By Tim Healey/DFP Staff
NEW YORK – This week, as his team prepared to play the third edition of Red Hot Hockey in The City That Never Sleeps, BU coach Jack Parker might have lost a little sleep over a seemingly minor decision: the fourth line right wing.
It was a choice between junior Ross Gaudet and freshman Evan Rodrigues. A choice between an experienced vet fighting for his spot in the lineup week-to-week and an impressive rookie with three-plus long years ahead of him. A choice between a player without a point this season and one with four assists in his last five games.
Parker ended up going with the former in the game-day decision, and it paid off. Gaudet scored the game-winning overtime goal Saturday night in the No. 15 Boston University men’s hockey team’s 2-1 win over No. 17 Cornell University at Madison Square Garden.
But, as Parker later explained, no decision in a game on a stage as big as Saturday’s is a minor one. He struggled with the final lineup right up until hours before the game when, around 1:45 p.m., Parker informed Gaudet that he would play.
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I’m very happy for Ross, he’s a good kid and player, somewhat unsung as that whole 4th line is. I was very impressed by how hard the team played, solid d and strong goaltending too…smart hockey for the past several games now. I like Ross as a winger more than a center. He meshed really well with Rosen and Courtnall. That whole line impressed me with in your face hockey. I heard that the radio broadcast said that was the most effective line during the game. Let’s keep that going into the BC weekend!