Beanpot

Lord I hope Northeastern can claim the title. They are more than overdue... 21 years is far too long. Road won't be easy as they will have to go through #11 BC and likely #1 BU (NU is ranked #3).

Harvard is the tough-luck loser to BU, 4-3. The Terriers were handed a power-play with 2:10 left in the game after a Harvard player hooks a BU forward who grabs the stick and falls on it, selling the call. BU's first goal game due to a similar penalty call behind the BU net. Harvard deserved better tonight...

3:24 - NU on the 5-on-3... win the faceoff, cycle down low to the right of Muse... Ginand, team leading scorer, beats Muse high glove-side with a hard-angle shot. NU unsuccessful on second PP opportunity. 1-0 NU

8:06 - BC just finished with the power-play, delayed penalty on NU allows for the 6-on-5... Price, the extra skater winds up from the point, Thiessen appears to make the stop but it trickles through five hole and barely crosses the line with two Eagles racing to help it in. 1-1 Even

8:54 - Great save by Thiessen on a near breakaway by Bradford, BC's leading scorer... leads to NU's transition game, Costa puts it in on the third try. 2-1 NU

15:00 - NU penalized shortly after the goal... able to kill it off with some good netminding from Thiessen who had to hold the post on another impressive scoring chance from Bradford. Near breakaway from Donovan of NU but puts it over the net, glove-side. They seem to be going glove-side on him a lot.

End of first - Impressive goaltending from Thiessen keeping NU in this game. Very vocal NU student contingent so far with "Let's go Huskies" chant clearly audible on the NESN feed... not so much for BC. Solid period though has to be more disciplined if they expect to win. Shots are 9-8 for NU.

3:22 - BC has owned the period thus far and NU's Chisholm just got rung up for Interference. BC is 0-2 on the PP with 1 shot.

6:14 - NU escapes the PK unharmed... finally get their first shot of the period and not surprisingly, they went high on the glove-side. Muse made the save on a shot that appeared to be wide of the net.

12:02 - NU on the PP... BC's Almeida guilty of the trip on Costa off the faceoff. NU is 1-2 with 2 shots on the man advantage. On a side not, some rather disturbing news... turns out NU freshman Steve Quailer is property of the enemy! He was a 3rd round selection of the Canadiennes in the 2008 Entry Draft... I am saddened by this. Not saddened though by NU putting in another PPG... odd bounce behind the net off the boards puts Muse in an awkward position, opening the hole for Liotti's blast. 3-1 NU

12:44 - Drive by McCauley from the point. Two goals in 42 seconds... York takes the TO to calm Muse and the Eagles down. Shots are now even at 17 apiece 4-1 NU

18:19 - So that bit about not liking Quailer? Yea... completely disregard that! He puts in NU's 5th goal, their 3rd goal on 4 shots and another shaky play from Muse. NU on the PK though with a roughing call... game is getting chippy now. 5-1 NU

19:57 - Thiessen with another save on a breakaway. Scrum in front of him after Bradford slams into Thiessen. Problem is, he didn't even try to slow down heading in but instead slammed right into Thiessen's upper torso and head... he deserves to be tossed for that in my opinion. NU's Chisholm brought his own form of justice with some punches to the downed Bradford... he is heading to the lockerroom and it certainly seems like he was tossed. Can't comprehend how Bradford doesn't get the same punishment since he obviously didn't even TRY to slow down or avoid blind-siding Thiessen.

End of Second - Period ends on a nasty note with the melee in Thiessen's crease. It was started by BC's captain who made (in my opinion) a blatantly dirty play that could only have been born of frustration. Thankfully NU is dominating the period despite being soundly outshot (22-11) with three goals to none, two in large part to misplays behind the net from the sophomore Muse. Did not expect that out of him, seeing as he has played, and won, in the pressure-cooker of the NCAA finals. Thiessen has been dominant, taking the first shot with ease and allowing very few rebounds... hopefully no harm done by Bradford's charge.

Final results of Melee:
NU Chisholm - 5min punching, game disqualification
NU Vitale - 2min hitting after whistle
BC Bradford - 5min charging
BC Atkinson - 2min hitting after whistle

No power plays from the mess... still don't comprehend how Bradford is still in the game after sparking the brawl. Even the USCHO blogger is in agreement:
"Bradford ran goalie Brad Thiessen while he was covering a puck amidst a scrum. The intent was clear as day..."
I am less than pleased with the official's handling of that play and the end results. Thankfully, NU has a 4-goal lead and should be able to hold it so long as Thiessen is unharmed.

8:00 - NU kills off the second penalty of the third... BC is quickly running out of time in this one and is still no closer to solving Thiessen. The NU defense reminds me somewhat of the Bruins... allow lots of low-quality shots and few juicy rebounds and those few rebounds that are allowed are quickly cleared out by the defense. Just as with Boston, there are a couple times each period that the goalie is relied upon to make the spectacular save and Thiessen is delivering just like Thomas, though a little more composed...

12:04 - NU fans sound like they are a little bored... the last few minutes they have been counting down the last ten seconds of each minute then repeatedly chanting the minutes left. Rather amusing yet sad at the same time... have hardly heard a peep from the BC crowd over the telecast... really quite pathetic, especially considering they are reigning NCAA champs. As I am writing this, Donovan pots killer and gets his 4th point of the night (1G, 3A). Finally, the NU fans have something real to cheer about and Muse has been pulled from the game in favor of the local kid Venti (Needham) who is seeing his first collegiate action. Donovan then gets his third minor penalty (talk about filling up the stat sheet!) but is not too concerned since BC is 0-6 tonight on PP. 6-1 NU

5:00 - Five minutes also the chant from the Huskies fans, anticipating a spirited matchup with their Comm Ave rivals. Thiessen must have broken 40 saves by now, which is made all the more impressive by the fact BC scored on their first shot (and even then just barely). He certainly looks to be in line for his second straight Eberly Award (given to the goalie with the best save percentage).

Final - NU closes it out on the man advantage. Just an impressive, dominating effort from the Huskies (6-1 victors) and their fans rewarded them with some raucous cheers. Impressive bit is they are the first team to chase John Muse in his 67 games at the Heights... he had yet to miss even a second of play for the Eagles. Strange bit is, NU was outshot 45-26 but you wouldn't have guessed watching the game since BC was clearly suffocated by the Huskie defense. Goes to show you how shots don't truly tell the story of a game... what really matters is the quality of those shots! Was nervous heading into this game with BC and was concerned throughout the first period but once NU got that third goal, I felt a lot more comfortable.

Now the question is... do I try and get tickets for the final and risk severe disappointment or do I stick with what worked and live-blog the game again? Decisions, decisions...
See running commentary here...