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Again on the boil, Beanpot is predictably unpredictable
By Brian Fitzgerald
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BU won a second straight Beanpot trophy last year -- its eighth in the past nine seasons. Photo by Vernon Doucette |
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The Beanpot hockey tournament features fierce competition on the ice, along with screaming fans and dueling bands in the stands. There was a time, however, when the Beanpot wasn't the pinnacle of the Boston winter sports scene.
In fact, the first tournament, which took place on December 26 and 27, 1952, was created to spark some mild interest in local college hockey over the otherwise quiet Christmas holidays -- a filler in the schedule.
Now a major event with a national reputation, it's a hockey carnival filled with thrills and chills.
Little could representatives from BU, BC, Harvard, and Northeastern have known more than a half-century ago what a phenomenon the competition would become. The inaugural Beanpot was played at Boston Arena (now Northeastern's Matthews Arena) in front of 500 fans. Moved to the Boston Garden in 1953, and then to its successor, the FleetCenter, in 1996, the tournament is a perennial sellout, and one of Boston's most treasured sports traditions.
The Beanpot games don't affect the Hockey East and ECAC conference standings, but all four teams desperately want the trophy. The players certainly don't need any motivation from their coaches. “I don't have to tell them anything,” said BU Coach Jack Parker before the 2002 tournament. “The guys are so geared up, the trick is not getting them too geared up.”
Parker's philosophy has worked wonders. The Terriers, who had an incredible six straight Beanpots under their belts before losing the 2001 tournament, reclaimed the title in 2002 when his players simply refused to lose. Terrier forward John Sabo (MET'03) said after that tournament that he and teammate Mike Pandolfo (MET'02) “grew up watching the Beanpot” and were impressed by BU's dominance in the 1990s -- the scarlet and white won the trophy eight times that decade. “We knew it was our chance to achieve the same success,” said Sabo. “Tradition makes the Beanpot exciting. Every time you step on the ice is a chance to make history.”
BU took the Beanpot again last year, defeating hated rival Boston College in the final, 3-2. “We've won a lot of games in this tournament because we've had a lot of guys rise to the occasion,” said Parker after BU's 25th Beanpot title in 51 years.
Now it's up to the 2004 BU squad to build on this new winning streak. The Terriers usually begin to gain strength around this time of year, and momentum is especially important at present, because they have given their fans little to cheer about this season with a 7-9-6 record (4-8-2 in Hockey East). A Beanpot victory could give BU the jump start it needs. The Terriers are hitting the home stretch of the season, and they know that it's a good time of the year to begin playing their best hockey.
BU will face off against Northeastern on Monday, February 2, at 5 p.m. The winner will play either Boston College or Harvard on Monday, February 9. Which BU team will show up: the traditional Beanpot dominators, or the mediocre squad that has sent its coach into fits this year?
It remains to be seen. As WBUR's Bill Littlefield once said on his National Public Radio sports show Only a Game: “The only predictable aspect of the Beanpot is its unpredictability.”
Beanpot memories
“What the Beanpot means to me? Quite simply, there are two words that come to mind: tradition and emotion. Anyone who has a pulse around here knows about the tradition of the Beanpot. I'm a local kid. I grew up in Scituate. I started coming to the Beanpot about the same time I started playing hockey.”
-- David Silk (CAS'80, GSM'93), former BU forward and 1980 Olympic gold medal winner
“It's just a great feeling -- the best feeling I've ever had in my life.”
-- Nick Gillis (MET'01), former BU forward, after scoring the tournament-winning overtime goal in the 1998 Beanpot
29
January 2004
Boston University
Office of University Relations