Tag: BU hockey (Page 2 of 4)

When Ex-Teammates Attack!

1 December, 2009 / Kat

Parker would be proud: Roche and Lawrence have at it Saturday night. (Photo: Flickr user amanda_hertel)

When former Boston University Terrier Jason Lawrence was traded from the Charlotte Checkers to the Gwinnett Gladiators on Thanksgiving Day, it wasn’t a huge surprise. Lawrence was not getting ice time, due to Charlotte being stock full roster wise. Their AHL affiliates were not calling up players as much as before, a problem not unique to Charlotte, but plaguing many ECHL teams this young season.

In Charlotte, Lawrence had been reunited with former BU teammates Kevin Schaeffer (often on loan to Lake Erie, aka BU AHL West) and Kenny Roche, both class of 2007. Roche and Lawrence had even spent some time on the same line during their short time together with the Checkers.

During his first game with Gwinnett, Lawrence faced Charlotte, his new old team, and scored a nice slapper goal, despite his last name being misspelled on his jersey. Saturday night, the two teams faced each other again, with Roche kicking off the evening’s scoring.

Then things became heated between the two teams. The Gladiators and Checkers combined for 47 penalty minutes, made up of multiple slashing, roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct and fighting penalities. (Maybe it was pent up anger at having to play hockey on Thanksgiving night in that hockey hotbed known as Georgia.)

At the midpoint of the second period, however, was the largest fight of the evening. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the fight that will join the John Curry Goalie Fight in the BU Alumni Minor League Hockey Fight Hall of Fame: the Jason Lawrence – Kenny Roche smackdown, courtsey of GladiatorsForum.org. (I literally tried for an hour to convert it to a better file type, but I do not have Quicktime Pro. You will need a DivX plug-in on your browser to view the video.) The fight was broken up by the refs the second a helmetless Lawrence was pinned to the ice by Roche. Both players made themselves comfy in the penalty box, earning five minute fighting majors for the fight.

The local Gwinnett newspaper commented in its game notes the next day that Roche and Lawrence were teammates in Charlotte, but neglected to mention that the two were college teammates as well.

Oh, former teammate fights, you always are special occasions.

Five Questions With…Matt Fults of Rival Films (The Battle of Comm Ave.)

12 July, 2009 / Kat

The Boston College – Boston University hockey rivalry has been fought for approximately 91 years, and to some sports fans, it may be one of the best rivalries in all of college athletics. Geography is what makes the rivalry unique, since the two schools lie on the same street, on the same street car line, and in the same hockey conference.

Given that both BC and BU have combined to win the last two NCAA Division I Championships, their tradition-laced rivalry has started to receive additional national attention. Sure to add to this national spotlight will be the November release of The Battle of Comm Ave, a documentary on the rivalry by Utah-based Rival Films. The film will premiere on NESN, with an DVD release following. Rival Films’ Matt Fults agreed to answer some questions about the film, the company’s use of social media, and about his own favorite sports documentaries. Continue reading

To Play Outdoors, To Not Play Outdoors

14 June, 2009 / Kat

So are they playing a college hockey game here or not? (Picture by yours truly. Yes, I can take good photos once and a while.)

Remember when I noted that Denver’s men’s ice hockey schedule release may have squashed rumors of a college game being a part of Fenway Park’s all-but-confirmed Winter Classic festivities? Well, the Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont may have revived those rumors by claiming that a source close to the organizers are looking to have the ice system down for three weeks of use, and are looking to schedule a college tournament within that time.

Dupont went on to mention that any official announcement about all of the Winter Classic would most likely take place near the beginning of July.

These new details would seemingly make a Boston College-Boston University game a possibility, because of the length of time the ice will be available. BC could still keep their commitments to the Denver Cup on New Year’s Day, while still having time to fit in an outdoor game against BU.

I’ll keep my eyes out for any additional clues.

********

Belated congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury definitely proved his worth as a goalie on Friday evening (he actually made an acrobatic save in those final seconds – who knew?)

On the Everyone’s Favorite Goalie Watch, John Curry did dress for Game 7, but his name does not get engraved on the Cup, and thus he was not allowed to carry it because of superstition. Until your name is on the Cup, you are not allowed to touch it as a hockey player. He was still spotted on the NBC broadcast wearing the nifty locker room hat though.

Speaking of locker-room hats, Puck Daddy posted a great feature on the conceptualization and production of NHL championship fan wear on Saturday. Those of you as obsessed with fan wear as I will geek out over the detail.

And a special congrats to the Pens fans at Puck Huffers (NSFW), who titled their championship post, “Our Curry in Heaven,” and part of their dedication to disappointed and bitter Detroit fans read:

It’s time for you to put your hands towards the sky and pray for redemption. It worked for us.
Then again, John Curry is God.

It’s clear I’ve been outdone. I think they might need to take over the “Everyone’s Favorite Goalie” posts.

Countdown to Senior Night: Chris Higgins, The Quiet Sparkplug (Let’s Go Terriers!)

7 March, 2009 / Kat

My fellow Terrier hockey fan Joe, the king of game recaps and super awesome blogmaster from Let’s Go Terriers, has posted his Senor Night piece, Chris Higgins, The Quiet Sparkplug. Awesome analysis and video, Joe! I encourage you to check it out.

Countdown to Senior Night: Jason Lawrence, The First Goal I Ever Saw at a BU Hockey Game, and How I Learned How To Remember Where Saugus Was

7 March, 2009 / Kat

Despite choosing my graduate school choice on solely two qualifications – it being in Boston and having a Division I hockey team – it took me until January 8, 2005 to actually attend my first Boston University hockey game. My graduate internship in the Student Activities Office had me working late most nights there was a hockey game going on, so I had to wait till a game during winter break to attend.

I dragged my then-roommate to the game, an exhibition against the USA Under-18 Team. My roommate was perplexed. “We’re not even going to see them play against another college?” I hadn’t been able to get tickets at the first game ever at Agganis – a sell out the week before – and this was the only game I knew for certain I could attend, so I told her that I had to take whatever I could get. I just wanted to get to a game.

So we settled into the sparkling new confines of the Agganis Arena, our seats right behind the BU zone and then-backup goalie Karson Gillespie, and set to watch what we both figured would be a blow out of these 17 and 18 year olds against this reportedly dominant college team.