That's a picture of the back of Vermont Goalie Rob Madore's helmet at a practice last April. See that sticker? Does it look familiar? That's because it's the same logo on all your National Champions gear. But wait a second... I know BU played in DC, and they beat Miami. And I remember that other weird little team Bemidji made a crazy run to get there. But didn't BU just have a first round bye in the Frozen Four after such a ballin' win over UNH?
Actually, no. They played an absolutely amazing game with the Vermont Catamounts. The game against UVM was the second in a string of tense, heart-wrenching, terrifying games for BU.
And Vermont was arguably the one team that really knew how to beat the '09 Terriers. Sure, UNH could have done it in Manchester, but only Vermont truly had BU's number.
They were the only team to beat the Terriers twice in the 08-09 season, and incredibly, they did it on back to back nights in November, both times AT AGGANIS! Not to mention the fact that Vermont was responsible for sending BU home to end the disappointing 2007-08 season by bouncing them from the Hockey East Tournament in the semifinals.
The Vermont-BU game from the Frozen Four last year really just gets a raw deal. And I understand why. When a game gets played two nights before one of the top ten games of all time, it is going to get forgotten. That's just the way it is. But had BU and Miami not put on such a ridiculous show on April 11, we would all still be talking about the incredible game between the Terriers and Catamounts on April 9.
It Gets Good Around the 7:00 Minute Mark
It was vintage BU hockey late, when the Terriers fell into a 4-3 hole with just over ten minutes to play in the game. Once again, this seems like small potatoes now, but try to think about it in the context of that night. The best team in the country, playing the one team that had their number this year, giving up a back breaking goal midway through the third period depsite playing lockdown defense that allowed just three shots total in the final frame.
Your freshman goalie seems rattled, as he has just given up a fourth goal, only the fourth time all year that an opposing team scored this many on him. And wouldn't you know it, the kid who scored the goal had never scored a collegiate goal before that one. Story book kind of stuff for Vermont.
Oh yeah, and you've already blown a 2-0 lead by allowing three consecutive goals. And you fought back to tie it at three before aforementioned back-breaking goal was scored.
In short, they were in a hole. A deep, dark hole. And I was pissed not only because I desperately wanted and expected BU to win, but also because I did not want to have to go watch UVM play Miami in the National Title Game I already had a ticket for.
But the Terriers stormed back like it was nothing. First Chris Higgins scored from J-Lo and Strait by banking a crossing attempt off a UVM defenseman. The SAME defenseman who just scored his first collegiate goal! And it was the second game in a row, in the national tournament, that BU scored a huge goal off the stick or hand of an opposing defenseman.
Then the Golden Boy Colin Wilson won it by being in the right place at the right time to put home a Higgins rebound. Higgins took the puck at the left circle off the draw and tossed one on net. The puck took a magical bounce from the goalie's glove side, alllllll the way back to his unguarded stick side where Wilson pounded it home. In a span of 1:13, BU rescued their season, scoring two improbable goals to battle back.
I'm not kidding when I tell you I get goosebumps thinking about this game. It was one of the best hockey games I have ever have the privalege of attending. However, as I said, the best sporting event I have had the privalege of attending occured just two nights later. Thus, an incredible game is rarely ever discussed.
So there you have it. The last time these teams met, BU went from heartbreak to elation, and added just another couple morsels of confidence before heading into the Championship. Without this game, who knows whether or not BU would have been able to dig deep enough to score those two late goals to beat Miami.
Leaving that game, there were two things I could not stop thinking. The first was that I had just seen BU come back in the most dramatic fashion possible. The second was that my heart could not take anything remotely like that ever again. I was wrong.
The moral of the story is that there is history between these two teams. A great history of great games, especially in the last couple seasons. They end BU's 08 season, BU ends their 09 season. The next chapter gets written tonight.
By the way, I know that I got carried away writing about that game. If you want viable information regarding this year's Vermont team, feel free to check out the game notes from BU Athletics.
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