The Boston University men’s hockey team’s season has come to an end after a devastating loss to Providence College in the national championship game Saturday. The Friars, who posted 20 shots in the third period, overwhelmed the Terriers with their game on the line and captured their first NCAA title.
Although the season did not end according to BU’s plan, the 2014-15 Terriers enjoyed tremendous success overall. The Terriers did what they needed to do to re-establish their prominence in the NCAA hockey domain, after struggling to compete at an elite level the past few years.
Boston clinched its 30th Beanpot title in an overtime thriller against Northeastern University on Feb. 23. The Terriers also won the Hockey East title this year for the first time since 2009, the same year they won their most recent national championship.
After finishing the regular season as the second-ranked team in the USCHO.com poll, the Terriers successfully stamped their ticket into the NCAA Tournament. In the first round of the tourney, the Terriers won a hard-fought overtime battle against a scrappy Yale University team on March 27. They then defeated two of the nation’s strongest hockey programs, notching victories over University of Minnesota Duluth on March 28 and the University of North Dakota on April 9, en route to an improbable run to the Frozen Four.
These extraordinary victories came just one year after the team’s worst season in decades. The 2013-14 Terriers, under first-year coach David Quinn, went just 10-21-4 (5-12-3 Hockey East). The Terriers did not win a single game in last year’s Beanpot, and they did not advance past the first round of the Hockey East Tournament.
The biggest story for Terrier hockey this year was clearly freshman center Jack Eichel. Eichel’s choice to play college hockey at BU reignited the hockey program, as he produced one of the best individual NCAA seasons in recent memory — 26 goals and 45 assists for 71 points and a plus-51 rating over 40 games. He is the youngest player in league history to win the Hobey Baker award as college hockey’s most valuable player, and the first freshman to win the award since Paul Kariya did so for the University of Maine in 1993.
Eichel and fellow freshman classmates including John MacLeod, Brandon Hickey and Nikolas Olsson, along with returning veterans such as junior captain Matt Grzelcyk and senior assistant captain Cason Hohmann, led BU on a journey that seemed impossible a year ago.
Key contributors on offense included junior defenseman-turned-forward Ahti Oksanen, who scored 25 goals, and senior assistant captain Evan Rodrigues, who finished second in the nation in scoring with 61 points.
If it weren’t for Eichel’s sensational talent, the most important factor in BU’s success this year would have been, as it is with many successful hockey teams, brilliant goaltending. Junior goaltender Matt O’Connor had an impressive season, compiling a .927 save percentage and 2.18 goals against average. He was strong in the Beanpot title game against Northeastern, during which he recorded 30 saves, and played sound fundamental goaltending throughout the Hockey East Tournament.
In late January, O’Connor earned the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week award for his efforts against the University of Vermont. He stopped 63 of 66 shots that the Catamounts threw his way that weekend, leading BU to a series sweep of UVM.
Unfortunately for O’Connor, though, he will likely only be remembered for his costly error that not only tied the game against the Friars, but provided them the momentum to take the lead and eventually win.
O’Connor showed tremendous character by answering a barrage of questions in what seemed like an endless interrogation following the game.
If O’Connor did not elevate his play to new levels game-in and game-out during the year, BU would not have made it to the stage that they did. Though his errors were extremely costly, his stellar play down the stretch was irreplaceable and indisputable.
The success of this year’s men’s hockey team has rekindled the flame last year’s Terriers lacked. BU has all the pieces in place to remain a college hockey powerhouse for the next few seasons. Though it would have been nice to see the Terriers win their sixth national title, the 2014-15 season was filled with more than enough success to believe in this team’s chances in the near future.
During a press conference following the defeat in the national title game, BU coach David Quinn told reporters that although the outcome was “tough to swallow,” BU would be back soon.
Make no mistake: the Terriers will be back soon, and they’ll be back with a vengeance.
Nice article. Ken, Keith’ Dad.