Hockey East Semi Finals, March 16, 2007
Fleet Center, BAL 307 Row 10
Boston College v University of New Hampshire
BC wins championship 5-2.
Monday
Hockey East Finals
Hockey East Finals, March 15, 2003 University of New Hampshire v Boston University
Fleet Center, Sec 125 Row D
Last night in the balcony (not the old bar on Rt 1 in Danvers), tonight in the good seats. Only bad thing about seeing a double OT game in the semis is you think the next game you go to will never live up to that excitement.
Defenseman Tyson Teplitsky's end-to-end rush at 11:43 of overtime propelled top-seeded New Hampshire to a 1-0 victory over fifth-seeded Boston University before 16,763 at the FleetCenter in Saturday's championship game of the 2003 Hockey East Tournament. Teplitsky's backhander deflected past Terrier Sean Fields and gave the Wildcats their second-consecutive league tournament title.
In stark contrast to the two semifinal games which saw 20 goals between them and scores of 5-4 and 6-5 (OT), neither team was able to crack the scoreboard in regulation of the championship tilt.
Boston University (24-13-3) carried play in the opening period, showing no signs of fatigue after playing the longest semifinal in Hockey East Tournament history (85:00) the previous night. The Terriers out-shot the Wildcats, 12-5, and continually kept play in the UNH zone, but was able to generate any quality scoring opportunities in the first 20:00.
New Hampshire (25-7-6) played a role-reversal in the second period, dominating play and out-shooting the Terriers, 14-4. UNH had two prime scoring opportunities, both stopped by Fields. At 11:25, Sean Collins fed Steve Saviano who one-timed a shot from the right face-off circle. Jim Abbott had an open net at 13:55, but his shot from the doorstep of the crease was picked out of the air by Fields, who was sprawled on the ice. Both squads successfully killed penalties in the final four minutes of the stanza.
UNH continued to apply strong pressure to open the third as the line of Lanny Gare - Josh Prudden - Colin Hemingway posted a flurry of five shots on one shift. The Wildcats out-shot the Terriers 12-4 in the third for a 31-20 advantage at the end of regulation.
BU had its best scoring chance of the night with 4:00 remaining in regulation. Kenny Magowan came down the left wing and got off a far-angle shot which Wildcat netminder Michael Ayers saved. With the net open on the far side, the rebound kicked directly to Frantisek Skladany streaking in from the slot, but the puck skipped over his stick to negate the scoring chance.
New Hampshire applied mounting pressure in overtime, out-shooting the Terriers 12-4 in the extra session.
Ayers made 24 saves and moved his record to 24-7-6. He recorded the first shutout in Hockey East Tournament championship-game history. Fields finished the game with 40 saves and moved his record to 23-12-3.
Fields was voted the William Flynn Most Valuable Player by the media. He recorded 86 saves during the championship weekend, while allowing only six goals during the championship weekend. Joining Fields on the 2003 Hockey East All-Tournament Team were teammate Justin Maiser; UNH's Garrett Stafford and Steve Saviano; and UMass's Thomas Pöck and Stephen Werner.
TOURNAMENT NOTES
Boston University goaltender Sean Fields was voted the William Flynn Most Valuable Player by the media. He recorded 86 saves during the championship weekend, while allowing only six goals during the championship weekend.
Joining Fields on the 2003 Hockey East All-Tournament Team were defensemen Garrett Stafford (UNH) and Thomas Pöck (UMass); and forwards Justin Maiser (BU), Steve Saviano (UNH) and Stephen Werner (UMass).
New Hampshire is the league's first back-to-back tournament champion since Boston College, which won the 1998 and 1999 postseason titles.
Boston University made its first appearance in the championship game since 1997, when it defeated UNH - 4-2 - for its fifth title.
The Terriers were also the first team to play three overtime sessions in one tournament.
17,565 see Hockey East Semi Finals
Hockey East Semi Finals, March 14, 2003
University of New Hampshire v UMass
Boston University v Boston College
Fleet Center, BAL326 Row 10
I held off on going to home Bruins games after they moved from the build 8 feet away from the outer walls of the new Fleet Center. I broke down and started going to see college games.
The building is nice but lacks character. The only difference between this building and a Wachovia Center in Philadelphia is the color of the seats and the logo painted at center ice.
College games have an atmosphere with the students yelling and dueling bands playing.
Friday night is a long day for me. Fly into Boston, catch some beers for lunch and dinner, then to the Fleet Center. The stands are mostly empty as the first game of the double header starts at 5pm.
The first game was UNH v UMASS.
NOTES – Of the 2171:09 minutes UMass played this season, the Minutemen led for only 615:09. They never led in this game...UNH is 8-0-2 when sophomore Tim Horst registers a point. He scored the Wildcats’ first goal...UNH was 1-for-4 on the power play after coming into the game scoring on 45.5% of tournament power play opportunities...UMass’ Stephen Werner (2G, 1A) finished his freshman season with 38 points in 37 games.
The night cap saw BU taking on the favorite BC.
See-saws had fewer ups and downs than tonight's Boston College-Boston University Hockey East tournament semifinal game. In the end, it was two guys familiar with Fleet Center heroics who led the Terriers to victory in a 6-5 double overtime thriller, the longest semifinal game in conference tournament history.
University of New Hampshire v UMass
Boston University v Boston College
Fleet Center, BAL326 Row 10
I held off on going to home Bruins games after they moved from the build 8 feet away from the outer walls of the new Fleet Center. I broke down and started going to see college games.
The building is nice but lacks character. The only difference between this building and a Wachovia Center in Philadelphia is the color of the seats and the logo painted at center ice.
College games have an atmosphere with the students yelling and dueling bands playing.
Friday night is a long day for me. Fly into Boston, catch some beers for lunch and dinner, then to the Fleet Center. The stands are mostly empty as the first game of the double header starts at 5pm.
The first game was UNH v UMASS.
Even in defeat, the Massachusetts Minutemen made a lasting impression.
Trailing 2-0 and 4-2 against top-seeded New Hampshire, UMass responded with a pair of goals each time and was minutes away from forcing overtime in its Hockey East tournament semifinal game.
Don Cahoon’s youthful bunch was shaky at times and unable to consistently clear the puck while shorthanded, but they showed the kind of pluck that will carry them back into the Fleet Center in the future.
“He’s brought them to a new level,” said UNH coach Dick Umile about Cahoon. “There’s a lot of excitement in their program.”
UMass senior captain Tim Turner, who enjoyed his first winning season with the Minutemen, agreed.
“We started off with a lot of new faces in the locker room,” he explained, “but we turned out to be a really good team. The credit for that goes to the coaches.
“To come back from being two down twice against UNH is amazing. This program is only going to go up and I can’t wait to one day watch them in the Frozen Four.”
After a solid first 10 minutes, UMass found themselves in a two-goal hole when UNH scored a pair just 62 seconds apart.
“The first time we were down two, it was a matter of getting used to playing in this building," said Hockey East rookie points leader Stephen Werner. "We had to get the butterflies out of us. We were able to settle down going into the second period.”
“I’m happy we didn’t melt after the first two goals,” Cahoon said. “Our credo all year has been ‘Let’s not play to the scoreboard, boys, let’s just play the game.’”
UMass responded in the middle frame with two goals of its own, led by Werner’s first of the game and leading scorer Greg Mauldin’s power play marker.
UNH regained the lead on third-period goals by Tyler Scott and Steve Saviano, but once again UMass seemed unfazed.
Werner halved the Wildcat lead less than two minutes after Saviano's tally with his second of the game and the team’s second with the man advantage. On the ensuing faceoff, UNH over-committed in the neutral zone, giving UMass an odd-man rush that ended with Turner wristing home a cross-ice pass from Mike Warner.
“That was probably the best goal I’ve ever scored,” said the Saginaw, Mich., native. “To see the puck go in the net and the crown rise up was amazing.”
The game remained knotted at four until UNH’s Preston Callander’s wrist shot found room between UMass goaltender Gabe Winer and the far post with 2:29 to play.
UMass had entered the contest knowing it needed to shut down UNH’s dynamic duo of Lanny Gare and Colin Hemingway. And while it succeeded in that effort, the Wildcats’ got goals from five different players and points from the other three lines.
“We’re getting good balance down the stretch,” said Umile. “All our lines are scoring and that’s important this time of year.”NOTES – Of the 2171:09 minutes UMass played this season, the Minutemen led for only 615:09. They never led in this game...UNH is 8-0-2 when sophomore Tim Horst registers a point. He scored the Wildcats’ first goal...UNH was 1-for-4 on the power play after coming into the game scoring on 45.5% of tournament power play opportunities...UMass’ Stephen Werner (2G, 1A) finished his freshman season with 38 points in 37 games.
The night cap saw BU taking on the favorite BC.
See-saws had fewer ups and downs than tonight's Boston College-Boston University Hockey East tournament semifinal game. In the end, it was two guys familiar with Fleet Center heroics who led the Terriers to victory in a 6-5 double overtime thriller, the longest semifinal game in conference tournament history.
“If you tell me it’s going to be 6-5,” said BU coach Jack Parker, “then I figure we lose. This was not the game we wanted to play. It was wide open and almost like there was nothing I could do. We tried to slow it down.”
Forward Justin Maiser, whose history of scoring big goals at the Fleet Center (Boston Bruins, take note) includes the OT winner in the 2002 Beanpot championship, tallied the deciding goal tonight to cap a three-goal, four-point performance.
“In overtime, both of my linemates (Brian McConnell and Mark Mullen) played well and fast on that last shift,” said Maiser. “I was just screaming in front of the net and shot it as hard as I could.”
BU Goaltender Sean Fields, the MVP of the '03 Beanpot, was stellar in both the third period and in the first overtime, consistently turning aside Boston College rushes with a quick glove and solid positioning.
“I was real impressed with Sean tonight,” said Parker, “especially in the second half of the game. He pulled it together and decided that [the five goals] was enough.”
The teams played to an even first period, with BU's Brian Collins scoring just 43 seconds in on a shot that squeezed through the pads of goalie Matti Kaltiainen. BC sophomore Ned Havern answered back with his fourth of the season to even the score midway through the period.
The Eagles and Terriers combined for four goals in the first 4:07 of the second period. BU got goals from Mike Bussoli and Brad Zancanaro, while Chris Collins and Ty Hennes scored for BC. Maiser scored his first goal with three and a half minutes left in the second to give BU a 4-3 lead after 40 minutes of play.
BC tied the game at four on a Tony Voce power play goal 7:18 into the third period, and eventually went ahead on Voce’s second of the game less than five minutes later. But with less than four minutes to go in regulation, Maiser notched his second of the contest to send the game into overtime.
“All I could think about was that [quadruple] overtime game against St. Lawrence,” said Parker in reference to the Terriers’ NCAA East Regional classic of 2000. “But we had more legs and jump as the game progressed.”
Fields dominated the first overtime, stopping Voce, Ryan Shannon and Ryan Murphy on point-blank opportunities within a span of 2:37. He stopped 15 shots in the period and a tournament record-tying 46 overall.
The announced sell-out crowd of 17,565 at the Fleet Center Friday was the largest in Hockey East tournament history, breaking last year's mark of 15,683.
Sunday
Legion of Doom Strikes
New York Rangers v Philadelphia Flyers, March 13, 1995Spectrum, Section 48 Row 8
No better vantage point for a Flyers Rangers battle then the cheap seats. That is where the real fans sit. No corduroy rubbing going on up here.
The Blue Shirts had a little red added their jerseys this night. With three quick Flyers goals, one from Mikael Renberg at the 3:00 mark,Anatoli Semenov at 3:39 and Eric Lindros at 4:20 the Rangers needed a spark. And it takes a leader to jump in to get things started. Blue Shirt captain Mark Messier dropped the gloves with Flyer Kevin Haller shortly after going down 3-0.
With a frenzied Spectrum erupting, Flyers Shawn Antoski squared off against Nick Kypreos a few minutes later. Chippy play reigned supreme with several other interference and roughing penalties before the first intermission.
The captain's effort paid off. The Rangers came out strong in the 2nd with short handed goal at 2:52 into period from Messier himself. Midway through the 2nd, Glen Featherstone pulled the Rangers within one goal and future Hall of Famer Brian Leetch tied the game up at the 14:00 mark.
The 3rd period was a nail biter with both teams playing more conservative, not wanting to make a mistake that could lead to a game winning goal.
With less than 4 minutes left in regulation The Legion of Doom struck when Mikael Renberg teamed up with Eric Lindros to feed John LeClair on the game winner.
Dominic Roussel outshined local product Mike Richter in the nets this evening in front of a whipped up, rare attendance of over 18,000 at the Spectrum.
Battle of Comm Av
Boston University v Boston College, March 12, 2004Conte Forum, Section I Row 9
The Big East quarter finals surrounded by SuperFraud BC fans.
In the Best of Three playoff series, BU already won game 1 the night before 3-2 at Conte. A BU win would propel BU into the semis next weekend at the TD Bank Garden. A loss would force a Game 3 back home.
BC shut out the Terriers 4-0 this night to force a Game 3, which BU eventually won 4-2. BU was knocked off by Maine 1-0 in the Hockey East semi finals the following week.
Capital Hat Trick
Washington Capitals v Philadelphia Flyers, March 11, 1993Spectrum, Section Y Row 14
My third post in a row regarding the Washington Capitals. Truth be known, the Caps were never a draw and even though DC is only 2 hours away from Philadelphia, Caps fans never traveled well. Hence, an easy ticket.
The first two periods saw a barrage of minor penalties, fruitless powerplays and goose eggs on the scoreboard.
The third period started 0-0. And it took half way through the period before Mark Recchi put the Flyers up 1-0. Rod Brind'Amour netted an insurance goal five minutes later and Eric Lindros sealed the deal with an empty netter to close out the game.
Flyers goalie Tommy Soderstrom stopped 36 or 36 shots he faced.
17,322 were on hand.
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