Game 36 Recap: BU 3, Providence 0

At the beginning of the season, no one would have expected the final Hockey East game to be as meaningful as it was.  While Hockey East is always a league that runs wire to wire, the matchup between Boston University and Providence College on Sunday had major implications…. it would determine the Hockey East Regular Season Champion.

After getting throttled 8-2 at home on Senior Night at home, it would be easy to say that the Friars could have packed it in.  However, Tim Army is very hopeful that his club is still in the developmental stages, and had this to say about the future of his club:

“My philosophy is that we’ve got a lot of 18-year-old freshmen, and teams around the league have a lot of 21-year-old freshmen,” Army said. “[Leading scorer] Matt Bergland is three years younger than a lot of freshmen. I thought coming in that it might take six years to get a group of guys that we’re really comfortable with… We’re getting there. It’s a process.” - USCHO

Very admirable words from a coach who has gone through one of the worst seasons in his career.  I hope that PC does give Army a chance to deliver on his statements, but that might not be the case.  A major criticism that I had of Army for the past two nights is that he did not allow his senior goaltender to see time.  Unless there is a really good reason to not do so (like a league championship or seeding that could be affected), I see no reason to NOT play your seniors.  Chris Mannix has been behind goalies for his entire career, and it would have been perfect for him to play on Senior Night (start, anyway), and again at BU.  Providence didn’t really have much to play for, but I’m sure the game would have been much more meaningful for Mannix than Beaudry.

Despite this, things didn’t look good for the Friars even before the game started.  The team bus got a flat tire about 5 miles away from Agganis Arena, pushing the start time for the game back to 215.  Good for me, since I was running a little late, and made it just as the teams were hitting the ice for the introduction of the starting lineups.

The first period was very closely checked, a very careful game from both clubs.  BU would score on what would seem like an extremely innocuous play, with Luke Popko “sniping” a shot from the left faceoff dot that would beat Alex Beaudry high.  That, however, was all the scoring that the period would have.  While Providence was definitely battling, BU was doing a very good job at keeping the quality of chances that the Friars had very low, and Grant Rollheiser, who started in place of Millan, did not have to work very hard at all.  A few loose pucks, but nothing that couldn’t be handled by the Freshman netminder.

The remaining two periods would provide much of the same.  Few fireworks, just good hard play from both clubs.  Extremely disciplined play, as the game didn’t seem to have any signs at all of becoming ugly.  From a  fan perspective, it seemed that Parker’s club showed an extreme amount of respect to the Friars.  BU played extremely carefully, as Providence has capitalized on lackidasical play by BU before.  In the end, a goal from Saponari in the second, and a 2 on 1 goal for Higgins in the final frame would put the game away, and the Terriers would skate away with the Regular Season title.  A tough game for Northeastern to take in, I’m sure, as the Huskies held the lead in Hockey east for 142 out of 143 days.  Unfortunately for them, it was the final day that they did not hold the title.

The Good

• This is all there really was in this game.  BU played a solid game, checked well, and did not commit a single penalty.
• Vinny Saponari had a sweet goal.
• Grant Rollheiser pitched his first collegiate shutout.

I won’t say that there was anything bad in this game really.  Colby Cohen did make a few boneheaded passes, but overall a very solid game.  Sparse crowd though, I wish the atmosphere had been better on Senior Day.  However, the Terriers find themselves in a very strong position both Nationally and In-Conference heading into post-season play.

Other Game Recaps Available: USCHO — Hockey East

The Terriers are next in action in the Hockey East Quarterfinals, where they will host Maine.  The best of 3 series will begin on Saturday, March 14th, at Agganis Arena.

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