This Day in Hockey History – February 22, 1971 – Terriers on a Tear

The 1970-71 season was a big one for the Boston University Terriers. That March, they won their first NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship. But first, on February 22, 1971, the Terriers won the Beanpot. This kicked off a trend in which none of the four Beanpot competitors have won the NCAA championship without first winning the Beanpot.

Since 1953, Boston University and its three collegiate rivals – the Boston College Eagles, Harvard University Crimson, and Northeastern University Huskies – have competed in the annual Beanpot tournament. The Terriers, having skated since 1918, have won 30 Beanpot titles, nearly half of the total played. After having only won it once in 1958, from the late 1960s until the end of the 1970s, the Terriers dominated the Beanpot. Going in the 1971 tournament, they had won all but one since 1966. They would go on to five more victories before the end of the decade.

In February 1971, the four teams participated in the 19th Beanpot tournament, held at Boston Garden. On February 8, a crowd of 11,449 watched Boston University crush Northeastern University 12-2 while Harvard then did nearly the same to Boston College with a score of 10-4. The championship and consolation games attracted a capacity crowd of 14,994, considered a record high at the time. The Eagles took third by beating the Huskies 8-2.

For the final, “It was one of those games which kept everyone in his seat all the way.” The Boston Globe reported, “The net tending on both sides was great. BU’s Dan Brady made 27 saves while Harvard’s Bruce Durno made 26. Half of the stops each made were on the terrific side. It was a game that had everything.” The Terriers had enjoyed a nine-game winning streak since Brady started in net. He told the Globe, “There was no more pressure than any other game. I just wanted to win.”

Win they did. The only goal of the first was scored at 6:31 by BU’s Paul Giandomenico with an assist from center Steve Stirling. During the second period, the Terriers successfully killed a long stretch of penalties that left them down two men for at least 2:25. The crowd gave the defenders a standing ovation. Coach Jack Kelley commented, “I have to think back four or five years to when we drew so many penalties. But I was proud the way we killed them.” Of the team in front of him, Brady praised, “It had to be the best penalty killing I’ve ever seen. We must have been down for about seven minutes in a row. I couldn’t believe it. I think that was the turning point in the game. It gave the players a big lift.”

A few minutes after the teams returned to full strength, Harvard scored their only goal of the night to knot the score. Then Captain Stirling came to the rescue with the game-winner in the final fifteen seconds of the period. During the third period, the Terriers pulled ahead with Stirling assisting on the final goal in the 4-1 victory. Stirling said, “It’s sweet. We lost to them when I was a sophomore in the final of the Beanpot and I never forgot it. . . . If we keep this up, we can give anybody a good game.” Naturally, Stirling was named MVP. Kelley noted that he “just had a great game. He’s had a great season and I don’t see how he can miss being an All-American.”

Stirling’s assists added to the three records set during the 1971 Beanpot tournament. Boston University’s 24 assists during the semi-finals set the high for most assists by one team in one game. They also hold the record for most assists by one team during one tournament with 32. Finally, all the teams combined for 72 assists, the most ever for one tournament.

After winning the Beanpot, Kelley pointed out, “I guess it will be hard to move us out of that No. 1 spot now.” He was absolutely correct as BU finished the season at the top of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) with a conference record of 18-1-1. Their total season record was 28-2-1.

Although Boston University led the conference, during the semi-finals for the 10th annual ECAC championship, they suffered a shocking upset. On March 12, in essentially a rematch from the Beanpot, this time Harvard prevailed 4-1. The Crimson advanced to the final and their victory there on March 13 automatically entered them in the NCAA Tournament. Instead of sending their opponent from the final (Clarkson), the ECAC Selection Committee chose to send Boston University in light of their amazing record. According to the Globe, “BU entered the tournament top-seeded in the East and ranked No. 1 in the country.”

The NCAA Tournament took place at the War Memorial Auditorium in Syracuse, New York. During the semi-finals, Boston University defeated Denver 4-2. Harvard would lose to Denver 1-0 in the consolation game.

For the championship game on March 20, “The Terriers were flying all night. They forchecked and back checked, made very few mistakes, and pardon the expression, they were beautiful against a tough, never-say-die Minnesota club which gave 100 percent all the way.” Stirling scored twice as the Terriers defeated the Minnesota Gophers 4-2. According to the Globe, Jack Kelley “jumped on the ice at the final buzzer.” He yelled, “How sweet it is!” He then “hugged every player on the club.” With 32 saves, Brady was named the MVP. Stirling would indeed be named First-team All-American. (In fact, Stirling would be inducted into the BU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Beanpot Hall of Fame in 2003.)

After 24 seasons, Boston University had finally become National Champions. They were the fifth eastern team to win. They were already predicted to perhaps repeat in 1972 because only three players were graduating. With the NCAA Tournament in Boston that year, the Terriers did indeed become the only eastern team to win back-to-back titles. Having again won the Beanpot and this time taking the ECAC championship as well, the team had won the “triple crown.” Boston University won the Beanpot in each of the five years they won the NCAA championship. Harvard won both in 1989, and Boston College has won both in four seasons.

Additional Sources:

• Bob Monahan, “BU tips Harvard, 4-1, for Beanpot,” Boston Globe, 23 Feb. 1971, pp. 23 and 26.
• Joe Concannon, “BU penalty killers rate own Beanpot,” Boston Evening Globe, 23 Feb. 1971, pp. 21 and 24.
• “Harvard jolts BU; Clarkson wins,” “Little meeting pays Harvard big dividend,” and “BU could make NCAA tourney,” Boston Globe, 13 March 1971, pp. 17-18.
• Bob Monahan, “BU beats Minnesota, 4-2, to take college hockey title,” Boston Globe, 21 March 1971, pp. 87-88, 92.
• https://www.tdgarden.com/events/beanpot/records-team
• https://goterriers.com/sports/2016/6/13/sports-m-hockey-archive-bost-m-hockey-archive-html.aspx
• https://thepinkpuck.com/2019/02/06/this-day-in-hockey-history-february-6-1978-beanpot-blizzard/