Huskies gettin' hot; What Harry Agganis and I have in common

It looks like Mr. McEachern delivered the goods for Northeastern this Christmas - that santa outfit he sported was for real. The Huskies came out of winter hiberation with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win against Boston College on Friday night and then followed up with a 0-0 tie at BU on Saturday night.

The win against B.C. was definately a surprise. Early on, the Eagles were outplayed and watched the Huskies cycle the puck time and time again, but B.C. was sound in the defensive zone and NU was unable to penetrate the slot area. Schneider was able to easly steer aside the early shots coming from the outside and as the Huskies continued to exert energy up and down the ice. It took the Eagles over five minutes to even get a shot on goal, but as is often the case, it was a high quality scoring chance allowed by NU. Rooney's wicked wrister found the top left corner. In the second, Strathman brought NU within one on a great shot and decision. Too often than not, players just circle and circle looking for the perfect play when the best move is to put the puck on net.

I thought the Huskies outplayed B.C. the rest of the way for the most part and in overtime, they topped their earlier dramatics against B.C. with the game-winning goal, this time from Chisholm from the point.

Saturday night at the BU game, I helped out the ESPN 890 crew with stats - so I got a great seat inside their little room, helping out with stats, next to the room where Mike Morris silently watched, with the exception of a few minor signs of frusteration. I guess not much more can be expected of the man that called his game-tying, last second goal against B.C. earlier this season as "good."

Agganis arena was phenominal. I was most impressed with the beautiful scoreboard with awesome highlights and replays.

The name of the rink itself stems from the former BU standout Harry Agganis, who died of a "massive pulmonary embolism" as a 26-year-old. Agganis, whose parents immigrated from the village of Loggonike in Sparta, Greece, was an All-American quarterback and eventually a star for the Red Sox after he turned down a lucrative NFL offer from the Cleveland Browns. "The Golden Greek," as he came to be called due to his heritage, shares just that with me, certainly not athletic ability. Although my mother says I'm only 12.5% Greek (my grandmother, who loved me so but died when I was six months old, was Greek).

http://www.agganisarena.com/about/arena/harry.html

As for the BU/NU game, I thought both teams played well enough to win, although the Huskies seemed more fortunate to come away with a point. McCauley had the best chance of the game for NU - a cross crease pass that landed on his blade. Somehow, the puck went wide or over the net. BU saved its best for last, literally during the final 30 seconds of overtime. "Ooohhhhsss" and "Ahhhhssss" rang out continously until the final buzzer as the Terriers put one and then another and another close range shot on Thiessen. It seems only McEachern's Christmas magic justifies that kind of luck. As for Thiessen, he went on to be named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week.

And as for the Bruins, well, let's take a look at them an hour before game time tomorrow. For now, us sports fans have a pretty good Ohio State/Florida game to focus on.

Oh and an update on my Hawks of the NESHL adult league. After a rare and large family get together for dinner, I managed to make it to our 10 p.m. game in Walpole. We won 7-1 and my line played pretty well together down the stretch. I also scored - and have still gone only one game without a goal. It's funny the little things that bring satisfaction more and more as you get older.

Definately, that kind of appreciation of the little things in life is something that noticably grows as you become an adult.