National Championship Preview

Hockey East's BU, Providence to Battle for Title

by Joe Meloni/Senior Writer

BOSTON  For most of the season, it was clear — abundantly — that the NCHC was the class of college hockey. In just its second year of existence, the upstart league sent six of its eight members to the 16-team tournament. It was a massive accomplishment and a major source of pride.

All six of those teams are gone. Both North Dakota and Nebraska-Omaha advanced to the 2015 Frozen Four and were dismissed by Hockey East's Boston University and Providence, respectively, in Thursday's national semifinals.

Just three Hockey East teams qualified for the tournament, and Providence and BU will play for a national championship Saturday night at TD Garden. It's the first all-Hockey East final since Maine defeated New Hampshire, 3-2, in Anaheim in 1999. It's the second time in the last three years conference rivals will play for a title; ECAC foes Yale and Quinnipiac battled in Pittsburgh in 2013, with the Bulldogs taking the title.

"I didn't think it was a down year for Hockey East," PC coach Nate Leaman said. "I do think a lot of our teams struggled out of the gate in non-conference play."

"I think it's great for our league, and I mean that sincerely," BU coach Dave Quinn said. "We think we have as good of a league, if not the best league in college hockey. I know we've only got three teams in the national tournament, but I think the next four of five teams, I think two or three of them are Hockey East teams that could have got in the tournament."

Both PC and BU eliminated multiple NCHC teams to advance to Saturday's title game. The Friars knocked out Miami and Denver in the regional before dropping UNO, 4-1, on Thursday. BU, meanwhile, just got by Minnesota-Duluth in the Northeast regional final to set up Thursday's 5-3 win over North Dakota. The fact that all of those games occurred in New England has been a major talking point.

Despite the Hockey East pride, neither side will be happy with anything but a win on Saturday night. The Terriers are chasing their sixth title, first since 2009. Meanwhile, Providence is after its first championship. The Friars lost the 1985 title game, 2-1, to Rensselaer in Detroit.

The teams played twice this season, splitting the season series with each team winning the road leg. BU dropped Providence, 4-1, at Schneider Arena, and the Friars recovered the following evening, with a 2-1 win at Agganis Arena.

Those games, however, took place on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Both teams are much different than they were at such an early stage of the season.

"I think, for us, early on, it was kind of finding our identity," PC senior Ross Mauermann said. "Every year is a new year. I think we kind of struggled out of the gate on bringing it both nights."

At that point, the win over BU was just Providence's second of the season. As the last team to qualify for the tournament, the win in Boston was one of a few close games that put the Friars over the edge.

PC's defensive excellence has been consistent all season. The Friars ended the year ranked fourth in the country, allowing just 2.02 goals per game. However, it took longer for the scoring touch to arrive. PC finished the year 18th nationally in goals per game (2.98). In the second half, PC's offense improved greatly, which carried it to a 12-4-1 record in the second half of the regular season.

The Friars finished second in Hockey East, level on points with Boston College. PC earned the tiebreaker, eventually setting up a quarterfinal matchup with New Hampshire. UNH took two of three games from Providence. The loss forced PC to watch the remainder of the Hockey East tournament and hope for some help from the rest of the country to get into the field of 16.

BU won the Hockey East tournament, which, combined with Minnesota winning the Big Ten tournament over Michigan, solidified Providence as the final at-large team.

"When we read that after the week, after we got knocked out by UNH, we felt pretty confident about being in the tournament," Leaman said. "All the results started pushing us down, pushing us down, pushing us down.

"So, you know, after Minnesota beat Michigan, we knew that we got locked in the tournament. I immediately texted (Minnesota coach) Don Lucia and told him 'thank you' and that I owe him lunch in Naples this year.

"We realized we got some bounces to get here. As we mentioned, we got to play in Providence (in the regional). We got to play against a Miami team that was without two of their best forwards. Sometimes, when those opportunities are going to arise, you just put your head down and try to keep getting better."

The Terriers' Hockey East title win was their third championship of the season after Beanpot and league regular-season titles. The 2014-15 season ended a five-year trophy drought that followed BU's national championship season in 2009. A year ago, the Terriers, in Quinn's first year as coach, had their worst season in nearly 40 years. BU won just 10 games.

"Anytime you get a chance to play in a game of this magnitude, you can never take it for granted," Quinn said. "You need to take advantage of it. We've come too far and put too much into it.

"I think our guys feel that way. The thing I liked after our game (against North Dakota) is there was a level of excitement, but it was subdued. I think there was a feeling in the locker room that we were excited about winning the hockey game, but I got a sense shortly thereafter that our guys were getting ready to win the national championship against a very good Providence team."

The introduction of Jack Eichel and several other gifted freshmen vastly improved the Terriers' talent level and made them a team capable of reaching this point. It has forced some older players to take less prominent roles, but they have embraced the smaller part for the opportunity to win.

"Last year, we struggled," BU junior Matt Lane said. "Fortunately, we got a lot of good players. And, if it were up to me, I prefer to be in the role I am playing now for a national championship, than be on a 10-20 team."

Much has been made about Eichel's contribution, and it's warranted. The likely No. 2 pick in the summer's NHL Draft leads the nation in scoring (26-44—70). His two goals and an assist propelled the Terriers to victory in Thursday's national semifinal win over North Dakota.

Friday night, he became BU's third Hobey Baker winner after forward Chris Drury in 1998 and defenseman Matt Gilroy in 2009.

The emergence of John MacLeod, Brandon Hickey, Brandon Fortunato and Brien Diffley as freshmen on BU's blue line has been nearly as significant. The unit is led by junior Matt Grzelcyk, but the development and consistency of the four Terrier rookies has made BU a team capable of winning a national championship.

BU looks to become the first team to win a national title in its hometown since the 1972 Terriers did it at the original Boston Garden. Minnesota won the 2002 national title in St. Paul, which neighbors its home in Minneapolis. The Terriers would be the 10th team to win a national title in their home state.