COUGHLAN: Mark your calendars, Terrier Nation

So, you’re going to the Beanpot, are ya?

And you’re planning on making the trip down to ‘ol Madison Square Garden, leftover turkey in hand? Gonna watch the Ice Dogs mop the ice with the Big Red Bears?

How about Dec. 3? I’m sure you’ve got that date sealed off. Gotta let Parker Milner know he’s a sieve for the first time at the Greek, am I right? Wouldn’t want to miss that…

So, what else? That’s all? Well, allow me to retort.

If you flip through your calendar, extract every Boston University sporting event that you plan on attending in the upcoming year, line them up side-by-side and realize that they look something like the meager compilation above, then you have some work to do.

Don’t get me wrong, no BU sports fan in their right mind would miss out on the Beanpot, nor should they. The same goes for Red Hot Hockey and for the only guaranteed home bout that the men’s ice hockey team has with Boston College this season.

But three or four games, even if they promise to be some of the most attended of the year, are the mere skeleton of a healthy sports experience at Boston University.

To get the most out of the plethora of collegiate competition this academic year, it is imperative that you get your hands dirty. Dig into the story lines. Muck around until you find an athlete or squad that peaks your interest. Figure out which games promise the most bang for your buck, and then go to them.

Not a fan of jumping in head first? Here are some suggestions:

Women’s Ice Hockey vs. Boston College, Nov. 5, Walter Brown Arena

If you have yet to set foot in Walter Brown Arena for a women’s ice hockey game during your BU career, now is the time to do it. Your Terriers have a better chance of winning an NCAA tournament this year than any other BU squad. Last year, sixth-year head coach Brian Durocher’s team cruised to a pristine 27-7-4 overall record and waltzed their way through the NCAA quarter and semifinal rounds before falling to No. 1 seed University of Wisconsin 4-1 in the championship game.

This season, an untimely injury to Colin Wilson-esque sophomore forward Marie-Philip Poulin will force other contributors to step up offensively until she returns, but the talent is still dense, and the wins will keep coming.
BC handed the Terriers their worst loss of the regular season last year, administering a 6-3 beatdown on the Terriers’ home ice. Don’t count on Durocher’s squad going down without a fight this time.

And for the skeptics out there who fear that the women’s brand of hockey — where checking is penalized and play tends to be slower, won’t be able to keep their attention for three periods — get over yourself. You want to see a highly competitive, fast paced game between archrivals? You want to see a championship-caliber team, complete with senior forward Jenn Wakefield’s cannon of a slap shot and sophomore goaltender Kerrin Sperry’s lightning glove?

All this, and for literally a fraction of the cost of a men’s ice hockey game? You can’t lose, BU.

Men’s Basketball vs. Northeastern University, Nov. 11, Case Gymnasium

In a rematch of last year’s season opener, the Terriers take on the Huskies on their home court in their first game since falling in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Not only will the Terriers be playing at home for the first time since then-senior forward John Holland single-handedly carried his team to the America East Conference Championship last March, but it will be their first game under first-year head coach Joe Jones.

This game should provide a litmus test to gauge just how cohesive this year’s hoops squad will be on the court. And for a team returning every cog from last year’s America East championship machine except for Holland and high-octane head coach Patrick Chambers, they sure do have a lot of questions surrounding them.

Who will step up and fill Holland’s shoes offensively, if anyone? Will the Terriers play the same brand of defensively-oriented basketball that Chambers preached under the direction of a brand new coaching staff? Will they be able to salvage a second straight year without redshirt senior forward Jake O’Brien?

Last year, when the Terriers took on Northeastern at Matthews Arena, they came up two points short of a victory and displayed plenty of early season jitters along with bunches of raw talent. After a year of playing together, this game will determine whether any of the cohesiveness the Terriers’ built in 2010-11 has rubbed off on 2011-12.

Men’s Ice Hockey @ Northeastern University, Jan. 15, Matthews Arena

Two words: Vinny Saponari.

This cross-town showdown will be the junior forward’s first against his former team. After two successful seasons with the Terriers, BU head coach Jack Parker gave the winger the boot after he missed a team bike ride, although such definitive action probably had numerous other instances behind it as well.

Saponari found his way back to Comm. Ave – or tried to, at least – by attempting to weasel his way into BC. When he was denied admission, he decided to try his luck with the Huskies. It paid off.

At this point, Saponari’s intentions regarding his decision to return to college hockey first with the Terrier’s archrival and second with the Terrier’s second archrival are unclear. On the one hand, maybe he just couldn’t stand to be away from Boston. He loves the sport and the city, and he wants to play in Hockey East, the premier NCAA hockey conference.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

But maybe, just maybe, the Vinster is looking to push back. After all, by securing a position on a team that could challenge the Terriers up to four times in the regular season and will be practicing mere minutes from the ice that the Sap-man used to call home, Vinny is guaranteed that if he wants to jab back, it will not go unnoticed.

If that doesn’t provide the drama necessary to convince you to take the E line in the snow three days before spring semester’s classes start up, don’t forget the fact that the Huskies ended the Terriers’ season prematurely last year at the Greek with a 5-4 series-winning decision.

There are major questions regarding whether Jack Parker’s team has the spunk to get psyched up for big game situations anymore.

In the regular season, it doesn’t get much bigger than this.