The Beanpot Tournament is back.
Slated for an 8 p.m. showdown with No. 8 Boston College, the No. 3 Boston University men’s hockey will kick off the 65th Beanpot at TD Garden. That’s right, the same Eagle side that the Terriers already knocked off twice this year.
Don’t expect those tilts to factor in too much, though, at least according to head coach David Quinn. For more on that, check out Shelby’s preview over on The Daily Free Press.
There’ll also be plenty of history at play, as BU has won 30 Beanpot titles throughout the years. The last came in 2015, and Jonathan wrote about those memories over on The Daily Free Press.
Oh, one more thing. Check out this video The Dog Pound created. Gotta love it.
If BU can come out attack draw penalties, stay out of box keep bc to the perimeter they will be fine. they can not take a period off or get undisciplined like they have in the last few games. Go bu?
BU Invitational all over again. But that could be the Superbowl talking.
That was one physical game! I can’t believe there were empty seats at TD. I had a great time watching the game at Suite 36 in NYC, the official BU Beanpot site in Manhattan.
The Beanpot has lost a lot of luster. As much as I love BU, Northeastern or Harvard needs to win it one of these years. Harvard only brings about 50 fans to each game. It’s also time to do away with the consolation game and play the woman’s final in its place. At least the $11.00 Bud Lights were cold like my $10.00 hot dog. The $40.00 parking is a bargain though.
just saw first period, had a long ride home, but Terriers dominated, BC without a shot for 19 minutes. We have their number this year no question. Lets hope our recent good luck against Harvard holds and we’ll have our first and hopefully not last trophy of the year.
As much as I still love the Beanpot and love BU, I agree with Dan. I think Northeastern, much more so than Harvard, needs to win. Compared to Harvard, the NU fan base is much larger and stronger; NU winning the Beanpot would resonate a lot more locally than a Harvard victory would.
The attendance attrition has been happening for years. I think many casual, non-partisan fans are the ones now disguised as empty seats. Many of the BU faithful are still present when the Beanpot rolls around, even if they don’t necessarily show up at Agganis most home games.
Bottom line: I think the Garden will be a little over half full for the final. It will be mostly BU fans; I wouldn’t be surprised if the die-hard NU and even Bandwagon College fans outnumber Harvard fans at the final.
I just read an article in, of all things, a financials mag that told of the severe drop in attendance at college games in football, save the top teams. One conference had its TV contract slashed from about 10 million to a little over 2 million for the ten or more teams in the league. This means the ratings must also be down on TV. This might translate to the college hockey world. It might mean younger people are either working longer hours and can not attend or have other interests. I don’t know. When I was in the area and could attend BU games I was at Walter Brown even if I had been out of state that day on business. I miss that. But to tell the truth the games do not have the same excitement since they have enforced the rules to a point where one can not go near the opponent or get a penalty. The game has changed for sure. Also BU was not, I believe, on commercial TV for the whole first semester. How can you develop new fans if you have not exposure ? Lowell is not on NH 1 any more also this year as they also ha some New Hampshire games on as well. How many fans now listen to Bernie now that he is not on commercial radio ? Why listens to the radio on their phone ? I bet his audience has dropped more that 50 % if not more. As to the Beanpot there can be no doubt that the Super Bowl has cut into interest. Change the dates ? Hard to do as the Garden may not have the dates. I predict that the Beanpot will still be here 50 years from now but played in the college rinks before very small crowds. Sad to have to say that as I have been watching these games since there were no masks on the players.
Good post Son-Of-CC! Several years ago I remember hearing that NCAA basketball tournaments were having declines in attendance. I think one big problem is that the millennials (in general) are just not as motivated to attend live sporting events as past generations. They are likely to be content by either following the game on Twitter or just doing other Non-Beanpot things on their phones. I think another big problem is that with changing demographics, many Boston area college students are not as hockey savvy as past generations of students.
I do not believe that the officials calling soft penalties on borderline trips and other various infractions have anything to do with the attendance problem. The games are still extremely physical and exciting.
I definitely agree that better TV exposure would help grow the interest in our sport. Personally, I see most of the games on my TV with Google Chromecast (via the internet).
On a final and unrelated note, I think that by far the stupidest rule in hockey is when the refs are allowed to call both tripping (or whatever) AND embellishment on the effected player. It should be one or the other. NEVER both. Any thoughts?
I agree with you on the last point Glenn. It should be one or the other. I do agree that all of the minor infractions that get called are ruining the game. They allow plenty more contact in the World Junior Tournament with only shields, no masks and it was a much better game to watch.
It’s no longer a cheap night to go watch two good college hockey games. The prices at the Garden for food and drink are outrageous.
sports are crazy. an emotional roller coaster. beat Union undermined UP!; lose two to Merrimack DOWN! Beat BC in the Beanpot for the third time this season UP! badly outplayed by H in the championship game DOWN!
i think recruiting is an issue to be evaluated. no one has the maturity of eichel. they might have skill but not both as freshmen