1977–78 Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey season

The 1977–78 Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey team represented Boston University in college ice hockey. In its 5th year under head coach Jack Parker the team compiled a 30–2–0 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the fifth consecutive season and thirteenth all-time. The Terriers defeated Boston College 5–3 in the championship game at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island to win their third national championship.

1977–78 Boston University Terriers
men's ice hockey season
National champion
Beanpot, champion
ECAC Hockey, champion
NCAA tournament, champion
Conference1st ECAC Hockey
Home iceWalter Brown Arena
Record
Overall30–2–0
Conference21–1–0
Home10–0
Road15–1
Neutral5–1
Coaches and captains
Head coachJack Parker
Assistant coachesAndy Fila
Bob Murray
Don Cahoon
Captain(s)Brian Durocher
Jack O'Callahan[1]
Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey seasons
« 1976–77 1978–79 »

This was the first championship team to play more games on the road than at home.

Season

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Winning

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After four consecutive ECAC tournament championships, and nothing to show for it at the national level, Boston University came out of the gate swinging. Backstopped by the tandem of Jim Craig and team co-captain Brian Durocher, BU walloped Merrimack in the season opener before starting their conference schedule. The first four ECAC matches were all close affairs, with only one having more than a one-goal margin, but the Terriers managed to win each game.

Boston University did not participate in a holiday tournament during the season, opting instead to play three non-conference games against Air Force and Michigan State where they, again, won each match. After a 6–5 win over rival Cornell the Terriers began an arduous road schedule; in a ten-game span over 4 weeks the Terriers would play eight games on the road. BU struggled most nights to dominate what would normally be inferior competition but the Terriers continued to win night in and night out. By the time the Beanpot rolled around in early February BU remained unbeaten and possessed a sparkling 19–0 record. Their 15–0 conference record all but guaranteed the Terriers first place in the ECAC tournament and when they throttled arch-rival Boston College 12–5 in the Beanpot semis the Terriers looked on track to join 1969–70 Cornell win an undefeated season.

First Loss

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Two days after a second victory over the Eagles, BU headed to New Haven, Connecticut where they were finally burned by playing all those close games. Yale managed to score 7 goals on BU, the third time that the Terriers had allowed that many goals, but Boston University only netted 5 and suffered their first loss of the season, ending a 21-game winning streak. After two more close wins BU punished Harvard 7–1 in the Beanpot championship and won their 10th title. The Terriers ended the regular season three days later with yet another one-goal victory to finish with the best record in program history at 25–1.

ECAC tournament

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BU served as the host for their quarterfinal meeting with New Hampshire and despite the Wildcat's 8th-seed UNH possessed a better offence than Boston University. New Hampshire demonstrated their scoring prowess throughout the game but the Terriers were just a little bit better on the night and managed to pull out a 6–5 win in overtime. Their semifinal meeting against Providence, however, could not have gone worse. Needing just one more win to guarantee a spot in the NCAA tournament, BU's offense faltered and scored once, only the second time all season where they had failed to record at least 4 goals. Providence meanwhile pumped five pucks into the Terriers' net and skated to a relatively easy victory.

The loss dealt a serious blow to BU's title hopes but it did not end them entirely. Boston University's first champion in 1971 came as a result of being chosen over conference runner-up Clarkson and in the meantime the NCAA selection committee had given itself the ability to add up to four additional teams to the tournament if they so desired. However, before any of that would occur, BU would have to take care of business in the third-place game against Brown. BU's 8–4 win pushed its record to 27–2 and with their 21-game streak to start the season the selection committee did award Boston University with an at-large bid, the only time in the 4-year history of the then-format where the committee invited an additional team.

NCAA tournament

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Not wanting to waste the opportunity given to them, Boston University defense showed up to play in the tournament. In their First Round meeting, a rematch with Providence, BU found itself on the road in front of a very hostile crowd. While the Friars were hoping to even the season series the Terriers ended Providence's tournament with a 5–3 victory. The championship rounds of the tournament were being held down the road at the Providence Civic Center so BU had a very short distance to travel. Waiting for them was WCHA co-champion and defending national champion Wisconsin. Despite possessing the top two scorers in the nation, Wisconsin was unable to bring their offense to bear and BU finally made it to a championship game after four years of futility.

In the title tilt BU faced off against BC who had lost the previous three meetings by a combined score of 28–13. The Eagles gave themselves no favors when Joe Augustine took a penalty just 9 seconds into the game, allowing BU's leading scorer Mark Fidler to open the scoring with a power play goal 38 seconds in. Boston College responded with two goals in the middle of the period but BU regained the lead with two of their own before the first 20 minutes had ended. In the most penalty-filled contest in NCAA history (22 minor penalties in total) Tony Meagher scored a short-handed goal to give BU a 3–2 lead and then got his second score ten minutes later to build the first two-goal cushion of the night. Fidler notched his own second goal one minute into the third and Jim Craig turned aside 22 of BC's 23 shots in the final 40 minutes to give Boston University its third national championship.

Awards and honors

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Future olympian Jack O'Callahan was named as the Tournament MOP and joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Dave Silk, Dick Lamby and Mark Fidler. No Terrier was named to the AHCA All-American East Team[2] despite their stellar record but head coach Jack Parker received his second Spencer Penrose Award as the national coach of the year. Mark Fidler received the ECAC Rookie of the Year Award.[3] O'Callahan was named to the All-ECAC Hockey First Team,[4] while Lamby and Silk made the Second Team.

Five players were selected in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft with only Dave Silk managing to reach the NHL. Three players, however, later achieved hockey immortality as members of the goal medal-winning team at the 1980 Winter Olympics (Jack O'Callahan, Dave Silk and Jim Craig).

Standings

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Conference Overall
GP W L T Pct. GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Boston University 22 21 1 0 .955 135 85 32 30 2 0 199 126
Cornell 22 16 5 1 .750 161 79 27 20 6 1 195 100
Clarkson 23 16 7 0 .696 139 109 30 19 11 0 174 145
Rensselaer 21 13 8 0 .619 100 83 29 19 9 1 162 117
Boston College* 23 14 9 0 .609 117 116 34 24 10 0 186 147
Brown 23 13 9 1 .587 101 78 29 14 14 1 117 102
Providence 23 12 9 2 .565 116 95 34 17 15 2 172 146
New Hampshire 25 14 11 0 .560 154 124 30 18 12 0 197 150
Yale 26 12 13 1 .481 92 114 26 12 13 1 92 114
Harvard 23 10 13 0 .435 87 112 26 12 14 0 99 122
Dartmouth 23 9 14 0 .391 97 114 26 11 15 0 107 129
Vermont 23 9 14 0 .391 94 108 31 15 16 0 139 137
St. Lawrence 22 8 14 0 .364 91 124 30 12 18 0 124 152
Princeton 21 7 13 1 .357 83 89 25 9 14 2 102 102
Northeastern 24 7 16 1 .313 131 128 28 10 17 1 155 142
Pennsylvania 21 5 14 2 .286 82 123 26 7 17 2 98 145
Colgate 25 4 20 1 .180 81 180 28 5 22 1 91 187
Championship: Boston College
indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion

Schedule

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Date Opponent# Rank# Site Result Record
Regular Season
November 22 vs. Merrimack* Walter Brown ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 13–5  1–0
November 27 vs. Providence Walter Brown ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 4–2  2–0 (1–0)
November 30 at Dartmouth Thompson ArenaHanover, New Hampshire W 3–2  3–0 (2–0)
December 3 vs. New Hampshire Walter Brown ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 6–5  4–0 (3–0)
December 7 vs. Harvard Walter Brown ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 4–3  5–0 (4–0)
December 27 vs. Air Force* Walter Brown ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 8–7  6–0 (4–0)
December 29 at Michigan State* Munn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, Michigan W 7–5  7–0 (4–0)
December 30 at Michigan State* Munn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, Michigan W 6–3  8–0 (4–0)
January 4 vs. Cornell Walter Brown ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 6–5  9–0 (5–0)
January 7 at Princeton Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey W 4–3  10–0 (6–0)
January 11 at New Hampshire Snively ArenaDurham, New Hampshire W 6–4  11–0 (7–0)
January 13 at St. Lawrence Appleton ArenaCanton, New York W 8–3  12–0 (8–0)
January 14 at Clarkson Walker ArenaPotsdam, New York W 7–4  13–0 (9–0)
January 17 vs. Northeastern Walter Brown ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 6–4  14–0 (10–0)
January 21 vs. Boston College Walter Brown ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 6–3  15–0 (11–0)
January 24 at Rensselaer Houston Field HouseTroy, New York W 8–7  16–0 (12–0)
January 28 at Vermont Gutterson FieldhouseBurlington, Vermont W 6–4  17–0 (13–0)
February 1 at Brown Meehan AuditoriumProvidence, Rhode Island W 4–2  18–0 (14–0)
February 4 at Providence Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island W 4–2  19–0 (15–0)
Beanpot
February 6 vs. Boston College Boston GardenBoston, Massachusetts (Beanpot Semifinal) W 12–5  20–0 (16–0)
February 16 at Boston College McHugh ForumChestnut Hill, Massachusetts W 10–5  21–0 (17–0)
February 18 at Yale Ingalls RinkNew Haven, Connecticut L 5–7  21–1 (17–1)
February 22 at Northeastern Matthews ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 6–4  22–1 (18–1)
February 25 vs. Colgate Starr ArenaHamilton, New York W 6–5 OT 23–1 (19–1)
March 1 vs. Harvard Boston GardenBoston, Massachusetts (Beanpot championship) W 7–1  24–1 (20–1)
March 4 vs. Vermont Walter Brown ArenaBoston, Massachusetts W 6–5  25–1 (21–1)
ECAC Hockey tournament
March 7 vs. New Hampshire* Walter Brown ArenaBoston, Massachusetts (ECAC Quarterfinal) W 6–5 OT 26–1 (21–1)
March 10 vs. Providence* Boston GardenBoston, Massachusetts (ECAC Semifinal) L 1–5  26–2 (21–1)
March 11 vs. Brown* Boston GardenBoston, Massachusetts (ECAC Third Place Game) W 8–4  27–2 (21–1)
NCAA tournament
March 19 vs. Providence* Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island (National First Round) W 5–3  28–2 (21–1)
March 23 vs. Wisconsin* Providence Civic CenterProvidence, Rhode Island (National Semifinal) W 5–2  29–2 (21–1)
March 25 vs. Boston College* Providence Civic CenterProvidence, Rhode Island (National championship) W 5–3  30–2 (21–1)
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll.
Source:

[1]

Roster and scoring statistics

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No. Name Year Position Hometown S/P/C Games Goals Assists Pts PIM
12 Mark Fidler Freshman C Charlestown, MA   31 30 35 65 34
9 John Bethel Junior F Roxboro, PQ   30 25 38 63 53
23 Dick Lamby Senior D Auburn, MA   30 15 44 59 64
10 Dave Silk Sophomore W Marshfield, MA   28 27 31 58 57
17 Jack O'Callahan Junior D Charlestown, MA   31 8 47 55 61
18 Tony Meagher Sophomore F Belleville, ON   32 17 21 38 26
4 Mark Hetnik Junior C Brookline, MA   31 12 25 37 33
11 Bob Boileau Junior W Pointe-Claire, PQ   25 9 18 27 20
8 Paul Miller Freshman C Billerica, MA   31 10 14 24 28
15 Bill LeBlond Sophomore D New Canaan, CT   32 8 15 23 16
20 Matt Marden Senior W Malden, MA   28 10 11 21 22
27 Bill O'Neill Junior D Danvers, MA   32 3 15 18 22
16 Mickey Mullen Junior W Courtright, ON   18 9 5 14 0
19 Daryl MacLeod Freshman W Melrose, MA   31 3 9 12 33
3 Bill Cotter Freshman W Charlestown, MA   32 2 8 10 16
21 John Melanson Junior F Wakefield, MA   30 7 0 7 10
24 Todd Johnson Freshman C Wayland, MA   29 2 2 4 2
7 John Fox Junior W Willowdale, ON   15 1 3 4 6
14 John Corriveau Junior W Manchester, NH   6 1 2 3 4
5 Tim Kimball Freshman D Beverly, MA   11 0 3 3 0
6 Scott Nieland Sophomore D Minneapolis, MN   22 0 3 3 10
2 Brian O'Connor Freshman W Winchester, MA   0 - - - -
35 Bob Wels Junior G Buffalo, New York   1 - - - -
1 Brian Durocher Senior G Longmeadow, MA   16 - - - -
30 Jim Craig Junior G Boston, MA   16 - - - -
Total

[5]

Goaltending statistics

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No. Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
30 Jim Craig 16 967 16 0 0 60 0 3.57
35 Bob Wels 1 0 .667 12.00
1 Brian Durocher 16 14 2 0 0
Total 32 30 2 0 126 0

(E1) Boston College vs. (A2) Boston University

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March 25[6] Boston College 3–5 Boston University Providence Civic Center


Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st BU Mark FidlerPP Lamby and O'Callahan 0:38 1–0 BU
BC Joe Mullen Augustine 11:00 1–1
BC Bobby Hehir unassisted 13:26 2–1 BC
BU Dave SilkPP O'Callahan 14:44 2–2
BU Tony MeagherSH Lamby 17:24 3–2 BU
2nd BU Tony MeagherGW Boileau and Hetnik 27:05 4–2 BU
3rd BU Mark Fidler Silk and Lamby 41:01 5–2 BU
BC Steve Barger Switaj and Kennedy 43:30 5–3 BU
Penalty summary
Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM
1st BC Joe Augustine Holding 0:09 2:00
BU Dick Lamby Hooking 2:39 2:00
BU Jack O'Callahan High Sticking 5:51 2:00
BU Bill LeBlond High Sticking 9:23 2:00
BC Mike Ewanouski Tripping 14:26 2:00
BU Bill O'Neill Slashing 15:47 2:00
BU Bill O'Neill High Sticking 18:07 2:00
BC Charlie Antetomaso Tripping 18:43 2:00
2nd BC George Amidon Tripping 24:28 2:00
BC Charlie Antetomaso Tripping 28:06 2:00
BU Dick Lamby High Sticking 28:29 2:00
BU Bill LeBlond Holding 32:56 2:00
BC Joe Augustine Interference 33:53 2:00
BU Mark Fidler Slashing 36:47 2:00
BC Paul Hammer Cross–Checking 37:33 2:00
BC Charlie Antetomaso Tripping 38:20 2:00
3rd BU John Bethel High Sticking 48:53 2:00
BU John Bethel Roughing 48:53 2:00
BC Joe Casey High Sticking 48:53 2:00
BC Joe Casey Roughing 48:53 2:00
BU Dick Lamby Holding 50:03 2:00
BC Paul Barrett High-Sticking 55:18 2:00

Players drafted into the NHL

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= Did not play in the NHL
Round Pick Player NHL team
4 59 Dave Silk New York Rangers
5 85 Daryl MacLeod Boston Bruins
9 140 Tony Meagher St. Louis Blues
13 209 Brian O'Connor St. Louis Blues
14 217 Todd Johnson New York Rangers

[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Year-By-Year Results" (PDF). Boston University Terriers. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  2. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  3. ^ "ECAC Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  4. ^ "ECAC All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  5. ^ "Boston University Terriers 1977–78 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  6. ^ "Boston University Championship Teams" (PDF). Boston University Terriers. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  7. ^ "1978 NHL Amateur Draft". Hockey DB. Retrieved July 16, 2019.