Unfinished business ...

I absolutely love this story. I wrote two quick hits, one for the New York Times (which ran with the accompanying photo), and one for New York Magazine's web site. Here's the unbridged version, which I think captures more of the soul of the event.

Frozen in time
1989 teams reconnect to play canceled championship game

Talk about delayed gratification. When Delbarton's Mike Pendy and St. Joseph's Kenny Blum skate into the faceoff circle for the opening drop of the puck on Saturday, April 3, at Mennen Arena in Morristown, N.J., it will be the culmination of a long, long wait. Twenty-one years, to be exact. More than a lifetime, considering that Pendy, Blum and their teammates, now all in their late 30s, were fuzzy-faced teenagers in 1989 when the two teams were first set to meet for the New Jersey high school hockey championships.

That game, however, never happened. In one of the most peculiar episodes in high school sports, the 1989 championship game, scheduled for March 18, was canceled due to a measles outbreak the affected both students and teachers at Delbarton, an all-boys commuting prep school in Morristown.

"It was the most bizarre thing," said James Olsen, a senior Delbarton defenseman in 1989 who now works for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "The school brought us into the auditorium to announce [the cancellation]. I honestly thought it was going to be a last-minute pep rally. It took a little time to register."

Until that decision, it looked like a dream final between the state's two top teams – St. Joseph's of Montvale sported a 24-2-1 mark, while Delbarton was seeded No. 2 with a 24-3-2 record – that had rosters littered with all-state selections. Two players, Kenny Blum of St. Joe's and Derek Maguire of Delbarton, would be selected in the 9th round of the National Hockey League draft later that spring. Then, in an instant, the game was scrapped.

The Delbarton coach, Jim Brady, vividly remembers that Friday, having practiced in the morning before attending business meetings in Princeton. Afterward, he drove to meet his team for a pre-game dinner. In the parking lot, he bumped into Olsen, who relayed that the game was canceled. "I thought he was kidding me," said Brady. "I walked into the restaurant, and there were all the kids, and it was like a morgue."

The finality of the state's decision, say the players, didn't hit home until the following week. A few days later, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association's executive committee declared the two teams co-champions, and what might have been the greatest hockey final in New Jersey history was relegated to some dust-covered record book. It remains the only time co-champions have been declared in hockey.

"That was a pretty low moment for everybody," said Olsen. "We weren't going to have another shot it. Not everyone was going to play at college; some weren't going to be continuing their hockey at any competitive level. It was a lost opportunity."

On April 3, though, these players from 1989 will have the rare opportunity of a second chance. The thought of actually playing the game – dubbed the Frozen Flashback – started as a lark last spring. Talk began percolating after an off-hand comment by Pendy, a center on the '89 Delbarton squad, in a Star-Ledger article on the 20th anniversary of the non-game. "Maybe we could get all these guys together 20 years later, lace up the skates somewhere and play that game," the former Green Wave assistant captain told the Star-Ledger. While Pendy's quote prompted a few giggles, no one took it seriously, given the logistics of trying to bring 46 players together two decades after the fact. No one, that is, except Scott Williams.

Williams, a defenseman on the '89 St. Joe's team, saw parallels between the lost final and The Best of Times, a 1986 comedy starring Robin Williams as an aging banker who couldn't forgive himself for dropping the touchdown pass (thrown perfectly by Kurt Russell) that cost his teammates, and town, bragging rights against their arch rival. Soon, Williams hatched a plan to combine that storyline with the quintessential hockey movie – Paul Newman's Slap Shot – and the blueprint for the Frozen Flashback took shape. Buoyed by the support he got from an ESPN.com column by John Buccigross, Williams reached out to Delbarton.

He was steered toward Olsen ("James is always one to think big," said teammate Peter Ramsey), who was initially skeptical. But Williams struck a nerve when he unveiled his idea of the game being a charity for cancer research. Williams's mother Janice has brain cancer, and he thought the game could be a terrific fund-raising vehicle. Olsen, who recently lost his father to cancer, was taken with Williams's sincerity, and agreed to pitch in.

"That was really critical to making this event meaningful," said Olsen. "We're going to do some real tangible good for people who are suffering. Everybody I know has been touched in one way or another by cancer. It's devastating. I like the fact that people are going to use this opportunity to support a good cause."

The players also responded, with a reported 40 of the original 46 signing on. "It's timeless," said Maguire, an all-star defenseman who later played at Harvard and two years with the Montreal Canadiens’ top farm team. "Whether you're 17 or 40, you want to play the game."

"If anybody felt bad about what happened 21 years ago, they can feel good about it now," echoed Blum, who had an 11-year professional career after being drafted by the Minnesota North Stars. "We're not raising millions and millions of dollars, but we're doing something to contribute to a cause that needs as much help as possible."

To make up for roster shortfalls, each team can add five players (they must be alumni and have graduated prior to 1989). The prevailing enthusiasm, say former teammates, is a testament to the strong bond that hockey engenders. "What's been great is getting the whole community back together," said Maguire. "It's been fun to see to see the guys coming out of the woodwork."

Employing myriad connections through hockey, work, and their respective schools, Frozen Flashback organizers secured a number of corporate sponsorships, most notably Gatorade. According to Ramsey, a former Delbarton left wing and current managing director at Barclays Capital, the organizing group is close to covering its costs, and expects to top its fund-raising goal of $100,000 for cancer research. A prime beneficiary will be the NHL's Hockey Fights Cancer program, as well as Jam for Janice, the Valerie Fund, and the respective schools. At the insistence of New Jersey Devils co-owner and Delbarton grad Michael Gilfillan, there was some thought given to the Prudential Center hosting the game, but that plan proved unwieldy. Instead, Gilfillan used his NHL contacts to acquire a number of items for the game's online auction including signed jerseys from superstars Wayne Gretzky, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and Mario Lemieux—a cancer survivor himself. The MSG Network is on board to broadcast the game, which will be held at the 2,800-seat Mennen Arena, the original site of the championship match.

"The great thing about playing at Mennen, is that the place was packed for our games," said Olsen of Delbarton's home rink. "It was a great experience being on the ice in front of those crowds, and now we have one more opportunity to do it."

Of course, the prospect of a full house has players thinking they've got to put on a good show. Many skate regularly. Others are returning to the rink with a vengeance, touting new gear and a determination to recapture the fitness of their youth. All expect a good, clean game. "Some people are trying to portray this as a grudge match, and nothing could be further from the truth," said Ramsey. Pendy agreed. "There's bound to be some apprehension, but once the puck drops, I think everyone's going to have a good time with it and make it a class event."

The modified rules will mirror an adult recreation league: Full checking is prohibited, though contact is allowed. John Lively, a forward on St. Joe's '89 team and now a lieutenant for the Mount Vernon, NY, fire department, confirmed that Juan DeCarlo, one of the original referees scheduled for the 1989 game, will officiate the April 3 match.

"Hockey players are, by nature, competitive, and once the adrenaline gets pumping, that competitiveness is going to kick in," said Williams. "When we get on the ice, it's going to be us against the them."

Both sides have also decided that the game can't end in a tie; there will be a winner on April 3, even if it means sudden-death overtime. "I don't think anybody would want that," said Blum, chuckling. "Other than the charity part, that would be defeating the purpose."

There are no plans, however, to petition the NJSIAA to name the Frozen Flashback winner as the 1989 champion. "We kidded around about that, but I don't think it would be fair in terms of history," said Williams, laughing. "First, I don't think the state would go for it. And, at the end of the day, you can't have a title based on what happens 21 years later. Plus, the event has taken on such a larger cause."

For details on the April 3 game, and the online auction, visit FrozenFlashback.com.

FINIS

Wild regional final in Worcester

Just when I thought college hockey couldn't possibly get any more exciting, or nerve-wracking, than last week's Hockey East championship 7-6 overtime win by Boston College, along come the Eagles in a crazy 9-7 Northeast Regional victory over a gutsy Yale squad! Great for hockey fans; torture for coaches and parents!

Team depth carries BC to the Frozen Four

WORCESTER, Mass. — Speed may be lethal, but versatility and big-game experience proved unbeatable at the Northeast Regional as Boston College employed a dizzying arsenal of weapons to complete a sweep of Alaska-Fairbanks and Yale to land a spot in the Frozen four.

In the end, it was BC’s depth — the Eagles rolling four highly skilled lines — that brought the Bulldogs back to Earth, though Yale put up a valiant fight in dropping a wild 9-7 decision at the DCU Center. Like a football team that can succeed with a grinding, run-first attack or capitalize on an electric aerial show, the Eagles showed they could win almost any type of game their opponents wanted to play. Ugly or attractive, the Eagles were only concerned about the outcome.

“The objective is to win and advance,” said BC coach Jerry York after the Bulldogs cut a five-goal lead to two in the third period before running out of time. “They don’t ask you if it’s a pretty game.”

On paper, the combatants in Sunday’s regional final looked eerily similar. both no. 1 seed Boston College and no. 3 Yale brought a fleet of crafty, tenacious forwards who could skate like the wind and score in bunches, a crew of steady, puck-moving defenseman, and two coaches considered among the more cerebral in the Division I ranks.

But there were subtle differences, starting with big-game experience. The seven BC upperclassmen have a national championship in their back pocket from 2008. The four seniors — captain Matt Price, alternate captains Matt Lombardi and Ben Smith, and defensive leader Carl Sneep — have been to two NCAA finals, losing a heartbreaker to Michigan State in 2007.

“Having that experience as freshmen and sophomores, it really helped our [senior] class and the junior class lead this team,” said Smith. “We are moving in the right direction. Obviously, letting up seven goals, we have a lot to work on. But we are excited to move on to Detroit.”

Even the BC freshmen have big-game experience, having played before more than 38,000 fans at Fenway Park in January, more than 17,000 for the Beanpot final against Boston University in February, and more than 12,000 for the Hockey East semifinals and final earlier this month.

“It helps,” said York. “You can handle the jitters better when you have different experiences.”

Of course, the opportunity to have those experiences is directly linked to the seemingly endless parade of top-notch talent that York and his staff have brought to The Heights. on Sunday night, the Eagles got six goals from their second line of Cam Atkinson (hat trick), Joe Whitney (two goals) and Brian Gibbons, which had been kept in check since the first game of the Hockey East quarterfinals two weeks ago. five Eagles accounted for BC’s nine goals, yet none of them scored the night before in the team’s win over the Nanooks.

“To be successful, you can’t be a one-line team because that line can get shut down,” York said, acknowledging depth is a key component to a long run in the NCAAs. “We’ve recruited outstanding hockey players to BC. In a nutshell, that’s why we’ve been so strong. you replace good players with good players.”

The Eagles won in the trenches against Alaska on Saturday, 3-1. on Sunday, the goals came fast and furious, as the teams tossed caution and defense to the wind, combining for 16 goals, a regional final record. York and his players gave full credit to the Bulldogs for making life miserable for the Eagles on the defensive end.

“Those 9-7 games are always a little scary, but especially with a team like Yale, which is so good offensively,” said Smith. “It was just one of those nights where who can score the most goals wins, and we did.”

After the game, Smith acknowledged that BC’s versatility was crucial to not only winning the Northeast Regional, but gave the team confidence heading to the Frozen four.

“That’s going to help us moving forward, being able to play both types of games, being able to gut it out like we did against Alaska, and being able to use our offense and our firepower to win a 9-7 game,” said Smith.

Despite the final score, perhaps the single most glaring difference between the teams was in net. BC junior John Muse came into the regional final boasting a sparking 14-1 postseason record. In NCAA tournament games, Muse was 5-0 with a 1.75 goals-against average and .947 save percentage. And although his statistics may have taken a hit on Sunday, Muse never looked rattled. The East Falmouth native kept his composure in the face of a furious Yale comeback over the last eight minutes.

“He competes,” York said of Muse. “He probably wishes he had a few of those goals back. But the fact is, he’s a winner, and he’s going to the Frozen four.”

At the other end of the ice, Yale junior Ryan Rondeau allowed only two goals against the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota after winning a two-week, three-player goaltending audition to get the start. his performance, and the start, was a surprise to many Yale followers, since Rondeau hadn’t played since Nov. 7, in a 3-3 tie against Union. on Sunday, however, Rondeau’s game came apart at the worst possible time, and the junior barely made it past the halfway point of the game, leaving with BC holding a 5-2 lead.

BC’s Brian Gibbons opened the scoring with a short-side sizzler that could have beaten even the best D-I keepers. Yale, the nation’s top scoring outfit, responded predictably, pouring shots on the BC net, forcing Muse to make big saves on Broc little and Colin Dueck before Brian O’Neill knotted to score. The backbreaker for Rondeau came three minutes later.

With BC short-handed, Sneep attempted a clearing one-timer from his own zone. O’Neill got a got a stick on the shot, which floated the length of the ice, bounced once about 10 feet in front of Rondeau and over the goalie’s left shoulder.

“That was a huge goal, and a long goal,” said a smiling Atkinson. “I think the momentum just shifted right there and then.”

Though Yale coach Keith Allain stuck with Rondeau for another 14 minutes and three BC tallies, it was clear the netminder was fighting the puck. The teams traded goals to open the second period, but Atkinson struck for his first of three just 11 seconds after Mark Arcobello had brought the Bulldogs to within 3-2. Atkinson scored again at the 10:29 mark to give the Eagles some breathing room at 5-2, and Allain pulled his junior netminder seconds later.

Rondeau’s goaltending colleagues didn’t fare much better. The Eagles blistered eight shots on senior Billy Blase, with Whitney and Atkinson (in the AP photo above) connecting. Allain then opted for freshman Jeff Malcolm, who was victimized by two Jimmy Hayes goals within 23 seconds early in the third (the fastest back-to-back goals by the same player in an NCAA regional game).

Down 9-5 with less than 13 minutes remaining, Yale showed that, while comparatively thin on postseason experience, it was big on heart.

“We have offensive talent,” said Allain. “We’ve come back before. when you do something once, you get confidence that you can do it again. It’s a belief, and it’s talent.”

Over a five-minute stretch in the last seven minutes of the third, Yale attacked BC relentlessly and was rewarded with goals by Arcolbello (13:32), O’Neill (15:55) and little (18:38). It was, however, too little, too late.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of my guys,” said Allain. “There were numerous occasions during the course of the game where they could have thrown in the towel, but didn’t.”

York said Yale deserved credit for refusing to quit. Still, he added he wasn’t overly concerned with his team’s apparent lack of a killer instinct.

“Winning hockey games is putting teams away,” he said.

Afterward, Muse looked relieved but relaxed. “Just like Maine last week [a 7-6 overtime win in the Hockey East final], it shows how tough it is to take a team’s sticks away,” said Muse. “No one wants to see a 9-7 game, but we won, and that’s the key.”

“And we’re not finished yet,” he said. “We’ve got two more games to win in Detroit. The key is to go out there and enjoy ourselves. It’s business, but we’re going to have fun.”

With such a level-headed goaltender, and a team with more depth and versatility than some collegiate All-Star squads, the Eagles figure to be a force at Ford Field.

Brion O’Connor is a Boston-based freelance writer. he can be reached at brionoc@verizon.net.

FINIS

BC steps up, takes out Alaska

Despite teetering on the brink of hockey overload, I have to admit there's nothing quite like the NCAA playoffs. Saturday night's Northeast Regional semifinals were another great example. Here's the recap, done for ESPNBoston.com ...

Eagles advance to Northeast finals, to face Yale

WORCESTER, Mass. – If this keeps up, the Ballad of the Unsung Hero may soon rival that of Doug Flutie and the Hail Mary Pass in the annals of Boston College folklore.

On Saturday, BC's Matt Lombardi reprised that role (photo at right, by Melissa Wade), while freshman Pat Mullane added his name to an ever-expanding list of role players rising to the occasion as the Eagles edged a resilient Alaska Nanooks squad, 3-1, in the Northeast Regional semifinals.

"Our team was in a terrific battle tonight," said BC coach Jerry York. "I've never been in a NCAA Tournament were the games aren't difficult.

Last week, it was Lombardi, a senior alternate captain and self-admitted grinder, who boldly stated, after the Eagles overtime 7-6 Hockey East title victory over Maine, that teams had to be willing to trade chances in tournament play. Lombardi had just walked the talk, registering his first career hat trick (after scoring seven in his previous 140 games), including the game-winner, to send the Eagles into the NCAA tournament on a high note.

"Trading chances" was exactly how the BC's Northeast Regional semifinal match with Alaska (18-12-9) started, with each squad getting quality chances but unable to connect. Alaska, making their debutante appearance in the NCAA playoffs, four times zones away from home, hardly looked like deer in headlights as they went toe-to-toe with the highly skilled Eagles (26-10-3).

"We're a confident group," said Nanook alternate captain Kevin Petovello, a junior from British Columbia. "We've got a ton of guys with a lot of heart."

York agreed. "We had all we could handle," said the Eagles bench boss. "I don't think there's any stage fright in their players. We feel very fortunate that we're moving on. It took pretty good effort to get past by Alaska."

But it was Lombardi, one of the BC's designated checking forwards, who put the Eagles on the board first with a mercurial rush while BC was a man down, with Tommy Cross in the box for interference. After the puck got chipped behind the Nanook defense, Lombardi tracked it down at full stride and went steaming in on goal. Just below the hash marks, Lombardi pulled the puck hard to his backhand, and slipped it under Alaska goalie Scott Greenham's right pad for his first shorthanded strike of the season (and BC's sixth), and the first surrendered by Alaska all season. It was Lombardi's fourth goal in two games, after he erupted for his hat trick against Maine.

"That was a huge goal," said BC captain Matt Price, Lombardi's linemate.

In the second period, the teams began duking it out in, resulting in a predictable march to the penalty box. Both squads employed active sticks and active bodies to limit top-quality scoring chances, and when the puck got through to Greenham or BC's John Muse, the goalkeepers were up to the task. The Nanooks successfully killed off three penalties, and then ratcheted up the pressure late in the period.

"We responded like we have all year," said Nanook coach Dallas Ferguson. "We never quit."

With less than three minutes to go, with the Nanooks enjoying a 5-on-3 power play, Muse twice came up big to rob Alaska's freshmen sensation Andy Taranto on the doorstep, the first a dazzling reaction right pad save, the second time on the winger's juke to the glove side.

"He's been playing phenomenal lately, and you need that" in the NCAAs, said Price of his junior netminder. "A huge save can pick up your bench and turn that momentum the other way."

The third time proved the charm, however, as the Nanooks kept charging at BC during the power play, and Dion Knelson slipped a feed in front that an unmarked Taranto buried to knot the score, 1-1. The power-play tally was the 18th goal of the season for the CCHA's leading freshmen scorer.

"It was a relief to get that first goal," said Taranto, acknowledging that Muse was a difference-maker. "He played fantastic. He's a hard-working guy, and you can tell that he has a lot of experience in net. And his D corps played great in front of him."

It was anybody's game starting the final stanza. The Nanooks survived another penalty to start the period, but BC charged ahead on a tic-tac-toe counterattack at 3:46. BC freshman Mullane, a fourth liner, lugged the puck up the left side before dishing it off to Linemate Steve Whitney and heading for the net. Whitney calmly shoveled it over to fellow freshman Patch Alber, who fired it on net, where Mullane tipped it past Greenham for his eighth goal of the season and a 2-1 Eagles lead.

"Any team that is going to make a push here in college hockey is going to need everyone to step up, and everyone is going to play a different role every night," said BC's latest unsung hero. "Sometimes your checkers are going to score, and that's something you need. The more guys you have going the better off we are going to be, and we've seen that in the last couple of games."

The Nanooks were far from finished, however. Greenham kept Alaska in the game almost singlehandedly, denying Price on a stuff attempt and then robbing junior Cam Atkinson with a terrific glove stop.

"Scottie was good all night," said Ferguson. "He stops all the ones he's supposed to, and a couple he's not supposed to. He obviously did his job tonight, and gave us a chance to win."

In the last four minutes, Alaska threw everything they had at the Eagles, and were almost rewarded when Dustin Sather chipped the puck in tight past Muse. The puck, however, clanked off the crossbar at the 17:50 mark.

"We gave ourselves a chance tonight," said Ferguson. "It just didn't go in."

Twenty two seconds later, BC got its insurance marker. Fittingly, Price, BC's senior captain who was the Eagles best penalty killer (along with Muse) all game, got a step on Nanook defenseman Joe Sova in a chase for a skittering puck, with nothing between him and a vacant net but open ice. Sova hauled down Price before he could get off a shot, and the Eagles were awarded an automatic goal, sending them into Sunday's Northeast Regional final.

Expect the Eagles to show up, willing to trade chances. "You can't play holding your breath," said York. "You have to get after it."

The only question that remains, then, is whether Boston College roster has another unsung hero ready to step into the spotlight.

No. 3 Yale 3, No. 2 North Dakota 2

Once Boston College dispatched Alaska, the general consensus was that the Eagles would face No. 2 seed North Dakota (25-13-5), resuming a tournament rivalry that had the two teams squaring off in the NCAAs seven of the last 10 years. Yale, though, was in no mood to cooperate, and not even BC coach Jerry York would look past the Bulldogs.

"That's going to be a hard game to handicap," said York beforehand.

The No.3 seed Yale (21-9-3) earned the right to face BC on Sunday evening, after the speedy Bulldogs upended a rugged North Dakota squad, 3-2. The win marks the first time Yale had beaten the Fighting Sioux in six meetings. From the start, it was clear that Keith Allain's Bulldogs weren't going to let the loss of stalwart defenseman Sean Backman affect their game.

Yale captain Ryan Donald said the Bulldogs came into the game relaxed in their underdog roles, "playing with house money."

"They're very quick, an excellent offensive team," said BC's associate head coach Mike Cavanaugh, who was scouting the game. "That's a really good hockey club."

The Bulldogs raced out to a 2-0 lead on two exceptional goals by junior Denny Kearney. In the opening period, Kearney deftly deflected a point blast by Tom Dignard that fluttered over Brad Eidsness and into the net. At the 12:49 mark of the second stanza, Kearney tallied his second with a nifty move in tight, drawing Eidsness to his backhand before quickly shifting the puck to his forehand and tucking it home.

"That was a big time goal," said Cavanaugh.

Three minutes later, the Sioux had a chance to cut into the Bulldogs lead, but Darcy Zajac's penalty shot bid rang off the left post behind Ryan Rondeau and stayed out.

With less than four minutes left in the second, Yale took a seemingly insurmountable lead on a gritty play by senior Mark Arcobello. Rumbling into the high slot, Arcobello ripped a low shot that went wide right, but caromed off the kick plate and back in front of Eidsness. Arcobello collected his rebound and snuck it inside the right post for a 3-0 margin.

In the third, the Fighting Sioux fought back. With three minutes gone, North Dakota's Brett Hextall circled into the left faceoff circle and rifled a wrist shot over Ryan Rondeau's right shoulder. Three minutes later, Matt Frattin scored on a sensational individual effort to bring the Fighting Sioux to within one. Driving hard to the net, using his body to shield off Yale defenseman Nick Jaskowiak, Frattin managed to squeeze the puck past Rondeau, off the right post and into the back of the net.

For the final 14 minutes, though, the Yale defense clamped down, and Rondeau shut out the Fighting Sioux the rest of the way. That defensive group, said Cavanaugh, will be a concern for the Eagles when the two teams square Sunday at the DCU Center (5:30 p.m. ET).

"They played really well, moving the puck, and getting it to their forwards," Cavanaugh said. "They won the ECAC Hockey title the past two years, and that's not easy to do. Keith and his staff have done an excellent job."

Allain acknowledge that the road to the Frozen Four doesn't get any easier, with Boston College in the way. "BC plays the game a lot like we do," he said. "They have small, quick forwards, and they play an up-tempo game."

"They're a real solid team, the No. 1 seed in this regional. We'll have our hands full."

FINIS

Farewell to a fellow netminder

Heard from a good friend today that Chick DeAngelis recently passed away. The news was hardly shocking, but saddened me just the same. Our local rinks lost a true character when they lost Chickie. DeAngelis spent some six decades between the pipes. He was a medical marvel, and an inspiration to many, not just old goalies, but hockey players of every stripe. The following is a profile I wrote about Chick for The Hockey Magazine in 2002. Seems like yesterday. RIP, Chick.

The Golden-age Goalie

So, you think you've had a bad day on the ice? Missed a few open passes, an open net, or a defensive assignment that led to a goal or two? Maybe got a little banged up?

Now compare your bad day to the one Angelo "Chick" DeAngelis had on April 28, 1998. That was the day Chick's heart stopped. Cold. On the ice. Two days after his 68th birthday, playing in a stick practice with Bruins alumni at Hockeytown USA in Saugus, Mass., DeAngelis nearly dropped dead right in his goal crease.

"It was just a pick-up game," says DeAngelis, an East Boston native. "I was out there playing, and next thing I remember, I was in a hospital bed, four days later. I was just looking around, and I asked a nurse, 'what am I doing here?' "

According to retired State Sen. Robert Buell, who was also playing, State Trooper Dave O'Leary saved DeAngelis as stunned players, including Terry O'Reilly and Brad Park, looked on. Seconds after DeAngelis "collapsed on his face," Sgt. O'Leary rushed to his aid, recognizing the signs of a heart attack, started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and directed others to perform chest compressions, says Buell.

Once breathing, DeAngelis was transferred to Melrose Wakefield Hospital. Longtime friend James "Jay" DeMarco recalls that DeAngelis was upset, not because his game ended with an ambulance ride, but because the emergency medical staff had to cut off his favorite jersey to resuscitate him. The thought that his hockey playing days might be over never entered his mind. "He didn't care about the heart attack," says DeMarco. "He just wanted to know when he could get back in the net."

A week and a half later, doctors open up Chick's chest, and Roto-Rootered 60 years of heavy foods from his arteries during quadruple bypass surgery. "I asked them, 'If you're going to do surgery, I want to know if I'll be able to play hockey again. If not, then don't do it.' They told me 'You have to have the surgery. Your arteries are clogged. That's why you had the attack.' "

Within three months, Chick strapped the pads back on, and was back between the pipes at Hockeytown. "The doctor said to me, 'Take your time. Do a little here and there, because this thing takes about a year to heal.' I said 'We'll see.' Two months later, I felt fine, so I figured I'd try it out on the ice."

DeAngelis started slow - "only two or three times a week" - but was soon playing almost every weekday. "People were telling me my life would be over after the heart attack, to sit down and watch television the rest of my life," he says. "But that wasn't going to happen to me. I wasn't going to let the attack stop me. I was going to fight. And I beat it. And I'm still here."

Even today, at 72, DeAngelis still plays three to five times a week (usually after putting in an early morning shift at his family's bakery) in Saugus, Stoneham and Peabody, patrolling the goal line, never backing down, never shying away from the puck or the action. If he's got extra energy at the end of the day, he'll head to a local gym to work out on the treadmill or exercise bike.

"Chick is a legend," says Dave Fessenden, a regular at the noontime stick practice in Peabody, Mass.

"What can you say about a guy who loves the sport so much?" says John Cluett, 55, another Peabody regular. "He plays the game with enthusiasm and a lot of gusto. He doesn't ask for any quarter, and he doesn't give any quarter. I've never seen him duck, never heard him ask anyone to ease up."

A shade over five-feet tall, DeAngelis's head barely reaches above the crossbar. On that head you'll usually find a vintage Jacques Plante fiberglass mask, painted bright gold, tailored with custom padding (Chick's tried the newer, more popular cage/helmet combinations, but "I just can't get comfortable with them."). While the mask reminds some younger players of the homicidal Jason from the "Friday the 13th" horror movies, others, like Cluett, find themselves transported to another place and time.

"The first time I saw the old-style mask, I was thinking, 'Damn, that was one of the first things I recall about hockey,' " says the 55-year-old from Gloucester. "It brought me back to the '60s, and my high school hockey days."

Fessenden admits "I sat on the bench with him one day, and I said to him, just joking around, 'Chick, why don't you show these guys how tough you are and play without a mask.' And he said to me, 'I did that for 22 years.' That right there gives you some idea of the longevity he's had."

DeAngelis began playing in the 1940s, during the war years. "Once I learned to skate, I found that goaltending fascinated me," he says. "It looked like such a challenging position. And I've been playing the position ever since, for more than 55 years."

He's not particularly impressed with the current crop of pro goalies ("It's the equipment, it's a lot bigger. That's why these goalies are playing better."), but admits the game has gotten much quicker, even if players rely too much on the slap shot ("I try to tell kids to learn the wrist shot. The slap shot is much easier, one direct line - boom! But with the wrist shot, you don't know where it's going."). And his eyes still light up as he recalls the exploits of the great Glenn Hall, Turk Broda of the Maple Leafs, Bill Durnam of the Canadiens, and the Bruins' own Sugar Jim Henry and Frankie "Mr. Zero" Brimsek.

"He still refers to Tony Esposito as 'the kid who gets beat upstairs,' " says DeMarco, another East Boston goalie, with a laugh. "Tony O is my hero, but Chick will just say 'He's excellent down low, but you can beat him up top.' "

Which simply proves that DeAngelis not only loves to play, but he's a student of the game. ""He'll come to my games, and give me advice, like 'Jay, you're not cutting your angles down enough.' And I listen to every word he says, because it's backed up by 50 years of experience." That experience also provides a silver lining for the silver-haired set - the belief that they're never too old to play.

"I started skating again 8-9 years ago, and I was feeling a little guilty, playing hockey with a bunch of kids," says Fessenden, now 53. "When Chick showed up, I started thinking, 'Maybe I can just play hockey because I love it.' And that's the inspiration that he's given me - he's out there at his age, playing the toughest position on the ice, the most dangerous one. The biggest joke with my wife is that Chick's extended my career at least 20 years."

Others agree. "Just dragging all that gear through the door is an inspiration." says Cluett, with a smile.

"Chickie is proof that if you stick to your dreams, if you believe in something with a passion, you'll always stay young," says DeMarco. "He inspires me to want to play until my last days. That's what he wants - he wants to die right in the net."

Fortunately for those who've met DeAngelis during the past four years, his time didn't end on that fateful day in April, 1998.

FINIS

Eagles win a wild Hockey East final

Just when I thought nothing could top the Hockey East semifinals on Friday, along comes Saturday's final, one of the best college hockey games I've ever witnessed!

BC overcomes Maine comeback, wins title in OT

BOSTON – The Maine Black Bears started their 2009-10 campaign with a bonding exercise, climbing the state's tallest peak, 5,267-foot Mount Katahdin. It was a harbinger for the season, as Maine faced a near-constant uphill battle, starting with low expectations (picked to finish 8th in the preseason polls) and continuing with a rash of injuries, and later suspensions, to key starters. But Tim Whitehead's squad persevered, battling to the regular season's final whistle, sneaking into the 4th place. Even then, they needed to come from behind to beat UMass Lowell to take their quarterfinal series, 2-1, sending them to Boston, where the Black Bears dispatched the BU Terriers 5-2 on Friday.

Ultimately, though, the one obstacle the Black Bears (19-17-3) failed to scale was the team from The Heights. Boston College (25-10-3) went 2-0-1 against Maine during the regular season. And on Saturday, at the Hockey East finals, Jerry York's squad from Chestnut Hill ended the Black Bears year in heartbreaking fashion, surviving a furious Maine comeback to win, 7-6, on an overtime strike by senior Matt Lombardi.

"Sometimes the hero comes out of obscurity to become the MVP and a real difference maker," said York of Lombardi. "I'm so excited for Matt, who has worked extremely hard for four years. To get rewarded like that is pretty special."

The game-but-outgunned Black Bears never led in the game, but they never quit, either. In the end, however, all they succeeded in doing was setting the stage for Lombardi, who picked the perfect night to record his first collegiate hat trick, securing tournament MVP honors in the process. In the overtime session, Maine came at the Eagles, taking several long-range shots that missed the target. BC nearly closed it out at the 5-minute mark, but Maine's Dave Wilson denied Steve Whitney's bullet with a lightning-quick glove save. Twenty seconds later, BC captain Matt Price chipped the puck low. Lombardi went and got it, and drove to the net, jamming it through Wilson for the game-winner.

"Matty (Price) was talking about how hard it is to get to the top of the mountain," said a smiling Jimmy Hayes, who registered a goal and an assist for the Eagles during regulation. "There's only room for one team on top of the mountain, and it's just unbelievable when you're up there."

The title marked the 9th league championship for the Eagles, and the third in the past four years. But it didn't come easy.

Maine twice climbed out of a one-goal hole to finish the first period knotted with the high-flying Eagles, 2-2, despite being outshot 16-8. From the opening faceoff, the Eagles were the aggressor, launching a fuselage of shots at Maine's Wilson. The senior netminder – arguably Maine's MVP through its playoff run after stepping into the starter's role, posting a 1.47 goals against average and .938 save percentage though the first four playoff games (compiling a 3-1-0 mark) – stonewalled BC through the first 11 minutes.

At the 11:44 mark, BC burst Wilson's bubble. With the Eagles on the power play, Pat Mullane sent a perfect pass to BC defenseman Carl Sneep at the right point. Sneep's slapshot scorched past a Maine defender and beat Wilson gloveside, just inside the right post. Maine, though, responded 24 seconds later. Captain Tanner House, storming straight through the slot, took a low shot that Muse bobbled. Charging hard to the net, Maine's leading scorer Gustav Nyquist tapped it past Muse to knot the score, 1-1.

BC's Lombardi gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead at the 15:19 mark on a wacky goal. Lombardi beat Wilson to a loose puck and managed to chip it past the Maine goalie. Black Bear defenseman Mark Nemec, grabbed the puck while sliding on his backside, but couldn't stop his momentum, and both he and the biscuit ended in the Maine net.

And again, Maine answered, almost immediately. Freshman Joey Diamond, one of Maine's brightest stars this weekend, parked in front of the BC net and deftly redirected a backhander by Maine defensemen Jeff Dimmen past Muse.

"We're proud of how our guys competed and the poise we showed under pressure down the stretch," said Whitehead. "There certainly wasn't any quit in our team."

In the second period, the Eagles managed to put some distance on Maine, scoring two unanswered goals in the first six minutes. BC's Joe Whitney struck first at 1:39 during on a power play opportunity, snapping a shot from the left point through a screen set by teammate Ben Smith and past Wilson's block. At 5:25, BC's Lombardi got his second goal of the game (and his first multi-point game of the season) to give the Eagles a 4-2 cushion. Senior captain Matt Price ripped a shot wide from above the right faceoff circle that Wilson overplayed. The rebound came off the backboard to Lombardi, who wrested it through a Maine defender, the shot deflecting off Wilson's gloves as he tried to scramble back into the net.

However, an uncharacteristic BC parade to the penalty box (six minors) allowed the Black Bears to sneak back into the game. Following a monster 5-on-3 penalty kill by the Eagles, highlighted by tenacious team defense and Muse's quick glove hand, Maine got within a goal at 15:04. House set up residence directly at the top of the crease, took a tape-to-tape feed from Nyquist, and blasted it past Muse's left pad to finish a superb bang-bang play. The penalty parade also helped put the clamps on BC's offense over the second half of the second stanza, as the Black Bears outgunned the Eagles, 16-5.

"Our plan was to not take penalties," said York, noting that Maine came into the final touting the nation's most potent power play. "We're were shooting ourselves in the foot the entire second period."

The first two periods, however, proved to be only a prelude to a rollicking third stanza. After an uneventful first five minutes, BC's Hayes gave the Eagles a two-goal cushion at 5:16 with a slick spin-o-rama move to Wilson's left. Using his body to shield the puck, Hayes swept it on net and through Wilson. Three minutes later, the Black Bears started mounting yet another comeback. Maine's David de Kastrozza, pouncing on a puck that had ricocheted from behind the net, sent a laser past Muse's right ear to bring Maine within one.

At 14:23, Lombardi floated a soft shot on goal that Maine's Dimmen couldn't collect. BC's Barry Almeida, camped in front, did, and showing exceptional poise, pulled it wide of Wilson's left pad and tucked the puck inside the right post to give the Eagles a seemingly commanding 6-4 lead.

Maine, showing its trademark resiliency, kept battling. After a brief delay to replace a pane of Plexiglas, but only 26 seconds following Almeida's goal, the Black Bears scored again, Maine's Robby Dee sent an offensive zone faceoff back to Spencer Abbott, who cracked a seeing-eye shot that beat Muse over his blocker. Then, with less than 30 ticks left on the clock, Diamond potted his second with a sparkling move. Grabbing the puck from a scramble in the low slot, Diamond outwaited Muse and roofed a wrister to send the game into overtime.

"The captains came up [during the break before OT] and just told us to play a fearless game, and not be afraid to make mistakes," said BC's Hayes.

From there, Lombardi, the senior assistant captain from Milton, Mass., with only seven goals in 140 career games, lit the lamp one last time to complete his hat trick, culminating an MVP performance and knocking the Black Bears out of NCAA consideration.

"This really propels us into the national tournament," said York. "The Lamoriello Cup (the Hockey East championship trophy) is something we point toward, but the national tournament and the national trophy is really what we aim for. And we're going to go in there with guns blazing."

The Black Bears, meanwhile, are left to ponder what might have been, coming within a whisker of making the NCAA field, and to look ahead for another mountain to climb. "It stings really bad," said House, Maine's junior captain. "We want to be back here next year."

FINIS

The best night in hockey

Another weekend of outstanding hockey on tap this weekend at the TD Garden in Boston, including the single best night in college hockey, the Hockey East semifinals on Friday. This preview was done for ESPNBoston.com.

Not the same old same old in Hockey East

BOSTON -- Despite all the talk of parity in Hockey East this year, the semifinal pairings for the TD Garden on Friday have a very familiar look, with Boston College, Boston University, and Maine securing a chance to battle for the Lamoriello Trophy. Even the fourth team, Vermont, reached the Frozen Four last year after a Hockey East title-game appearance in 2008.

But a closer look reveals it was not "business as usual" in the league this year. The No. 1 seed, New Hampshire, was knocked out by Vermont, which barely snuck into the playoffs as the eighth seed. The BU Terriers, the defending national champs, needed a gut-check second-half run to secure home ice in the playoffs, which they parlayed into a 2-1 series win over a tenacious Merrimack squad. Maine's Black Bears -- picked eighth in the league's preseason polls -- endured a litany of injuries to gamely finish fourth in Hockey East, edging out UMass Lowell both for home ice and in their quarterfinal matchup. Which got us thinking that maybe all that parity chatter wasn't so farfetched after all.

Here's a look at Friday's two semifinal match-ups:

No. 2 Boston College (23-10-3) vs. No. 8 Vermont (17-13-7), 5 p.m.

Don't expect a high-scoring affair in Friday's opener. Vermont, after surrendering seven goals to a high-powered UNH squad last Friday, tightened up behind the stellar goaltending of Rob Madore to pitch back-to-back shutouts against the Wildcats. Boston College, having allowed the fewest goals in league play, similarly put the clamps on a skilled UMass squad, whitewashing the Minutemen in the third period of their series-clinching 5-2 win last Saturday. Translation? Goals will be at a premium.

Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon acknowledged that the road won't get any easier for his Catamounts. "BC's got such a great blend of having tremendous talent and the ability to score goals, but I also think they have a great ability to play team defense," Sneddon said. "They use their speed in a very good way on back pressure, they're very good on transition and their layers of defense are very solid."

In their two-game sweep of UMass, the Eagles displayed lightning-strike capabilities (11 goals in two games) and a lock-down defense when necessary (no goals in the last 19 minutes of Game 1, and none in the third period of Game 2), offsetting some glaring mental lapses. This season, the Eagles lost two of three against Vermont, but the teams haven't met since Nov. 15, prompting both coaches to discount those results.

"We have a pretty good understanding of how Vermont plays," BC's Jerry York said. "Kevin has been there a couple years now, and he is not changing or suddenly putting a different type of product on the ice. He's been pretty consistent over the years. We are going to play a team that has a strong goaltender in Madore and big, hard-nosed defensemen, maybe the biggest in the league. It's difficult for us to play [those types of] teams and get a lot of Grade-A chances against them."

Likewise, Sneddon said the early-season matches meant little now. "They were obviously a completely different team back then," he said. "I remember saying how good I thought they were going to become, with all their young freshman defensemen that obviously were top-end players but needed to gain experience in big games. Obviously they've achieved that going into the second half. They're extremely talented at all positions now, so the youth is not hurting them in any way, shape or form."

While relishing Vermont's role as underdog, Sneddon admitted he's wary of BC's myriad weapons, including the white-hot sophomore Cam Atkinson and junior snipers Joe Whitney and Brian Gibbons. "They have moments where they can open it up and make you look foolish because of their skills and their ability to finish, and then there's other moments when they know to shut it down and play tight team defense," he said.

York was still undecided earlier this week which of his two superb netminders, junior John Muse or freshman Parker Milner, would start. However, Vermont's Madore is a lock, despite a stinging critique by Sneddon after the 7-4 debacle against UNH on Friday. "We had every chance to win that game, but unfortunately some goals went in that just aren't typical for him," Vermont's coach said.

"Rob's probably the most mentally tough student-athlete we have on our team, so as much as it was about trying to spark Rob, it was to spark our team to play better defensively in front of him, and I think the team kind of rallied around him," Sneddon said. "The bottom line is he did the job to turn things around."

Both teams are also looking to upperclassmen to provide a leadership role in Friday's tilt. Last year, Vermont rallied from a quarterfinal loss in the Hockey East playoffs to make a run to the Frozen Four. For BC, redemption is a key theme, after the Eagles followed their 2008 national title campaign with a 2008-09 season that ended in the Hockey East semifinals.

"Our senior class has had a remarkable record in the month of March," York said. "They were 21-3-2 in their four years. They feel good about themselves and they want to make a good run here [in Boston]."

So don't blink. The first mistake could prove costly in this match, and the first goal could be the game-winner.

No. 3 Boston University (18-16-3) vs. No. 4 Maine (18-16-3), 8 p.m.

Both the Terriers and the Black Bears are battle-tested, but it's been a war of attrition. The Terriers took a pounding in their quarterfinal series against Merrimack, and while they gave as well as they got, the list of wounded is a long one. The key injury could be freshman D-man Max Nicastro, who needed 26 stitches to repair a severed artery in his right forearm Saturday. His status is day-to-day. Defensemen Colby Cohen and David Warsofsky are banged up, and Maine is also dealing with injuries to key players such as Jeff Dimmen and Mike Banwell on defense, and forwards Kyle Solomon and Brett Carriere. Further, Maine will continue to soldier on without the services of No. 1 netminder Scott Darling, who remains on indefinite suspension.

However, coach Tim Whitehead can take some solace in the outstanding performance submitted by senior David Wilson in the nets. "I am really proud of David. He has persevered, not just this season, but during his career here," Whitehead said. "He really rose up for our team when we needed him most this weekend in a very pressurized situation. He seemed to get stronger each night."

The Black Bears also got a huge series from sophomore defenseman Will O'Neill (two goals and an assist in Sunday's 3-2 OT win over Lowell) and junior captain Tanner House (an insurance tally Saturday and a series-clinching OT strike Sunday). "A big part of us taking a step this year has been Tanner's leadership, along with the other juniors and seniors. They have really re-established the culture that we want in our Maine Black Bear teams," Whitehead said. "Tanner was key not just in regard to the goals, but he also won some big faceoffs and played well defensively, just all-around gritty, hard-nosed hockey."

Maine will need that grit against a physical Terriers team unafraid to take penalties, though they take too many for their coach's liking. "We have taken a number of stupid penalties all year long," BU coach Jack Parker said. "It has not been a disciplined team."

Fortunately for the Terriers their best penalty killer, sophomore goaltender Kieran Millan, appears to have rediscovered the form that brought BU a national crown last year. Though Millan was quick to credit his team after the Merrimack series, Parker singled out the play of his netminder. "Special teams wound up being the catalyst for us," Parker said. "Kieran held the Merrimack power play to 1-for-18, and they were the third-best power play in the nation."

If there was one weakness Merrimack exposed, it was BU's trouble with a quick-strike counterattack. The Terriers defensive corps, led by captain Kevin Shattenkirk and senior Eric Gryba, will have to contain a group of talented forwards, including House and sophomore sensations Gustav Nyquist and Brian Flynn. "I expect a hard-fought, well-executed game from Maine. They can skate, they've got one of the best first lines in college hockey, they have the best power play in college hockey [clicking at almost 28 percent] and they have great goaltending," said Parker, noting that the loss of Darling isn't devastating. "Wilson played once against us and he was great [34 saves in a 2-2 tie at Maine, Feb. 14, 2009]. I'm not surprised that he stepped up and became the man for them in a crucial series."

Though it's been a season of maddening ups and downs for the Terriers, Parker said he doesn't expect a letdown after BU's quarterfinal victory. "If we have a no-show type of game, our season is over," he said. "I know we have enough competitors and leadership to make sure that we are focused and ready." Whitehead, meanwhile, wants to make sure his Black Bears aren't simply happy to be in Boston for the first time since 2006. "It is a very good step for us, a very important step in our climb back up to where we want to be," he said. "This is a tough match-up for us. They're a strong team, and we respect them. We know what we're up against."

Brion O'Connor is a Boston-based freelance writer.

Boston College wins a barnburner

As an old hockey goalie, I can really appreciate a tight, defensive hockey game. But there's nothing quite like an old-fashioned, full-speed-ahead, damn-the-torpedoes scoring fest. Last night's Hockey East game between Boston College and Massachusetts had everything except overtime!

BC edges UMass in Hockey East quarterfinal slugfest

BOSTON -- Defense might win championships, but offense makes for fireworks, and there were plenty on display Friday night at Boston College's Conte Forum. When the smoke cleared, the Eagles (22-10-3) had eked out a 6-5 roller-coaster win over UMass (18-17-0), to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series.

UMass coach Don Cahoon admittedly wanted to steer clear of a slugfest with the high-powered Eagles. "We're not going to go toe-to-toe with Boston College on that front," Cahoon said beforehand. "We need to compete and play smart and be on the right side of the puck and play with a passion that's going to allow us to hang in there with them."

The passion and effort might have been there for UMass, but the team speed of the No. 4-ranked Eagles (the No. 2 seed in Hockey East) constantly put Cahoon's troops on the wrong side of the puck. The result was a surprisingly high-scoring affair, with the Eagles building a three-goal lead by the end of the second stanza that the Minutemen couldn't overcome.

"I don't think either coaching staff was ecstatic the way the game was played," Cahoon said.

Interestingly enough, both Cahoon and his BC counterpart, Jerry York, went into the match praising their respective team's recent defensive efforts. But Friday night's donnybrook was fueled by turnovers and ill-timed penalties, and the crowd of 2,888 got exactly what Cahoon wanted to avoid: a toe-to-toe heavyweight bout.

In the first period, the marquee players for both teams took center stage. BC's leading goal scorer, Cam Atkinson, appeared to put the Eagles up 1-0 only 36 seconds into the contest, when he swooped behind the UMass net and tucked the puck between the left post and Minutemen goalie Paul Dainton. However, after review, the goal was disallowed, as officials ruled that Dainton was impeded by a UMass player who had been pushed into the crease by BC's Joe Whitney. Undaunted, Atkinson went back to work, and was rewarded less than three minutes later. Standing unmarked at the right faceoff dot, the sophomore from Connecticut took a short feed from Whitney and unleashed a laser wrist shot over Dainton's glove.

At 9:13, UMass answered when two of its top stars, James Marcou and Justin Braun, teamed up during a 5-on-3 power play, with Braun converting a slick pass from the junior playmaker. The Eagles regained the lead on Atkinson's second strike at 14:39. Lurking at the left post during a BC power play, Atkinson picked up a Ben Smith rebound and slipped it past a sprawling Dainton.

The pyrotechnics hit a crescendo in the second period. Just before the four-minute mark, UMass forward T.J. Syner was Johnny-on-the-spot, corralling a deflected pass from Kevin Czepiel and blistering a low shot past Parker Milner's left pad to knot the score at 2-2. Boston College then ripped off three unanswered goals in a two-minute span to put UMass on the ropes. At the 6:18 mark, Rangers draft pick Chris Kreider absolutely blew past the UMass defense on the left wing, cut across the slot and tucked the puck behind Dainton's left pad. "He's such a strong skater," York said of the freshman. "When he gets a step on the defenseman, even half a step, he's hard to contain."

A minute later, BC's Barry Almeida finished off a textbook 2-on-1, collecting a perfect dish from senior Matt Price and burying the puck with authority. At 8:22, Atkinson completed his half-game hat trick, taking a feed from Steven Whitney and rifling a snap shot from the left faceoff dot that beat Dainton clean over the right shoulder for a power-play tally and a commanding 5-2 BC lead.

Milner made the lead stand up with several sparkling stops, none better than stuffing UMass marksman Casey Wellman on the doorstep at the halfway point. However, Milner couldn't stop Wellman at the 17:15 mark. The high-scoring sophomore, left unmarked at the left post during a UMass power play, slammed home a pass from Marcou to cut the deficit to two. Less than two minutes later, BC returned the favor with a near identical power-play strike. Atkinson, at the bottom of the left faceoff circle, fired a pass through the top of the crease that a streaking Steven Whitney tapped home to reclaim the Eagle's three-goal cushion.

The third period opened with UMass showing it had every intention to "hang in there" with the faster Eagles. As Milner tried to extricate himself from a pile of players in his crease, UMass' Martin Nolet stepped into a pass from Czepiel and launched a rocket that found the back of the BC net. Twenty seconds later, Marcou skated out of the left corner from behind the goal line and swept a shot that broke through Milner, bringing UMass to within a goal.

"All of a sudden, UMass took the momentum away from us with those two goals in the third period, and turned it into a nail-biter," York said. "That's a formidable team for us to play."

York, in a break from tradition, had started Milner, a freshman, over junior John Muse, and the coach admitted the younger player struggled at times. "But he made some big saves for us at the end," York said.

Unless these two teams play a more disciplined game Saturday, the goalies for both squads can expect to see more fireworks in Game 2.

"It's a whole new ballgame [Saturday] night," Cahoon said. "Hopefully we'll show up and compete."

In other Hockey East quarterfinal action:
No. 3 Boston University 3, No. 6 Merrimack College 2
Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy likened his team's game against the defending national champs to David versus Goliath, and when his visiting Warriors took a 2-0 lead, it looked as if the upstarts from Andover might have their upset. However, Jack Parker's BU Terriers righted the ship, scoring the final three goals to notch the win.

No. 1 New Hampshire 7, No. 8 Vermont 4
In a shootout at the UNH corral, the top-seeded Wildcats roared back from a 4-2 deficit to score five unanswered goals, hanging a three-goal loss on the Catamounts in Durham, N.H. UNH captains Bobby Butler and Peter LeBlanc led the Wildcats with three points apiece.

No. 5 UMass Lowell 2, No. 4 Maine 1
The Black Bears, playing without suspended No. 1 netminder Scott Darling, struck first but couldn't hold off the visiting River Hawks, as Lowell took the first game of the series in Orono, Maine. The win marked the first time the River Hawks have beaten the Black Bears in the league playoffs.

FINIS

Northern exposure

I love Jay Peak's unique mix of Old School crustiness and epic powder dumps. The new amenities, such as the ritzy Tram Haus Lodge, aren't bad either! This profile was done for the New England Ski Journal.

Jay Peak rules to roost

We might as well start with the cold, ’cause there’s really no getting around it. If you’re going to travel all the way to Jay Peak, hard by the Canadian border off Route 100, you better be ready for the those arctic temperatures that roll across the Great Lakes and down from Quebec. And while we’re at it, we should mention the wind that brings those frigid blasts across the border. But, as any self-made businessperson knows, great sacrifices often lead to great rewards. Jay Peak in upstate Vermont certainly requires the former but offers plenty of the latter. And that’s all because of one simple entity … the Jay Cloud.

Considered by some to be the stuff of legend, the Jay Cloud is actually a meteorological phenomenon that, while not specific to Jay per se, still manages to produce more snow here than anyplace else in the Green Mountain State. The technical term for the cloud is an orthographic uplift, which means those westerly winds, carrying precipitation from the Great Lakes, run smack into Jay, rise and then stall, typically producing snow. Lots of snow.

In short, Jay, thanks to prevailing weather patterns, is New England skiing’s version of the old real estate mantra: Location, location, location. When every place else has nothing, Jay’s got something. And when other areas get a dusting, Jay gets dumped on. The result is an outrageous annual snowfall that routinely threatens the 400-inch plateau (and was close to 200 inches by mid-February this season).

“The snow is the attraction,” says Scott Bumpus, a longtime Jay fan from Boston’s North Shore, with the conviction of a true disciple. “It’s as simple as that. They get snow when no one else does. Not Quebec, not Mont St. Anne.

“I probably got 40 days of powder last year,” he says. “It’s totally addicting. I can’t even ride groomers anymore because of Jay. If it’s not powder like Jay, it’s not worth it.”

Bumpus is not alone in his high praise of Jay Peak. The resort attracts a loyal following of skiers and riders from both sides of the border. The fact that it’s not the easiest drive (especially if the Jay Cloud is working its magic) is further testament to Jay’s appeal. Bring a few extra layers — including sock liners, glove liners, and balaclava — and leave the wimpy attitude at home. If you make the effort, Jay will repay you, in spades. This is not ski country for the timid or frail. It’s ski country, period. It’s what you make of it, and if you bring the right gear and the right mindset, you should have a blast.

The resort, with a top elevation of 3,968 feet and 2,153 feet of vertical, now boasts roughly 50 miles of skiable terrain — 78 trails, glades and chutes, plus four terrain parks — over two peaks (some 15-20 more trails and glades are currently under consideration to the west). There are eight lifts, ranging from Vermont’s only aerial tramway and the Jet triple on Stateside to a moving carpet and a good, old-fashioned T-bar, which combined can carry more than 12,000 skiers up the hill each hour. The variety of terrain is mighty impressive, with runs that can satisfy the hard-core skiers and riders as well as novices. Taken all together, the trail breakdown is 20 percent novice, 40 percent intermediate and 40 percent advanced, in addition to Jay’s four terrain parks. If you hear someone mention that Jay has something for everyone, take that comment to the bank.

The Jay snow crew does an admirable job keeping much of that natural snow on the trails, but invariably a good portion of Mother Nature’s bounty collects in the trees, due to the aforementioned winds. That’s when Jay’s glades shine. The chutes and glades off Jay’s summit are some of the best anywhere on the East Coast. Ripping first tracks on the Face Chutes or Tuckerman’s Chute after a fresh snowfall is one of life’s great hair-raising pleasures. The same holds true for Beaver Pond Glade and Andre’s Paradise off Ullr’s Dream (which my wife and kids, who aren’t big tree-ski fans, can use to scoot around the glades and reconnect with me) by the West Basin, and Vertigo, Buckeroo Bonzai, Deliverance and Canyon Land as they angle toward the Bonaventure Chair.

“My first years at Jay, I spent many nights in my Volkswagen van in the parking lot,” says Bumpus. “When I’d wake up, there were two or three other VW vans, and usually fresh snow. And those first shots were just so deep and so fluffy. There’s nothing like it.”

On Stateside, I’m a sucker for the crisp turns to be had on The Jet, U.N., Haynes, Mont L’Entrepide, and Kitzbuehel, but I’ll wander off to the trees at Timbuktu, Kitz Woods and Hell’s Woods if I need a fiber fix. Tramside, the steeps on JFK, Green Beret and Upper River Quai are almost intoxicating first thing in the morning, while my girls (including a teenager and a 'tweener) are more likely to opt for intermediate trails such as Alligator Alley, Northway, and Upper Goat Run and Green Mountain Boys until their legs get acclimated. In reality, though, trying to rate the runs at Jay is something of a silly exercise — when the snow is flying here they’re all good. Period.

Concerned about traveling with the kids? Don’t be. First of all, if you’re staying on property, there are great deals and programs for the youngsters, such as kids 14 and under ski and stay for free (non-holidays only), kids under 6 eat free, and parents with children ages 2-7 have access to free day care (subject to availability). But, to be perfectly honest, you don’t want the youngsters in day care. Jay has a well-deserved reputation for nurturing the next generation of rambunctious little grommets, precisely because it’s not a mountain that pampers anyone. Dave Hoke, program supervisor for Jay’s Mountain Adventure Camp, epitomizes that attitude. “Jay Peak is a family ski hill,” he says. “Everything is small and personal while the mountain itself skis huge.”

“Modern world kids are treated like drones — told how to think and when to think,” says Hoke, “Snow sports are nothing really fantastic. They’re about learning how to function on a different planet, a new relationship with gravity. Everything you’re doing intuitively is backwards. Kids need the opportunity to figure this out on their own. Under the right circumstances, any kid can get it.”

To make sure everyone, including every child, has that opportunity to “get it,” Jay offers a dizzying menu of lessons and clinics for skiers and boarders of all ages (starting as early as 3 years old), and every ability level, from two-hour sessions to five-day packages. As befits Jay’s diverse terrain, the resort also offers specialty sessions, such as glade, powder, backcountry and women’s clinics. The resort even has set aside 80 acres — called The Zone — that is earmarked for beginners, serviced by four dedicated lifts.

Of course, once you learn a few new tricks, you’ll want to try them out. The trails and glades that criss-cross the resort between the two peaks are a veritable cornucopia of conditions spread judiciously over 385 acres. The traditional long run-outs to the lodge — Harmony Lane and Interstate — not only are perfect for first-timers, but a great cool-down for more advanced skiers and riders who have fried their thighs on Jay’s upper reaches. If you’re feeling daring, and capable, the backwoods await. Jay takes a remarkably refreshing approach toward skiing on the 100-plus acres of off-piste terrain. Simply, they don’t condone it, and they don’t prohibit it. The decision is up to you.

However, there are a few caveats that you should know if you head to the backcountry. Keep an eye out for hazards; helmets are strongly recommended. Travel in groups of three, so if someone gets hurt, he or she won’t be left alone while someone else gets help. Remember, though, you and your compadres are on your own. Jay’s ski patrol members sweep on-property glades at 3 p.m., but they don’t sweep backcountry.

Still, Jay today is shedding some of its reputation as a rough-and-tumble Old School mountain (for example, Verizon customers will love the reception they get on their cell phones, thanks to a Verizon antenna at the summit, allowing them to keep in touch with friends and family members around the hill). Granted, the peaks and trails are as burly as ever, as is the delightfully dumpy old main lodge and the welcoming, hands-on approach of resort president Bill Stenger. But Jay also is getting up to speed with the demand for modern conveniences, providing all the essentials that a ski family is looking for in a full-service resort. “The important distinction,” says Jay fan and writer Jocko Weyland, “is that those essentials haven’t become overbearing and overly grandiose distractions.”

Weyland might want to rethink that statement after he gets a good look at Jay’s new state-of-the-art Tram Haus Lodge, which just opened earlier this year. The lodge, with 57 suites, a new restaurant, coffee shop and a bar featuring views of the mountain, is the first of several upcoming facelifts at the resort. But even this beautiful new structure takes a back seat to the skiing and riding at Jay Peak. And that’s how it should be.

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Skiing back through the years

Skiing has such a rich history here in Northeast, and few places capture the lore as well as the New England Lost Ski Area Project, the brainchild of Massachusetts native Jeremy Davis. Just perusing the site, uncovering details of areas I'd been to, or heard about, of live nearby, such as Hamilton Ski Tow, pictured at right (I have no idea who that handsome character is), tugs at my nostalgic heart. This feature was written for the New England Ski Journal.

Lost but Not Forgotten

There’s a distinct paradox at the intersection of Jeremy Davis’ vocation and his cherished pastime. At his “real” job, as a meteorologist for Weather Routing Incorporated in upstate New York, Davis forecasts the future, guiding tankers and cargo ships over the Seven Seas. But in his free time, Davis delves into the past, embracing his avocation — the New England Lost Ski Area Project (NELSAP).

“I’ve always been fascinated by the way things change over time, how things evolve, through history,” says Davis from his home in Wilton, N.Y., outside Saratoga.

Davis, a 32-year-old Massachusetts native who graduated from Lyndon State College in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, admits he’s stuck in a time warp. He launched the NELSAP website (nelsap.org) as a hobby during his junior year in 1998. The idea sprung from a childhood curiosity with defunct ski areas, such as Mount Whittier in New Hampshire or Mount Agamenticus in southern Maine, that his family discovered during summer travels. He started with six and expected to find another 100 or so. At the most, 200. Instead, he uncovered more than 400 in the first few years. What he also learned was that he wasn’t alone in his love of ski lore. The site unleashed a tidal wave of nostalgia among thousands of skiers, young and old alike, and particularly Baby Boomers now taking the time to look in their personal rear view mirror at the winters of their youth.

“People like that lost Americana stuff, like lost diners, lost railroads and lost amusement parks,” says Davis. “This idea fits into that. It’s all fun, all positive memories. We’re representing the good times from the past for a lot of people.”

Narrowly defined, Davis’ site now catalogues more than 600 “lost” ski areas, ranging from tiny backyard slopes to larger resorts. Many were cozy areas with a few lifts, typically rope tows, J-bars and T-bars, maybe a lodge, and about a half-dozen trails. Close to Boston, for example, there’s Boston Hills on Route 114 in North Andover (where you can still barely make out the ragged silhouettes of the trails). Or, in my backyard on Boston’s North Shore, there once was Hamilton Hills. (“I remember the rope tow there,” a friend who grew up here told me. “It used to rip your mittens right off your hands.”)

But relegating NELSAP to narrow definitions is a disservice to Davis’ work. In reality, the NELSAP site is a vibrant, teeming community, a living history of a sport that, to many, is synonymous with New England winters. A decade after its launch, the site still averages 900 visitors a day, and the NELSAP discussion board rivals any on the web unrelated to the Las Vegas line. That’s because, with each ski area, the site captures a place and time capable of setting off a torrent of tales. Those memories are all the more prized because most of these areas no longer exist. NELSAP mends a frayed connection strained by the passing of decades — a cyber world where temperamental lifts run from sunrise to sunset and the snow flies forever.

Glenn Parkinson, president of the New England Ski Museum in North Conway, N.H., understands the deep vein that Davis is mining. Parkinson coined the phrase “lost ski areas” in “First Tracks,” his book on Maine ski history. He added a final chapter on lost ski areas as an afterthought and was stunned by the response.

“It really struck a chord and made ski history local and made it personal,” he says. “Jeremy’s taken it one step further by putting it on the Internet.

“What Jeremy has done with NELSAP is tapped into people who are in their teens, 20s and 30s, as well as their 50s and 60s. It brings people in to see their own personal history, and that sparks an interest in the broader context of ski history.”

Across the six-state region, particularly Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, today’s mega-resorts conjure images of graceful turns on groomed slopes. It’s easy to forget that alpine skiing as we know it, either as a sport or a livelihood, didn’t exist a century ago. But in those hundred short years, the sport has undergone an incredible transformation. Skiing captivated us. With the advent of rope tows and chairlifts, ski areas began popping up like drive-in theaters. Soon, ski trains started hauling well-heeled adventure-seekers from the urban centers of Boston and New York to northern outposts including Stowe, Vermont and North Conway, N.H.

Local areas — true mom and pop operations — sprouted everywhere, creating new generations of skiers, and establishing a relatively inexpensive feeder system for the bigger resorts. I’m a product of those times, growing up in the 1960s just outside of New York City. My siblings and I admired legends including Jean-Claude Killy and Billy Kidd, and tried to imitate their exploits on any incline we could find. Often, those delusions of grandeur were played out on tiny, rough-cut hills near my grandparents’ home in Manchester, N.H.

Most, sadly, have vanished. The 1970s were especially harsh on smaller slopes, when a confluence of high gas prices, a spike in insurance premiums and several severe snow droughts forced many to close. Often, a padlock was slapped on the lodge, and owners simply walked away. At others, equipment was auctioned off. All left behind spectral trails that grow more dim with each passing year.

Still, like any history, evidence of these “lost areas” remains. There are photographs and illustrated trail maps, brochures and patches, newspaper accounts and magazine articles. Much of the proof is as ephemeral, and elusive, as memories, oral tales passed down through generations, recollections of those who braved Old Man Winter, donning leather boots and strapping on spring-loaded bindings and wooden boards.

There also are tangible vestiges of these bygone slopes — base lodge foundations, warming huts, lift shacks and engines, tower stanchions, entire lifts. These remnants, distant cousins of the hand-built stone walls that lace old farms or fishing villages dating back to Revolutionary times, are cables connecting us to the past, a testament to skiing’s New England legacy.

“You can almost see all the people having fun, the way things used to be,” says Davis, acknowledging that the kinship that once defined the sport is fading. “It’s definitely a different experience now, and a lot of these areas are catering to the upper-class vacationer, rather than the neighborhood kid.”

Today, having recorded close to 600 lost areas in New England alone, and almost a hundred more elsewhere in the Northeast, Davis can barely keep pace with the free flow of photographs, memorabilia, written recollections and historical fact. Combined with technological advances, from satellite photography to digitized articles, Davis is awash in material for the site.

“People are giving me more information than ever,” says Davis, who admits that his responsibilities as a full-time forecaster and homeowner have cut into the time once devoted to the website. “The floodgates are open. But the great thing about e-mails is that they never go away. I have all that information, and it’s all great stuff.”

Davis also loves sleuthing lost areas year-round, on skis, on snowshoes or on foot, and often organizes NELSAP outings. What’s the attraction? “Why do you go to a ghost town?” Parkinson replies. “It’s the mystery.”

For Davis, seeing these slopes in person brings them to life, strengthening that bond. “When I visit these areas, I always try to find pictures from newspapers or magazines, to see what they were like 20, 30, 40 years ago,” he says. “Then, when I’m looking up at an overgrown slope, with its broken-down lifts, I try to mentally picture everything that was going on. You can just use your imagination, like a Polaroid camera, to erase the trees, and eventually see the place as it looked back then.”

However, there also is a sense of urgency about Davis’ efforts. Not only are the areas being lost to time’s inexorable march, but so are those who were so connected to the sport’s earlier days. “Time is running out to document a lot of the areas, particularly the more obscure ones,” he says. “They’re either being developed, or they’ve grown in so much that they’re totally indistinguishable.”

At the ripe old age of 32, Davis has a renewed perspective with the realization that several areas he skied at as a youngster, such as King Ridge in New Hampshire, have shut down. There also is the human component. Memories fade, and older skiers, get, well, older. Many are now gone, taking their memories and stories with them.

“We only have so many years before a lot of these older skiers unfortunately pass away,” says Davis. “We’re at an age when there are still people who remember skiing in the ’30s, but in another 10 years we’re not going to have that many people left.”

For those of us who remain, NELSAP offers a welcomed run down Memory Lane, long after our favorite childhood areas have faded from the landscape.

For more information on the New England Lost Ski Area Project, or to purchase Davis’s new book, “Lost Ski Areas of the White Mountains,” visit nelsap.org.

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Ski Moguls

As long as I can remember, I've been inspired by ski racers. In my youth, Billy Kidd and Jean Claude Killy captured my imagination. Later, it was the Mahre brothers, Franz Klammer, Bill Johnson, or Hermann Maier (the Herminator!). This past weekend, the girls and I were up in northern New Hampshire at Cranmore, which was hosting a masters ski race. The atmosphere was tremendous -- good-natured competition interspersed with a lot of laughter and more than a few tall tales and stories of bygone days. The competitors ranged in age from late 20s up to 95! Those folks are my heroes. So are Carolyn Beckedorff and Jessie McAleer (at right), two skiers I profiled for UNH's alumni magazine.

Ski Moguls

Two women, teammates on the University of New Hampshire ski team, one enduring common passion. The fact that Carolyn Beckedorff '89 and Jessie McAleer '93 still share a love of racing and an indomitable will to win guarantees that the two also share the same hill almost every winter weekend on New England's Sise Cup masters ski racing circuit. As a result, they also must share the limelight.

Since 2001, when McAleer entered the masters ski racing ranks, either she or Beckedorff have taken home the season's top Sise Cup honors. The results are uncanny. In those nine seasons, McAleer has won five crowns, Beckedorff four. Each time McAleer has won, Beckedorff was second. McAleer has two second place finishes (having missed the 2008 season to injury).

"I love the fact that Carolyn and I push each other," says McAleer, 39.

"It's an amazing rivalry," echoes Beckedorff, 41. "I know if I want to win on any given day, Jessie's going to be coming after me. We both raise each other's game, and that's really neat."

Last ski season is a perfect example. McAleer came back from total knee reconstruction with a vengeance, winning the overall 2009 Sise Cup title with Beckedorff, the 2008 champ, finishing a close second. However, at Sunday River in Maine last March, Beckedorff was able to defend the national masters slalom crown she won in 2008. McAleer, racing full out to make up an 18 one-hundredths of a second deficit to Beckedorff after the first heat, straddled a gate in her second run and was disqualified. The giant slalom followed the same scenario. The wins were sweet redemption for Beckedorff, who saw McAleer eclipse her combined time by 1 one-hundredth of a second in the 2006 slalom nationals.

Still, the roads leading to this remarkable intersection are winding, even though they both ran through Durham. Though teammates on the Paul Burton-coached squads, McAleer and Beckedorff didn't share the same success. Beckedorff was star-crossed, with a litany of injuries, including a blown-out knee and broken tailbone. McAleer, three years Beckedorff's junior, eventually garnered All-East honors despite fracturing both her wrists her freshman year. "I was never that superstar, but I sure did love it," she says. "Being part of that ski team was one of the best experiences of my life."

Beckedorff agrees. "The program at UNH is a lot of fun," she says. "They're very serious and they want to win, but I don't think they burn out a lot of people. They do a really good job of fostering a lifetime love for the sport."

Off the hill, though, the two are very different people. Beckedorff is the lead trader for a Boston investment firm, a wife and a mother (son Harrison is 7 years old). McAleer is single and, after a 7-year stint on the pro ski-racing circuit, is now a recruiter for a Boston-based software company. "After I got out of school, the bug still had me," says McAleer on her pro career. "I'd been doing it for 20 years, and I felt like I had a lot more in me."

Both returned to masters ski racing through coaching. Beckedorff answered the call from Burton to help with the program at Gunstock Ski Area, where she met her future husband, Tony DiGangi. McAleer, after a two-year hiatus from the sport, returned to the Mount Washington Valley ski program, and her former coach, Dave Gregory.

In the gates, Beckedorff and McAleer take decidedly different approaches to achieve startlingly similar results. Beckedorff is more tactical, a superb technical skier who relies on precision to find the quickest line. McAleer, by her own admission, is more about raw power, and the rush. "I just love it. There's really no other place I'd rather be," says McAleer. "I'm going to give it 110 percent."

"Physically I'm very strong," says McAleer. "But mentally, I'm not shaken by terrain or weather or other people. Actually, that stuff tends to jack me up and I get even more excited. It brings me to a different level."

Neither has any intention of slowing down. Both remark how they admire the masters races who compete well into their 70s, 80s, and even 90s, yet are focused on the upcoming season. Beckedorff says she has "probably trained harder this spring, summer and fall than I ever have. I guess I am competitive in that way, because I want to bring my A game."

McAleer, meanwhile, spent two weeks this summer skiing in Chili. "I think I skied the best slalom of my life down there," she says. "I had an epiphany. I felt really strong. So I'm feeling really, really good about this season."

Which is good news for this unique rivalry, and bad news for anyone else aiming for the top spot on the Sise Cup podium.

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Taming TPC Sawgrass

On raw March days like this (a mix of wet snow and wind swirling about Boston's North Shore), it's easy to start day-dreaming about warmer locales. One of my favorites of recent vintage was the spectacular golf courses of TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida, where I ventured in early 2008 to write a story for Delta Airlines on the Players Experience. Here's the tale ...

Walking in Jack's footsteps

After flailing my way around the first 15 holes of the daunting TPC Sawgrass course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, my caddy Donald Cross decides to up the ante as we stroll to the 16th tee.

"Don't worry," says Cross. "You've got the greatest three finishing holes in golf coming up." As if I needed any more pressure.

Another caddy, Mark Martin, leans over and says conspiratorially: "These three are what it's all about. This is where you play your golf. Forget the first 15." Forget them? I've been having the time of my life on a course that has baffled the world's finest golfers during the annual Players Championship, even if my game hasn't cooperated. So I step up to the tee box with precious little to lose, and boldly ask Cross for my driver.

###

It's fashionable today for sports fans to disparage pampered athletes. Funny, though, how quickly attitudes change once the roles are reversed, and we're the ones getting special treatment. The Tour Players Experience at TPC Sawgrass gives duffers of every stripe a chance to feel like golf royalty by offering all the accouterments that professional golfers enjoy at the Players Championship – right down to personalized lockers, your own caddy, private lounge and restaurant, and a round of 18 at the sumptuous Stadium Course. Yes, you're paying for the privilege ($1,295-$1,615), but getting good value for your investment is the least of your worries. It is a priceless event.

"For the serious golf fan who wants to experience the magic of the fairway, this is hallowed ground," says Dave Pillsbury, president of PGA Tour properties. "They can't play at Augusta National (home of The Masters). But people can come here and play this course, the home of the Players."

The "experience" starts well before you arrive at the stately clubhouse. Checking in to the beautifully renovated Sawgrass Marriott, I find a golf-themed room complete with a gift package including golf shirt, golf towel, a selection of premium beers and value passes to the hotel's spa and superb restaurant, the Augustine Grille. I secretly wish every golf outing started in such style. My afternoon is spent in the capable hands of Todd Jones, the head instructor at the Tour Academy (touracademy.com), who dissects my stance and swing in a state-of-the-art video booth and makes several polite recommendations to help bring some consistency to my game.

Early the next morning, I hop aboard the short shuttle that takes me to TPC Sawgrass. The entry road – Championship Way – is lined with images of the past winners, and I instantly sense that I'm someplace special. I'm greeted by a VIP escort, and handed a very special bag tag, or "brag" tag, made of fine Italian leather, engraved with my name and featuring a tile depicting No. 17. A tour of the property ensues.

The sprawling 77,000-square-foot clubhouse, done in a stunning Mediterranean Revival style (similar to the grand hotels built by railroad magnate Henry Flagler) and completed in 2007, is worthy of Pete Dye's celebrated Stadium Course. Just inside the wrought-iron front doors, huge Bart Forbes murals greet visitors. To the right is three-time Players champion Jack Nicklaus, winning the first Players Championship in 1974 in Atlanta. To the left is Jerry Pate, winner of the 1982 championship – the first at TPC Sawgrass – diving into the lake adjacent to No. 18 after tossing Commissioner Deane Beman and Dye into the drink. The second floor serves as a gallery of champions, with striking watercolors of all 28 former winners by artist Chris Duke. The paintings, like so many artifacts and points of interest throughout the resort, serve as a launching pad for tales told by escorts, guides, even the caddies

"Our job is to bring to life the stories that people have seen unfold on television over the last 34 years," says Pillsbury. "These are stories that resonate with golfers." After accepting an engraved money clip in the President's Cup library, which is used for registration on tournament week, I'm taken to the clubhouse's "inner sanctum," says Billy Detlaff, the national golf director for the TPC Network.

"It's actually three clubhouses in one, and this is the totally private side of the clubhouse," he says, pointing out the separate entrance used by players during tournament week. The players' section includes a lounge area – complete with leather chairs, flat-screen televisions and a pool table ("You don't want to get into a billiards match with Vijay Singh," warns Detlaff) – a general locker room, a private bar (Pub 17) and restaurant (Champions), and a champions' locker room which reads like a veritable Who's Who of golf luminaries, from Nicklaus to Love, and Woods to Mickelson. There's even a special room for the Barber's Chair, a remnant from the old clubhouse that was used by Lee Trevino among others to recount horror stories of rounds gone wrong. In the aesthetically appointed Champions, the décor changes annually, as the walls are adorned with items donated by the reigning champ, including scorecards, photographs, a caddy's bib, and the like.

"We wanted the feel of a fine European estate," says Detlaff. "We're sharing our family history, our heritage, with you. The players are our family. This is their home."

I share a locker with Geoff Ogilvy, the Australian who captured the 2006 U.S. Open. Afterward, my locker plaque is mounted as a keepsake, adding to my stash of Sawgrass memorabilia. "The idea is to give the everyday player a chance to feel exactly what it's like to be a PGA player in the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass," says Detlaff. Which, of course, leads us to the course.

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The Stadium Course, the first course specifically built with spectators in mind, originally opened in 1982. Dye, recognizing the improvements in equipment technology and players' athleticism, set out to create a golf course that didn't favor any one style. The result of his labors is nothing short of a masterpiece. A major renovation in 2007 only enhanced the existing layout, with an efficient sub-surface drainage system that quickly clears the fairways of rainwater. Like the game itself, TPC Sawgrass is a humbling venue that readily rewards great shot making and coldly punishes mistakes. "Dye-abolical" is how one caddy describes the greens.

Conversely, our caddies are anything but frosty. I've never played with a caddy before, and admittedly was a little self-conscious about having someone with my name across his back, essentially waiting on me. Ultimately, though, it's a treat, and I soon realize that pro golf is a true partnership between player and caddy. Cross and his three colleagues are all exceedingly personable, and supremely knowledgeable of the vagaries of Dye's undulating fairways and greens. "One of the great things about this course is that there isn't a single hole I don't like," admits Cross.

Throughout the course, strategically placed markers highlight special moments in Players Championship history, from Hal Sutton's two eagle shots on No. 4 in 2001, or Davis Love III's dramatic chip for a birdie at No. 8 in 1992. Each marker serves as an invitation for another tale. Beginning this spring, participants can even upgrade to the Ultimate Experience, and have a former pro such as Calvin Peete, the 1985 Players champ, join them for a tidy $2,000 (per foursome).

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"Welcome to Pete Dye's world," says Cross almost apologetically after I send another wayward shot into a fairway bunker. "This course is a beast." By No. 9, I'm convinced. I've given Cross full license to choose whatever club he feels is best suited for each situation, and rarely even look to see what he's selected. I listen attentively to his instructions, and try my best to follow them. "The problem," I tell him, "is that you're assuming I can hit it where you want me too."

"Assuming, hoping," Cross says with a grin and a shrug, before repeating his mantra. "Just follow through on your swing."

With 15 holes played, I start to fatigue, and my shots become even more erratic. Just in time for the game's best known three-hole finish. "Phil Mickelson says 16, 17, and 18 represent the greatest risk-reward in golf," says Kent Simon, an advertising executive with the PGA Tour. "That's quite an assessment, considering the source."

Considering that Lefty is the defending Players champ, I'm inclined to agree. Still, I'm no Mickelson, and my approach to the green on the par-5 No. 16 is far more time-consuming, thanks to a narrow, twisting fairway that puts a premium on accuracy (something my game is noticeably lacking). It takes me five strokes to simply reach the green, and once there, I'm still 25 feet from the hole.

After lining up my putt, I finally smacked the ball where Cross tells me to, and the Titleist rolls gently to the edge of the cup and drops. I giggle like a kid. It is a harbinger of things to come, as we head for the next hole. "This," says Detlaff confidently, "is one of the great walks in golf."

###

No. 17. The hole is synonymous with TPC Sawgrass. It is the hole depicted on the tile decorating my snazzy new 'brag" tag (and almost every other piece of Sawgrass paraphernalia), the one where Tiger's famed 60-foot "better than most" birdie putt jettisoned him to the Player's Championship in 2001. Stepping up to the tee, I didn't want to be in the same position as Fred Couples in 1999 (Couples carded a miraculous par 3, depositing his first tee shot in the lake before nailing a hole-in-one on his next shot). So I bury my head, swing as smooth as possible, and refuse to look up until I here the magic words: "You're on the green!"

From 35 feet, the hole looks microscopic. Cross indicates where he wants me to aim, but I push the ball wide, and it slides past the cup. The four-foot comeback putt looms large. Cross whispers: "Just hit it through the back of the cup." That's exactly what I do, putting a little too much muscle into it. The ball strikes the back edge, pops straight up, and then mercifully falls in. The cheer from my three playing partners and our caddies sounds just like a gallery to my ears. "That's all anybody's going to ask you about," says a beaming Simon. "How did you do on 17?"

Not a minute after I hole my putt, a nasty front sweeps in, bringing driving rain that lashes our foursome as we tee off on 18, reminiscent of Bishop Pickering's infamous final round in Caddyshack. It was if the Golf Gods are supremely annoyed that this duffer from Beantown had the audacity to tame the fearsome Island Green. Lord only knows what the heavens would have sent if my birdie attempt dropped.

Drenched but undeterred, I march triumphantly toward the 18th green and, eventually, the clubhouse and a cold one at Pub 17 (after grabbing one last souvenir; namely, my name off my caddy's back). I knew that no matter what the weather threw at us, it couldn't dampen the elation of my three strokes at No. 17. On a course where storytelling is king, I now had my own tale to tell.

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