Even
with Brian Boyle standing in front of him, UMass
freshman Jon Quick managed 47 saves in a stunning
win against Boston College. (Thom Kendall/UMass
photo)
For the first night in nearly two years,
Amherst became the center of the college hockey world.
Sure, there are upsets every weekend.
The top-ranked team in the country has gone down in
each of the last three weekends. And there is so much
parity in Hockey East that anyone can beat anyone
just about anytime. But this was an upset from a different
world.
Boston College has owned UMass in everything
lately, not just hockey. The Eagles have superior
football and basketball programs, and they even get
the much-maligned east-coast bias over their western
Massachusetts counterparts.
It wasn’t exactly U.S.A. downing Russia, but
it’s worth noting that UMass coach Don Cahoon
wore the number 21 on his BU jersey from 1969-72,
the same number Mike Eruzione wore as a Terrier from
1973-77, just a few years before he captained the
Miracle team.
“It was clearly an exciting hockey
game for our club,” Cahoon said. “It was
a much-needed game in front of a good crowd and a
much-needed game in front of a terrific opponent.”
The 7,132 fans on hand at the Mullins
Center were apart of the second largest crowd to ever
witness a UMass hockey game, and it was the fifth-largest
crowd at a Hockey East venue this year, behind two
games between BC and BU and a couple more between
BC and Vermont; all four at Kelley Rink.
It turned out to be just the sixth win
UMass has had over BC since the series began in 1920.
It was just Cahoon’s second win over the Chestnut
Hill squad during his tenure at UMass, and it was
the first win the Minutemen have had over the Eagles
in Amherst since Jan. 7, 1995, a span of 16 games.
Freshman goalie Jon Quick outdueled
BC netminder Cory Schneider and stole the show with
his 47 saves in a 3-2 victory, which included 19 third-period
stops when the Eagles went on a furious offensive
attack in an attempt to tie the game.
In the first period, Quick made an acrobatic
stop to keep the puck out of the net when Stephen
Gionta fed Chris Collins with a nice pass on a two-on-one,
then he made good efforts to make sure the game remained
scoreless by swiping away great chances by Peter Harrold
and Tim Kunes. But Quick’s most important save
came with 27 ticks left on the game clock when the
Eagles were on a power play and pulled Schneider to
give them a six-on-four attack. Gionta got off an
uncontested wrister from the left point, but Quick
made easy work of it.
“Whatever I had been doing throughout
the whole game was working well,” Quick said.
“I just stuck with my game. I knew that as soon
as they got control of the puck with less than two
minutes that they were going to pull their goalie.
So they pulled him and I was ready for the six-on-four.
I knew it was coming. It wasn’t a surprise,
and I just stuck to my game.”
“I thought Jon Quick was very,
very good in goal,” BC coach Jerry York said.
“We saw him in the recruiting process, and we
thought he was an excellent goaltender. He certainly
played that way [Friday] night. A hot goalie can be
the difference. Certainly, Quick was the No. 1 star
of the game, and he played very well.”
It seemed to be somewhat of a surprise
to see the rookie get the nod between the pipes since
senior Gabe Winer had been playing so well and Quick
was coming off a less-than-stellar outing in a 6-2
loss at Lowell on Jan. 13. Cahoon was confident in
his decision to start the youngster and said he had
been playing well enough in practice in the recent
weeks to earn the playing time.
“Any game was going to be a tough
game,” Cahoon said. “This was an especially
tough game. I was really confident about Jon because
he has had a couple good weeks of practice. I knew
his rhythm was back, his timing was back and his focus
was back. I was not surprised. I knew he was ready.”
Al Michaels wasn’t on hand to
call the game on national television, but local icon
Tom Caron of NESN was in Amherst to recite the action.
Perhaps his best move was to quiet down at one point
to let the audience hear how loud the crowd was getting
– a little before the home fans began their
final countdown, which Quick remembered well.
“It’s actually kind of funny,”
Quick laughed. “I heard the crowd counting down,
‘Three, two, one.’ They were so loud that
I didn’t even hear the horn go off. When they
got to ‘One,’ I threw my arms in the air,
but I didn’t hear the horn go off so I got nervous.
I looked around to make sure the game was over. I
didn’t know at first, but everything worked
out.”
SEEN AND HEARD IN HOCKEY EAST
A Quota of Quotes:
BU coach Jack Parker is never one to shy away from
a microphone, and we at INCH are not ones to shy away
from admitting that the living legend provides us
with some of our favorite quotes. Once again, he proved
to be very entertaining, and also very insightful,
at the postgame press conference following Monday
night’s Beanpot victory over Harvard.
When commenting on freshman Chris Higgins’
fifth career goal in his first Beanpot appearance,
Parker let the room in on a little secret from one
of his recruiting trips a few years back.
“I saw him play when he was a
sophomore at Pingree … and I thought he was
the type of player who could undress people,”
Parker said.
His comments were blunt, but he also
may have made an understatement. Higgins picked up
a loose puck in the neutral zone, jumped to the inside
of Harvard defenseman Dave MacDonald, made a late
deke from the forehand to his backhand and shuffled
the puck past Crimbson goalie John Daigneau as he
was falling to the ice. Higgins didn’t just
undress MacDonald, he ripped his clothes off for 17,565
fans and an entire NESN audience to see.
Parker was on his game later in the
press conference, too, when he was asked about making
it to his 12th consecutive Beanpot final and 22nd
in the last 23 years. Not finding the question to
be fitting enough, Parker provided the room a brief
history lesson, responding with a giant grin, “And
39 of 43, but who’s counting?”
UMass goalie Gabe Winer stepped up to
the mike earlier in the weekend, following the Minutemen’s
5-2 win over Lowell on Saturday. In the third period,
Winer was involved in a bit of a ballyhoo with Lowell
forward Elias Godoy, who made a charge at the UMass
goalie with 2:33 left to play in a game that’s
outcome was already determined.
Every player on the ice, with the exception
of Lowell goalie Peter Vetri, squared off with a member
of the opposing team, but none of the fights held
a candle to Winer’s body slam of Godoy behind
the net. When Winer was asked if he was the new team
goon – perhaps a Marty McSorley type in goalie
pads – he responded appropriately.
“Godoy was trying to take a run
at me,” Winer said. “It was a little uncalled
for. I didn’t punch him, but if I knew I was
going to get thrown out, I would have dropped the
gloves. I didn’t punch him, but I let him get
up and he punched me. It’s kind of tough to
fight a kid like that anyways. He’s just ugly
as it is. You can’t make him much uglier.”
Great Weekend Getaway
Boston
Coll. vs. Boston U. (Mon.) Alright, so it’s not technically
on the weekend, but in this case, we’ll
make an exception if you will. The rivalry has
done a good job of telling itself, especially
in a couple games already played this season,
but put BU and BC in the Beanpot championship
round, and it’s like having the Red Sox
play the Yankees in the ALCS.
While You’re There:
Take your weekend to the next level, and go
for the hockey triple crown. Start off in Vermont
on Friday night for a battle between the Black
Bears and Catamounts, and then hit the TD Banknorth
Garden on Saturday night when the suddenly streaking
Bruins take on defending Stanley Cup champion
Tampa Bay Lightning. Don’t forget the
Monday appetizer, either; the Beanpot consolation
game between Harvard and Northeastern.
Stick
Salute
After
Richard Umile suspended seven of his Wildcats
– all big contributors – for the
first game of last weekend’s series with
Maine, UNH's sinful seven stepped
in Saturday in a big way in the team’s
7-4 win at Alfond, figuring in on six of the
'Cats' goals. They combined for five goals and
three assists, and Brett Hemingway netted a
pair in the final 3:35 of the second period
to give UNH a 4-1 lead.
Bench
Minor
Bananas
the Black Bear thought it would be
a good idea by putting on a little strip show
during the first intermission of Saturday night’s
game between Maine and UNH, but there was one
miscalculation. Bananas tossed his shirt aside,
and it ended up getting caught in the Zamboni,
delaying the start of the second period.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• Merrimack
and Northeastern, the two schools that have anchored
the bottom of the Hockey East standings throughout
most of the season, met for the third and final time
on Friday night, and for the third time, the two teams
skated off the ice in a tie.
• If the Terriers can beat UMass
on Friday night, they will head into the Beanpot championship
on a 10-game winning streak. In 1995, BU went into
the Beanpot title tilt on a 10-game winning streak,
ended up winning the ’Pot and then proceeded
to win the national championship.
• Head referee John Gravallese
kicked 11 players out of Saturday night’s meeting
between the Minutemen and River Hawks at the Tsongas
Arena. First, he booted David Leaderer just 33 seconds
into the game for hitting from behind, and with 2:33
left to play in the final period, Gravallese handed
out two game disqualifications and eight game misconducts
after a fight broke out. UMass goalie Gabe Winer and
Lowell forward Elias Godoy were DQ’d, while
Minutemen Matt Anderson, Jamie Solon, Kevin Jarman
and John Wessbecker and River Hawks Matt Collar, Nick
Monroe, Adam Stanieich and Mike Potacco were handed
misconducts.
• Two lines that are clicking
as well as any in the country right now will square
off with each other in the Beanpot final. BU’s
“White Line” – Bryan Ewing, Peter
MacArthur and Kenny Roche – has connected for
16 goals and 15 assists in the last nine games, and
the top line at Boston College of Chris Collins, Brian
Boyle and Stephen Gionta has accounted for 17 of the
Eagles’ last 24 goals with 21 assists in that
span.
• Eagle Chris Collins notched
his 100th career point with a goal in Friday night’s
loss at UMass, and Wildcat Jacob Micflikier scored
a goal in Saturday’s win at Maine to give himself
100 career points, as well. With an assist in Friday
night’s win, Black Bear Derek Damon hit the
century mark, too.
“It would be a lot better to get
the 100th in a win,” Collins said. “But
it’s a goal that most college players have.
I’m obviously excited to get it, and it’s
a goal I’ve had since I was a freshman coming
in. It’s just nice to get mentioned in the group
of all the great BC players who have come in before
me.”
• Torry Gajda (13-18—31),
Chase Watson (4-25—29), Jon Rheault (12-12—24)
and Colin McDonald (7-13—20) have all hit the
20-point plateau for Providence through 26 games this
season. In 37 team games last year, only two Friars
– Chris Chaput (10-20—30) and Jamie Carroll
(11-11—22) – scored 20 points. After only
scoring six goals and dishing out seven assists in
2004-05, Gajda has made the biggest leap.
• UNH got its first win at Alfond
Arena since Jan. 8, 2000, on Saturday, and the Wildcats’
seven goals were the most a Black Bear team has allowed
in Orono since Boston College put a seven-spot on
the scoreboard on Dec. 10, 2000.
A
variety of sources were utilized in the compilation
of this report.
