In the words of legendary Boston College head coach Jerry York (Watertown, Mass.), not having a Beanpot tournament on the first two Mondays of last February “left a little void in all of us.”
That void is finally about to be filled as the beloved Boston tradition returns for the first time in two years. The 69th edition of the tournament will take place on Feb. 7 (semifinals) and Feb. 14 (consolation and championship games) at TD Garden.
The first Beanpot following a COVID-impacted college hockey season unlike any other will be a tournament unlike any other. All four teams are set to lose key pieces to the Olympics — seven players between the four teams, including two team captains and two starting goaltenders — for the majority of February.
Every Beanpot seems to produce an unsung hero or two, so expect nothing different this time around.
Boston College
York’s Boston College team will be looking for a quick turnaround when “trophy season” begins as it had fallen into a tie for seventh in Hockey East after an 0-5-1 start to January. The Eagles have the largest Olympic contingent as seniors Marc McLaughlin (North Billerica, Mass.) and Jack McBain — who have scored 30 combined goals to rank first and third in the conference, respectively — and junior defenseman Drew Helleson all will depart for Beijing. Senior defenseman Jack St. Ivany is the top point producer other than those three, and senior Patrick Giles has the team’s third-leading goal total with nine. Bruins prospect Trevor Kuntar has already surpassed his 10-point freshman year. BC will need better goaltending down the stretch as sophomore Henry Wilder (Needham, Mass.) and senior Eric Dop have a combined .884 save percentage.
Boston University
Boston University owns the Beanpot’s longest current drought, having lost in four of the last five title games to go without one of its record 30 championships since 2015. The Terriers went 4-1 to begin January as part of an eight-game unbeaten streak. Junior Domenick Fensore leads the Terriers in scoring from the back end, while 2021 Bruins draftee Ty Gallagher has been the team’s top rookie and has a three-point game on his résumé this season. Center Jay O’Brien (Hingham, Mass.) returned from injury to begin the second semester and provided a spark with points in four of five games. Sophomore Vinny Duplessis and junior Ashton Abel — the latter who played in the 2020 Beanpot — both have experience in net and will take over for Olympian Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.).
Harvard
Even without leading scorers and soon-to-be Olympians in junior captain Nick Abruzzese and sophomore Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.), Harvard will still pack a scoring punch as its 3.44 goals per game ranked third in ECAC Hockey and tops among the Beanpot schools entering the last week of January. Four others contributed double-digit points to a team that scored at least four goals in eight of its first 16 games. Senior Casey Dornbach and freshman Matthew Coronato will continue to be counted upon as top-line players, while sophomore Alex Laferriere was the first to score 10 goals. Junior Henry Thrun (Southboro, Mass.) leads a back end that includes five prospects. Mitchell Gibson has been steady in net and will look to backstop the Crimson to its first ’Pot since 2017.
Northeastern
After going 30 years without a Beanpot title, Northeastern has won three straight for the first time and looks to extend the longest run since BC’s five in a row from 2010-14. Junior Aidan McDonough (Milton, Mass.) was second in Hockey East with 16 goals in 23 games, but the Huskies have created incredible depth through early injuries. Freshman center Justin Hryckowian and sophomore Gunnarwolfe Fontaine (East Greenwich, R.I.) are the top assist men. Sophomore Devon Levi leads the nation in shutouts and save percentage, but the Canadian Olympian will leave a big hole in goal as junior Evan Fear and freshman TJ Semptimphelter saw their first action in a Jan. 22 loss to UMass. Senior captain Jordan Harris (Haverhill, Mass.), who was reportedly among U.S. Olympic alternates, leads the defense with a plus-11 rating and 14 points.
Semifinal Round
Monday, Feb. 7
Boston University vs. Harvard, 5 p.m.
Boston College vs. Northeastern, 8 p.m.
Championship Round
Monday, Feb. 14
Consolation Game, 4:30 p.m.
Championship Game, 7:30 p.m.
