Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Terrier Locker Room Confidential
By David Warner, BU ‘73
March 18th 1972….Boston Garden Scoreboard…. Boston University 4 Cornell 0
If that alone was to be the identity of the Terriers’ season, culminating in the first eastern school to win back-to-back national titles, read no further. You could just check every game’s box score on that 26-4-1, 2.16 GAA, 4.85 GFA final stat sheet.
If that alone was to be the identity of the Terriers’ season, culminating in the first eastern school to win back-to-back national titles, read no further. You could just check every game’s box score on that 26-4-1, 2.16 GAA, 4.85 GFA final stat sheet.
Before some marketing agency gave the city of Las Vegas the slogan “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, there was “what happens in the locker room, stays in the locker room”, a team rule in many sports. Telling tales of what goes on in the locker room and off the ice is a big no-no.
Perhaps, after forty years, it’s OK to shed some light on the team and the players.
There seemed to be more going on off the ice than on when we return to campus in Fall 1972. Sure the media talked about all the returning letterman and pointed out the team lost three seniors to graduation and how two juniors and a sophomore would fill their spots. Where did junior utility forward Olivier Prechac go? “Jolly Ollie”, a member of the 1968 French Olympic team, played a few games the year before, was listed in the current year media guide and mysteriously disappeared. No one seems to know where and why?
There seemed to be more going on off the ice than on when we return to campus in Fall 1972. Sure the media talked about all the returning letterman and pointed out the team lost three seniors to graduation and how two juniors and a sophomore would fill their spots. Where did junior utility forward Olivier Prechac go? “Jolly Ollie”, a member of the 1968 French Olympic team, played a few games the year before, was listed in the current year media guide and mysteriously disappeared. No one seems to know where and why?
Before the 71-72 season began, a controversy over freshman eligibility was fueled by the NCAA decision to permit Marshall University to use freshman on its football team after most of the upperclassman died in a plane crash in November 1970. The ECAC would allow freshman to play but the Ivy league schools that were part of the ECAC would not. BU would not make a statement that freshman players would not be used at the varsity level. Consequently, Dartmouth cancelled their January game against the Terriers. Yale, Brown, Harvard, Princeton and Cornell, though not using freshman, kept their scheduled dates. UNH, Minnesota and especially Colgate were loaded with freshman.
The 1971-72 BU freshman “B” team had 22 players on the roster. Two would be future All-Americans and eight others would become starters as sophomores on the 1972-73 team. As good as they were, none of the freshman could crack the 21-man varsity lineup – average age 20. That is, until the last two games.
A good trivia question would be “who was the first freshman to play hockey at BU in the modern era?” When senior defenseman Bobby Murray got hurt in the ECAC final game, freshman Vic Stanfield was brought up as the fifth defenseman for the NCAA games and only skated the last minute of the Cornell game. Freshman have now become a mainstay at BU, albeit some are “one and done” or “two and out” referring to the 18 year draft picks who leave for the pros after a few years.
An on-campus home at last
Another oddity was real close to the ice. Practice sessions were held at the new Walter Brown arena with a gaping hole in Section One. The opening was used by the workers to bring in supplies to finish the Case Center, while a large plastic sheet kept the hot air out. The wall was completed before BU’s 6-3 home opener win against Yale. The team was thrilled with the new rink, dressing room, individual cubes with director chairs and the showers. The only concern, especially for the fringe players, was that the names on the player stalls were written by hand on a piece of white tape that could be easily removed.
The upcoming season schedule had all the usual suspects but the boys were especially eyeing two exhibition games. Before the Yale game, we had a November 22nd game against the U.S. Olympic team at Boston Garden. It was a fundraising event for the U.S. Olympic committee. Before the game there were a number of figure skating programs put on by Olympic and world champions. The event was emceed by 1936 Olympic sprint champion Jesse Owens. The governor was there as were Miss Massachusetts and Bruins’ start Bobby Orr. Yet, all the boys were thinking of was “when are they going to be finished?” and how good is the ice going to be in this hot place. The result? It was a tie 4-4.
The second exhibition game, scheduled for February 21st in Montreal, was against an all-star team from the Quebec and Ontario junior A leagues. OK, so what were we thinking? Did it matter that the two goalies that we were to face, Richard Brodeur and Denis Herron, would eventually playa combined 27 years in the NHL/WHA? Did it matter that the NHL’s number two draft choice, Jacques Richard, was getting all the hype and would play 10 years in the NHL? Did it matter that everyone that we played against that night played professionally later on? Sure the game was important. We lost 7-4 to a sold-out venue that was only half full on a night when there was a blizzard outside.
Coach Jack Kelley was ticked off but it didn’t matter because we were in the cathedral of the hockey gods, the Montreal Forum. Most of us had never set foot in the building before that day. We took the tour, sat in the chairs, went high up for an overall look and thought about all the great players that ever skated there. If there truly was a heaven, that place was it. It’s gone now, as are the other five original six NHL rinks.
Coach Jack Kelley was ticked off but it didn’t matter because we were in the cathedral of the hockey gods, the Montreal Forum. Most of us had never set foot in the building before that day. We took the tour, sat in the chairs, went high up for an overall look and thought about all the great players that ever skated there. If there truly was a heaven, that place was it. It’s gone now, as are the other five original six NHL rinks.
Down from Canada
Where did we all come from and how did we get together. The team was pretty much a 50/50 split of Canadians and Americans. We all grew up skating on frozen ponds, lakes, rivers, creeks and backyard rinks. There were no mite or squirt leagues then. The earliest organized hockey we had was pee wee around the age of 11. We played many a game of three on three or four on four shinny on the neighbors’ backyard sheet of ice. Sometimes there were boards at the end or along the side but most of the time it was a snow bank. If you shot the puck into the snow, you had to dig it out since it was probably the only puck available. We honed our stick-handling skills playing late spring/early fall road hockey with a tennis ball and shooting into makeshift goals.
We never ran or lifted weights to be or stay in shape. We rarely had our skates on before the first day of practice at BU. Today, to be a hockey player at a division one school, you have to work out with weights, ride the bike, practice skills on the ice every day, watch videos and stay the summer doing all that while taking classes. A full scholarship back in 1972 was $3500 for two semesters of tuition and room/board. Today, it’s close to $50,000...a full time job!
Kelley scouted the local New England area for talent, but it was assistant Bob Crocker who knew us all. Current BU skaters from Canada would refer players from teams that they played on back home. Crocker would drive up North, come into our homes, meet the parents, watch us play and determine if we had the makings of a BU hockey player. He was our freshman coach and helped us with the adjustment of going from the small town kid to being a young man in the big city. We were fed, taught and eased into the system.
The biggest adjustment that some of us had to make was starting the season in late November and playing only 18 games as freshmen. Those that played junior hockey back home started in September and played 60+ games. His preseason opening words are true to this day, “these will be the best four years of your life!” Thank you Bob for all you did!!!
The team started fast and was 8-1-1 at the end of 1971. The only blemishes on our record were a 4-4 tie with Harvard at our home rink and a 3-2 loss to Cornell in the after Syracuse Invitational Tournament.
Changes ahead
Just before and during the tournament, the buzz was again off ice. Just before the December 8th Harvard game it was announced that goalie Tim Regan was selected to be on the USA Olympic team headed for Sapporo, Japan. The boys were proud that one of their own was going to participate in the games in Japan. Tim left in January and would return in mid-February with a silver medal in hand in time to watch a BU 6-5 win against UNH. Dan Brady and sophomores Joe Robillard (no goals scored on him) and Ed Walsh (only three goals) were more than adequate in goal during Tim’s absence. What we missed, was Regan’s spot-on imitation of Coach Kelley. In early season, Tim stepped into a floor to ceiling glass trophy display outside the doors to the rink and gave the famous Kelley one arm in the air salute with the “look”.
Kelley had more off ice news for us. We were all herded into a hotel room in Syracuse. No one knew what was going on. We looked around at each other; it was like one of those “you got my daughter pregnant moments”, except we didn’t know who the culprit was. He announced that he was leaving BU at the end of the year to become coach and GM of the new World Hockey Association New England Whalers. The team responded by losing to Cornell in Syracuse.
The birth of the WHA eventually would have far greater implications than Kelley leaving. Jack would later draft nine of the current Terriers and, the next fall, held the Whalers’ fall training camp at Walter Brown Arena. Four juniors, Ron Anderson, Bobby Brown, Ric Jordan and Billy Flynn gave up their senior year to turn pro. Frosh coach Bob Crocker, passed over for the varsity job and came back next year with the University of Pennsylvania team and upset BU in the 1973 ECAC quarterfinals. RPI coach Leon Abbott who was hired to succeed Kelley, was fired one year later and replaced by Jack Parker.
With the “parent/coach” was leaving and the nine seniors also departing, the annual end of the season Friends of BU Hockey banquet was more like a frat party. During one of the presentations Paul Giandomenico, like a waiter, walked in front of the podium carrying a tray of drinks. A month later, at the 14th Annual BU Hall of Fame banquet we replicated that party. While the team was to be honored for heroics on the ice, most of us were in the Sheraton Plaza bar, more concerned about the ice in the drinks. The boys finally returned to the banquet when, at the end of the event, one of our own, Captain John Danby, was honored with the Mickey Cochrane Award as BU’s Athlete of the Year.
Back on the ice
The New Year saw the team win 13 of its final 16 regular season games. One loss was at Clarkson in early January and another came against Cornell in our last regular season home game. The Cornell game, another 3-2 loss to them, prevented an undefeated inaugural season at Walter Brown and gave Cornell the number one seed in the ECAC Tournament. The two losses to Cornell would fuel our fires for a later day.
The other loss was to Boston College. We had already beaten them at home, 4-1, and in the Beanpot semis, 4-2. The February 23rd game was at Boston College. Eagle Coach Snooks Kelley was retiring after 36 years and except for a possible playoff pairing, this would be the last Kelley Eagles vs. Kelley Terriers meeting. It was anything but a typical game, even for a BU-BC game. We scored five goals, but BC scored seven on the best defense in the nation. Prior to the game, Jack was given a goodbye gift by the BC team. Though we hated to lose and would never throw a game especially to BC, the loss to Boston College was bittersweet. It was Snooks 500th win, an impressive milestone. A few weeks prior to that game, we'd won a third consecutive Beanpot with a Valentine’s Day 4-1 win against Harvard.
Boys will be boys
From day one, this junior-senior team was relaxed and loose. There was more pressure to produce on the ice because everyone wanted to beat the defending national champion. This was a quiet team, not the rah-rah type. Before the game, the boys would go through their rituals, taping the stick, putting the equipment on in a specific order and listen to the locker room music. What did we do to keep everything in perspective?
Since we were student/athletes, homework always came first. After that ten minutes, we had plenty of time to bond and have fun. Most of us roomed with another player and we all lived in the same high-rise building within floors of each other. We would play Euchre, a popular Canadian card game with four players in two partnerships with a deck of 24 standard playing cards, nine to ace. There would be tournaments. I think some of the guys cheated. We also would also have table-top hockey tournaments. Someone brought in an old game; one-on-one games were followed by a tournament. Someone must have gotten mad because the game broke, then disappeared.
In December, we had our very own Christmas party in the dorm, complete with a liquor-breathing Santa (Uncle Mundy). We exchanged gifts. Everyone pulled a name out of a hat and had to buy that person a present. That turned into a roast with some questionable gag gifts, especially for a mixed company crowd.
Other antics included penny-locking someone in their room or stuffing the outside lock with wet paper tissue. If a teammate had a “visitor” and the door was locked, you could jam pennies between the door and the jamb so that the lock could not be turned to open. Stuffing the lock was the opposite. The person couldn’t put his key into the lock to open the door. We really learned this stuff in school!
Another fun thing we did was to tape a guy up so he couldn’t move his arms or legs. The best was doing that and stripping the guy down, securing him to the inside of the girls’ building elevator and pushing all the floor buttons. Most of the time, however, we were low-key. Usually you could find 10 guys lying around in a small dorm room drinking a quart of bad beer, eating chips/pretzels and watching the Bruins. We were conserving energy and learning some plays and moves.
The Fugowees
Not only was the team loose off the ice and in the dressing room, we were relaxed on the bench. Every player had a job and it wasn’t all about goals, assists, backchecking and forechecking. A select group of players—generally the four liners and other backups--would determine which player had earned the prestigious Fugowee of the Game Award. The award would usually go to one of the team’s role players who had made a dubious contribution during the game. The name for the award came from the old joke about the lost Indian tribe, the Fugowees—as in “Where the FUG-OW- EE? “
The award was given out after a win or tie, but not a loss, so that season, there were plenty of winners. For home games, the ceremony took place at The Dugout on Commonwealth Avenue, our second favorite place to hang out—number one, of course, being the rink. The happy award winner was required to down a shot of Canadian Club and deliver a brief speech. If we were on the road, the front of the bus served as the podium. The best away-game presentation followed a 6-1 win at Princeton Larry Abbott received the award—and delivered his speech--on an Eastern Airlines shuttle public address system flying from Newark. The “regular” passengers loved it!
Gifts and memorabilia
Winning hockey teams, even in college, pick up plenty of commemorative gifts. BU Athletics gave each of us our personalized locker room director’s chair, real nice, plus a solid maple hardwood captain’s chair with a plaque on it. They now sell for $450. I don't think anyone has put theirs up on eBay so we have been moving them around for 40 years from place to place.
There were two official team pictures taken that year. One was in the home reds in front of the stands (in NCAA program) and the other was in the away whites in front of the press box at Brown (in ECAC program). The red one is better and I really don't know why the white one was taken. Maybe Jack felt it fit better on the NCAA trophy.
I don’t really know whether Jack approved of the Fugowee Award; he never told us to stop. However, on Banner Night at Walter Brown— a 5-0 game win vs. St Louis Univeristy—he didn’t vote for the Fugowee motto banner we entered: “WIN OR LOSE, WE DRINK THE BOOZE— FUGOWEES”. You know he didn’t like the word “lose.”
The Fugowees had other jobs, too. Besides watching for quirky plays, the boys picked the All-Ugly East Team, opened the bench gate at one end, checked out the crowd and kept notes on all of our off -ice activities.
Playoffs
We spanked Harvard 3-1 and Cornell 4-1 in the ECAC tournament for BU’s first championship in that tournament. Even though we beat the Big Red, they were ranked higher than us and received the number one seed from the East in the NCAAs and would play—and defeat— Denver in the semifinal on Friday. We played the number one Western seed, Wisconsin, on Thursday and beat them 4-1.
Though the NCAA tournament was played at Boston Garden, it was still an away game for us. We stayed at the Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge and had a practice at the Garden on Friday.
The national title game produced nearly the same result as the ECAC title game. This time it was a shutout of Cornell, 4-0. First time they’d been blanked since 1964. And it was especially sweet to win before a sold Boston Garden. [Video highlights , recap]
The Fugowees had other jobs, too. Besides watching for quirky plays, the boys picked the All-Ugly East Team, opened the bench gate at one end, checked out the crowd and kept notes on all of our off -ice activities.
Playoffs
We spanked Harvard 3-1 and Cornell 4-1 in the ECAC tournament for BU’s first championship in that tournament. Even though we beat the Big Red, they were ranked higher than us and received the number one seed from the East in the NCAAs and would play—and defeat— Denver in the semifinal on Friday. We played the number one Western seed, Wisconsin, on Thursday and beat them 4-1.
Though the NCAA tournament was played at Boston Garden, it was still an away game for us. We stayed at the Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge and had a practice at the Garden on Friday.
The national title game produced nearly the same result as the ECAC title game. This time it was a shutout of Cornell, 4-0. First time they’d been blanked since 1964. And it was especially sweet to win before a sold Boston Garden. [Video highlights , recap]
Gifts and memorabilia
Winning hockey teams, even in college, pick up plenty of commemorative gifts. BU Athletics gave each of us our personalized locker room director’s chair, real nice, plus a solid maple hardwood captain’s chair with a plaque on it. They now sell for $450. I don't think anyone has put theirs up on eBay so we have been moving them around for 40 years from place to place.
Since the Friends of BU Hockey gave us a school ties, we received a number of tie tacks and pins. The Beanpot people gave us a 2”x1” round paperweight and a pewter stein. The University gave us a belt with a buckle on it highlighting the year and the score. The belt disintegrated but the buckle remains. The year before, BU gave us a really nice Beanpot ceramic beer stein with our name on it, scores, school logo, etc. The boys were none too happy to have to go to dinner at the Sherman Union to receive it. We were scheduled to play in the semifinal game of the university intramural slow pitch softball tourney and had to forfeit it. We won it the previous year, over 100 teams. The guys were real proud of that achievement and the trophy and wanted to defend our title. Anyways the stein held a 20 ounce beer.
The ECAC committee presented us with a gold-color Bulova watch with the championship tournament logo on the face and “Winner 1972” inscribed on the back. The clasp used to pinch the hair on your arm, but mine is still ticking.
The NCAA didn’t exactly open the purse strings. At the end of the game, we each received a small box. Inside was a paperweight with the NCAA logo inside and the notation “1972 NCAA ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS...CHAMPION”. I guess Cornell got them, too, but theirs said “BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME....LOSER”.
It was nice that the gift givers knew hockey and beer goes hand in hand and that we needed paperweights so our homework wouldn't blow away. Well, they got one right!
The school administrators wanted to be sure we looked good. The athletic department handed out warm up jackets our freshman year and another one later for a Beanpot win. We received a front button style scarlet red letterman sweater after our sophomore year. We could all now look like Wally Cleaver!
In all seriousness, the best gifts were the JACKET and the RING! We cherished the tan leather sleeved scarlet jacket. It had our number on the sleeve and name embroidered inside. We got them a little big so we could wear them with a sweater underneath and parade up and down Comm Ave in the cold of winter on our way to the Dugout. It truly was a chick magnet!
We picked up the RING from the 1970-71 win. They are big, beautiful and mean the world to us. BU has won five NCAA titles and we have two of them.
After the 71-72 win, those players who didn't get a ring the preceding year, received one for the second NCAA title. The rest of us wanted another ring—but college hockey isn’t major league baseball. So you can imagine our reaction when we were presented with a 13” black and white television. The best thing you can say about it was it tuned in about seven channels. It did though have a small plaque with name and scores on the top of it. Probably so we couldn't sell it.
Now, we get wheeled out to mark the milestone years that have passed and the best part is the appreciation and accolades from the Terrier fans— the best fans! During our playing days, we heard from the [student fan organization] Pucker Uppers and listened to the band play “It's Got to B.U.” On March 18th 1972 at Boston Garden, we heard you and knew you were there. It made a difference! We thank you!
The ECAC committee presented us with a gold-color Bulova watch with the championship tournament logo on the face and “Winner 1972” inscribed on the back. The clasp used to pinch the hair on your arm, but mine is still ticking.
The NCAA didn’t exactly open the purse strings. At the end of the game, we each received a small box. Inside was a paperweight with the NCAA logo inside and the notation “1972 NCAA ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS...CHAMPION”. I guess Cornell got them, too, but theirs said “BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME....LOSER”.
It was nice that the gift givers knew hockey and beer goes hand in hand and that we needed paperweights so our homework wouldn't blow away. Well, they got one right!
The school administrators wanted to be sure we looked good. The athletic department handed out warm up jackets our freshman year and another one later for a Beanpot win. We received a front button style scarlet red letterman sweater after our sophomore year. We could all now look like Wally Cleaver!
In all seriousness, the best gifts were the JACKET and the RING! We cherished the tan leather sleeved scarlet jacket. It had our number on the sleeve and name embroidered inside. We got them a little big so we could wear them with a sweater underneath and parade up and down Comm Ave in the cold of winter on our way to the Dugout. It truly was a chick magnet!
We picked up the RING from the 1970-71 win. They are big, beautiful and mean the world to us. BU has won five NCAA titles and we have two of them.
After the 71-72 win, those players who didn't get a ring the preceding year, received one for the second NCAA title. The rest of us wanted another ring—but college hockey isn’t major league baseball. So you can imagine our reaction when we were presented with a 13” black and white television. The best thing you can say about it was it tuned in about seven channels. It did though have a small plaque with name and scores on the top of it. Probably so we couldn't sell it.
Now, we get wheeled out to mark the milestone years that have passed and the best part is the appreciation and accolades from the Terrier fans— the best fans! During our playing days, we heard from the [student fan organization] Pucker Uppers and listened to the band play “It's Got to B.U.” On March 18th 1972 at Boston Garden, we heard you and knew you were there. It made a difference! We thank you!
There were two official team pictures taken that year. One was in the home reds in front of the stands (in NCAA program) and the other was in the away whites in front of the press box at Brown (in ECAC program). The red one is better and I really don't know why the white one was taken. Maybe Jack felt it fit better on the NCAA trophy.
Nonetheless, in each picture were the boys of 1971-72. Athletes always have nicknames and we had ours: Lloyd, Noser, Andy, Brades, Buck, Toot, Jake, Growler, Raygo, Stoney, Sweep, Tricky, Maxi, Miguel, Weasel, Thunder, Rat, Whizzy and Bowman. Check out the picture at the top of this article and try to guess who has each nickname.
When asked to write a 40th reunion article for the blog from a player's perspective, I first thought I'd just go game-by-game, but think there was much more to that season than lots of wins and a few losses. In the decades that followed, we have lost three—Jim Connors, Ric Jordan and Guy Burrowes— from the ‘71-‘72 team and Olivier Prechac and Saul Weiss from the ‘70-‘71 team. We’re now in our sixties and have gone down life's highway as a father, grandfather, uncle and husband. Standards, rules and regulations were set out for us at Boston University for this journey. The people that touched us then have always been with us.
As you may have guessed by now, this article was written with some tongue in check. We did some funny stuff on and off the ice, which continue to think about and remember among us. The Terriers of 40 years ago were—and remain—a close knit group. Truth be told, the only things that mattered were the jacket—for being Terriers—and the ring—for being champions. Just ask any of the guys. Those other"trinkets"—the TV and paperweights were funny...things to laugh about. We never looked beyond the game and wanted any rewards.
At the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, individuals are glorified for their exploits on the ice. None of us made it there nor are our names inscribed on hockey’s Holy Grail of, the Stanley Cup. If you go to visit, there is a section dedicated to champions from various leagues in Canada and the United States. You can pull up photos of those teams right there in that marvelous place. Look up the 1972 NCAA Division One ice hockey champion. We are there not as individuals, but as a TEAM, as it should be!
GO B.U. !!!!!
Voices of the 1971-72 Terriers
Head Coach Jack Kelley
Q. Was the week in March 1972 when BU defeated Cornell on consecutive Saturday nights for the ECAC and NCAA championships the most satisfying moment of your college coaching career?
A. Its certainly ranks right up there, however there were other moments that were pretty special too. That 1972 team was the most talented team that I coached, so my expectations for them were always high. Talent? Start with the goalies. Tim Regan was M.O.P. of the NCAA tournament while Dan Brady was an All-American. Bob Brown and Ric Jordan anchored the defense and then you had John Danby—voted all everything that year. Then you surround the with players like Toot Cahoon, Bobby Gryp, Ron Anderson, Paul Giandomenico, Steve Dolloff, Bob Murray, Mike LaGarde, Larry Abbott, etc.
I often hear people saying the 1978 team was BU’s best. Chances are they never saw the 1972 team play.
Captain John Danby
Q. With 15 of 18 regulars returning from the 1971 national championship team and a new on-campus arena, BU was hands-down the favorite to repeat in 1972. How did the team approach the season, these high expectations and the goal of being the first Eastern team to repeat?
A. This was a resilient group of players. With a nucleus of those 18 returning players coming in together as freshman and being the only undefeated/untied freshman team in BU history, these guys were used to winning. We had endured taking taxis from Commonwealth Ave to play at the old Boston Arena (now Matthews) and taking vans to Harvard while the new facility was being completed, so nothing fazed this team. Interesting in some ways, some of that senior group (myself included) were in the School of Education and had to student teach that first semester. As a result, many of us only saw each other on the ice and afterwards, rather than in the classrooms as we were spread amongst different local schools completing our requirements.
We approached our senior year with confidence, knowing we were the pre-season favorite and aiming to go wire-to-wire as the national poll's number one team. We never lost sight of that goal. As a person who has been around the game for many years--and I have stated to many teams I have coached along the way-- a team can't just "turn it on" at any time (a phrase I heard over and over from both freshman coach Bob Crocker and Head Coach Jack Kelley. But that team could turn it up a notch when needed and could dominate games. As far as being captain, I had followed the likes of Larry Davenport (1970) and Steve Stirling (1971) so I had great models to follow as captain.
When you think about that 1971-72 team, with all that offensive firepower, a shutdown defense and two standout goalies, who wouldn't want to be captain on that team! It was an honor!
Ron Anderson
Q. After losing twice to Cornell during the regular season, why was BU able to handle the Big Red so well in two tournament championship games, yielding just one goal while ringing up eight?
A. We had great goaltending and we never doubted ourselves. Having won as much as we had over two seasons, we were still full of confidence and believed in each other. I'm sure playing in Boston contributed but we were a grizzled group and showed up every night ready to go. You're not going to win every game but the odds were in our favor.
Chris Henes, Team Manager
Q. You’ve followed BU hockey for more than 40 years. Have you seen a better performance in post-season tournament games than John Danby’s eight goals –and two hattricks—in five games? What made him such a great clutch performer?
A: Without a doubt John Danby's playoff run was the best playoff performance I have ever seen. He had the hat trick in the 3-1 win over Harvard in the ECAC semi final (which is where we had stumbled in 1971) and broke the 1-1 tie in the National semifinal with the hat trick against Wisconsin.
He had great hockey sense and was able to position himself where he could make the most of his scoring chances. He was far from flashy but was certainly a goal scorer as he led the team in goals all three varsity seasons and amassed 79 goals in 89 games. He had a nose for the net and was deceptively strong. He also was patient which is a quality that is hard to teach but his was innate.
He also could eat like a horse and never gain weight and my guess is today he is probably still around his playing weight after 40 years.
Q. Was the week in March 1972 when BU defeated Cornell on consecutive Saturday nights for the ECAC and NCAA championships the most satisfying moment of your college coaching career?
A. Its certainly ranks right up there, however there were other moments that were pretty special too. That 1972 team was the most talented team that I coached, so my expectations for them were always high. Talent? Start with the goalies. Tim Regan was M.O.P. of the NCAA tournament while Dan Brady was an All-American. Bob Brown and Ric Jordan anchored the defense and then you had John Danby—voted all everything that year. Then you surround the with players like Toot Cahoon, Bobby Gryp, Ron Anderson, Paul Giandomenico, Steve Dolloff, Bob Murray, Mike LaGarde, Larry Abbott, etc.
I often hear people saying the 1978 team was BU’s best. Chances are they never saw the 1972 team play.
Captain John Danby
Q. With 15 of 18 regulars returning from the 1971 national championship team and a new on-campus arena, BU was hands-down the favorite to repeat in 1972. How did the team approach the season, these high expectations and the goal of being the first Eastern team to repeat?
A. This was a resilient group of players. With a nucleus of those 18 returning players coming in together as freshman and being the only undefeated/untied freshman team in BU history, these guys were used to winning. We had endured taking taxis from Commonwealth Ave to play at the old Boston Arena (now Matthews) and taking vans to Harvard while the new facility was being completed, so nothing fazed this team. Interesting in some ways, some of that senior group (myself included) were in the School of Education and had to student teach that first semester. As a result, many of us only saw each other on the ice and afterwards, rather than in the classrooms as we were spread amongst different local schools completing our requirements.
We approached our senior year with confidence, knowing we were the pre-season favorite and aiming to go wire-to-wire as the national poll's number one team. We never lost sight of that goal. As a person who has been around the game for many years--and I have stated to many teams I have coached along the way-- a team can't just "turn it on" at any time (a phrase I heard over and over from both freshman coach Bob Crocker and Head Coach Jack Kelley. But that team could turn it up a notch when needed and could dominate games. As far as being captain, I had followed the likes of Larry Davenport (1970) and Steve Stirling (1971) so I had great models to follow as captain.
When you think about that 1971-72 team, with all that offensive firepower, a shutdown defense and two standout goalies, who wouldn't want to be captain on that team! It was an honor!
Ron Anderson
Q. After losing twice to Cornell during the regular season, why was BU able to handle the Big Red so well in two tournament championship games, yielding just one goal while ringing up eight?
A. We had great goaltending and we never doubted ourselves. Having won as much as we had over two seasons, we were still full of confidence and believed in each other. I'm sure playing in Boston contributed but we were a grizzled group and showed up every night ready to go. You're not going to win every game but the odds were in our favor.
Chris Henes, Team Manager
Q. You’ve followed BU hockey for more than 40 years. Have you seen a better performance in post-season tournament games than John Danby’s eight goals –and two hattricks—in five games? What made him such a great clutch performer?
A: Without a doubt John Danby's playoff run was the best playoff performance I have ever seen. He had the hat trick in the 3-1 win over Harvard in the ECAC semi final (which is where we had stumbled in 1971) and broke the 1-1 tie in the National semifinal with the hat trick against Wisconsin.
He had great hockey sense and was able to position himself where he could make the most of his scoring chances. He was far from flashy but was certainly a goal scorer as he led the team in goals all three varsity seasons and amassed 79 goals in 89 games. He had a nose for the net and was deceptively strong. He also was patient which is a quality that is hard to teach but his was innate.
He also could eat like a horse and never gain weight and my guess is today he is probably still around his playing weight after 40 years.
1971-1972 BU HOCKEY SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Nov. 22—Terriers played the U.S. Olympics team at a Boston Garden fundraiser. Goalie Tim Regan’s strong play in the 4-4 tie catches the eye of U.S. Coach Murray Williamson. He later joins the Olympic squad.Nov. 27—BU doubles up Yale, 6-3, in the first game played at Walter Brown Arena with Ron Anderson scoring BU’s first goal.
Dec. 1—Two Bob Gryp goals led BU to a 3-0 blanking of Brown—with Dan Brady and Regan sharing the shutout.
Dec. 8—Preseason favorites BU and Harvard skate to a repeat of their 4-4 overtime tie of 1970.
Dec. 11—BU bombards Princeton with 50 shots, dominating the Tigers, 6-1, at Hobey Baker Rink. Terriers get goals from Captain John Danby (2), Steve Dolloff, Bob Brown, Ric Jordan and Anderson.
Dec. 21 & 22—Terriers win the ECAC Christmas Tournament, beating Northeastern, 4-1, in the first round and RPI, 4-0, in the title game.
Dec. 21 & 22—Terriers win the ECAC Christmas Tournament, beating Northeastern, 4-1, in the first round and RPI, 4-0, in the title game.
Dec. 29—In a rematch of the 1971 NCAA title game, BU edges Minnesota in double overtime, on Captain John Danby’s goal, in the first round of the Syracuse Invitational Tournament.
Dec. 30—Terriers undefeated streak ends at nine, with a 3-2 loss to Cornell in the Syracuse Invitational final.
Jan. 26—Guy Burrowes first varsity hattrick powers BU past Providence, 7-3.
Feb. 2—Don Cahoon’s breakaway goal in the final period is the game-winner in a 5-3 win against Colgate. After being stymied for 40 minutes, BU scored four times in the final period. Bob Brown netted a pair and junior goalie Ed Walsh got the win, filling in for Brady.
Feb. 8—Two Danby goals and scores by Mike LaGarde and Paul Giandomenico power BU to a 4-2 win against BC in the Beanpot opener.
Feb. 11—Dave Wisener scores off a faceoff to lift the Terriers past New Hampshire, 6-5. Three third-period goals erase a 5-3 deficit.
Feb. 14—BU beats Harvard, 4-1, for its third consecutive Beanpot title. Two more goals by Danby and spectacular Brady netminding earn each a share of the tournament MVP award.
Feb. 18—In his first action since returning from the Sapporo Olympics with a silver medal, Tim Regan backstopped the Terriers to a 7-3 win against RPI. The victory was the 200th of Coach Jack Kelley’s tenure at BU.
Feb. 26—A Ron Anderson hattrick and single goals by Giandomenico, Burrowes and Bill Flynn gave BU a 6-4 win against Providence.
March 1—In the regular season finale, Cornell beats BU, 3-2 again, dealing the Terriers their first loss at Walter Brown.
March 7—BU rips RPI, 8-2, in the opening round of the ECAC playoffs, led by Bob Brown’s two goals and three assists.
March 10—The ECAC semifinal jinx is broken. Terrier, who had lost in the semis to Clarkson in 1970 and Harvard in 1971, gain a berth in the championship game, dumping the Crimson, 3-1. Danby accounts for all the BU goals with hattrick and becomes the second Terrier ever to record three 20-goal seasons.
March 11—BU wins its first ECAC title, defeating Cornell, 4-1 on goals by Danby, Brown, Wisener and Peter Thornton. With five goals in the tournament, Danby is the unanimous M http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-23/omniguide-woos-hospitals-with-flexible-lasers-that-make-surgeries-safer.html/P.
March 13—All-American goalie Dan Brady injures a knee in practice, joining defenseman Bob Murray (bruised kidney) on the sidelines. Tim Regan and David Warner replace them in the lineup.
March 16—In the NCAA semifinal at Boston Garden, Terriers spot Wisconsin a one goal lead before Regan’s save on a breakaway turns the momentum around. Paul Giandomenico knots the score at 1-1; then Danby delivers his second post-season hattrick for the 4-1 final score.
March 18—Terriers play the perfect game, blanking arch-rival Cornell, 4-0, the first shutout suffered by the Big Red since 1964. Ron Anderson and Ric Jordan each score twice, while Regan, unbeatable in goal, stops all 39 shots and is named Most Outstanding Player. Danby takes the NCAA trophy on a victory lap around Boston Garden to the cheers of the SRO crowd of 14,995.
► Terriers became the first Eastern team to claim back-to-back NCAA titles.
► BU yielded just five goals in five post-season games.
► Three Terriers—Brady, Brown and Danby—earned All-American honors, Brown for the second time.
► The national championship game at Boston Garden set a new record for attendance at an NCAA game.
► Kelley concluded his ten-year tenure as the Terrier mentor with a 206-80-8 record (.714)
Dec. 30—Terriers undefeated streak ends at nine, with a 3-2 loss to Cornell in the Syracuse Invitational final.
Jan. 26—Guy Burrowes first varsity hattrick powers BU past Providence, 7-3.
Feb. 2—Don Cahoon’s breakaway goal in the final period is the game-winner in a 5-3 win against Colgate. After being stymied for 40 minutes, BU scored four times in the final period. Bob Brown netted a pair and junior goalie Ed Walsh got the win, filling in for Brady.
Feb. 8—Two Danby goals and scores by Mike LaGarde and Paul Giandomenico power BU to a 4-2 win against BC in the Beanpot opener.
Feb. 11—Dave Wisener scores off a faceoff to lift the Terriers past New Hampshire, 6-5. Three third-period goals erase a 5-3 deficit.
Feb. 14—BU beats Harvard, 4-1, for its third consecutive Beanpot title. Two more goals by Danby and spectacular Brady netminding earn each a share of the tournament MVP award.
Feb. 18—In his first action since returning from the Sapporo Olympics with a silver medal, Tim Regan backstopped the Terriers to a 7-3 win against RPI. The victory was the 200th of Coach Jack Kelley’s tenure at BU.
Feb. 26—A Ron Anderson hattrick and single goals by Giandomenico, Burrowes and Bill Flynn gave BU a 6-4 win against Providence.
March 1—In the regular season finale, Cornell beats BU, 3-2 again, dealing the Terriers their first loss at Walter Brown.
March 7—BU rips RPI, 8-2, in the opening round of the ECAC playoffs, led by Bob Brown’s two goals and three assists.
March 10—The ECAC semifinal jinx is broken. Terrier, who had lost in the semis to Clarkson in 1970 and Harvard in 1971, gain a berth in the championship game, dumping the Crimson, 3-1. Danby accounts for all the BU goals with hattrick and becomes the second Terrier ever to record three 20-goal seasons.
March 11—BU wins its first ECAC title, defeating Cornell, 4-1 on goals by Danby, Brown, Wisener and Peter Thornton. With five goals in the tournament, Danby is the unanimous M http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-23/omniguide-woos-hospitals-with-flexible-lasers-that-make-surgeries-safer.html/P.
March 13—All-American goalie Dan Brady injures a knee in practice, joining defenseman Bob Murray (bruised kidney) on the sidelines. Tim Regan and David Warner replace them in the lineup.
March 16—In the NCAA semifinal at Boston Garden, Terriers spot Wisconsin a one goal lead before Regan’s save on a breakaway turns the momentum around. Paul Giandomenico knots the score at 1-1; then Danby delivers his second post-season hattrick for the 4-1 final score.
March 18—Terriers play the perfect game, blanking arch-rival Cornell, 4-0, the first shutout suffered by the Big Red since 1964. Ron Anderson and Ric Jordan each score twice, while Regan, unbeatable in goal, stops all 39 shots and is named Most Outstanding Player. Danby takes the NCAA trophy on a victory lap around Boston Garden to the cheers of the SRO crowd of 14,995.
► Terriers became the first Eastern team to claim back-to-back NCAA titles.
► BU yielded just five goals in five post-season games.
► Three Terriers—Brady, Brown and Danby—earned All-American honors, Brown for the second time.
► The national championship game at Boston Garden set a new record for attendance at an NCAA game.
► Kelley concluded his ten-year tenure as the Terrier mentor with a 206-80-8 record (.714)
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
1971-72: Repeat Champions—Season Highlights
Nov. 22—Terriers played the U.S. Olympics team at a Boston Garden fundraiser. Goalie Tim Regan’s strong play in the 4-4 tie catches the eye of U.S. Coach Murray Williamson and he later takes a sabbatical to join the U.S. Olympic team.
Nov. 27—BU doubles up Yale, 6-3, in the first game played at Walter Brown Arena with Ron Anderson scoring BU’s first goal.
Dec. 1—Two Bob Gryp goals led BU to a 3-0 blanking of Brown—with Dan Brady and Regan sharing the shutout.
Dec. 8—Preseason favorites BU and Harvard skate to a repeat of their 4-4 overtime tie of 1970.
Nov. 27—BU doubles up Yale, 6-3, in the first game played at Walter Brown Arena with Ron Anderson scoring BU’s first goal.
Dec. 1—Two Bob Gryp goals led BU to a 3-0 blanking of Brown—with Dan Brady and Regan sharing the shutout.
Dec. 8—Preseason favorites BU and Harvard skate to a repeat of their 4-4 overtime tie of 1970.
Dec. 11—BU bombards Princeton with 50 shots, dominating the Tigers, 6-1, at Hobey Baker Rink. Terriers get goals from Captain John Danby (2), Steve Dolloff, Bob Brown, Ric Jordan and Anderson.
Dec. 21 & 22—Terriers win the ECAC Christmas Tournament, beating Northeastern, 4-1, and RPI, 4-0. Brady earns MVP honors.
Dec. 21 & 22—Terriers win the ECAC Christmas Tournament, beating Northeastern, 4-1, and RPI, 4-0. Brady earns MVP honors.
Dec. 29—In a rematch of the 1971 NCAA title game, BU edges Minnesota in double overtime, on Danby’s goal, in the first round of the Syracuse Invitational Tournament.
Dec. 30—Terriers' undefeated streak ends at nine, with a 3-2 loss to Cornell in the Syracuse Invitational final.
Jan. 26—Guy Burrowes first varsity hattrick powers BU past Providence, 7-3.
Feb. 2—Don Cahoon’s breakaway goal in the final period is the game-winner in a 5-3 win against Colgate. After being stymied for 40 minutes, BU scored four times in the final period. Bob Brown netted a pair and junior goalie Ed Walsh got the win, filling in for Brady.
Feb. 8—Two Danby goals and scores by Mike LaGarde and Paul Giandomenico power BU to a 4-2 win against BC in the Beanpot opener.
Feb. 11—Dave Wisener scores off a faceoff to lift the Terriers past New Hampshire, 6-5. Three third-period goals erase a 5-3 deficit.
Feb. 14—BU beats Harvard, 4-1, for its third consecutive Beanpot title. Two more goals by Danby and spectacular Brady netminding earn each a share of the tournament MVP award.
Feb. 18—In his first action since returning from the Sapporo Olympics with a silver medal, Tim Regan backstopped the Terriers to a 7-3 win against RPI. The victory was the 200th of Coach Jack Kelley’s tenure at BU.
Feb. 26—A Ron Anderson hattrick and single goals by Giandomenico, Burrowes and Bill Flynn gave BU a 6-4 win against Providence.
March 1—In the regular season finale, Cornell beats BU, 3-2 again, dealing the Terriers their first loss at Walter Brown.
March 7—BU rips RPI, 8-2, in the opening round of the ECAC playoffs, led by Bob Brown’s two goals and three assists.
March 10—The ECAC semifinal jinx is broken. Terriers, who had lost in the semis to Clarkson in 1970 and Harvard in 1971, gain a berth in the championship game, dumping the Crimson, 3-1. Danby accounts for all the BU goals with a hattrick and becomes the second Terrier ever to record three 20-goal seasons.
March 11—BU wins its first ECAC title, defeating Cornell, 4-1 on goals by Danby, Brown, Wisener and Peter Thornton. With five goals in the tournament, Danby is the unanimous MVP.
Dec. 30—Terriers' undefeated streak ends at nine, with a 3-2 loss to Cornell in the Syracuse Invitational final.
Jan. 26—Guy Burrowes first varsity hattrick powers BU past Providence, 7-3.
Feb. 2—Don Cahoon’s breakaway goal in the final period is the game-winner in a 5-3 win against Colgate. After being stymied for 40 minutes, BU scored four times in the final period. Bob Brown netted a pair and junior goalie Ed Walsh got the win, filling in for Brady.
Feb. 8—Two Danby goals and scores by Mike LaGarde and Paul Giandomenico power BU to a 4-2 win against BC in the Beanpot opener.
Feb. 11—Dave Wisener scores off a faceoff to lift the Terriers past New Hampshire, 6-5. Three third-period goals erase a 5-3 deficit.
Feb. 14—BU beats Harvard, 4-1, for its third consecutive Beanpot title. Two more goals by Danby and spectacular Brady netminding earn each a share of the tournament MVP award.
Feb. 18—In his first action since returning from the Sapporo Olympics with a silver medal, Tim Regan backstopped the Terriers to a 7-3 win against RPI. The victory was the 200th of Coach Jack Kelley’s tenure at BU.
Feb. 26—A Ron Anderson hattrick and single goals by Giandomenico, Burrowes and Bill Flynn gave BU a 6-4 win against Providence.
March 1—In the regular season finale, Cornell beats BU, 3-2 again, dealing the Terriers their first loss at Walter Brown.
March 7—BU rips RPI, 8-2, in the opening round of the ECAC playoffs, led by Bob Brown’s two goals and three assists.
March 10—The ECAC semifinal jinx is broken. Terriers, who had lost in the semis to Clarkson in 1970 and Harvard in 1971, gain a berth in the championship game, dumping the Crimson, 3-1. Danby accounts for all the BU goals with a hattrick and becomes the second Terrier ever to record three 20-goal seasons.
March 11—BU wins its first ECAC title, defeating Cornell, 4-1 on goals by Danby, Brown, Wisener and Peter Thornton. With five goals in the tournament, Danby is the unanimous MVP.
March 13—All-American goalie Brady injures a knee in practice, joining defenseman Bob Murray (bruised kidney) on the sidelines. Regan steps in at goal and David Warner moves up to the second defensive pairing, while freshman Vic Stanfield joins the varsity for depth.
March 16—In the NCAA semifinal at Boston Garden, Terriers spot Wisconsin a one goal lead before Regan’s save on a Pat Lannan breakaway turns the momentum around. Paul Giandomenico knots the score at 1-1; then Danby delivers his second post-season hattrick for the 4-1 final score.
March 18—Terriers play the perfect game, blanking arch-rival Cornell, 4-0, the first shutout suffered by the Big Red since 1964. Ron Anderson and Ric Jordan each score twice, while Regan, unbeatable in goal, stops all 39 shots and is named Most Outstanding Player. Danby takes the NCAA trophy on a victory lap around Boston Garden to the cheers of the SRO crowd of 14,995.
March 16—In the NCAA semifinal at Boston Garden, Terriers spot Wisconsin a one goal lead before Regan’s save on a Pat Lannan breakaway turns the momentum around. Paul Giandomenico knots the score at 1-1; then Danby delivers his second post-season hattrick for the 4-1 final score.
March 18—Terriers play the perfect game, blanking arch-rival Cornell, 4-0, the first shutout suffered by the Big Red since 1964. Ron Anderson and Ric Jordan each score twice, while Regan, unbeatable in goal, stops all 39 shots and is named Most Outstanding Player. Danby takes the NCAA trophy on a victory lap around Boston Garden to the cheers of the SRO crowd of 14,995.
► Terriers became the first Eastern team to claim back-to-back NCAA titles.
► BU yielded just five goals in five post-season games.
► Three Terriers—Brady, Brown and Danby—earned All-American honors, Brown for the second time.
► The national championship game at Boston Garden set a new record for attendance at an NCAA game.
► Kelley concluded his ten-year tenure as the Terrier mentor with a 206-80-8 record (.714)
► BU yielded just five goals in five post-season games.
► Three Terriers—Brady, Brown and Danby—earned All-American honors, Brown for the second time.
► The national championship game at Boston Garden set a new record for attendance at an NCAA game.
► Kelley concluded his ten-year tenure as the Terrier mentor with a 206-80-8 record (.714)
Sunday, November 27, 2011
The Terriers' first on-campus hockey home turns 40
by Terrier Blogger
The Walter Brown Arena, BU’s first on-campus hockey home, hosted its first game 40 years ago today—November 27, 1971. During the next 33-plus years, the Terriers would play 528 games at the arena on Babcock Street, adjacent to BU’s West Campus. The final men’s game (video) was played on Jan. 2, 2005, a 2-1 loss to Minnesota.
BU inaugurated Agganis Arena (video) the following night, beating the top-ranked Gophers by the same score.
When Jack Kelley became head coach of his alma mater in 1962, one of the first goals he set was to bring an on-campus facility to Boston University. With the assistance of the support group he founded, The Friends of BU Hockey, Kelley was the driving force behind the arena project, a goal he pursued while also returning the hockey program to top tier of Eastern hockey. In 1965, after The Friends reported a pledge list totaling $100,000, BU began a fund raising campaign that would raise $5.5 million for a complex that would house the arena, a basketball gym and a swimming pool. Financing was completed and after two years of construction, the doors of Walter Brown Arena opened as Kelley was about to begin his 10th –and final—season behind the Terrier bench.
BU inaugurated Agganis Arena (video) the following night, beating the top-ranked Gophers by the same score.
When Jack Kelley became head coach of his alma mater in 1962, one of the first goals he set was to bring an on-campus facility to Boston University. With the assistance of the support group he founded, The Friends of BU Hockey, Kelley was the driving force behind the arena project, a goal he pursued while also returning the hockey program to top tier of Eastern hockey. In 1965, after The Friends reported a pledge list totaling $100,000, BU began a fund raising campaign that would raise $5.5 million for a complex that would house the arena, a basketball gym and a swimming pool. Financing was completed and after two years of construction, the doors of Walter Brown Arena opened as Kelley was about to begin his 10th –and final—season behind the Terrier bench.
Who was Walter Brown?
Walter was the son of BU’s first athletic director, George V. Brown, for whom the hockey team’s MVP award is named. In 1937, he succeeded his father as manager, then president of Boston Garden, a post he held until 1964. He founded the Boston Celtics, later purchased the Boston Bruins, and was a leading figure in U.S. amateur hockey circles. He was the visionary who created the Beanpot Tournament and also founded USA Hockey. Brown is the only person to inducted into the Basketball, Hockey and International Hockey Halls of Fame. His family also contributed to the building of the arena that bears his name.
Adversity yields unity
The Arena had been scheduled to open in time for the 1970-71 season; however construction delays and an ironworkers strike slowed its completion. The Terriers were forced to spend one more season sharing Boston Arena with Northeastern and practicing at Harvard's Watson Rink.
But, as the 1971-72 captain, John Danby, points out, “The van rides to Harvard in many ways brought our team together even more. We felt if the team, could deal with having to ‘shuttle’ back and forth daily to Harvard mostly dressed and sweaty, anything else we faced the rest of the year would be "a piece of cake" And it virtually was, as BU posted a 28-2-1 record en route to its first NCAA title.
Danby, a deadly sniper, would lead the ‘71-72 team in scoring (26-24-50) and earn MVP honors for the Beanpot and ECAC tournament as well as being named the Terriers’ MVP.
Chris Henes, manager of the 1971-72 team recalls: “Amid the hammers and drills, Coach Kelley became the first person to skate on the ice surface [of Brown Arena] in October of 1971, just before the first practices began. Later, members of both the varsity and freshman squads would assist in painting the lines as well.”
During the first few practices, defenseman Dave Warner remembers, “there was still a big hole in the wall in Section 1 that was used by the construction crews finishing up the work inside. They had a big piece of plastic taped to the walls to keep the hot air out.”
One amenity immediately appreciated by the Terriers was the locker room, which Warner described as “unbelievable with individual player stalls, director chairs, scarlet carpet and showers with hot water. Anything was better than the [locker room at] old Boston Arena." (Link-scroll to pg 57.)
Opening night
Even though Section 1 of the stands was still not completed and unavailable for seating, the curtain was finally raised on the Terriers’ shiny new on-campus home on Monday, November 27. BU was the defending national champion, but there was no banner-raising that day; that tradition wasn’t established until years later.
BU’s first opponent on Babcock Street was ECAC rival Yale, and the Elis quieted the Terrier faithful by scoring the game’s first two goals. But before the first period ended, junior wing Ron Anderson scored from the left faceoff circle, Danby fired home a 15-foot backhander and defenseman Ric Jordan converted a rebound to give BU a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. [Current Umass coach] Don Cahoon, Steve Dolloff and Peter Thornton added second period goals.
The Arena had been scheduled to open in time for the 1970-71 season; however construction delays and an ironworkers strike slowed its completion. The Terriers were forced to spend one more season sharing Boston Arena with Northeastern and practicing at Harvard's Watson Rink.
But, as the 1971-72 captain, John Danby, points out, “The van rides to Harvard in many ways brought our team together even more. We felt if the team, could deal with having to ‘shuttle’ back and forth daily to Harvard mostly dressed and sweaty, anything else we faced the rest of the year would be "a piece of cake" And it virtually was, as BU posted a 28-2-1 record en route to its first NCAA title.
Danby, a deadly sniper, would lead the ‘71-72 team in scoring (26-24-50) and earn MVP honors for the Beanpot and ECAC tournament as well as being named the Terriers’ MVP.
Chris Henes, manager of the 1971-72 team recalls: “Amid the hammers and drills, Coach Kelley became the first person to skate on the ice surface [of Brown Arena] in October of 1971, just before the first practices began. Later, members of both the varsity and freshman squads would assist in painting the lines as well.”
During the first few practices, defenseman Dave Warner remembers, “there was still a big hole in the wall in Section 1 that was used by the construction crews finishing up the work inside. They had a big piece of plastic taped to the walls to keep the hot air out.”
One amenity immediately appreciated by the Terriers was the locker room, which Warner described as “unbelievable with individual player stalls, director chairs, scarlet carpet and showers with hot water. Anything was better than the [locker room at] old Boston Arena." (Link-scroll to pg 57.)
Opening night
Even though Section 1 of the stands was still not completed and unavailable for seating, the curtain was finally raised on the Terriers’ shiny new on-campus home on Monday, November 27. BU was the defending national champion, but there was no banner-raising that day; that tradition wasn’t established until years later.
BU’s first opponent on Babcock Street was ECAC rival Yale, and the Elis quieted the Terrier faithful by scoring the game’s first two goals. But before the first period ended, junior wing Ron Anderson scored from the left faceoff circle, Danby fired home a 15-foot backhander and defenseman Ric Jordan converted a rebound to give BU a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. [Current Umass coach] Don Cahoon, Steve Dolloff and Peter Thornton added second period goals.
The Boston Globe: Boston University’s hockey team dedicated its
ultra-modern Walter Brown Memorial Rink in fine fashion as the defending national champions defeated Yale, 6-3, before 2511 yelling, screaming fans.
From the very start, WBA was a unique environment with its low metal ceiling—in contrast with the high arched ceilings in old hockey barns—that “fired the sounds of the game, the band and the fans back onto the ice,” Anderson points out. “That was especially intimidating for visiting teams. When I coached Merrimack College, it was very hard to communicate with my players at Walter Brown. You really had to be prepared for that noise”
BU finally enjoyed a true home-ice advantage.
Not surprisingly, student support for the hockey team spiked with the opening of WBA.
BU finally enjoyed a true home-ice advantage.
Not surprisingly, student support for the hockey team spiked with the opening of WBA.
“BU hockey became a much bigger deal, with a real campus atmosphere,” Anderson adds. “And that really added to the players’ enjoyment.” The Arena seated more than 3,500.
Home sweet home
Besides being a state-of-the-art facilty, the new arena removed onerous time constraints from the players’ schedules.
Home sweet home
Besides being a state-of-the-art facilty, the new arena removed onerous time constraints from the players’ schedules.
“Living at West Campus meant a home game was really a home game,” Warner explains. “No waiting around in the cold slush to catch a ride to get to Boston Arena. With a short walk, practices were even better. After practice dinner meals were a breeze to get to unlike the previous year when we had to hop out of a van, wet from practice at Harvard, take a quick shower and rush to the cafeteria for food.”
Walter Brown Arena began its existence as the home of the NCAA champions and, at the end of its first season, that hadn’t changed. BU successfully defended its title with a 26-4-1 record, culminating with a 4-0 win against Cornell in the NCAA final at Boston Garden, making the Terriers the first Eastern school to win back-to-back championships.
“That team was on a mission to repeat and nothing was going to stop us from accomplishing that very prestigious goal,” says Danby.
“That season set the bar for future BU teams,” Anderson added, noting that BU was the most successful Eastern college hockey team in the 1970s, reaching the Final Four another five times, as Walter Brown Arena became synonymous with the dominance of Terrier hockey.
Today, Walter Brown Arena is the home of BU’s women’s team, which, just a few years into its existence, emerged as a national power, reaching the NCAA championship game in 2011. It also is home ice for Catholic Memorial High School.
For a look back at some of the most memorable games played at WBA, read Burn The Boats author Scott Weighart’s 2005 feature for USCHO, Remembering Walter Brown Arena.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Red Hot Hockey Since 1925
Originally posted Nov. 2007
by Terrier Blogger
Saturday night’s Red Hot Hockey matchup at Madison Square Garden resumes the rivalry between two of college hockey’s most storied and successful programs, Boston University and Cornell. The teams have met 40 times in six different venues. Madison Square Garden will be the seventh. The Big Red hold the upper hand with 23 wins. The Terriers came out on top 16 times and there was one very memorable tie, which we’ll get to soon.
The series began 82 seasons ago with BU in its seventh year of varsity hockey and Cornell in its 17th. On January 10, 1925, Terrier Coach George Gaw, in the first of his four seasons at the BU helm, brought his squad, captained by Maury Kontoff, to Ithaca where they skated to a 7-2 victory on Beebe Lake. A year later, BU returned to Ithaca and blanked the Big Red, 1-0. The same week, the Terriers made their first-ever visit to Madison Square Garden for an exhibition game with the St. Nicholas Hockey Club (see “BU In The Big Apple”)
And then, the series went on hiatus until the 1960s. In the late 1940s when the NCAA Championship tournament began, BU, under Coach Harry Cleverly, was an Eastern power, playing in three of the first six tournaments—two of them with Jack Kelley playing wing. Meanwhile, Cornell, which had continued to play on Lake Beebe throughout the 30s and 40s, didn’t field a team from 1948 until 1957 when Lynah Rink opened its doors.
The Big Red didn’t become a force in college hockey until Ned Harkness became head coach in 1963. In his third season, 1965-66, Cornell rose to the top of the Eastern elite, running up a 22-5 record and reaching the ECAC championship game.
Meanwhile, BU, after a few lean seasons in the early 60s, had turned the reins over to Kelley who quickly engineered a return to prominence for BU hockey. 1965-66 was Kelley’s fourth season and his Terriers finished 27-8, reaching both the ECAC and NCAA tournaments. It was in the ECAC semifinal that season that BU and Cornell finally met again with the Big Red taking winning easily, 8-1.
Let’s take a look a some of the memorable games among the next 38 played with an emphasis on some of the earlier games in the series.
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 beat 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 Cleary, 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 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’.”
March 11, 1967— Boston Garden—The long awaited rematch between the Terriers and Big Red came in the ECAC championship game, played before 14,300, which at the time was the largest attendance ever for a U.S. collegiate hockey game.
BU dominated the first two periods and held a 2-1 lead on the strength of a pair of Jim Quinn goals, the first assisted by Mike Sobeski, then second by Gilmour. Dave Ferguson scored for Cornell. BU nearly had a third as McLachlan rang one off the post early in the middle stanza.
Cornell tied the score early in the third on Doug Ferguson’s goal and then took control when Pete Tufford and Doran scored. Gray brought BU within one with just over five minutes left, but Dryden slammed the door and Cornell was crowned ECAC champs.
A week later the two teams would meet again, in Syracuse, for the NCAA title, with the Big Red repeating their victory, 4-1.
McLachlan points out that “BU owned the territorial and shot advantage in both the ECAC and NCAA games, and without a goalie the stature of Cornell\'s Ken Dryden, I think the results may have been different. Dryden was a class act as a player and as an individual
Forty years later, McLachlan insists that BU was the better team and that, even with Dryden in goal, BU probably would have won both games if goalie Wayne Ryan had been fully healthy.
“Wayne injured ligaments in his knee during the season and when he came back for the playoffs he didn\'t have the same level of mobility moving in the crease from side to side,” McLachlan adds. “He just was not at full strength. Cornell was able to take advantage of that on some of their goals."
March 7, 1969— Boston Garden—Cornell ended BU’s NCAA hopes edging the Terriers, 3-2, in overtime in the ECAC semifinals. Trailing 2-0, the Terriers tied the score on third period goals by Serge Boily and Ed Wright, but Cornell’s Kevin Petit scored 30 seconds into the extra session.
Jan. 23, 1971—Lynah Rink— BU was the top ranked team in the nation with a 13-0-1 mark that included wins of Minnesota and Boston College. Other than the 4-4 tie at Harvard, none of the games were close. The ’70-’71 Terrier squad, led by Captain Steve Stirling, forward John Danby and defensemen Bob Brown and Ric Jordan, was both talented and young, with just three seniors on the team. Consequently, most of the team had never before experienced Lynah Rink where the Big Red and their enthusiastic fans regularly made visitors uncomfortable. The defending national champion ended BU’s unbeaten streak with a thud, laying a 5-1 pasting on the Terriers. Only junior winger Don “Toot” Cahoon was able to find the back of the net. But it wasn’t the last meeting of the season for the teams.
March 13, 1971—Boston Garden—ECAC Tournament: The Terriers, after their reality check in Ithaca, reeled off a dozen straight wins, and then, in the ECAC semifinals, disaster struck in Crimson jerseys. Harvard played a near-perfect, penalty-free game, keeping BU’s 40% power play off the ice and beating the Terriers 4-2. Instead of rematch with Cornell in the title game, as many expected, BU would face off with the Big Red in the consolation game, after Clarkson had dumped Cornell. BU’s scant hopes for an invitation the four-team NCAA field required a win over Cornell.
Team manager Chris Henes recalls that the game proved to be a shootout with more than 90 shots on goal.
“Cornell led 3-2 after one, and we scored three unanswered goals—Steve Stirling, Ric Jordan, and John Danby—to make it 5-3. Cornell got one back before Stirling’s second became the eventual game winner. Goalie Dan Brady was hit with a stick in the eye right on Cornell's last goal, which narrowed the lead to 6-5 with 14 seconds remaining in the second in the second period.”
ECAC rules at the time allowed BU to take 15 minutes to prepare backup goalie Tim Regan, but Terrier Coach Jack Kelley suggested that instead the final14 seconds be added on to the third period. Cornell Coach Dick Bertrand would have none of that, so the BU skaters warmed up Regan blistering him with shots, followed by 14 uneventful seconds. While Henes took Brady to BU Hospital in a police cruiser to have his eye examined, Regan stopped 16 third period Cornell shots and the game ended 6-5.
“Making Regan play those 14 seconds after the warm-up period backfired on Cornell,” Kelley says. “It enabled us to hold on for what would prove to be an important win.”
Harvard beat Clarkson in the ECAC title game and with BU having beaten the Golden Knights earlier in the season, the league elected to send BU and Harvard to the NCAAs in Syracuse where the Terrier earned their first national championship.
March 11, 1972—Boston Garden—BU and Cornell were once again the iron of the East and this time both reached the ECAC championship game. Cornell’s record going into the game was 22-4 and BU’s was 23-4-1. The teams had met twice during the season, at the Syracuse Invitation Tournament and in BU’s final regular season game at Walter Brown Arena. The Big Red earned 3-2 wins in both.
So, BU came into the game seeking revenge, as well as its first ECAC championship. Dave Wisener and Brown gave BU a 2-0 lead after heavily outshooting Cornell in the first period.
After Cornell narrowed the lead to one, Captain Jake Danby continued his hot post-season scoring with a power play goal from Jordan and Ron Anderson. While All-American goalie Brady held the Big Red at bay, Peter Thornton, assisted by Steve Dolloff and Paul Giandomenico, closed out the scoring in a very one-sided, 4-1 win.
Team Manager Henes remembers that one of keys to the victory was that “We matched them line for line which included a great effort by the 4th wave of Bill Flynn, Ray Cournoyea, and Larry Abbott.”
March 18, 1972—Boston Garden—Just as in 1967, the teams quickly met for a rematch in the NCAA finals. But BU had some lineup changes. Brady, injured in the first practice after the ECACs, was replaced by Tim Regan, who had missed part of the season to play on the U.S. Olympic team. And steady defenseman Bob Murray’s kidney injury left BU short on the blueline. So Kelley obtained permission to play a freshman, Vic Stanfield, while Dave Warner stepped up to take Murray’s spot on defense.
BU took a first period lead on Anderson’s first of two goals and Jordan doubled the lead in the second period. Each would score again in the third.
Meanwhile, Regan was stopping all 39 Cornell shots to record just the second ever shutout, 4-0, in an NCAA championship game. During the two-game tournament, the red light shone on the back of his helmet just once, earning him Most Outstanding Player honors.
BU became the first Eastern school to win back-to-back national championships. The Terriers had won three major titles at Boston Garden—the Beanpot, ECACs and NCAAs—and Danby was the MVP in first two. The 4-0 win was Kelley’s final game behind the Terrier behind as he became coach and general manager of the New England Whalers.
Brown adds that “Part of the enjoyment of this particular rivalry from my point of view is that I had played with and against a number of the players who went to Cornell throughout my time in Canada. And, I had traveled to Cornell as one of my trips to various schools before I made up my mind to come to BU.”
Dec. 13, 1972—Lynah Rink—The most controversial game in the BU-Cornell series was 9-0 blowout win for BU on the ice, but later became a 1-0 forfeit loss. Terrier sophomore Dick Decloe scored a hat trick, six other Terriers scored goals and goalie Ed Walsh stopped 31 shots. A week later, the ECAC began investigating eligibility issues concerning Decloe—reportedly at the request of Cornell. Eventually, Decloe was declared ineligible because his junior team in Canada had paid a local school tax of $132 after Decloe had taken other precautions to protect his eligibility. BU forfeited the win over Cornell and ten other wins in which Decloe had played.
March 8, 1974—Boston Garden—BU and Cornell were matched up in the ECAC semifinals, and the Terriers came away with a one-side 7-3, sparked by what Coach Jack Parker called “an unbelievable goal by Vic Stanfield,” win en route to what would be the first of four consecutive ECAC titles.
Parker, in a recent media call regarding the 2007 game, revealed that the 1974 semifinal was his most memorable game coached against Cornell. That was, he said, because it was his first year behind the Terrier bench, and because Cornell had beaten BU in the ECACs in all three of his years as a player.
Feb. 26, 1975—Lynah Rink—This game was as memorable for the trip to the game as for the game itself, according to several Terrier players.
BU goalie—and current women’s team head coach—Brian Durocher says “In those days we had the luxury of flying by charter (a DC 3) to Cornell the day of the game and returning home right afterwards The flight may well have been the roughest one I have ever encountered. The travel party included about 30 people and I am guessing that approximately 22-25 people vomited.[Note: defenseman Gary Fay recalls that everyone except Vic Stanfield lost their lunch]
“We landed in Ithaca, slept in the barracks next to the football field, ate a pre-game meal, took another nap and then beat the Big Red 6-4. We jumped back on a plane and returned home by midnight. That night also included the longest goal I ever surrendered when a Cornell player scored from the far blue line. That was before the Red Line icing came into the college game so those shots did come on a more regular basis. I saw it all the way but just plain missed it. I am constantly reminded of that goal by our facilities director Alan Weinberger who had made the trip to Lynah Rink that evening.”
Fay adds “I remember the area behind the Bench being very small. Coach Parker was standing on the bench impeding the people’s view right behind him. They were heckling him the entire game and he kept his cool until the game was over, then turned and said, "Can you see now?"
Jan. 8, 1977—Lynah Rink—When BU next returned to Lynah, the result was a shootout with BU eeking out a 7-6 win in overtime on All-American Rick Meagher’s second goal of the game. His linemates, Mike Eruzione and Dave Silk, each registered a pair of goals, too. It was a milestone game for power play specialist Fay, as well.
He explains: “This game is etched into my memory because I played a regular shift due to injuries to Jack O'Callahan and Dick Lamby. For me personally, it was a validation that I could play at 5'6” and be a defensemen for BU and, moreover, do it in a hostile atmosphere. I know I was a + on the day and I remember Bob Murray, our then defense coach, coming to me after the game with a sly smile saying to me, "good game". That game really propelled us that year into believing in our young team and winning the ECAC's....again for the 4th year in a row.
“Four of us, Eruzione, Rick Meagher, John McClellan and me, are the only players in ECAC history to win 4 straight league championships.”
Dec. 3, 1983—Walter Brown Arena—In BU’s final season as a member of the ECAC, the Terriers upended Cornell, 4-2, ending a string of six consecutive Big Red wins.
Nov. 23, 1993—Lynah Rink—BU wins an early-season contest, 4-3, behind Mike Pomichter’s game-winner and goals by Jay Pandolfo and Jacques Joubert. Pomichter went on to earn All-American honors in 93-94. JP McKersie was in goal for B.U.
Nov. 21, 1995—Walter Brown Arena—Defending NCAA champion BU beat Cornell 7-1 behind a pair of Jay Pandolfo goals and with Mike Sylvia, Shawn Bates, Mike Grier, John Hynes and Chris Kelleher also finding the back of the Big Red net. Tom Noble was in net for what was Coach Jack Parker’s 500th win behind the Terrier bench.
Nov. 24, 2001—Walter Brown Arena—Exactly six years before the this week’s Madison Square Garden game, BU registered its most recent win over the Big Red, winning 5-3 behind Jason Tapp’s goaltending. Mike Pandolfo netted the winner in the last minute of the third period. Jack Baker scored twice and Pat Aufiero and Ken Magowan added goals.
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