The Boston Bruins were shut out 2-0 by the Minnesota Wild Thursday night at the FleetCenter.
But that’s not the most important thing that happened at the FleetCenter on Thursday – at least not in Terrier Nation. Earlier in the day, the eighth-seeded Boston University hockey team practiced in the 17,565-seat arena, the underIcedogs preparing for another crack at what would be their first Hockey East title since 1997.
But the practice could have as much impact on tonight’s Hockey East semifinal, when the Terriers (12-16-9, 6-13-5 Hockey East) take on the second-seeded University of Maine at 5 p.m. on Causeway St., as the Bruins game had on, well, the Bruins game.
Two weekends ago, when the parquet was down in Walter Brown for the services of the Stony Brook University men’s basketball team, the Icedogs were forced to practice at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center before their survival game in Durham, N.H.
They won.
So last week, they practiced in the Eagles’ nest at Conte Forum before their quarterfinal series against Boston College.
They won again.
So you could almost predict that “Boston University” would find its way between “Boston Bruins” and “Minnesota Wild” on Thursday’s FleetCenter schedule (an option for all four semifinalists, but one much more obvious for the other three, which don’t reside in Boston), thanks to the unending superstition of BU coach Jack Parker.
Tonight (and if they’re lucky, tomorrow night, too) we find out if they will win again.
“I’d say some of that definitely had to do with superstition,” said senior captain Mark Mullen, pointing out the practical side of the choice, too. “But I think in reality, it’s a good chance to practice where you’re gonna play cause it gets you more familiar with how the puck’s gonna be bouncing off the boards and the ice there.”
The last four games – the Terriers’ impressive last-ditch attempt at saving a season – may have even created a sense of familiar success for BU. Three road wins, two wins in a row, a couple of season-extending efforts – and the most urgent, inspired play Terrier Nation has seen all year.
And BU’s reward? Another potential last game of the year against the No. 2 team in the country, and one can guess that Ray Jean will not be in net for the Black Bears (28-7-3, 17-5-2).
Who will be scratching up the Maine crease, however, is anyone’s guess. Will it be Jimmy Howard, the sophomore who was Hockey East’s “Goaltending Champion” this year (1.17 GAA, .951 save percentage), or Frank Doyle, the senior with almost equally ridiculous numbers (1.84 GAA, .922 save percentage)?
“We don’t know, and I guess you could say we don’t care,” Mullen said. “Obviously, they’re both really good goalies. They have the best defense in the league and some great goalies, so it’s gonna be a tough task.”
It doesn’t even matter. The penny-pinching platoon isn’t even the reason Maine is so scary – though it certainly doesn’t hurt. The Black Bears employ a trap that would send the commercial version of Avalanche forward Michael Vick running desperately into his own zone.
The result? Opponents have scored 61 goals against Maine in 38 games – a paltry 1.6 per game. Oh yeah, and they’re also scoring 3.4 goals per game, thanks to Scotsman Colin Shields’ 42 points, Hockey East Rookie of the Year Michel Leveille’s 32 assists and Hockey East Best Defensive Forward Todd Jackson’s 20 goals.
But the Terriers found the formula to beat the Black Bears in their third try (after 2-1 and 8-4 double-up losses) back on Jan. 24: Take your one goal and don’t give up any (BU took that contest 1-0).
“I think that’s the way the game’s gonna turn out,” Mullen said. “It’s probably gonna be a low-scoring game.”
That was the first game of the Sean Fields rejuvenation, and now they’ve got a FleetCenter Fields (you all know what that means) behind them.
“I haven’t seen a goalie that’s played better in big games,” Mullen said. “It gives our whole team a lot of confidence.”
If that weren’t enough, the nothing-to-lose Icedogs abandoned all worries last Saturday and walked past an equally oppressive trap in Chesnut Hill. With authority. Which is good, cause they’d rather get more than one goal this time.
“Our forwards did a great job backchecking,” said sophomore defenseman Jekabs Redlihs. “And that way, as defensemen, we have more time to actually get our heads up and give a nice pass for them. I guess we had that whole flow … and I really hope we’re able to do the same thing tomorrow.”
Parker’s boys also have a few more things going for them – an on-fire first-line tandem of David Van der Gulik and Brad Zancanaro, a penalty kill that has been guilty of homicide lately and the return of talented senior forward Kenny Magowan from a knee injuries, Redlihs said.
The Black Bears (a lock for an NCAA tourney top seed) undoubtedly know what they’ll have on their hands – their task is to put to sleep a little dog that will squirm, bite and do anything it needs to avoid the needle. That much was clear from the BC series.
“Nobody expected us to get that far,” Redlihs said. “So I think we’ll just go in there, give it our best shot and give it a hell of a battle, and we’ll see what happens.”
But will the ‘Dogs’ teeth be sharp enough to earn themselves a shot at an automatic bid (their only way in) to the NCAA Tournament – what would be the first finals appearance by a Hockey East bottom seed in conference history?
If so, they’ll get the winner of the University of New Hampshire-University of Massachusetts at Amherst game that will occur after the ‘Dogs and Bears are done, that one a little thing called the Hockey East Championship set for Saturday at 7 p.m.
No one is questioning their heart anymore, and some suspect that their talent should soon be removed from doubt. While on hardwoods across America today mid-major teams are trying to be the next darlings, the Terriers are Cinderellas on skates – the only road team from the quarterfinals and double the seed of the next-lowest No. 4 Wildcats.
The odds are against them for the third time in three weeks. You can weigh factors all night trying to convince yourself they are destined to ice dance, but you know deep down you have no idea what the Confusion Kids will come up with this weekend.
Until, of course, you remember that they practiced at the FleetCenter Thursday.