Former Boston University men’s hockey coach coach Jack Parker took a look around at last week’s Beanpot luncheon.
“It’s nice to see all the press here, all the cameras here,” Parker observed. “No Patriots in the Super Bowl, they all showed up. That’s always a good thing. Well, not a good thing for the Pats.”
For the last three years, the first round of the Beanpot came one day after a Patriots trip to the Super Bowl. With all that attention focused on the gridiron, casual college hockey observers might be surprised to learn that Monday’s 5 p.m. matchup between Harvard (10-6-4) and Northeastern (14-7-2) represents the last three winners of the tournament. The Crimson ended a 24-year drought in 2017, while the Huskies will be going for a three-peat after having gone 30 years between titles.
It’s the first time in the tournament’s 67-year history that neither Boston College nor Boston University had won the Beanpot in three consecutive years.
All four teams are coming off wins Friday night, with Harvard winning a high-scoring affair, 8-5, at Union. It was the Crimson’s first victory at Messa Rink since Jan. 22, 2010.
Sophomore Jack Drury has an eight-game point game streak, racking up 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in that stretch, good for a 13-13—26 line on the season. Classmate Casey Dornbach has 10 goals and 19 assists, while freshman Nick Abruzzese has 10 goals and 17 assists to round out Harvard’s top line. Freshman goalie Mitchell Gibson is 7-4-2 with a .923 save percentage.
”We’re inexperienced, and we’re young, but we have a lot of talent,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato. “We’re learning lessons as we go. It’s an exciting group, and one that I think is looking for the opportunity to really step up and play a great game.”
The Crimson also hit the road last week and tied No. 1 Cornell, competing in an atmosphere that should only help a young squad.
“It was absolutely electric,” said Donato. “It’s the details, and the lessons you learn when the pressure is turned up the most that you hope your team grows from. That pressure and that intensity is certainly some of the fire you need to go through to have success.”
Adding to the urgency for Monday night are the teams’ positions in the PairWise Rankings, which attempt to mimic the method used by the NCAA Selection Committee to determine the tournament field. Both teams are on the bubble, with Northeastern sitting at 13 and Harvard at 16.
A win would certainly help Northeastern’s bid for a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Sophomore Tyler Madden has a team-high 33 points with 17 goals and 16 assists. Junior Zach Solow has 10 goals, including the game-winner against Providence Friday night, to go with 15 assists. Senior captain Ryan Shea has three goals and 19 assists . The defenseman played at BC High and hails from Milton, as does freshman forward Aidan McDonough, who has nine goals and 12 assists.
“It was really good to get this win, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep for the next few nights just getting ready for the Beanpot,” McDonough said after notching a goal and an assist in the 4-3 win over the Friars. “I can’t really count how many people I’ll know in the stands, and how much it means to me. Hopefully I’ll get the nerves out the first few shifts and after that it will just be hockey.”
Bridgewater native Craig Pantano will be in net for the Huskies. He is 14-7-2 with a .914 save percentage.
BU (10-8-6) and BC (16-7) will play in the nightcap, scheduled for 8 p.m. The schools have combined to win 50 of the 67 tournament titles, but are going through mini-droughts, with BC having last won in 2016, and BU going on five years without a title.
This is the second meeting of the season between the teams. BC prevailed Jan. 18, 4-3, in a back-and-forth affair at a sold-out Conte Forum.
The Terriers have surged in recent weeks, going 6-2-1 since the start of December, and sit just 1 point out of first place in Hockey East.
“We’ve been getting healthier as the year went on. It’s nice to get some bodies back. We were a little dinged up in the first half,” said BU coach Albie O’Connell. “I think it’s just important for us to keep getting better. We’ve got 15 new bodies at the start of the year, and it seems like each week we’re getting better and better. Hopefully we can continue to trend in the right direction.”
Junior defenseman David Farrance leads BU in points with 11 goals and 18 assists, followed by senior forward Patrick Harper’s 11 goals and 17 assists. Senior Patrick Curry’s 14 goals is tops on the team. Freshman goaltender Ashton Abel has started the last four games for the Terriers, going 3-0-1.
BC is ranked fifth nationally and is tied for first place in Hockey East after Friday night’s 3-0 victory at UMass. Senior Julius Mattila centers the first line and has seven goals and 24 assists. Skating with him are senior David Cotton, who has 10 goals and 19 assists, and junior Logan Hutsko, who leads the Eagles with 15 goals. Freshman goalie Spencer Knight is 15-7 with a .931 save percentage.
“We’re excited for it. The competition is outstanding,” said BC Jerry York. “The last four or five years, it’s been up for grabs. Whoever wins it can use it as a real catapult.”
68th Beanpot tournament
When: Monday, Feb. 3 (first round); Monday, Feb. 10 (final/consolation)
Where: TD Garden
TV: NESN
First-round schedule: 5 p.m. Northeastern vs. Harvard; 8 p.m. Boston University vs. Boston College
Follow Andrew Mahoney on Twitter @GlobeMahoney.