For some of the freshmen on the No. 9 Boston University men’s hockey team, playing in their first Beanpot Tournament held major significance — take forward Bobo Carpenter, a North Reading native, for example.
“Just being from Boston, I’m definitely excited to be a part of it and experience it,” Carpenter said Sunday after the team’s final practice, prior to the Beanpot. “It’s awesome for the city, and it’s going to be a great experience.”
For others, like forward Oskar Andrén, that local connection didn’t exactly exist. Nor did, for that matter, any sort of sentimentality toward the tournament.
“I’ve just heard about it,” Andrén said with a smile after BU (15-7-4, 8-4-3 Hockey East) defeated Northeastern University 3-1 in the first round of the Beanpot Monday. “I honestly had no clue what it was about, just a lot of people at TD Garden. That was basically it.”
He said he understood the excitement of his teammates, but he didn’t let too much of it get blown out of proportion.
“It’s just regular hockey,” Andrén said. “I didn’t want to think too much, either.”
Andrén joined the team midseason, playing his first game for BU on Jan. 7. Since then, the Stockholm native has played in eight games for the Terriers, and the coaching staff even promoted him to a spot on the top line before Friday’s win over Merrimack College.
In his first game at TD Garden, Andrén recorded a secondary assist on freshman defenseman Charlie McAvoy’s game-winning goal, helping BU advance to next Monday’s final against No. 4 Boston College.
The assist marked Andrén’s third point of the season. However, Andrén insisted he’s not counting.
“Honestly … I do not think about that at all,” the forward said about his point total. “Just the most important thing is that we get two points as a team.”
Playing alongside the top line of freshman center Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and senior assistant captain Danny O’Regan has also helped to improve his play, he said.
“O’Regan and Jakob [are] two incredible players that will go very far in pro after college hockey,” Andrén said. “So I’m very blessed to play with them, and they’re great guys. They’re helping me every practice, which makes it a lot easier for me … They are very skillful and very smart hockey players. Whatever they do, I try and look at them and be as close as I can to them.”
Andrén also noted that one of his priorities is giving his linemates good opportunities.
“I’ve been trying to skate as much as I can and just like trying to get pucks to the other guys, especially when I play with O’Regan and Jakob, who are very skilled players,” Andrén said. “Trying to get the pucks to them, and they will always do a great job with the pucks. Trying to get the pucks to them, that’s my main focus for me.”
While Andrén admitted his lack of Beanpot knowledge, he does know, however, that the Beanpot final matchup has a little bit more at stake than just a trophy. Having played BC (18-4-4, 10-1-4 Hockey East) twice already this season — and with BU failing to earn a win in either of its previous two games against the Eagles — he’s caught on to the significance of the rivalry.
“It will be cool to play here at TD Garden probably in front of a full crowd as well,” Andrén said. “… And we want to get revenge on them, so it’ll be fun.”
Sarah covers men's hockey and other sports for The Daily Free Press, and is the chairman of Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc. She served as Editor-in-Chief of the FreeP during the Spring 2014 semester and was Sports Editor in Fall 2013. She has also written for the Boston Globe and seattlepi.com. When she's not writing, she loves baking and going to concerts. You can contact her by tweeting her at @Kirkpatrick_SJ or emailing her at sjkirkpa@bu.edu.
