BU-Cornell: The First Tie--Dec. 30, 1967

Dec. 30, 1966— Boston Arena—BU played two three-game tournaments in December 1966. A week after sweeping Princeton, Minnesota and Clarkson at the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden, the Terriers skated on their home ice, Boston Arena, in the Arena Christmas Tournament.

They had beaten Harvard and Northeastern to improve to a 12-0 record and a #1 ranking. Meanwhile, Cornell dispatched the same two teams and was also undefeated at 11-0 and ranked #2, setting up what is considered one of the greatest college hockey games ever played.

Both squads were far from fresh as they were about to play for the third time in as many days before a capacity crowd of 5,450. The officials for the game were Giles Threadgold and Bill Clearly, later coach and athletic director at Harvard.

According to the Ithaca Journal, “Cornell had a wide edge in territorial play in a penalty-marred first period, but the Terriers capitalized on their opportunities and thwarted the Big Red''s power plays.”

All three first-period goals came on power plays. Cornell drew first blood just 2:13 into the game. With two Terriers in the penalty box, Harry Orr took a pass from Mike Doran and beat goalie Wayne Ryan.

BU senior Jim Quinn scored the equalizer four minutes later, converting a feed from Fred Bassi. Then, with half a minute left in the period and BU up two men, a Brian Gilmour slapper whizzed past Cornell goalie Ken Dryden for a 2-1 Terrier lead.

Cornell regained the lead early in the second on a pair of goals by Bob Ferguson and Skip Stanowski. Ryan got a glove both shots but couldn’t keep them out of the net. Play raged up and down the ice throughout the period with 33 shots taken, but no further goals.

The pattern continued well into the third period with Dryden keeping BU’s high-scoring ”Pinball Line” of Herb Wakabayashi, Mickey Gray and Serge Boily off the scoresheet. Finally, in the latter part of the period, BU got the tying goal from an unlikely source, sophomore defenseman Darrell Abbott.

“I think there were about 3 or 4 minutes left in the third period and we were losing 3-2 when either Pete McLachlan or Brian Gilmour—our two veteran, all-star defensemen—got a penalty, and the other, shortly before that penalty, had been injured,” Abbott recalls. “Coach [Jack]Kelley had no choice but to put the two rookies—Billy Hinch and me--out together. It was the first time Billy and I had played together as a pair so I'm sure Coach was more than a little concerned.

“Cornell dumped the puck into our end in the process of making a slow line change. Billy set up in front, while I picked up the puck behind our net, fully expecting to look up and ice it, seeing as how we were a man short.

“But when I looked up there was only one Cornell player standing at center ice and the others were just coming over the boards. With no pressure I began to skate up ice only to realize that I could beat this guy. At this point everything happened so fast. There I was, going in on a partial breakaway and, contrary to all logic, I roofed a backhander into the net over Dryden’s shoulder on the short side to tie the game.”

The game went to a 10-minute overtime and, the Ithaca Journal reported, “Cornell had the edge in the first three minutes of the first overtime with Ryan making a sensational save on Doran from in close, but BU outskated the Big Red during the last seven minutes. Dryden had brilliant saves on Boily and Bill Hinch late in the period.”

The two coaches agreed to play one more overtime period, but neither of the weary teams mounted much of an attack in the second overtime and the teams were declared tournament co-champions. Goalies Ryan (32 saves) and Dryden (40 saves) shared the MVP award.

Abbott added that “It was the first game that my Father had attended at BU so it was even more special for me. He was sitting in the first row balcony, right above our bench. Of course having seen the success that Ken had subsequent to his days at Cornell, I feel I was very fortunate to have scored at all, but it is amazing how many people remember that goal even to this day. I was especially honored by the fact that Ken still remembered me years later, even after all the Stanley Cups and the Russian experiences. His comment to me was ‘I always remember the big ones’.”

SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER FOR BU HOCKEY BOOK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER FOR BU HOCKEY BOOK
BU Fans Can Obtain Signed Books Via Mail Order

BOSTON – In the national championship game in college hockey, Boston University had to go into overtime to win the big prize.

Now a special offer for Terrier hockey fans has gone into overtime as well.

Burn The Boats: A Seven-Championship Season for Boston University Hockey, written by US College Hockey Online senior writer Scott Weighart, was published last month and has proceeded to sell briskly at Agganis Arena, the BU Bookstore, and online at www.buhockeybook.com.

Initially, Mosaic Eye Publishing decided to offer fans free shipping within the United States on mail orders for the first 35 days of the regular season in honor of the Terriers’ 35-win season in 2008-09.

Now, with the holidays approaching, Mosaic Eye has decided to extend the free shipping offer with an “overtime” special geared to fans interested in purchasing the books as gifts for friends and family. As a result, the free shipping offer will continue until December 18, 2009—meaning that any offers up until that date will receive free shipping and should arrive in time for Christmas.

Additionally, a new wrinkle is now available to fans from afar. “I have done several book signings at Agganis Arena, and the response has been terrific,” Weighart says.

“Many fans have asked me to sign copies in some personalized way—sometimes as birthday presents or Christmas gifts. Eventually, we started saying, ‘Why not make this available to Terrier fans who can’t make it to the Arena?’ So now Terrier fans will have the opportunity to get a book inscribed as they wish when purchasing the book for $17 at www.buhockeybook.com.”

Here’s how it will work: When ordering online using PayPal, fans can click on “Special instructions to the seller.” After doing so, buyers can add instructions if they want a personalized comment along with author’s signature. Here are some typical choices:
· “To Katrina, Merry Christmas!”
· “To Dave, Never leave a game early!”
· “To Hannah, Keep playing hockey!”
· “To Kenny, A future Terrier!”

As always, money from each purchase of the book goes directly to the BU hockey program.

Fans should be aware of more news related to the Burn The Boats book:
· The books will be available at the Madison Square Garden concessions stands before and during the Red Hot Hockey game versus Cornell on Saturday, November 28.

· Scott Weighart will be appearing at the Pep Rally prior to the BU-Cornell game. Fans who have already purchased the book can bring their books in for signing at the Pep Rally or purchase them at concession stands to be designed before the game begins.

· Another author signing at Agganis Arena will take place before and during the game against Boston College on Saturday, December 5. Weighart will be signing books before the game from 6-7 p.m. as well as between the first and second periods.

· A book signing will also take place at the BU Bookstore in December, but the exact details are yet to be announced.

· Bernie Corbett, the Voice of Terrier Hockey, interviewed Weighart about the book for the College Hockey All-Access show on satellite radio. The broadcast should be archived and available on the Interent within a few days. Use Google to find it by searching for the November 21 show of College Hockey All-Access.

· A feature story detailing the making of the book should be available this week on goterriers.com. It is a lengthy piece entitled “A Game for the Pages.” Likewise, Weighart has completed a feature story about the Terriers’ tri-state players who will be participating in Red Hot Hockey next weekend. The story is based on interviews with Joe Pereira, Kevin Shattenkirk, Luke Popko, and Sean Escobedo.

To order the book, to read advance praise about it from Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of The Boston Globe, or to check out an excerpt from the book, go to www.buhockeybook.com. For additional information—or to arrange an interview with Weighart—please contact Ellie Boynton at info@mosaiceyepublishing.com or at 617-566-1574.

USCHO Recap: BU 6 Harvard 5 OT

BU Pulls Out 6-5 OT Thriller
Connolly Nets Winner After Terriers Tie Game Late

By Scott Weighart, Senior Writer
ALLSTON, MA – When’s the last time you saw a hockey player score four goals and lose?

Or a team finish with a collective minus nine rating and win?Or a team take the lead four different times before losing?

Or a Boston University team score with less than 20 seconds left in regulation to tie a game before winning it in overtime?

Okay, you probably remember the last time that happened. Still, the above factoids will give you some idea of how weird and wild the game was between Boston University and Harvard in front of 3,076 at the Bright Hockey Center tonight. When the ice chips settled, the Terriers had pulled out a stirring 6-5 overtime victory, thanks to Zach Cohen’s tying goal with 19.5 seconds left in regulation and Chris Connolly’s game-winner at 2:42 of overtime.

Joe Pereira led the way for BU with two goals and two assists, while Nick Bonino added a goal and two assists for the Terriers. Yet Harvard freshman Conor Morrison—who started the night with just one goal in seven collegiate goals—stole the show individually with a stunning four-goal performance.

“Overall, it was an unbelievably exciting hockey game,” Terrier coach Jack Parker said. “I thought it was a great effort by everybody. I thought they played really hard; we played really hard. No one wanted to give up anything. When you score late like we did, it’s very fortunate to get the W. But when you score late, you’ve got the momentum going into overtime, and we certainly had that.

“I thought everybody played well on my team. We shortened the bench in the third period and went with three lines. Some guys got a little legless, but they worked like hell.”

Meanwhile, Harvard coach Ted Donato saw his team cough up a third-period lead for the fourth time in eight games this season. “Obviously, we’re disappointed,” Donato said. “You’ve got to give a lot of credit to BU. They kept coming, generated a lot of shots. Throughout the game, we kept answering back with a lot of goals and were able to maintain the lead for most of the night, but they kept coming.

“We struggled a little against their power play and were unable to keep them from getting to the net at times. Our guys battled hard, but we’ve got to do a better job of holding onto leads and closing games out.”

BU dominated play early and went ahead on their first power play of the game. Nick Bonino passed to Max Nicastro for a shot from the right point, and Pereira pounced on the rebound. At 9:11, Harvard tied it with a little puck luck, as a pass between two Terrier defensemen kicked off a referee’s skate and landed in grade ‘A’ country out front, where Morrison buried it.

BU goalie Kieran Millan gave up perhaps his softest goal of the season at 13:09, when Alex Killorn floated a backhander toward the far post from the right wing. Millan waved an arm at it but only got a piece of it, and the puck was in the net. BU go that one back during a five-minute power play following a boarding major on Brendan Rempel, as Zach Cohen tipped in a David Warsosky slapshot at 16:32.

Morrison got his second goal at 2:37 of the second period, backhanding in a rebound. But BU made it three-for-three on the power play at 6:39 when Pereira knocked in another rebound after Kevin Shattenkirk took a shot from the point.

Through two periods, all of Harvard’s goals were even strength, while all of BU’s came on the power play. As a result, BU’s combined plus-minus rating through 40 minutes was a minus 15, while Harvard was a plus 15—quite odd given that the game was tied at that point.

Morrison notched the hat trick at 5:06 of the third, driving in on the left wing before cutting across the slot with the puck on his backhand. Kevin Gilroy collided with Millan in the crease, and Morrison had that much more net to shot as a result. BU fought back to tie it yet again at 13:51 when Pereira attempted a wraparound that caromed off of Harvard goalie Kyle Richter and out to Bonino for the shot and score.

It looked as if the Crimson had the game won when Morrison scored his fourth goal of the night with just 1:18 remaining in the third. Daniel Moriarty and Chris Huxley dug the puck out of the right-wing boards to feed Morrison for the one-timer in the slot. It was the first time a Harvard player scored four times in a game since Chris Bala did it back on March 6, 1998. “We’ve been on kind of a rough stretch, so it was tough to lose it,” Morrison said. “It was a special night for me, but I’m not satisfied."

However, BU pulled Millan and scored an extra-attacker goal with just 19.5 seconds to knot the game up again. Warsofsky was cheating in on the left point, and a puck came out to him. His shot was redirected in by Zach Cohen to save the day for the Terriers.

Connolly’s goal came when Bonino attempted a wraparound, only to have the puck end up slipping through the slot to the winger at the far post. “We were fortunate enough to get it down low, cycling the puck,” Connolly said. “Nick got it in his favorite position, and I knew it was going to either go in or pop out to the other side. There was a scrum in front, so I figured I’d just wait off to the side and see what happened. I got lucky: It popped right there, and I had a wide open net.”

Jack Parker said that it was the best effort his team has shown since a 1-0 loss to Northeastern several weeks ago. “I was looking for a W, obviously, but I was more interested in our intensity—how fast we’d play and how smart we’d play,” Parker said. “We had speed and smarts tonight, that’s for sure.”

“I think it showed a lot of character tonight,” Pereira said. “Before we were kind of waiting for something bad to happen, but tonight we dug deep and responded.”BU (4-7-1) will look to keep the momentum going when playing Cornell at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, while Harvard (1-5-2) next plays ECAC opponent Dartmouth on Sunday.