April 10, 2008
NCAA Frozen Four Notebook
BC's Sweet Muse-ic
Freshman goalie sharp in rout of North Dakota

By Jeff Howe, James Jahnke, Mike Eidelbes, and Joe Gladziszewski

Not tonight: Boston College goalie John Muse stones North Dakota forward Rylan Kaip, one of the 29 saves he made in Thursday's 6-1 Frozen Four semifinal win.

DENVER – The kid looks like Cory Schneider. And now he’s starting to play like him, too.

Boston College freshman goalie John Muse turned in another strong effort in the Eagles’ 6-1 win against North Dakota in the first Frozen Four semifinal on Thursday. Muse made 29 saves, including 16 when the Fighting Sioux were on the power play.

“That’s what he’s back there for,” BC senior captain Mike Brennan said. “He’s backed us all year, and his confidence is just great. We really wanted to pull that shutout off for him. His confidence is high, and that’s the biggest thing we need from him. When we break down, he’s back there, and that’s the biggest thing. As a defensive corps, we want to limit those chances.”

Though the final score won’t show it, Muse literally needed to save the game for the Eagles midway through the first period when BC was clinging to a 1-0 lead. The Fighting Sioux had a relentless attack going on the power play, but Muse swatted aside a point-blank rebound bid from Chris VandeVelde.

“Their goalie played a heck of a game,” North Dakota senior captain Rylan Kaip simply stated.

It also didn’t hurt to have some luck on his side, as the right post came to Muse’s aid when Chay Genoway ripped one by him on the same power play. And about three minutes later, Nathan Gerbe pulled off a number of nice moves before scoring a short-handed goal to push BC ahead 2-0. The Eagles potted a couple more before the first intermission and all but locked up their trip to Saturday’s title tilt in the game’s opening 20 minutes.

“Whenever you can weather a storm and then come back and score a goal, that’s huge for a team,” said Muse, who made eight saves in the first period while the Sioux were on the power play. “I think that gave us a lot of confidence throughout the rest of the period and the rest of the game.”

LAMENTING LAMOUREUX

North Dakota goalie J-P Lamoureux looks away after giving up a short-handed goal to BC forward Nathan Gerbe in the first period of Thursday's first semifinal.

Jean-Philippe Lamoureux gave up a touchdown (minus the extra point) in North Dakota's biggest game of the season.

But after the carnage wrapped, the goalie was the first Sioux player through the handshake line. Then he sought out all three on-ice officials to shake their hands. On his way off the ice for the final time in his college career, he gave the applauding North Dakota fans a stick salute and a couple of socceresque claps.

Just goes to show the character of the senior from Grand Forks, his teammates say.

"He's just a great person all around," said freshman defenseman Jake Marto, who broke Boston College's shutout bid with 1:16 left in the 6-1 loss. "That's who you feel for, you feel for the seniors. It just sucks for them."

Lamoureux said his postgame actions were natural after losing to the same opponent in the same round for the third straight year.

"I just wanted to show respect to BC," said Lamoureux, who came into the national semifinal with a noteworthy 1.64 goals-against average and .936 save percentage. "They played a good game and, as you say, they kind of handed our lunch to us today. I'm not really one to pout or feel sorry for myself after a game, regardless of the score.

"But I wasn't as sharp as I should have been today."

The Sioux didn't blame him.

"Every single time the puck went by him tonight, he got in his crease, and he got set again," junior defenseman Joe Finley said. "He did what he had to do to give us a chance to win."

For what it's worth, the Sioux's explanations for Saturday's high-altitude debacle centered on a pair of things other than Lamoureux: Boston College — in particular Nathan Gerbe (three goals) — is good, and the Eagles were on the plus side of the key bounces.

"You're not going to sit there and say it's just a few bad bounces," Finley said, "but for whatever reason, it wasn't clicking tonight. Gerbe's a guy with a lot of speed, so to neutralize him, you've just got to play the dots and in and hope he's going to shoot the puck and your goaltender's going to make the big save."

INCH's Three Stars of the Game

3. Boston College's fourth line The trio of Kyle Kucharski, Matt Lombardi, and Andrew Orpik contributed the first goal of the game, sustained pressure and played an abrasive style that set the tone for the Eagles and also limited North Dakota's momentum. 2. John Muse, Boston College Sure, he lost the shutout with less than two minutes in regulation, but he was stellar in his first Frozen Four appearance. He made a number of key saves during North Dakota's first power play. That, coupled with Gerbe's shorthanded goal, severely deflated the Sioux's hopes. 1. Nathan Gerbe, Boston College The nation's most exciting player lived up to the advance billing with a hat trick and an assist. His electrifying shorthanded goal in the first period when he squirted past North Dakota defenseman Joe Finley and slid the puck beneath a sprawling J-P Lamoureux was a momentum killer for the Sioux.

Related Coverage

Game Story: Eagles Return to Title Game Boston College is in the NCAA championship game for the third straight season with another semifinal win over North Dakota.

SEEN AND HEARD AT THE PEPSI CENTER

• BC senior captain Mike Brennan on a conversation he had with freshman blue liner Nick Petrecki while the two were on the bench watching Nathan Gerbe: “I was looking at Petrecki when we were on the bench and was like, ‘This kid is really good.’ We looked at each other like, ‘Oh, man. Wow, this is incredible.’ Every day [Gerbe] brings something else to the table, whether it’s his physical presence when he goes in the corners or shooting. He’s just a dynamic, dynamic player, and he’s done a great job of being a character teammate, too.”

• Gerbe, by the way, went for the cycle on his hat trick by getting a goal short-handed, one on the power play, and one at even strength. In BC's Frozen Four semifinal win against North Dakota in Milwaukee two years ago, Eagle forward Chris Collins also notched a hat trick consisting of the mixed bag of goals.

• Insult to Injury, Part I: Just minutes after his turnover at the blue line led to Boston College's first goal, North Dakota defenseman Chay Genoway ripped a shot past Eagles' goalie John Muse that clanged off the pipe.

• Insult to Injury, Part II: After giving up the shorthanded goal to Boston College's Nathan Gerbe, North Dakota goalie J-P Lamoureux was clipped by Gerbe's skate as the diminuitive forward peeled away from the net.

• Hard Habit to Break: While relaying information regarding a penalty to Boston College's Nick Petrecki early in the second period, the Pepsi Center press box announcer started his statement by saying, "Boston College goal to no. 26, Nick Petrecki" before catching himself and correcting the error.

• Why, Yes, This is Marty McSorley's Camera: A North Dakota fan seated in section 306 of the Pepsi Center was admonished by rink security because the lens on her Canon camera was longer than the six inches allowable per NCAA rules. And, yes, a measurement was involved in making that determination.

PLUSSES AND MINUSES

North Dakota goaltender J-P Lamoureux had a rough outing, to say the least, but his post-game actions were nothing short of honorable. Lamoureux led the Sioux through the handshake line, waited for the rest of his teammates to step off the ice, then saluted the Fighting Sioux fans seated next to the team bench as he exited for the last time in a NoDak sweater. Lamoureux has always been a class act, and Thursday night was no exception.

This website has complained for years that one of the most grating things about the Frozen Four are the repetitive NCAA public service announcements shown in the rink during games. The NCAA obviously heeded our advice, because the PSA rotation this year is deep.

Two people hanging out in the Pepsi Center press box were obviously new to college hockey. While watching Miami coach Enrico Blasi take part in a first intermission interview with ESPN's Clay Matvick and Bob Norton, one turned to the other and, referring to Blasi, asked, "Is that Jack Parker?"

Gerbe's hat trick was certainly a highlight of the game, but the response of BC fans to his third goal was definitely not. Only one cap found its way to the Pepsi Center ice surface, and that didn't come flying out of the bleachers after a full seven-Mississippi count.

WHAT'S NEXT

Boston College returns to the national championship game for the third straight season, the first team to accomplish that feat since Lake Superior State from 1992-94. The Eagles lost both of their last two appearances in the game, but aren't concerned about that.

"Each year is different, each team is different, each path is different," BC coach Jerry York said. "There's not a lot of similarity between this team and the last two years. It's just a different makeup. Players leave and players come and you change a little bit of your group dynamics, but certainly we feel very proud of the fact that we're now playing in the last game of the season."