Those who blew off the opener missed an excellent third period of hockey. Northeastern scored three times in the last 20 minutes to rally for a 4-3 win, Jason Melong scoring the winner with 4:53 left.

And talk about a real climax--BC won a draw deep in the Husky zone with 1.9 seconds left and their goalie pulled. The puck came straight to Eagle captain Jack Callahan, who fired point-blank from the slot in search of a hat-trick for himself and overtime for his team. But goalie Mike Vesior came up big, and Northeastern, took home all the beans that a third-place pot can hold.

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Sign to remember from the final game:

B.low

U.s (Harvard #1)

Chant to remember of the final game:

"You're no Ted!" to BU junior defenseman Dan Donato. (But really, who is?)

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One of the unique qualities of the Garden is the lack of a restraining wall between the TV booth and the balcony seats. If you are so inclined, you can visit with the announcers between periods, who are unfailingly accommodating to their fans. At earlier Bruin games this year, I had already met some of the great voices in hockey: Mike Emrick and Bill Clement (Flyers) Sam Rosen and John Davidson (Rangers), and Pat Foley and Dale Tallon (Blackhawks). So during the first break in the Beanpot final, it was up to the booth again, this time to meet Sean McDonough.

Many of you may know McDonough better from his baseball telecasts for CBS and TV-38. Indeed, his versatility makes him one of the hottest commodities in sports television--he can handle hockey, baseball, college basketball, and even football (anybody else out there see the Independence Bowl?) in a pinch, and handle them well. I just wanted to ask him about his famous voice-crack as he called "SAFE!" when Sid Bream gave the Atlanta Braves the National League Pennant earlier this year--in his words, "I about went through the roof on that one."

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What common ground did Terrier and Crimson fans meet upon during the Beanpot finals? Well, we did get two unified groans last night--both connected with the NHI, scoreboard. The Bruins lost to Pittsburgh 4-0--that got a moan of disapproval. But it was the Ottawa-Buffalo score that was so surprising; 4-2 Senators, and the crowd chuckled in delight. Look out, Sabre fans--Ottawa is only 42 points from your fourth playoff spot in the Adams division....

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Sitting next to me throughout the game was a living reminder that not every Harvard hockey fan is totally clued in to his or her team. Jim Clifford, '64, veteran of 15 Beanpots, was commenting about the differences of playing on the smaller Garden ice surface.