Bigger Than Himself

BU's Eichel Leads Terriers to Another Trophy

by Joe Meloni/Senior Writer

BOSTON  One year from now, it seems inevitable, Jack Eichel will be wearing a different sweater than the scarlet and white Boston University shirt he wore Saturday night. He'll be in Buffalo or Edmonton or any of the 30 NHL cities answering questions about his last game and the ups and downs of his first year in the NHL.

Every day for the last few years, Jack Eichel knew those days approached. He made a decision at one point, though, to play college hockey. He chose to play at Boston University. From the outside, Commonwealth Avenue, Agganis Arena and Hockey East just seem like pit stops for Eichel; obligatory detours on his fast track to the NHL.

He could've picked anywhere he wanted. He could've headed a couple miles up the road. He could've landed north of the border in the Canadian Hockey League. He picked BU, though, because he wanted to do exactly what he did Saturday night.

And he wanted to do it for more than himself.

Eichel led BU to a 5-3 win over Massachusetts-Lowell in the Hockey East championship game Saturday night. He scored two goals and added an assist. Through 36 games, he has 24 goals and 42 assists. Most importantly, he has three trophies, adding the Lamoriello Trophy to the Beanpot and Hockey East regular-season title he and the Terriers claimed last month. Those trophies and every one of those points have turned his first — and likely only — season of college hockey into the stuff of legend. He didn't come to BU just to make a name for himself. He could've done that anywhere.

Eichel came to BU because he wanted to be part of something bigger than himself.

"I've never played for a school before," he said. "That was one of the reasons I wanted to come to college. I wanted to play for more than just myself. I wanted to play for more than just my team. There's so much on the line every time we play, especially when you're on a big stage like the tournaments — the Beanpot or the Hockey East tournament. You want to win for everyone at school and anyone who wore the jersey. You don't want to let them down. It's really nice for the seniors and the upperclassmen who went through a lot in their time at BU."

It's easy to dismiss it as lip service. Eichel's status as a future NHL cornerstone has come with the expected attention from the global hockey media.

"No one has ever come to college hockey with more fanfare than Jack has," BU coach Dave Quinn said. "I don't know if anyone could handle it as well as he does. His teammates love him. He's a humble kid. He just wants to be a BU hockey player. He just so happens to be having the best freshman season ever for a BU hockey player. ... He handles it with humility. He knows he's good. He's not dumb, but he doesn't rub it anyone face and he doesn't let it offend anyone. He's got a confidence about him."

His latest dazzling display — Saturday's performance that cemented him as Hockey East tournament MVP — is just one of many things he's accomplished this season.

"He has such an ability to separate from people, and he makes it look so easy," Quinn said. "It's very difficult to get the puck off of him. I don't think people really appreciate it because he does make it look so easy. He's so fluid. I was kind of joking earlier, and I said he was the Secretariat of hockey players. When you watch Sectretariat run, he looks so different from all the other horses. Jack is very much in that mold."

Never once has Eichel forgotten his place. Eichel may be having the best individual season in BU history, but he's working this hard for more than himself.

"There's so much tradition here," Eichel said. "It's a winning program. You practice at Agganis every day, you see all the banners, and you hear from all the alumni that won those banners from when they came through the program. Earlier in the year, we had Nick Bonino talk to us before the Beanpot. He was adamant about the fact that we weren't just playing for ourselves. We were playing for our school. We were playing for everyone that's ever went to BU and everyone who ever played for BU. I take a lot of pride in that."

Since 2010, he's played for local junior teams, the U.S. National Development program and represented his country at various international tournaments. The teammates he had, games he won, at those levels shaped part of who he is now. Years later, though, Eichel will find his way back to Boston and to Agganis Arena, and it'll be BU in which he takes the most pride. He sees it every day, from the alumni coaching the Terriers now to Mike Eruzione and Jack Parker, whose presences serve as reminders of the privilege he has.

"Mike Eruzione is around the rink all the time," Eichel said. "He's one of the most famous Boston University alumni or hockey players. You can see how much pride he takes in us winning. If we win a game on a Saturday night at Agganis, he's so happy for us even with all the games he's won. He might not come out and say it every time, but it matters to him. It matters so much to our four coaches who played at BU. You want to win for them. It's something that's in the back of our minds."

Saturday night, Eichel, as he so often has been, was the best player on the ice. Dangerous every time he touched the puck, disruptive with every thundering stride, Eichel's six goals and five assists in four Hockey East tournament games are a BU record. He also holds the program's top mark for points by a freshman (66). Ahead of him remains even more work. BU will be the No. 1 seed in a regional next weekend to start the NCAA tournament.

Three championships are nice, but the biggest prize in college hockey awaits.

"It's huge for our team," Eichel said. "For me, it's part of the reason you want to play college hockey. The regional is going to be a tough test. We'll find out where we're at (Sunday), but I'm just excited for it. It's more hockey to be played. The season's not over."

No, Jack Eichel's season isn't over. There remains at least one more game in his already storied career at BU. Capping this season by winning a national championship at TD Garden three weeks from now is the dream he had when he committed to BU. He wanted to be part of something, part of a program he could always call his own.

He's done that.

And, even with an impressive collection of individual and team honors already in his possession, Jack Eichel wants even more. Not for himself. Not because he wants people to say he's the best. He wants to win a national championship for the same reason he wanted to win Saturday night.

"I want," he said, "to win it for BU."