As longtime Hockey East rivals separated by just a few miles, Boston University and Northeastern play multiple times every season.
It’s always a good rivalry. Naturally, though, there is something special about meeting in the Beanpot.
Few people have a more unique experience with this rivalry than Brendan Collier because the Charlestown, Mass., native and Malden Catholic grad’s 141-game collegiate career (2013-17) was split between the two programs. He played for current New York Rangers coach David Quinn as a freshman at BU before a three-year run at Northeastern, when he played in one Beanpot title game (2015) and won a Hockey East championship (2016) under Jim Madigan.
“These were my favorite two weeks of the year when I was playing,” he said. “Growing up, you could see the Garden and you knew where you were going to be on those first two Mondays of February. I played with and against some of my best friends in the Beanpot. It was always such a big deal.”
The series between the Terriers and Huskies dates all the way back to 1931 at the old Boston Arena and will renew for the 240th time at 7:30 p.m. Monday, when the two teams meet for the 68th Beanpot Championship at TD Garden. Boston College and Harvard will meet at 4:30 p.m. on Monday in the consolation final.
Forty-three meetings have come in the Beanpot with 13 -- most recently in 2015, Collier’s sophomore season at Northeastern -- deciding the title.
Collier finished his career as one of Northeastern’s assistant captains in 2016-17, played a season professionally in the ECHL and has turned his attention to coaching within the Junior Bruins organization. We caught up with Collier to discuss what to expect from Monday night’s game:
The score will be close
The wealth of talent certainly stands out to Collier entering this title game. Both teams rank in the top four in Hockey East as they average more than three goals per game and have a strong defense corps featuring several younger players drafted by NHL clubs.
Like both games in last Monday’s doubleheader, Collier expects a tight game right down to the end. That is the norm in Beanpots these days. All but five of 22 games over the last six tournaments have been decided by two goals or less.
“It’s going to be one of those close-checking games the majority of the time,” he said. “It’s not often a 7-6 game in the final, so every little play matters. That’s what we preached when I was at Northeastern with some of these guys -- just go out in the first few minutes of the period, establish our game, play with composure and don’t try to do too much.”
Winning the Beanpot can also be a catalyst for the stretch run. It is a rare opportunity to play in a championship game within the regular-season schedule and it will help both teams as they compete over the last few weeks in the jammed Hockey East race.
BU is on a roll
The Terriers are playing some of their best hockey at the right time as they enter Monday night’s game with a 6-3-2 record since the start of December. Although the Beanpot doesn’t count in the Hockey East standings, they entered this weekend’s action just one point behind first place.
It’s only fitting that is the case going into a chance to win the Beanpot for the 31st time in history.
“It’s been BU’s tournament over the years and they always seem to find a way to win,” Collier said. “They’re extremely talented with a lot of young and shifty guys (like freshman Trevor Zegras) who skate really well, so Northeastern will have to play a man’s game down low, wear guys down and not make any mistakes because they live off mistakes.
“It’s a game of mistakes, mistakes are going to be made, but it’s going to be about whoever can limit the mistakes and keep moving forward.”
Northeastern won't get rattled
Although Northeastern has also relied on a large class of freshmen, its elder leaders came up with big plays in a big game last week against Harvard and have done so throughout the season.
Even after allowing an early goal to the top-ranked power play in the country, the Huskies didn’t stray from the plan and ensured a 3-1 win. They scored a goal in each period and held off Harvard’s 14-shot attack in the third period to advance to the final game of the Beanpot for the seventh time since 2011 and extend their tournament winning streak to six games.
“They stayed calm and composed because some of these kids have won at that level and at this stage,” Collier said. “Just the maturity of the older guys and the sticktoitiveness came out the other night after they went down a goal early. Everyone sticks to Madigan’s and Jerry Keefe’s game plan.”
All three goals were scored by experienced players in junior assistant captain Zach Solow, New Hampshire graduate transfer Brendan van Riemsdyk and senior captain Ryan Shea (Milton, Mass.).
The Huskies won't dog it
Northeastern had lost four Beanpot title games in a six-year span before Collier helped the Huskies to that point as a sophomore in 2015. The Terriers won their most recent title that year, but Madigan’s club finally erased its 30-year drought in 2018, the year following Collier’s graduation.
The Huskies will be looking to win three Beanpots in a row for the first time ever on Monday night and -- thanks to their strong leadership core -- have displayed a strong-minded approach since changing the tides in the tournament a bit in recent years.
“They’re very skilled and they’ve got a quiet confidence about them now,” Collier said of his most recent former team. “They know they can win and they beat these guys on a regular basis.”
That seemed pretty much unfathomable even a decade ago.
