After the Recent Week in BU Hockey

First things first, I want to take a personal timeout to admit that yes, I opened my mouth too soon on the Corey Trivino case.  I still stand by what I said, but please don't take that as me hating Trivino himself.  I honestly have looked up to that kid and rather than shame him in his fall from grace, I wish him nothing but the best in life.  I really hope to see him turn it around.

Now, as for the Coyle news.  First of all, best of luck to him.  I understand it hurts, though.  I admit I don't fully get the stories and why a BU baby would turn his back on the place he grew up loving.

But as for the rest of us.  I know people who have sat in the stands way back in Walter Brown Arena cheering on Chris Drury on his senior night.  I know people who have spent the first semester of this year asking me how you even play hockey.  And I know everyone in between.

Especially after this week, it's really hard to be optimistic.  We lost two good guys on the ice and the players on the team have lost two of their best friends.

But that is it.  The school didn't go up in flames.  Our program didn't fold.  We've still got Parker and you know what, in Parker I still and will always trust.

To everyone that feels like they've been hurt by these departures - stop.  Go in your closet, get out whatever Scarlet and White you have, and put it on.  This is your school.  This is your team.  You can't pick a new one and you sure as hell shouldn't want to.  Get your game face on, get your fire burning, get your passion back. Come second semester, we've got some demons of our own to fend off.  Northeastern fans, UML fans, UMass fans - they're all going to try and get under our skin.

To which I say, let 'em try.

If this doesn't bring the student section together, nothing will.  We can't give up faith.  If Matt Nieto is the reason you know we've still got offensive skill, I better hear you scream when he scores.  If you just want a good ol' Massachusetts boy to get behind, don't you dare forget about Garrett Noonan.  If you want senior leadership - look at Chris Connolly and remember that despite the troubles in finding the back of the net, he always comes out with fire, pride, and passion for the sweater.

The Dog Pound is a place where we should all feel at home.  A home in which we lose our voices, meet our best friends, and hate on that hellhole that is BC.  A home where we don't know each other's names, but where each other sits.  A home where we all have different beliefs and ideas, but where we all know that Teglia sucks.  Both Milner AND Billett suck.  That Cannata sucks (yeah he does, kiss my ass Merrimack).

Whatever.  Let the circumstances take two.  We've still got 24 and they need our support more than ever.  Wear your jersey.  Get a jersey.  Get a Scarlet tshirt.  Show up to the rest of the season.  Show up to any games.  Get your Beanpot tickets.  Start a chant.  Join in on one.  Exchange high-fives as a crowd goal celly.

Do it all.  This is your school.  This is your team.  Believe it or not, those are your boys.

Once a Terrier, always a Terrier, shut up and act like one.

Harvard - MBB - 12/10/11

BU vs. Harvard Men's Basketball, 12/10/11 - Agganis Arena, Boston, MA


Bottom Line: Harvard beats BU 76-52

The Memories: BU hosts a ranked team for the first time since 2003 / Coach Jones takes the end of the game to give the rest of the bench a shot to play / Agganis Arena seems pretty full - of fairly pathetic BU fans and too much Crimson

I'm going to take the time to commend the good about this game.  First things first, I'm not going to acknowledge the quality of the crowd, but damn, was there a crowd.  I'm sure most of that can be attributed to the fact that we were playing a ranked opponent that happened to be right across the river, but I don't really care.  I was honestly convinced that things like the America East Championships and the home opener against Northeastern were never going to happen again.  But hey, I couldn't be happier to be wrong.

The men's basketball team deserves to have a crowd behind them.  If you haven't taken the time to go see those guys in person, you need to.  I don't think I've ever seen a person get more fired up than I've seen Matt Griffin get.  I don't think I've ever seen a more consistent and humble person than John Holland.  I don't care how BU ranks nationally in terms of basketball.  No, we're never going to be Kentucky.  No, we'll never have a rivalry like Duke/UNC.  But in America East, holy hell do we hold our own.  And then some.  That alone is exciting and worth going to a game to see.

Now, for the not so good.  First things first, let me take the time to say that I whole heartedly respect any student that comes out to a game.  Even if you're sitting down and falling asleep, you're showing (some) support for a group of your classmates that deserve it.  Now let me say that I obviously love the hockey Dog Pound because of its size and creativity.  But, last year's basketball Dog Pound was probably the greatest group of students I have gotten to see in action.

Last year's basketball Dog Pound was just...I don't know, probably off their rocker.  They never stopped cheering and freaking out even if the basketball team was dying on the floor.  That's what's huge about basketball.  No glass, close proximity.  Anything the student section chants is without a doubt heard.  Basketball players take that as pure fuel and absolutely thrive off of it.  Last year was absolutely on point.  I remember specifically when we were in Hartford, those kids were going crazy.  First of all, they were spitting fire for both the men's and women's team and wouldn't stop screaming until both games were over.  I also remember that in between games (not sure which two) they managed to grab a bunch of generic signs that whoever was sponsoring the games was giving out and they used the back to make some of the stupidest and most awesome BU signs.  I really can't remember what most of them said, but I do specifically remember the "BU Male Dance Team" sign that made an appearance every time the cheerleaders or the dance team of the opposite school performed.  I literally have never been more into a game (and this includes the America East Championships and any hockey game) than the BU vs. BU game at the end of Hartford weekend last year.  And it was because of that student section.

Now, yesterday.

Well, I don't really have anything positive to say.

For anyone that wasn't there, Harvard students managed to fill almost an entire section.  And as stupid and unintelligible as they were, they were louder than we were.  Much louder.

And now here's where I talk about the men's crew team.

Okay, so, I'm convinced these kids know close to nothing about sports.  But as I said, I have so much respect for anyone that even shows up to a game.  So despite the fact that they chant literally the dumbest things I've ever heard, good for them for making noise.  Even if you yourself think they chant the dumbest things, you should still pay attention because once in a while they actually say something normal.  Yesterday they chanted players names after they scored.  No reason for anyone not to join in on that chant.

That's just the thing.  There are a few brave souls who decide, "hey, I'm going to start a chant."  Then everyone else should, completely should, join in.  The people that start chants, for the most part, start chants that make sense and work.  Every chant should erupt after that one kid starts it.  I'm sick of lackadaisical fans that sit there with their arms crossed and don't really say anything.  You've got a mouth, you've got hands, you bought a sports pass to be here, put all that stuff to good use.  Oh, unless a kid starts a scoreboard chant before it's appropriate.  Then by all means punch the kid in the face.

Basketball, especially when it's played at Agganis, gives the fans the opportunity to literally be on top of the players.  Everything you say they hear and you can see that all over their faces.  So in a game when they really needed fire and they really needed something to play for, most of Agganis was quiet.

BC - MIH - 12/2/11 & 12/3/11

BU vs. BC Men’s Ice Hockey, 12/2/11 - Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA and 12/3/11 - Agganis Arena, Boston, MA

Bottom Line:  BU beats BC 5-3 / BC beats BU 6-1

The Memories:  In Friday night's game, BU's goaltending was the only reason for a win / In Saturday night's game, Millan gets pulled in favor of Rollheiser in the third / The Dog Pound basically makes Conte Forum our house, just to lose Agganis the next night

Although this should really be two separate posts, I decided to combine them considering the games were pretty much in stark contrast of each other.  But first, for the good.

Obviously Friday night's game was huge.  After the Terriers came in and took the win a mere two weeks ago, they were hungry for some more eagle in the second of three regular season meetings for the two.  But who was even hungrier?  The BU Dog Pound.

First things first, the DOS office is literally going up high on my list.  Finally we were all able to be a part of something as ridiculous as four Peter Pan fan buses bussing up us to Newton after a pep rally at T's.  Just made BC week that much sweeter.

Rushing into BC's campus with 200+ of your not closest friends is something you can't comprehend until you do it.  That's 200+ people who don't know your name, but know the words to your favorite chant.  200+ people who have no idea what your major is or how fat your scholarships are, but are still going to high five you and scream in your face after BU takes care of business.

The game itself, hockey wise, was strange, stupid, ridiculous, and whatever else you want to call it.  If you look at the box score, you'll see BU had a little trouble staying out of the penalty box (while BC had trouble coping with the fact that they didn't make the cut of the BC swimming and diving team) and didn't get enough shots on goal.  But we still walked away with a win.

I have to attribute some of that win to the fan base.

The players, coaches, and fans alike have been ranting and raving about the fan support of this team lately, especially for this upcoming weekend.  And if we can limit BC to scoring on only 2 out of 11 power play opportunities, you know what, some of it's gotta come from the stands. As much as we dread having to continually "Ole", maybe it's just what the Terrier PK needed.

Anyways, from the absolute beginning we took over anything the Boston College Superfrauds even attempted.  Did they even cheer?  I swear, ask anybody in the Dog Pound and I guarantee you they'll tell you we were the only people in the place.  From the beginning when we had the lead and even when we fell within 2 goals, the Dog Pound was literally never fazed.  The chant of the night "This is our House", basically became fact as BC fans starting spilling out of Conte as early as a few plays into the third period.  The Terrier fans?  There to the end, even when the game got a little scary.

Fast forward just about 24 hours later and you have the second match up against the two teams, this time with the Terriers wearing white and and with the Eagles walking away with two points.

Yes, Agganis was packed.  And yes, I know it's hard to keep up cheering momentum when your team starts down from the beginning and doesn't have a lead all game.  But coming off a huge Friday night win, added on to the win from earlier that day in basketball, and in addition to the win from back in November, the fans should've been rabid.  There were close to no Superfans in sight.  We basically could've had open season on BC.  Yet we failed to make Agganis arena an intimidating place to play.

Here's the thing.  Players should absolutely fear coming here.  Our fans, when on, are on.  They're creative, witty, and are true fans of the sport.  Agganis Arena, although it might not be old time hockey, is still a gorgeous place to play.  And our team, despite some inconsistencies, is still continually making a name for themselves.

But we can't really capitalize on that and make the Greek hell for opposing teams.  The only time players hate playing at Agganis is when our team is laying into them and the chants are coming easy to the Dog Pound.  But for the most part, the atmosphere at Agganis is sometimes laughable.

With the strength and tradition of our team, I should never go to a game and hear the players yelling on the ice.  If they're louder than the 2,000-6,000 in attendance, we've got some serious problems.  Everyone who has been a long-term fan of BU hockey wants Walter Brown and the feelings it brought to our team back.  We want to be on top of the plays and feel the hits.  But I'm so sick and tired of buying into the bull that comes along with new and flashy Agganis.  It's the fans that have changed.  Who honestly cares where the team's playing?  It's hockey.  Thrown some god damn ice down and we should be all set.

So, in short, we need to bring the venom from away games to the home arena.  We need to feel like we're in constant competition with our rival fans, even if we're outnumbering them by some ridiculous amount.  I have to admit, what I was seeing from 108 at the end of the game was a step in the right direction.  There were only a few minutes left in the game, but when some Superfans tried to mess with the 108, they didn't care what the scoreboard said, they were still going to let those t-shirt clad tools know who was boss.  THAT is what I like to see.  THAT is what Agganis should be all night, every night.

One day, Agganis might prove a scary place to skate.  But for now, what we've got going on in enemy territory is quite a start.

Cornell - MIH - 11/26/11

BU vs. Cornell Men’s Ice Hockey (Red Hot Hockey), 11/26/11 - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY


Bottom Line: BU beats Cornell 2-1 (OT)

The Memories: Cornell gets an almost goal on one of the weirdest plays imaginable / Ross Gaudet gets his first of the year in OT (followed by a Tebowing cele - one for the books) / Cornell fans basically wipe the ground with BU fans

This is the post I’ve been waiting to write since I came to BU.  Red Hot Hockey, round three.

First things first, this is one of the best things going for college hockey.  This tradition is one that I hope carries on for a very, very long time.  Giving two (usually) consistent schools in their respective conferences a chance to play on NHL turf in front of a sold-out 18,200 person crowd is unbelievable.  You can’t walk out of that place without having a good time, regardless of if you’re a player, a coach, a fan, a winner, or a loser.

But as far as the fan bases go, Boston University was almost embarrassing.  The worst part is I still cannot figure out why the Big Red Teddy Bears outnumber us.

1) Boston University is actually closer to Madison Square Garden than Cornell University.  Sure, sure, the game fan base is mostly composed of alumni and the time difference between BU to NYC and CU to NYC is only about 15 minutes, but come on.  The most important people at these games are the students, hands down.  Forget the drunk “I graduated 5 years ago and still haven’t found a life” or the “I can’t possibly move on from the glory days so I’ll take it out on these kids that are at least 20 years younger than I am” alumni.  The way this should be is student section versus student section.  And in that respect, the BU student section was less than spectacular.  I admit, there was a bigger showing of fans than I had anticipated, but that also applied to Cornell fans, too.

2) Cornell hasn’t done anything since 1970.  For those keeping count, that puts Cornell 40 years out of their prime, while BU is still chugging along on a three year old Championship (with an additional four since Cornell last held a trophy of relevance).

3) Chris Drury.

4) Red Hot Hockey has been played three times.  For anyone that doesn’t know the track record, after last night, BU’s record is now 2-0-1.  Or, conversely, Cornell’s record: 0-2-1.

5) BU fans, although I can’t speak for them all, are generally respectful people.  Case in point, let’s take my biggest pet peeve with the Cornell fans - screaming red during the National Anthem.  Congratulations, you know your colors (but apparently not your mascot - where the hell does this bear like thing come into play?).  Screaming in any way shape or form during the National Anthem is something I consider completely disrespectful.  Literally one of the worst things I’ve seen at sporting events, except that one time I heard a Celtics fan start a chant in the middle of a moment of silence for MLK.  Anyways.  BU fans do have a problem with “The Song” and yeah, I think we all know that.  But I’ve never heard a louder “f*** ‘em up, f*** ‘em up” than I did last night.  And it wasn’t coming out of our mouths.  Beyond proving that they’re sailor mouths, Cornell fans also proved to me that they’re illiterate on multiple occasions last night, as seen by their whit when every single time a “Go BU” chant broke out, they added in a nice “sucks” in the gap.  Not a sentence *clap* *clap* *clapclapclap*.  Thirdly, unoriginal chant material from these folks.  Why start off the night with a safety school chant?  Beyond that, what’s it like to just chant “Go Big Red” over and over and over again?  At least mix it up with a secondary generic chant.  Hey, that’s what we do.  But despite all of these, Cornell fans sure as hell are loud.  And they clearly enjoyed mopping the floor with us last night.

6) Chris Drury.

7) This is some personal bias coming in now (hey as if the whole blog isn’t biased), but the BU band literally was pulverizing the Cornell band.  The Cornell band director (can we even call that guy flapping his wings over there a director?) didn’t even know when to play and when not to (hint, hint, every other whistle barring goals and penalties).  The band, in my opinion, is the easiest way for a student section to get into a game.  ”The Song” being the most prominent example, obviously.  The BU fans need to harness what is a good but small band and use that to their advantage.

So, despite the fact that this was some incredible hockey to watch (maybe not as a BU fan, however, watching our defense scramble for literally 20 minutes in the third period) and even better to win (definitely not as a Cornell fan, take your fluky non goal and go back to the middle of nowhere), Cornell clearly took the cake in the noise department.  Both hockey teams had their moments, but the one thing that was really Red Hot was the Cornell fans.  And how I hated it.

BU Women’s Ice Hockey

Here it is.  The blog post I’ve waited two years to write.  The blog post that needs to be written.

I cannot fathom, for the life of me, why the women’s ice hockey team has such a poor turnout of fans.  I don’t find validity in the “it’s a women’s team argument” (which sucks in general, by the way) because it doesn’t translate to any other sports in this school.

The most obvious comparison would be men’s and women’s basketball.  Obviously, basketball doesn’t get a killer amount of fans in general (except for the last game/home opener vs. Northeastern - that was mind blowing), but they are faithful fans.  The people that go to men’s basketball also go to women’s basketball and cheer, scream, and chant just as loud.  When they head to Hartford for the playoffs every year, it’s for both teams no matter what.

Now hockey - the school’s money maker.  We couldn’t even get a decent turnout of fans for last year’s game against Mercyhurst that sent us to the Frozen Four in Erie with a victory.  I think there were more Mercyhurst fans there.  Oh, and that Northeastern kid that decided to show up in his Northeastern jersey.  Get those kids away from my campus.

My biggest complaint about this is people who complain about Agganis not having that old time hockey feel.  The fans miss being on top of each other, having every seat filled to the brim, and overall just feeling like a legitimate part of the game.

Well guess what, you can get all of that at Walter Brown Arena.  Everything you miss is at Walter Brown Arena.  And Walter Brown Arena still functions.  It still holds hockey games.  You can still go.  It’s not a non-functioning museum.  It’s still an active hockey rink.

Maybe you don’t like women’s ice hockey.  I admit, of all the sports, I think there’s the biggest discrepancy in the no-checking rule.  Do I agree with that?  Not at all.  I think it changes the integrity of the game and I admit, the physicality is one of my favorite things.  But I still love women’s ice hockey.

People always forget what getting rid of checking adds.  The speed of the game is absolutely ridiculous.  Possession changes happen a lot, but in my opinion, it’s a lot cleaner as well.

But I digress.  Not my place to critique the game on this blog, otherwise I’d be studying sports journalism.  Which, well…let’s just say that’s not my cup of tea.

Anyways, my point is, if you’ve attended a men’s ice hockey game and loved it, get over to Walter Brown and watch a women’s ice hockey game.  Literally, you’ve got nothing to lose.  A lot of the time, you end up with a Saturday afternoon game before a Saturday night men’s game or a Sunday afternoon game after a men’s on Saturday.  Either way, it’s late enough in the afternoon for you not be hungover but not late enough to miss a men’s game.  Make a day out of hockey.

It’s my personal goal to try and increase the attendance at women’s games this year.  For anyone that doesn’t know, they’re probably the best team on campus.  And people suck for not going.  That’s all.

UVM & UNH - MIH - 11/18/11 & 11/19/11

BU vs. UVM and UNH Men’s Ice Hockey, 11/18/11 and 11/19/11 - Agganis Arena, Boston, MA


Bottom Line:  BU beats UVM 4-3 / BU beats UNH 4-1

The Memories:  The success of BU’s PP all of the sudden makes an appearance / The dumb plays and penalties by BU all of the sudden don’t make an appearance / The Dog Pound makes a fool of ourselves on TV and otherwise

Hey, maybe I’m an idealist.  But I sure as hell expected a bigger turnout for this weekend’s men’s ice hockey games after that beauty of a game that was BC.  Especially considering the UVM game was televised.  Congratulations BU, now all NESN viewers can see just how flaky we are.

If you wanted to see a BU win, what was your excuse for not going?  UVM is probably the best (well, worst) opponent in Hockey East that we could be facing right now.  The chances of seeing a win on Friday night were greater than they have been (almost) all year.

If you didn’t want to go to a game on Friday night, hell, you had one on Saturday.  If you didn’t want to go to a game on Saturday, well hello, there was Friday night.

If you just don’t like hockey, why didn’t you go to these games?  People have not shut up about the BU/BC game.  Hockey is this school’s greatest source of student involvement and revenue.  We are located in Boston, where our professional hockey team just came out on top with the Cup.  Even if you hate sports, how could you not be swayed by everyone on campus to at least show up to one game?

So once again, I have this awesome feeling that I’m stuck at a school with such a great potential for athletic support who doesn’t follow through.

Let’s brainstorm some possibilities…

1) BU kids just don’t like sports.  While this could make sense, I just don’t understand why out of 18,000 people, we end up with 2,000 at our school’s biggest sport at best.  But it’s not even just men’s ice hockey.  Almost all of our programs are competing in DI conferences.  No, soccer and softball never draw much attention at schools anywhere.  But I find it near impossible to believe that every team is lacking in attendance for whatever reason.  In my opinion, it’s just a pathetic display of BU pride.

2)  The kids here have no sense of pride for our school.  This one almost seems laughable to me.  Boston University, with its crazy grade deflation and ridiculous cost, is still one of the most attended private schools in one of most college and university populous states relative to its size.  Every one I’ve ever met loves it here, for one reason or another.  From there, sports are one of the easiest ways to involve the student population and draw us all together.  The amount of Scarlet and White I see on a daily basis walking to class is absolutely mind blowing.  Every kid that owns an article of clothing that says “Boston University” anywhere on it should make an effort to attend at least one men’s ice hockey game.  (Believe me, I think they should go to more, but we’ll at least start with the easy stuff).  I think anyone, sports fan or not, can feel an overwhelming sense of pride and a deep connection to the kid sitting next to them by sitting in either 118 or 108 at Agganis.

3) Athletics does a bad job of marketing the games.  This one I’m kind of split on myself.  Yes, men’s ice hockey is the best marketed team on campus.  And yes, Agganis Arena is a beautiful place to be able to go see…something.  But I really can’t help but feel that athletics isn’t doing enough.  No, we can’t walk around and flaunt a National Championship that is now aging almost three years.  We can’t even flaunt a Hockey East championship (that’s pathetic, by the way).  But the things that will never get old - being the winningest team for the annual Beanpot, Travis Roy, oh, AND THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF TEAM.  Obviously, marketing sucks for any and all other teams, but we’ve gotta start somewhere.

4) Athletics sucks at scheduling.  There is no argument against this.  They literally do suck at this.  But this is a topic for another blog.

Something needs to change in the way this school looks at this team and this sport.  And it needs to change now or we literally will never get to another tournament.  No fans means no NCAA.

BC - MIH - 11/13/11

BU vs. BC Men’s Ice Hockey, 11/13/11 - Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA


Bottom Line:  BU beats BC 5-0

The Memories:  BC goes 0 for 8 on the PP / First BU shut out of BC since 1983 / The Dog Pound makes a showing and fills almost an entire section (LL) 

Boston University hockey is historic.  But lately, whatever they happen to be doing with puck is far from hockey.  Anyone who has seen a game this season could agree with that, save for the UNH game and possibly the Denver game.

But lo and behold, the storied rivalry did its job again.  Flocks of diehards and fairweathers alike showed up to support our less than stellar line-up versus the number two team in the country.

And it was wicked awesome.

Under normal circumstances, I’m certain The Dog Pound wouldn’t chant about a person’s religion (well, fairly certain).  But in BC’s house, on a SUNDAY?  That was just gold.  Even when the Superfans tried to tell us “Jesus hates you,” it was no more than a two second pause before we let them know “that’s not Christian.”

Beyond the quality of the BU section chants, there was quantity.  The last two to three minutes of the game was a straight up romping of the BC students.  Everybody wearing Scarlet and White was louder than they have been at any point this year, home or away.

So, in the short term, this is the boost we need.  Men’s ice hockey attendance, relative to the rest of the sports at this school, has never suffered.  But lately, it’s certainly been lagging.  There are already reports that the next BU/BC game at BC (December 2nd) is sold out.  BU students are now going on StubHub and hacking up $30 a ticket before fees just to be apart of, what we hope, to be part two of one of the most brutal season series to date. Not necessarily for the hockey, but for the fans.

Long term, however, I’m still nervous.  A 5-0 blow out is like seeing a unicorn riding a velociraptor.  If the new-to-BU-hockey students think this is what it will always be like, they’ve got a lot to learn.  Just like the freshman class last year who watched a 9-3 killing in the exhibition game at the start of the season.  From here, it’s a two way street.  The team needs us to show up and support them so they can play hard, and skate away with a win, and the fans need to stick around even through the heartbreakers to give them that presence.

All in all, here’s to looking forward, first and foremost to Friday night’s game versus Vermont.  Vermont, an absolute bottom dweller, could possibly shock us just like the Holy Crosses and UMass Lowells of the world.  But hey, one step at a time.