It all began shortly after 9:00am. After staying up way too late in an attempt to watch The Shining for the first time and falling a half hour shy of it's conclusion, I made my way through the Ted Williams Tunnel and down the Mass Pike and met up with fellow Hockeybuzzer Julie Robenhymer.
We made our way to BU's Agganis Arena (named after Harry Agganis, the Lynn legend who starred for BU's college football team and the Boston Red Sox in the late '40s and early '50s before his untimely death at the age of 26), and took in a very uptempo practice run by Head Coach Todd Mclellan. Many of BU's players were present as spectators as well, taking in the practice just eight hours before their Beanpot Championship against Northeastern.
Terriers Head Coach Jack Parker was there as well. About 2/3 of the way through practice I noticed him make his way down to bench, shouting back to someone "I'm gonna say hi to my boy Griersy!", referencing his former Terrier and current Shark Mike Grier.
Multiple photographers moseyed back and forth with one apparent mission: get a damn good shot of Jumbo Joe. I don't think a single shot went to waste on someone not in a #19 jersey. Meanwhile, I couldn't help but think that at some point in their careers current teammates Claude Lemieux and Jeremy Roenick must have exchanged "pleasantries" a few times, especially considering JR's reputation as a chatterbox.
After practice the focal point of the attention in the locker room was of course the former Bruins' Captain. No, Jason Allison has NOT come out of retirement to join the Sharks. Thornton was quite jovial and in good spirits, a common theme throughout the Sharks loose locker room. "It's good, I like playing here, It'll be a good time at the Garden." Thornton said, adding "I had a lot of good memories here."
As for taking on his former team, Thornton noted "It's a totally different team, from players, to management, to the training staff. A lot of stuff has really changed in three years." And while Thornton will enjoy his tilt tomorrow against the team he was once destined to carry to a Stanley Cup, three years away hasn't erased his knowledge of enjoyable venues outside of the Garden in the Boston Area.
"Smith and Wollensky's?" Thornton shouted to a teammate, hoping to confirm where he treated teammates to dinner the night before. After taking on the tab for his fellow Sharks at a high-class steakhouse, Thornton said next up on the list was Bonfire. I will now pencil Joe Thornton in as a die-hard lover of steak.
I got to speak with San Jose's Captain Patrick Marleau one-on-one in the locker room and asked about the tough test of facing the other #1 seed. "It's a pretty big test. I think it's been hyped up pretty good and both teams are excited to play each other." Marleau said. So does a big game like this mean more to the Captain? "I think it means a lot to everyone" the Sharks forward told me, adding "and I'm sure they're looking at it the same way."
I then made Marleau aware of a recent poll of NHL players conducted by ESPN that pegged him as the most underrated player in the league. "Oh really?" San Jose's humble leader said, amused by the poll. "I guess that's a pretty good honor to have, right?" he then asked me. "I'd say so." I quickly replied with a smile.
From there it was onto the TD Banknorth Garden in preparation for the 57th Beanpot. And by preparation I mean freely touring the Garden then enjoying a Thanksgiving-esque turkey dinner. We collected our pre-game notes and headed up to level 9. With no dessert tray to prey on for the evening we were forced to rough it.
Very few were in attendance for the first tilt, as is typical for the consolation game which isn't broadcast on television. Despite the sea of empty yellow seats, Boston College and Harvard still played a spirited affair. It was a bit of a teaser for what was to be my introduction to the level of intensity displayed by the zealous collegiate fans in the Championship game. BC's faithful, after scoring their first goal of the night, jumped all over the opposing netminder.
"Carroll, Carroll. You suck! At life! And goaltending! It's all your fault, It's all your fault!" they chanted in unison, and in perfect harmony.
Just after BC potted the game winning goal with 40 seconds left in their 4-3 victory, I got an expected call from the producer of the Predators Buzzcast to talk with fellow Hockeybuzzers Paul McCann and Brandon Felder about the Bruins upcoming trip to Nashville.
We chatted about the B's recent transition from blowing out the competition to going into lock-down mode, playing tight, defense-first, playoff-esque hockey games. They inquired about the spectacular seasons of youngsters David Krejci and Blake Wheeler, and Brandon was interested in what I expected from Manny Fernandez from here on out. I told him, in assuming that Fernandez is still in black and gold after the trade deadline, that he'll likely be eased back in after coming back from injury and will garner more playing time once he proves he's up to the task.
It was a damn good time and an honor to appear on the show, so thanks again to Paul and Brandon.
After that, it was time for the highly anticipated championship game between Boston University and Northeastern, a battle between the #1 and #3 teams in all of college hockey. To give you an idea of just how dominant BU has been this year, chew on this: 49 of the 50 voters in the Division 1 Poll chose them for the #1 spot, with the lone outlier voting for #2 seeded Notre Dame.
The insane amount of passion coming from the crowd is unlike anything I have ever seen at an AHL or NHL rink. These kids bring it, non-stop. They support their team with cheers of "Go NU, Go NU!" and jeer the opposition when called for a penalty, "Get off the ice, Get off the ice!". Their energy and fervor are just relentless.
Kieran Millan, the freshman netminder for the Terriers, has been off-the-charts ridiculous so far this year. Heading into last night's game he was 17-1-1 with a GAA just under 1.80. No wonder this team has the whole country convinced it's the cream of the crop!
Brad Thiessen has helped backbone the Huskies all year and came into the championship with a 2.06 GAA. Unfortunately for he and his teammates, that number will be on the rise following last night's game.
The Huskies brought a boat-load of intensity in the first. They had numerous opportunities but Millan was often there to shut the door. As BU began to take back some of the momentum in the latter half of the opening frame, jumping ahead 1-0, referee Scott Hansen was struck in the face by an NU clearing attempt. Hansen fell to the ice, kicking his feet repeatedly in anguish as his face began to bleed profusely.
“I think the game was kind of sided toward BU at that point,” NU Captain Joe Vitale said. “That was kind of like a timeout. It slowed the game down.”
As the crowd watched Hansen get escorted down the runway, the Huskies came out all revved up and knotted the game at one apiece when Mike McLaughlin buried a rebound by a helpless Millan.
The two teams traded goals in the second but BU took the lead halfway through the period when Jason Lawrence of Saugus, MA, put them on top 3-2.
The Huskies battled hard in the third period, but just couldn't solve Millan. "You always worry about freshmen in their first Beanpot." BU Head Coach Jack Parker said. But his freshman phenom netminder stood tall under pressure.
NU utilized their timeout early in the final frame to rest up for a 5-on-3 advantage but couldn't convert. Then disaster struck during a golden PP opportunity when David Warsofsky broke in and beat Thiessen to give the Terriers a 4-2 advantage. Shortly thereafter, future Nashville Predator Colin Wilson inflicted even more heartbreak on the Huskies when he scored the third shorthanded goal of the game for BU, their second on this particular NU powerplay, staking Boston University to an insurmountable 5-2 lead.
During BU's post-game press conference, a man responsible for bringing water out for the coach and his players tried ducking low to stay out of sight from cameras. Unfortunately when he dropped off the last bottle he stumbled and toppled over. No one knew what to do or say, so Parker mused "Have a nice trip?", prompting the wide-eyed room of reporters to break out in laughter.
From there it was back to the green line, and back to my awaiting car. I dropped Julie off, navigated my way back home, and walked through the door as the clock struck 1:00am. Far too tired to write such a lengthy recap, I put my headphones on and queued up the final portion of The Shining I had failed to make it through the night before. I think I'm going to adopt Jack's rules for not bothering him while he's writing:
JACK - Now, we're going to make a new rule. When you come in here and you hear me typing [types], or whether you DON'T hear me typing, or whatever the **** you hear me doing; when I'm in here, it means that I am working, THAT means don't come in. Now, do you think you can handle that?
WENDY - Yeah.
JACK - Good. Now why don't you start right now and get the **** out of here? Hm?
Great movie. Even greater day. Time to go and get ready for tonight's epic battle between the best of the best, the Bruins and Sharks. Should be a good one.
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