It was both ironic and fitting that the 300th Battle of Commonwealth Avenue took place on Causeway Street.
Ironic for obvious reasons, fitting because the historic meeting between rivals Boston College and Boston University also served as the championship game of the 73rd Beanpot on Monday at TD Garden.
No two men have had a better seat for the rivalry than Jerry York and Jack Parker, former coaches of BC and BU, respectively. The pair played against each other five times before coaching against each other on 82 occasions, including 16 times in the Beanpot.
“We played in it, which was fabulous,” York said. “It’s a highlight of our college career. It’s just a fabulous rivalry. I look forward to it tonight. They’re both great academic schools that value hockey.”
Parker coached BU against BC 155 times and finished with a 78-65-12 record against the Eagles.
“It’s been quite a rivalry for all these years,” Parker said. “I played in it. I was an assistant coach in it, and then I was a head coach. I was a grandfather watching my grandson (Shane Lachance) play. So I’ve been involved in it for a long, long time, and met some great people on my side of this, playing at BU and at the other end of Comm. Ave.”
Both York and Parker were on hand for Monday’s game, participating in a pregame ceremonial puck drop. It was the 24th time BC and BU met for the Beanpot title, with BU winning 13 of the previous 23 matchups on the second Monday in February.
Since Beanpot first-round matchups are set on a rotating basis, and BC and BU were not slated to play each other on opening night this year, it wasn’t known until both teams won last week (No. 11 BC beat Harvard 5-1 while BU needed a shootout to beat Northeastern after skating to a 2-2 tie) that the 300th all-time meeting would fall on the Beanpot’s final night. That was fine with Steve Nazro, who served as TD Garden’s vice president of events and tournament director for more than 50 years, and whose association with the storied tournament goes back to the first time he attended as a fan in 1963 at the old Boston Garden.
“It’s a very big deal, and it’s something that you look forward to seeing, and if it works out, you’re happy,” Nazro said.
Few rivalries in college sports, let alone college hockey, carry the same emotional weight and unpredictability as BC vs. BU. While he didn’t specify any one moment in the rivalry that has stood out for him, Nazro said the BC-BU rivalry brings out everyone’s best — and you never know who will rise to the moment.
“You don’t remember any bad games,” Nazro said. “It seems like when the players come on the ice, it’s more spirited when it’s BC-BU. It’s like playing backyard football with your brothers. You know what’s going to come about, you know you have to be at your best. You know that somebody, maybe somebody you don’t think about, is going to be a star.”
The regional-rivalry aspect goes beyond the fact that each school’s home rink is located in Boston. Often the players themselves are rooted in New England, like Joe Bertagna, who played for Harvard from 1969-73 and later served as Hockey East commissioner.
“There are the so-called bragging rights for Boston, but there have been many times when the four rosters were heavily dotted with Massachusetts-born players, and we all knew each other,” Bertagna said. “I had seven teammates from inside Route 128 in my class. Some years, the entire Boston College roster was from Massachusetts. So there was a lot going on when you stepped on the ice and looked at your opponent.”
This year’s game held significance beyond the prestige of the Beanpot for BC, which is currently fighting for its postseason life. Though four weeks remain in the regular season, entering Monday the Eagles were ranked 14th in the NPI (which determines the NCAA tournament field) and barely inside the bubble. The Terriers, who reached last year’s NCAA championship game, were 24th and will likely need to win the Hockey East tournament to get back to the national tournament for the fourth straight year.
“There are only a few huge rivalries in college hockey, and we have two of them — BC-BU and UNH-Maine,” current Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf said. “So you start there. And then you insert one of those games into the Beanpot championship, it means so much for both schools. It’s just going to be one of those games where everybody’s going to be so excited because it’s such a big stage.”
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Battle of Comm Ave. No. 300 went to the Eagles, who claimed their first Beanpot title since 2016 and their first in four tries under coach Greg Brown with a 5-2 win over the Terriers before a sold-out crowd at TD Garden.
Andre Gasseau and Will Vote scored twice for BC, while Lukas Gustafsson (one goal, two assists) and Ryan Comny (three assists) turned in three-point nights. Dean Letourneau also scored for the Eagles, and Louka Cloutier made 27 saves.
BU’s Brandon Svoboda opened the scoring 2:15 into the game, but the Terriers were held scoreless until Cole Eiserman cut BC’s lead to 4-2 in the third period. BU still leads the all-time series, 141-138-21.