpot final.
‘They’re a hell of a college hockey team,’ BU coach Jack Parker said. ‘If we’ve got the best corps of defenseman in the league, they’ve probably got the second-best corps. It’s surprising to me sometimes that other teams don’t have as hard a time [as we do against UML].’
In the first game with UML this season, BU ‘-‘- with a big assist to sophomore Colin Wilson ‘-‘- dug itself a deep hole before staging a wild comeback in the game’s final minutes to secure the win. With six minutes to go in the game, the Terriers’ top-line center tried to slip a pass from the sideboards in his own zone to senior linemate Jason Lawrence skating toward the blue line. A River Hawk stepped up and picked the pass off, which ultimately led to senior Mike Potacco netting a goal to give his team a 4-3 lead.
Rather than fume about his costly mistake, Wilson shifted his game into a higher gear and showed why the Nashville Predators chose him seventh overall in last summer’s draft. With just over two minutes to go, he fought for the puck along the boards and found Lawrence open in the slot. He turned the puck to senior Chris Higgins for a tip-in to knot the score.
‘I was playing pretty sound until my turnover that got them the goal,’ Wilson said after the game. ‘I thought I started off a little bit slow, but after that turnover, I knew I had to get the team back in it.’
‘He gave up two goals and what looked like the game-winning goal,’ Parker said Thursday of Wilson’s performance in Lowell. ‘It was almost like he was embarrassed and thought, ‘I’ve got to go get something done right now.’ And that was a spectacular finish he had.’
As the clock wound down, Wilson took a feed from senior Brandon Yip into the offensive zone and lined a pinpoint wristshot that found twine with 14.5 seconds left to deliver the win to BU. It was a dominant performance, capped by an extraordinary shot from the best player on the ice. Wilson set up another Higgins goal just .6 seconds before the final buzzer to ice the game.
That night in Lowell catapulted the sophomore star toward a Hobey Baker-caliber season and was a key moment on the Terriers march toward the No. 1 ranking. Following the game, Parker mentioned Wilson in the same breath as former Terrier greats Tony Amonte and Chris Drury, who both moved on to impressive professional careers.
‘He’s the straw that stirs the drink. When he’s going, that line’s really going,’ Parker said. ‘He’s a force to be reckoned with, which makes our team a force to be reckoned with.’
If the Terriers are to separate themselves from UML and avoid another squeaker, it will take a full effort from Wilson and the rest of the forward group. And then there will be time to think about bringing home another Beanpot.
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