By Sam Dykstra/DFP Staff
No. 14 Boston University men’s hockey coach Jack Parker will complete his 38th Beanpot tournament Monday night when his Terriers finish taking the ice against cross-river foe Harvard University. But for just the sixth time in Parker’s illustrious career, his squad will be competing in the annual tournament’s consolation game.
When asked what’s different between playing for a forgettable third place at 4:30 p.m. and the historic trophy at 7:30, Parker’s answer was quick and succinct.
“Everything.
“Because of the atmosphere, it’s hard to tell yourself that it means something, but it means a lot. It’s worse than the first game of the Beanpot on the first night. If you were at the Northeastern-Harvard game last Monday, there was hardly anybody there for the first half of the game. It’s like they started an exhibition game, and all of a sudden the crowd shows up. It’ll be even worse than that.”
But the Terriers (14-8-7, 11-5-5 Hockey East) feel they have enough both physically and mentally not to fall to the lowly Crimson (4-18-1, 3-13-1 ECAC) and finish fourth for just the second time under Parker’s reign.
Anyone planning on wasting their time at this game today?
The over-under for the number of people in the stands for the start of the BU game is 3.
All 3 will be Parker Suck Ups hoping to get Parker to give them a wink and smile on Valentine’s Day!
Shouldn’t the headline be: “Terriers play Harvard for last place”?
No it is the third place game if you had any common sense. I am going to the game today because I am actually a true fan of the team and there will be others there with me because BU has a loyal fan base unlike BC where the kids only show up when the teams are very good or the game is televised. Also, Northeastern only sold half of their tickets for last week’s game and now they are all hopping on the bandwagon for this week. Not saying it will be packed or close to it at 430 but there will be more than 3 people there.