2015 NCAA Frozen Four - Boston University Terriers

The semifinals of the 2015 NCAA Frozen Four will take place at the home of the NHL's Boston Bruins, the TD Garden.

The tournament kicks off with a game at 5:00 PM Eastern, pitting the #15 ranked Providence College Friars of Hockey East facing off against the #8 University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

The second game scheduled for 8:30 PM will feature the #3 Boston University Terriers, also of Hockey East taking on #2 ranked University of North Dakota also of the powerful NCHC, which sent six teams into the 16 team NCAA playoffs.

Rather than a single school hosting the tournament, the Hockey East conference is the host this year and sees two of it's members, Providence from 50 miles to the southwest in Rhode Island, and Boston University, whose home, Agganis Arena, is located a mere four miles up the Charles River to the west.

The Boston University hockey program dates back to the 1917-18 season when they played a whopping total of just one game, but even then it was against their fierce rivals Boston College.

In their early days, the Terriers played against various amateur athletic clubs and a growing number of other college teams. They joined the NEIHL in 1936-37 and were members until the 1953-54 season. After playing as an independent from 1954-55 to 1960-61, Boston University joined the Eastern College Athletic Conference in 1961-62 as a charter member.

The NCAA would organize the first national championship in 1948 and the Terriers to win their first title in 1971 with a 28-2-1 record.

Boston University's first championship squad from 1971

They would go back-to-back by taking the title again in 1972 with a 26-4-1 record under the guidance of head coach Jack Kelley.

The 1971-72 Terriers team celebrates their second consecutive championship

They would win six regular season ECAC titles and six conference tournament championships, including five in a row from 1974 to 1977. They remained in the ECAC until concerns that the Ivy League members of the ECAC were going to leave the league led to the formation of Hockey East in 1984-85.

They have won nine league titles, including a run of five straight from 1994 to 1998. More would follow in 2000, 2006, 2009 and again this year, 2015.

In addition, Boston University has won Hockey East conference playoff titles in 1986, 1991, 1994 and 1995, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2009 and again this year, 2015.

Stability has been a feature of the program, with head coach Wayland Vaughn behind the bench from 1928 to 1943, save for 1941 before he returned for his final two seasons. Harry Cleverly took over from 1945-46 to 1961-62 followed by Kelley from 1962-63 to 1971-72, winning two national titles.

Jack Kelley

Jack Parker, a former player for the Terriers from 1965 to 1968, took over seven games into the 1973-74 season and remained as head coach for 40 years until 2012-13, amassing 876 wins during his time at BU. He is only the third coach to ever top 800 wins and the only one to do it with one team. He was a five time coach of the year and would guide the Terriers to 3 ECAC regular season titles and 4 playoff championships, 8 Hockey East regular season titles and 7 playoff championships and 3 national championships in 1978, 1995 and 2009. Additionally, BU would win the annual Beanpot Tournament a record 21 times during his tenure.

Jack Parker

61 Boston University players have gone on to play in the NHL, with notable Terriers alumni including Chris Drury, Tony Amonte and Keith Tkachuk.

Keith Tkachuk

Additionally, members of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team to have played for Boston University include Jim Craig, Jack O'Callahan, Dave Silk and captain Mike Eruzione.

Jim Craig

Former NHLer John Cullen holds the school record with 241 career points while Drury leads the Terriers in career goals scored with 113. Others to have topped 200 career points include David Sacco (216), Drury (214), Rick Meagher (210) and Eruzione (208).

Boston University has won the famous Beanpot 30 times in the 63 year history of the event, including this year's edition, far ahead of Boston College's 19 and nearly half of every one ever held.

Boston University celebrates their 30th Beanpot victory

One player to watch today is top NHL prospect and Hobey Baker finalist Jack Eichel, who is expected to be one of the top two picks in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Eichel led the NCAA in scoring this season with 24 goals and 67 points in 38 games, six points ahead of teammate Evan Rodrigues, the only two players with over 60 points this season.

Jack Eichel

Today's featured jersey is a 1989-90 Boston University Terriers Tony Amonte jersey as worn during Amonte's first season with BU.

Amonte played two seasons with the Terriers, totaling 56 goals and 126 points in 79 games. His NHL career lasted 17 seasons, including breaking into the NHL with the Rangers, nine seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, and time spent with the Coyotes, Flyers and Flames.

photos courtesy of GVJerseys.com

Today's video segment begins with the Terriers winning their 30th Beanpot championship from earlier this year in dramatic fashion.

Up next is Boston University's most recent NCAA national championship from 2009, with a finish not to be missed. If this doesn't get you looking forward to the Frozen Four, nothing will.

1969-70 Boston Bruins Bobby Orr Jersey

On this date in 1979, the Boston Bruins retired Bobby Orr's #4 jersey before a game against the Soviet Wings at Boston Garden.

Orr, a defneseman and considered by many to be the greatest player in the history of the NHL, was signed by the Bruins at the age of 14. League rules at the time dictated that Orr could not play in the NHL until turning 18. Orr bided his time playing for the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League, and in his final season scored 94 points in 47 games, an average of two points per game, an unheard of average for a defenseman.

He would win the Calder Trophy during his first season with the Bruins after scoring 41 points in 61 games. He would miss nine games late in the season with a knee injury, foreshadowing the injury problems that would plague his career. Prior to Orr's arrival, the Bruins had missed the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons and while they would not make the post-season during Orr's rookie season, they would make the playoffs in every subsequent season of Orr's career in Boston.

Bobby Orr during the 1966-67 season

Despite only playing in 46 games of the 1967-68 season, Orr would win the first of eight consecutive Norris Trophies. Back on track in 1968-69, he would play in 67 games and top 20 goals for the first time with 21 and total 64 points.

Orr would explode the following season, scoring 33 goals and adding a whopping 87 assists to total 120 points, six short of the league record and become the first and only defenseman to lead the NHL in scoring, which would net him the Art Ross Trophy and be named the winner of the Hart Trophy. The Bruins would advance through the playoffs, eventually winning the Stanley Cup in overtime of Game 4, a goal captured in an iconic photograph of Orr flying through the air in celebration. Following the playoffs, he would be named the recipient of the Conn Smythe Trophy, making him the first player to win four major NHL awards in the same season.

Orr would top his league leading point total from the previous season with 139 points in 1970-71, including a league leading 102 assists, 26 more than the next closest player, and place second in the scoring race behind Bruin's teammate Phil Esposito while winning the Hart Trophy for the second time. Orr would record a plus-minus rating of +124 that season, an NHL record that still stands today.

1971-72 would see Orr play in 76 games and equal his 37 goals from the previous season while totaling 117 points. Orr and the Bruins would capture their second Stanley Cup and Orr would win his fifth consecutive Norris Trophy, his third consecutive Hart Trophy and his second Conn Smythe Trophy.

Orr celebrating the Bruins championship

while drinking from the Stanley Cup

1972-73 saw another 100 point season after returning from knee surgery following the Stanley Cup, which forced Orr to miss the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union after being named to Team Canada.

The Bruins would return to the finals in 1973-74 following a regular season in which Orr would score 32 goals and 90 assists for 122 points followed by another 18 points in 16 playoff games.

Orr in 1973-74 

Orr would once again win the NHL scoring race in 1974-75, capturing the Art Ross Trophy for the second time after a career high 46 goals, becoming the first defenseman to ever score 40 goals, combined with 89 assists for 135 points. He would be named to the NHL First All-Star Team for the eighth consecutive season, win his eighth consecutive Norris Trophy, play in his seventh NHL All-Star Game and win his first Lester B. Pearson Award.

His multiple knee surgeries would catch up to him, limiting him to only 10 games of the 1975-76 season. While essentially playing on one knee, Orr would compete for Team Canada in the 1976 Canada Cup, earning rave reviews and being named tournament MVP in the last hurrah of his storied career.

Orr playing the last great hockey of his career during the 1976 Canada Cup

A move to the Chicago Black Hawks followed for the next two seasons but he totaled just 26 games and 27 points in 1976-77 and 1978-79.

His final career totals are 657 games played, 270 goals and 645 assists for 915 points after ten seasons in Boston and the two in Chicago. At the time of his retirement, Orr was the leading defenseman in NHL history in goals, assists and points. The only players who have averaged more points per game than Orr are Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy - all forwards.

Orr's speed, acceleration and creative offensive ability, combined with his toughness and defensive skills revolutionized the position of defense and changed the game forever. He also moved beyond the world of hockey, becoming a mainstream celebrity in the United States.

While we have given you a brief overview of the game-changing career of Bobby Orr, entire books are devoted to his career and the impact he had on the NHL, and we here at Third String Goalie recommend Searching for Bobby Orr.

Today's featured jersey is a 1969-70 Boston Bruins Bobby Orr jersey as worn while flying through the air after scoring the Stanley Cup winning goal in 1970.

When purchasing a Bobby Orr Bruins jersey, please be aware that Orr seldom wore his name on the back of any Boston Bruins jersey during his entire career. Perhaps only for national TV games, as was the practice back then. Quite often Orr jerseys are sold on ebay or other online stores with Orr's name incorrectly on the back of the jersey, as if his iconic #4 wasn't enough.

Even during Orr's first season in Chicago no names were used on the back, making just the final six games of his career with the Black Hawks in 1978-79, a sad and unfortunate end to a great career and not exactly worthy of recreating for your collection, and the 1976 Canada Cup the few times Orr regularly wore his name on the back of a jersey outside of the NHL All-Star Game.

Today's video selections is the surprising find of the 1979 Bobby Orr Jersey Retirement Ceremony, somewhat oddly scheduled for the night of an exhibition game against the Soviet Wings. I can't recall any other jersey retirement scheduled for an exhibition game before. One would think that in 1979 any Soviet team on it's own would be enough of a draw to fill the building.

Dasherboard: Speaking of Boston, the Boston College Eagles and Boston University Terriers played in the men's portion of the "Frozen Fenway" event last night, putting the NHL's Winter Classic rink at Fenway Park to some much needed additional use, and both teams wore special jerseys for the occasion.

The Boston College's special gold jerseys had the addition of a green stripe, as a tribute to Fenway's "Green Monster", and a diagram of a baseball field where the players names normally go on the back.

While there was nothing wrong with BC's jerseys, they were really nothing to get excited about to be honest. Meanwhile, Boston University really "knocked one out of the park" with their sweaters. Rather than their normal block font on the front, the Terriers adopted the instantly recognizable Boston Red Sox font on the front

and then added the simply wonderful sleeve patch, a take on the Red Sox logo, only with the socks turned into hockey skates! Just brilliant.

Now, where do we get one?

The Sartorial Gods took notice and ensured that justice was rewarded as the game was won by the better dressed Boston University Terriers by a score of 3-2. BU pulled out to a 3-0 lead, their first goal coming from David Warsofsky, who is having a good week by any accounts, having just been part of Team USA's gold medal victory in the recently concluded World Junior Tournament. Warsofsky celebrated his goal with an inspired baseball swing celebration.

Boston College pulled one back just before the end of the second period and then got to within one with a short-handed goal at 7"47 of the third to really make a game of it, however Boston University held on for the win, in part thanks to a late penalty against Boston College which denied us a more frantic finish.

One other highlight of the game for viewers at home was getting to see NESN's Kathryn Tappen, a favorite here at Third String Goalie.