Chris Kreider ’10 was honored with the MVP award of the Beanpot Tournament this past Monday as he led the top seeded Boston College Men’s Hockey Team to a second straight Beanpot victory. The BC hockey phenomenon scored two goals in the 7-6 championship win over Northeastern University at a packed TD Garden in Boston. In the high scoring affair, BC found itself down 2-3 after a Northeastern goal midway through the second period. Kreider responded just three minutes later on a BC power-play as he received a pass in front of the net and fired it in to knot up the score at 3-3. At 11:44 in the third period, Kreider struck again with another power-play goal. After outskating a Northeastern defender down the left side of the ice, Kreider made a beautiful move across the goalmouth and flipped in his second goal of the game on a backhand to put BC ahead 6-5. A late goal by Northeastern forced the game into overtime. Just six minutes into the overtime period, Kreider received a pass on the left side of the ice and sent a precision pass through traffic to a cutting Jimmy Hayes who put it in the back of the net for the win. This victory marked BC’s third Beanpot championship in four years and 16th Beanpot championship of all-time, second behind Boston University, which has 29 Beanpot wins. The Beanpot, established in 1952, is an annual college hockey tournament that features four of Boston’s most elite college hockey teams: Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, and Northeastern University. Kreider has been nothing short of amazing for BC hockey after graduating from Andover two years ago. In the 2010 season, Kreider scored 15 goals and logged 8 assists in just 38 regular season games, earned 2010 Hockey East All-Rookie Team honors, and tallied seven points in postseason play with three goals and four assists. Kreider also scored a crucial goal in the championship game of the NCAA’s Frozen Four to seal yet another victory for BC. Kreider is no stranger to the big stage as he led Team USA to a gold medal victory in the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships, and a bronze medal in the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championships. His ten goals in WJC competition place him third all-time in WJC goals behind the likes of NHL superstars Jeremy Roenick, and Brian Gionta. The New York Rangers selected Kreider as the nineteenth overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, and there is no question that Kreider has lived up to the hype. This season, Kreider has led BC to a 22-6-0 record, good enough for the number one ranking in the nation.
