Boston College had been here before in recent years: Favorites to win the Beanpot, with a matchup against archrival Boston University on tap.
In both 2024 and 2025, the Terriers pulled off the upset – in the first round in 2024 and in the final last year – disrupting dominant second-half runs from the Eagles in the process, while also extending BC's Beanpot drought to 10 years.
Third time's the charm for BC. There was no slip-up Monday night, as the Eagles crushed BU, 6-2, at TD Garden to capture their first Beanpot title since 2016.
Just as they have all season, a few Bruins prospects had a big role to play in BC's success. 2025 first-round pick James Hagens earned Beanpot MVP honors with five points in the tournament, including two assists in Monday's championship.
2021 seventh-round pick Andre Gasseau scored a pair of power-play goals Monday and had four points in the tourney. 2024 first-round pick Dean Letourneau scored a late insurance goal Monday and helped out on two others without recording a point – with a good forecheck on one and a good screen on another.
The Eagles entered Monday just inside the NCAA tournament bubble, ranked 14th in the NPI formula that is used to determine the NCAA field. They moved up to 12th with Monday's win. The Terriers, meanwhile, have now slipped to 29th and will almost certainly need to win the Hockey East tournament in order to make NCAAs.
The Terriers took a 1-0 lead Monday just 2:15 into the game. BU captain Gavin McCarthy fired a shot from the point that produced a juicy rebound for sophomore forward Brandon Svoboda to bury for his fifth goal of the season.
The Eagles tied it on the power play with 4:58 left in the first. Ryan Conmy drove down the right wing before centering a pass that Gasseau, BC's captain, flipped in past Mikhail Yegorov.
The Terriers had three power plays of their own in the first period, but couldn't convert, continuing a season-long trend of their power play struggling despite the oodles of NHL draft picks they can throw on the ice. They would ultimately start the game 0-for-4 on the man advantage before finally cashing in late in the third period in garbage time with the game just about out of reach.
BC's power play, on the other hand, took over Monday night, adding two more goals and finishing the night 3-for-4. After Will Vote gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead with an even-strength goal (set up by a good forecheck from Letourneau), Hagens fed Lukas Gustafsson for a power-play tally, with Letourneau setting the screen in front of Yegorov.
Early in the third period, Gasseau made it 4-1 with his second power-play goal of the game, slamming home a rebound off a Conmy shot. Letourneau added a late insurance marker with a slick backhand finish in tight.
Hagens now has a team-high 31 points (15g, 16a) in 24 games this season. Letourneau leads the Eagles in goals (16) and is up to 28 points in 26 games. Gasseau, who missed significant time due to injury, now has 15 points (6g, 9a) in 13 games.
The Eagles are now 2-0 against BU this season, having also won 4-1 at Agganis Arena on Jan. 30. The two rivals still have a home-and-home weekend series to go at the end of this month – Feb. 27 at BU and Feb. 28 at BC.