Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Meg Kelly
The Healing Power Of Hockey
November 12, 2024 | Men's Hockey, #ForBoston Files
Emotions ran thick during this weekend's series against Maine.
Last weekend's on-ice matchup between Boston College and Maine rightfully earned the weekend's top billing as Hockey East's heavyweight battle. The two ancient New England powers both ranked in the top-5 nationally but hadn't faced one another with that elite branding in nearly 20 years, and placing them in an early season series echoed their respective visits to the 2006 Frozen Four held in Milwaukee. Neither found their way to an all-Hockey East championship that year, but the pregame expectations couldn't help but dredge up memories that once dreamed of two fantastic fan bases barreling towards a potential rematch in this year's trip to St. Louis.
The 2006 series in mid-February looked significantly different from the Friday-Sunday sequence at Conte Forum, but flanking a football game at Alumni Stadium likely added a dramatic air to the highest-touted production between the teams since those games at Alfond Arena. Two wins for the Eagles ensured another weekend of BC living up to its truest promotion, but the heightened concatenation between two of Hockey East's original programs simultaneously served a healing purpose as a tribute to three former players who deserved the highest praise and finest accolades either chapter could have written.
"It pops into my head every day, for sure," said head coach Greg Brown during last week's media availability. "I try to use it for the kids. The only one of our players who played a little bit with Johnny [Gaudreau] was Ryan Leonard at the world championships. So for them, our message is to talk about the passion and love of hockey that those guys had. If I use examples of their courage or creatively, it's mostly of their passion for much they loved [the game]. We have a chance to go out and do that every day and not take it for granted."
The sense of loss within the hockey community is still impossible to comprehend after the tragedies enveloping both the Gaudreau and Voce families over the past year. To the fans, losing high-caliber athletes long before they have the chance to go deep into their golden years is especially painful, but to witness all three initials concurrently appearing on one team's boards or uniform is to understand just how wide the chasm grew. To anyone who watched BC hockey over the past 20 years, the family atmosphere and lineage drawn between national championship contenders meant the brotherhood within the Eagles shook to its core after losing a player like Voce - a player who won a national championship, led his team in scoring as a senior, bridged the link between the Brian Gionta and Cam Atkinson eras under Jerry York, and who, in his final regular season weekend, locked horns with Maine while skating with Andrew Alberts, David Spina, Patrick Eaves, Ben Eaves, and others.
His sudden passing at the age of 43 left a hole within hockey communities that was significantly compounded when Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau tragically perished in late August. It goes without saying that "Johnny Hockey" might have been the most consequential college hockey player of the 21st century, but the former Hobey Baker Award winner matriculated into multiple fan markets with a wizardry and infectious love for the game and his teammates.
Things always felt more personal with Johnny, and his family-based decision to return to BC for that final season in 2013-2014 resonated with fans who witnessed his accomplishments over the past two years. The points and flashy goals mattered to fans who wanted to cheer during the games, but watching two Gaudreau brothers on campus with one another reminded everyone in Boston about the feeling of skating with siblings on those frozen January ponds.
"A lot of times I'll see something on the ice that looked like something Johnny would think of," Brown smiled, "and like I've said, that's how we honor them - with our effort and appreciate the opportunity that we have to. It's not all 'oh I have to go to go practice' [annoyed], it's that [cheerily] 'I get to go to practice.'"
The wholesome authenticity of their entire family offered plenty of insight into their love of the game, and maybe that's why it hurt so badly - and still hurts - to see their initials grace the boards in front of the Boston College bench on a nightly basis.
Society is taught to process grief through interchangeable and interlocking stages, but this weekend and Friday in particular allowed fans to celebrate their lives with a raw outpouring of emotion unmatched by any other matchup. They cheered alongside Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" when Andre Gasseau scored a third period goal to break Maine's 57-minute effort, and they let tears flow after the second and third goal brought the familiar guitar riff back into Conte Forum's rafters. Maine fans joined in their jubilation by watching their team skate with the three players' names on their jerseys, and both sides joined in a mutual outpouring of support and collective sorrow while watching Guy Gaudreau drop the opening puck in front of players adorned with each name on the back of their individual warmup jersey.
"It's so unspeakable what they have to go through," said Brown. "We're just trying to show them how special their boys were for us. We were fortunate to have them here and be able to share a few years with each of them, and we just want to let the family know that all we can do is honor them for how special they were. It's a great testament to the outpouring [of support] because it wouldn't be like that if they were just good hockey players. They were such great kids, and that's why it hurts so much."
BC earned six points on the weekend and entered further into the conversation for the No. 1 national ranking by earning two first place votes in Monday morning's USCHO.com national poll, but it was almost secondary to what the two games against Maine accomplished for dueling sell-out crowds. More than anything, the hockey heartache and heartbreak helped heal - at least a little bit - the ongoing despair and anguish associated with three individual and collective tragedies.Â
"The best thing we can do," said Brown ahead of last weekend, "is to honor them with great effort. We [had] to focus on such a tough opponent that we had to stay focused on Maine and just control the things that we could control. If we play really hard, then we feel like we're honoring those guys. The only part that the team can control is their effort, and that's what we've been trying to focus on."
There was still mourning, but on Friday and Sunday, hockey, at least hopefully, healed.
The 2006 series in mid-February looked significantly different from the Friday-Sunday sequence at Conte Forum, but flanking a football game at Alumni Stadium likely added a dramatic air to the highest-touted production between the teams since those games at Alfond Arena. Two wins for the Eagles ensured another weekend of BC living up to its truest promotion, but the heightened concatenation between two of Hockey East's original programs simultaneously served a healing purpose as a tribute to three former players who deserved the highest praise and finest accolades either chapter could have written.
"It pops into my head every day, for sure," said head coach Greg Brown during last week's media availability. "I try to use it for the kids. The only one of our players who played a little bit with Johnny [Gaudreau] was Ryan Leonard at the world championships. So for them, our message is to talk about the passion and love of hockey that those guys had. If I use examples of their courage or creatively, it's mostly of their passion for much they loved [the game]. We have a chance to go out and do that every day and not take it for granted."
The sense of loss within the hockey community is still impossible to comprehend after the tragedies enveloping both the Gaudreau and Voce families over the past year. To the fans, losing high-caliber athletes long before they have the chance to go deep into their golden years is especially painful, but to witness all three initials concurrently appearing on one team's boards or uniform is to understand just how wide the chasm grew. To anyone who watched BC hockey over the past 20 years, the family atmosphere and lineage drawn between national championship contenders meant the brotherhood within the Eagles shook to its core after losing a player like Voce - a player who won a national championship, led his team in scoring as a senior, bridged the link between the Brian Gionta and Cam Atkinson eras under Jerry York, and who, in his final regular season weekend, locked horns with Maine while skating with Andrew Alberts, David Spina, Patrick Eaves, Ben Eaves, and others.
His sudden passing at the age of 43 left a hole within hockey communities that was significantly compounded when Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau tragically perished in late August. It goes without saying that "Johnny Hockey" might have been the most consequential college hockey player of the 21st century, but the former Hobey Baker Award winner matriculated into multiple fan markets with a wizardry and infectious love for the game and his teammates.
Things always felt more personal with Johnny, and his family-based decision to return to BC for that final season in 2013-2014 resonated with fans who witnessed his accomplishments over the past two years. The points and flashy goals mattered to fans who wanted to cheer during the games, but watching two Gaudreau brothers on campus with one another reminded everyone in Boston about the feeling of skating with siblings on those frozen January ponds.
"A lot of times I'll see something on the ice that looked like something Johnny would think of," Brown smiled, "and like I've said, that's how we honor them - with our effort and appreciate the opportunity that we have to. It's not all 'oh I have to go to go practice' [annoyed], it's that [cheerily] 'I get to go to practice.'"
The wholesome authenticity of their entire family offered plenty of insight into their love of the game, and maybe that's why it hurt so badly - and still hurts - to see their initials grace the boards in front of the Boston College bench on a nightly basis.
Society is taught to process grief through interchangeable and interlocking stages, but this weekend and Friday in particular allowed fans to celebrate their lives with a raw outpouring of emotion unmatched by any other matchup. They cheered alongside Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" when Andre Gasseau scored a third period goal to break Maine's 57-minute effort, and they let tears flow after the second and third goal brought the familiar guitar riff back into Conte Forum's rafters. Maine fans joined in their jubilation by watching their team skate with the three players' names on their jerseys, and both sides joined in a mutual outpouring of support and collective sorrow while watching Guy Gaudreau drop the opening puck in front of players adorned with each name on the back of their individual warmup jersey.
"It's so unspeakable what they have to go through," said Brown. "We're just trying to show them how special their boys were for us. We were fortunate to have them here and be able to share a few years with each of them, and we just want to let the family know that all we can do is honor them for how special they were. It's a great testament to the outpouring [of support] because it wouldn't be like that if they were just good hockey players. They were such great kids, and that's why it hurts so much."
BC earned six points on the weekend and entered further into the conversation for the No. 1 national ranking by earning two first place votes in Monday morning's USCHO.com national poll, but it was almost secondary to what the two games against Maine accomplished for dueling sell-out crowds. More than anything, the hockey heartache and heartbreak helped heal - at least a little bit - the ongoing despair and anguish associated with three individual and collective tragedies.Â
"The best thing we can do," said Brown ahead of last weekend, "is to honor them with great effort. We [had] to focus on such a tough opponent that we had to stay focused on Maine and just control the things that we could control. If we play really hard, then we feel like we're honoring those guys. The only part that the team can control is their effort, and that's what we've been trying to focus on."
There was still mourning, but on Friday and Sunday, hockey, at least hopefully, healed.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Hockey
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