Six straight without spilling the beans

By Brian Fitzgerald

"When you're hot, you're hot," country singer Jerry Reed sang. And the men's hockey Terriers have been on fire lately, burning Boston College, 4-1, for BU's sixth straight Beanpot championship on February 14.

The good news continued the following morning, when all three major national hockey polls elevated Boston University a slot to number two in the country. BU passed New Hampshire, which lost to Northeastern and Providence over the weekend. Wisconsin, a team the Terriers might eventually face in the NCAA tournament in March, is number one.

The Terriers are also in first place in Hockey East, and they have yet to be defeated in this millennium, posting an 8-0-4 record in 2000. Their success -- totally unexpected at the beginning of the season -- is thanks in no small part to a freshman goaltender. Beanpot Tournament MVP Rick DiPietro (CAS'03) had the BU faithful on their feet with several standing ovations as he turned back 31 BC shots to establish a new tournament record for goals-against average (0.50) and set a new save percentage record of .981. The Winthrop, Mass., native blanked Harvard, 4-0, in the first round of the Beanpot February 7.

BU goaltender Ricky DiPietro (CAS'03) makes one of his 31 saves during the Terriers 4-1 victory over Boston College on February 14 for the team's sixth straight Beanpot championship. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky

"Ricky DiPietro rose to the occasion in the first period," says BU Coach Jack Parker. The Eagles outshot BU, 11-5, in the opening stanza, but neither team could find the net because of superb goaltending performances by high school classmates DiPietro and BC's Tim Kelleher. "The first period was really hectic," says Parker. "It was too wide open. The pace was up and down, and I thought we were getting legless right off the bat."

But DiPietro stood tall -- except when he was pouncing on the puck or sprawled on his side, stopping threat after threat. At one point during the Eagle onslaught he made a spectacular save, only to have the puck flutter over his head and land behind him. But he quickly smothered the puck before BC forwards descended. "He really kept us in it," says captain Tommi Degerman (CAS'00), who scored the go-ahead goal in the second period. Chris Heron (COM'00) got BU on the scoreboard in the first, tying BC, 1-1, just 26 seconds after BC scored the game's first goal.

BU took a more commanding lead with a clutch goal from Nick Gillis (MET'00) with 17 seconds left in the second period. "To score at the end of the second period was a real plus for us," says Parker. Indeed, it was a momentum-killer for Boston College. "That goal really hurt," says BC Coach Jerry York. What pained the Eagles most is the fact that the puck never touched Gillis' stick. "It went off my elbow, to be honest with you," he says of his rebound of a Freddy Meyer (CAS'03) slap shot from the left point. Asked if that goal was as memorable as his overtime goal against Harvard in the 1998 Beanpot final, he replies, "I don't know if this one was as big as that, but it's always a thrill to score in the Beanpot."

Boston University outshot BC in the second period, 12-9, but DiPietro was still forced to make 11 saves to Kelleher's 6. The Eagles' offensive machine was cranking again in the third period, but DiPietro threw a wrench in the gears, making saves on breakaways and while being screened by a maze of players. Then Carl Corazzini (CAS'00) scored his team-leading 17th goal of the season to put the game on ice, 4-1, with 2:31 left.

The win "gives us extra confidence as we go into the home stretch of the season," says DiPietro, whose feats include picking up the puck under a pile of players and heaving it down the ice -- a humorous incident, but one that could have resulted in a penalty. He also entered a fracas with 2:24 left, holding off a BC player who was taking swings at a helmetless and bloodied Keith Emery (CAS'01).

"Ricky is a great kid," says Parker, who first saw DiPietro play at St. Sebastian's Prep School. "He's got a lot of enthusiasm, and he's fun to be around. We have a good relationship. He's much different from what I thought he was when I recruited him. I thought he was kind of full of himself. In reality he likes to be the class clown, but it's not an ego thing. He's a prankster, and he keeps everybody on the team loose."

This year's Beanpot title is Parker's 15th in his 27 years as head coach, but he doesn't accept the credit readily. He is quick to point out that the players on the ice win the trophies, not the man on the bench. Asked which championships were his favorite, he replies, "[The ones we won] during the three years that I was playing. I haven't won a Beanpot in a long time." Parker skated for the Scarlet and White from 1966 to 1968.

"The reason for our success in the Beanpot is no secret," he says. "It's having good players."