The first two Mondays of February at TD Garden are going to have a bit of a different feel this year.
When the puck drops on the 70th Beanpot on Feb. 6, it will mark the first edition of the tournament not involving at least one of two hockey legends — Boston College’s Jerry York (Watertown, Mass.) and Boston University’s Jack Parker (Somerville, Mass.) — as a player or coach since 1964.
It certainly is a new era on the New England college hockey scene.
“The BC-BU rivalry isn’t going away, but it’s been a long time since one of those two guys wasn’t on the bench,” said BU coach Jay Pandolfo (Winchester, Mass.), who was the associate head coach for the Terriers team that won its first Beanpot since 2015 last February.
“Hopefully we can keep it moving forward. I’m certainly looking forward to it, and I know (BC’s Greg Brown) is as well. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The Commonwealth Avenue rivals renewed acquaintances have met 290 times, and BU swept a two-game series at the end of January.
A fourth meeting could occur in the Beanpot's second Monday as BC and BU will play in opposite semifinal games. Though they have combined for 51 of the first 69 championships, the two teams haven’t gone head to head for the ’Pot since 2016, which was the Eagles’ most recent title year.
Even without York, the sport’s all-time winningest coach on the BC bench now, this stage of the hockey calendar still means one thing to Brown, who assisted York from 2004-18. It’s time to play for trophies.
“The Beanpot really sets the stage for the big games,” Brown (Southboro, Mass.) said. “Those are big games in their own right, but it just ramps up the intensity level for the rest of the season. … It’s a great start to ‘Trophy Season,’ as coach York used to say.”
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BC is looking to wrestle the trophy back from its archrival Terriers. BU beat Northeastern 1-0 on Feb. 14, 2022, as now-junior Dylan Peterson’s goal with 2:46 remaining in regulation clinched the win and stopped the Huskies from becoming the first team to win four straight Beanpots since the Eagles’ run of five in a row from 2010-14.
As far as atmosphere, last February will be hard to top. The return of the tournament after a year’s absence, a sold-out crowd of 17,850 fans, and the photo finish made the 2022 Beanpot one to remember.
“That was my first experience as a coach at the Beanpot, and it was just special,” said Pandolfo, who finished his four-year career (1992-96) under Parker with the first two of BU’s six straight Beanpots. “It was the first time it felt ‘back to normal’ (after the COVID year). You could feel that energy. I was lucky enough to play in the old Boston Garden, so it reminded me of the old days. … Talking to some different people, they felt like the Beanpot was back.”
Hockey fans all over New England certainly would sign up for another thriller like last year’s, which marked the second straight Beanpot title game played between the Terriers and Huskies that was decided by one goal.
It was a memorable win for BU in more ways than one.
Five different players scored goals over the two games. Now-junior Vinny Duplessis backstopped the Terriers to both wins — including the first championship game shutout since 2016 — while classmate Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.) was representing the United States at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
The lessons learned throughout that title run didn’t result in a national tournament appearance last season but have carried over to the latest BU squad, which has formed a deep lineup and benefited from the emergence of freshmen like Lane Hutson, who, through Jan. 16, led Hockey East defensemen in scoring.
“We know what type of team we can be if we stick to our system and play a direct game as a five-man unit,” said BU assistant captain Jay O’Brien (Hingham, Mass.). “I think we executed that to a ’T’ in both games (in last year’s Beanpot). … A lot of guys have stepped up, which is obviously big for a team that has high hopes. This is the best team I’ve been on in terms of skill, talent and compete level.”
BC has run into a rut lately. They are 0-4-2 in their last six games.
“It was a little bit of a slow start with a new coach and new systems, but now we’re all confident and I think we can make a run here, game by game, focusing on what we can control,” BC defenseman and captain Marshall Warren said.
Brown knows a thing or two about bringing the Eagles onto big stages, having been a part of seven Beanpots, seven regular-season championships and six tournament championships in Hockey East, and four national championships during his tenure as York’s assistant or associate head coach.
The majority of those BC teams were competitive in Hockey East and nationally, whether or not there were championships to show off at the end. Like York taught, the Beanpot always was the first precursor for bigger games on the horizon.
“If we were good enough to be competing for championships, the Beanpot was a great introduction to the intensity and the commitment (you need),” Brown said. “Whether you won or lost, your team learned a lot about themselves. When you were fortunate enough to win, you gained that extra confidence that you can succeed in a tournament setting.”
Chasing trophies won’t be the same without the legendary York at the helm, but many of his lessons will live on through his veteran defenseman and longtime assistant as the biggest games of the season draw near.
While York’s trophy case was full, the Beanpot always was special.
“Before games (on a big stage), he would always tell us to play within ourselves and not to make the moment bigger than it has to be,” Warren said. “He’s a legend. He was in a lot of tournaments, but the Beanpot meant a lot to him and the players. … It’s the chance to win Boston.”
For locals like O’Brien and the coaches at each end of Commonwealth Avenue, Beanpot memories have spanned for decades.
“I went to the Beanpot every year with my dad and my grandfather for as long as I can remember, so I was a local kid who dreamed of playing in it,” O’Brien said. “There’s so much history, and you know so many people who have played or coached in it. … Stepping on that ice was pretty cool. It was a lot to soak in during warmups.”
Things will be different now, but the tournament remains the same.
New era. Same ol’ Beanpot.
