By Marisa Ingemi
BU News Service
An estimated $55 thousand was raised in the second annual Comm Ave. Charity Hockey Classic on Friday night, a 13-8 victory for Boston College over Boston University. The money goes to Compassionate Care ALS and the Travis Roy Foundation. It was the second straight year the event raised that total.
The Eagles were led by a hat trick from 2014 graduate and current Calgary Flame Johnny Gaudreau, while the Terriers did not have any multi-goal scorers. Chris Higgins and Current Bruins assistant coach Jay Pandolfo added two assists each.
“It’s amazing how many (NHL players) we have from BC and BU,” said Jack Parker, coaching the Boston College alumni.
It took just 32 seconds for the scoring to begin, when Boston College got on the board with a tally from the New York Rangers’ Kevin Hayes. Former Ranger Brian Leetch was credited with an assist. Seven minutes later, the Eagles tallied another with Stanley Cup winner Conor Sheary getting a shot past Anthony Moccia, assisted by Brian Domoulin.
It took nearly 12 minutes for the Terriers to finally find the back of the net when former Boston Bruins forward Shawn McEachern scored, getting it past Eagle’ goaltender John Muse. The Terriers held offensive momentum after the Eagles could not capitalize on a chance with Moccia out of the net, and BU tied the score as time expired off a shot from Sean Sullivan.
After almost six scoreless minutes in the second period, Ben Smith buried the rebound on a shot from Paul Carey past Moccia for the third Eagles goal of the game. But BU would not back down, as two minutes later, Colby Cohen scored his first of the night while McEachern assisted for his second point.
Danny O’Regan, a 2016 BU graduate and member of the San Jose Sharks organization, gave the Terriers their first lead of the game with an assist from Tom Poti.
But it would not last.
The back-and-forth pace of the middle frame continued with a tally from Noah Hanifin at the 10:38 mark, as Carey added his second assist of the contest. The BC goal came moments after the Terriers substituted 2015 graduate Matt O’Connor into the crease.
O’Connor was tested early in his appearance by Dave Spina, and he mishandled a low shot with his glove hand to give the Eagles a 5-4 lead. Moments later, Boston College found the back of the net again as Boyle wristed a shot past O’Connor.
The end of the second period had a familiar feel to it, as 2015 graduate Evan Rodrigues scored as time expired once again, after Sullivan had done the same to close out the first frame.
Riding some of the momentum that closed out the second period, Peter MacArthur tied things up, 6-6. That momentum wouldn’t last, as the Eagles buried two more past O’Connor just seconds apart. First, Johnny Gaudreau got on the board with his first goal, and Boston Bruin Jimmy Hayes added his first assist and point.
Jimmy’s brother Kevin scored his second of the night after he scored the opening tally to give the Eagles an 8-6 lead. Gaudreau scored his second goal on the night and of the final frame with 5:19 to go, with Arnold picking up his third assist.
Nick Bonino scored his first point of the night late in the third period when he assisted on Adam Clendening’s goal. BC scored two more late, off the sticks of Steven Whitney and the second for Sheary, followed by a BU goal from Brandon Yip, before Jimmy Hayes scored his first of the night and Gaudreau closed out a hat trick with an empty net tally.
“It doesn’t get any more fun than playing BC vs BU,” said Gaudreau, the former first overall draft pick out of Boston College. “Last year they took it to us, but this year thankfully we got the win. But it’s still a ton of fun for both teams and it’s great to see guys you played with and against.”
Several members of these alumni teams will head to the NHL in October, with BC’s Jimmy Hayes and BU’s Matt Grzelyck joining the Bruins. Pandolfo has been coaching BU alumni teammate Grzelyck during Bruins developmental camp.
“We are all here for Pete [Frates] and Travis [Ryoy] and how they inspire everyone,” said Bonino. “We’re happy to all participate with their initiatives and what they do for the community. So it’s fun to play some hockey and raise money doing it.”
