By Jill Saftel, News Staff
While Northeastern men’s hockey is in the thick of conference play, Monday will bring a break from Hockey East and a trip to the TD Garden. It’s a tournament rich in tradition, dating back to Dec. 26, 1952. And whether it’s loved more in 2013 for that tradition or for the rowdy student sections, the first two Mondays in February are reserved for the annual Beanpot Tournament.
“This tournament obviously brings a special feeling to all of our players,” head coach Jim Madigan said at Wednesday’s Beanpot luncheon. “We have not had the chance to win this tournament. Our players are excited about it.”
Northeastern has not won since the 36th Beanpot in 1988 with a 6-3 win over Boston University, and the fewest tournament titles overall with four. Boston University owns the top spot with 29 titles, Boston College trails with 17 and Harvard University has 10.
While those numbers leave Northeastern at the bottom of the barrel, each year brings a fresh start to the tournament. If you haven’t seen much college hockey this season but still plan to make the trip to the TD Garden, here’s a breakdown of each team the Huskies could potentially face in the Beanpot, and how they’ve fared against Northeastern going into Monday’s competition:
Boston University
BU poses the first challenge for the Huskies, as the teams will face off at 5 p.m. Monday in the first round of the tournament. Oddly enough, Northeastern captain Vinny Saponari is the only current Northeastern player to have won the Beanpot – and he did it as a Terrier.
The two teams have seen each other only once this season, Jan. 18 at Agganis Arena. With an early lead, the Huskies allowed BU to rally but left Commonwealth Avenue with a victory following late-game heroics from Saponari, who scored the game winner with two minutes and three seconds left in regulation.
If the Huskies want a shot at the hardware, they’ll have to take down the 13-9-1 Terriers first in a classic Beanpot dog fight.
Boston College
The Eagles, who have won the last three consecutive Beanpots, are sitting in first in Hockey East and tied for fifth in the pairwise rankings, which determine NCAA Tournament matchups. Even with a 14-7-2 overall record, BC has struggled recently, dropping four of their last five matchups.
Against the Huskies, the Eagles are 2-1 this year. Northeastern took the first game of the season series 3-1, but dropped the next two 3-0 and 9-3. However, the Huskies will only see the Eagles in the second round of the Beanpot; in the finals round if Northeastern defeats BU and BC defeats Harvard, or in the consolation round if both teams lose.
Harvard University
Harvard joins Northeastern in the bottom half of the Beanpot pack, as the tournament is known more for its BC vs. BU showdowns. The Huskies traveled to Cambridge to face the Crimson in their first game back from holiday break and walked away with a 5-1 non-conference win, as Harvard is the only Beanpot competitor not in Hockey East and instead competes in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
In its loss to Northeastern, Harvard was missing freshman forward Jimmy Vesey, who was competing in the World Junior Championships tournament in Ufa, Russia, with fellow Beanpot competitor, BC Eagle Johnny Gaudreau.
Harvard is on a six-game losing streak with a 5-13-1 overall record, and will face BC in the first round.
“Our players are looking forward to putting their mark on this tournament,” Madigan said. “We have been to the finals, we have had some tough losses, last year we didn’t play well. We are really looking forward to being able to come in and show the rest of Boston that Northeastern is a good hockey club and that we can do well in this tournament.”
