Changing of the Guard in Boston Hockey

When you talk about great rivalries, you are not just talking about teams that are close in distance to each other or the famous players that each team has but you are talking about the history of what makes that rivalry so great. If you are a Boston hockey fan, you have to pick a side when it comes to college hockey. It's either Boston College (the good side) or the dark side, Boston University. It's really not hard, if you like hockey and you live in Boston, you must pick a side, even if you have no interest in college hockey. When you talk about great rivalries in college sports, there are certainly some great ones like UNC Duke, UCLA USC, Michigan Ohio State, and many others but none compare to the intensity that is BC BU hockey. For a long time in this storied rivalry, the Terriers owned the Eagles as they seemed to win every big game versus us whether it was the Beanpot, Hockey East, or NCAA tournament. However, since a man by the name of Jerry York returned to his alma matter, he has led his Eagles to 15 years of dominance over their greatest rival. My dad always says to me, "You're lucky to be a BC hockey fan now because for so long they (BU) dominated us all the time". Every year in the 80's and 90's even when we had teams that consisted of guys like Janney, Leetch, Stevens, and Brown, the Eagles couldn't quite overtake the Terriers as the kings of college hockey in Boston. 

The biggest award when you talk about BC and BU is National Championships. The two teams have combined for 10 in total and four in the last five years (3 from BC). Just a couple years into the Jerry York era at BC, BU won another National Championship making it four for the Terriers and just one for BC. Let's just say since that BU championship in 95, it's been all Eagles. Disagree ? Look at the numbers. We have made ten Frozen Fours since 1998 while BU has made just one. Since 1998, we have four National Championships, they have one. Since 1998, we have won eleven Hockey East championships while they have won just four (including 1998). Let's not forget that the Eagles are an amazing 8-2-1 all time at BU's Agganis Arena. Another amazing number is that BC is 5-2 in it's last seven games at the TD Garden versus BU including three straight victories dating back to the 2010 Beanpot finals. 

If you are a BU fan reading this right now, come on, be honest, you had your time but now is the time of the Eagles. BU fans will argue with "Well, we beat you at Fenway". Guess what, there was no trophy on the line during that Fenway game. When there are trophies on the line between these two ancient rivals, it seems that as of late, it's always the Eagles that come out on top and there is nothing wrong with that. 

Until next time, 

GO EAGLES