College hockey is peaking at the right time

Right now, the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking like the Detroit Tigers of hockey. But who… Right now, the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking like the Detroit Tigers of hockey. But who cares? The National Hockey League, as we know it, won’t exist next year. With ongoing labor disagreements and ABC cutting its contract with the NHL after this season, professional hockey is doomed.

But no need to fear, hockey fans, because college hockey is peaking at just the right time. While it’s not yet as popular as college football or college basketball, the number of people starting to recognize college hockey is rising every day.

Last weekend in Boston, the annual Beanpot Tournament took place. This is a tournament of teams in the Boston area – Boston University, Boston College, Harvard and Northeastern. Last week marked the 52nd annual tournament between these four teams. The finals came down to BC and Boston. Boston is a 25-time winner of this tournament, but had been struggling this season heading into the Beanpot Tournament.

When you think of rivalries in college sports, one might think of Michigan-Ohio State in football, or Duke-North Carolina in basketball. But in hockey, one of the biggest, if not the biggest, is BC against Boston. On Monday evening, junior Ryan Murphy scored with six minutes remaining in overtime to give BC the victory over Boston, earning the Eagles the Beanpot Championship.

After the win, BC also found out it had reached No. 1 in the country, edging out North Dakota, Maine and Minnesota. With only a few weeks left in the season, conference championships are also on the line.

Powerhouse and defending National Champion Minnesota will take on in-state rival Minnesota-Duluth twice this weekend. Duluth is ranked sixth in the nation and sits atop the Western Athletic Hockey Association. Junior Lessard heads Duluth with 38 points, and is second in the conference. Right behind Lessard, in third place, is Minnesota rival Thomas Vanek, with 35 points. Minnesota is in desperate need of a win over the first-place Duluth squad to keep its hopes up for a conference title.

The Hockey East Conference boasts the games of the week Friday and Saturday as No. 13-ranked Massachusetts will take on newly crowned top-ranked BC. While the rankings might be a bit far apart, UMass stands only one point behind BC for first place in the conference. The teams will play a home-in-home series this weekend, where UMass will look to gain at least a win and a tie to take over first place in the conference.

The Minutemen are led by defenseman Thomas Puck. Puck has 14 goals and 19 assists on the season and stands in second place in the Hockey East Conference in points. Meanwhile, the Eagles are coming off of their Beanpot Championship victory and are led by forward Ryan Shannon, who has 30 points on the season.

While none of these games will be nationally televised, the atmosphere at both Amherst, Mass., and Chestnut Hill, Mass., will be electric.

Unlike college football, college hockey does have a fair championship, much like college basketball’s March Madness. The Frozen Four, as opposed to Final Four, will be played this year in Boston April 8th and 10th.

So just remember, hockey fans, there is hope for next year. Next year, we will watch college hockey. They don’t argue over labor. These are the type of players who played for Herb Brooks and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team. They play the game for free, and they love doing it.

Brian Goldman is a staff writer for The Pitt News and is rooting for UMass to beat BC twice this weekend. Go Minutemen!