"There are those who thought this day would never come; what are they to say now?" Surely there is a more eloquent quotation floating around out there capable of summing up the sentiments of the men's ice hockey team better than this one voiced by the Prophet Truth from Halo 2, but truthfully—please pardon the pun—I happen to believe that this one is all too fitting.
After an auspicious 5-0-0 start to this year's campaign, which ended in a 7-1 thrashing of Castleton State, Bowdoin was set to journey to Colby in the hopes of extending their winning streak to six.
And while the ride to Waterville was an easy 45-minute drive, the game itself proved to be quite the opposite, as the Mules outplayed the Polar Bears for the first time all season and went on to the 4-2 victory.
All was not lost though, as they looked primed to exact revenge on its northern enemies the next night in Brunswick.
But after a lackluster start for the home side, which saw Colby climb out to an early lead, the Mules never looked back, and despite a late Bowdoin surge that saw a shot at the last second come tantalizingly close to crossing the line that separates goals from non-goals (that may have actually gone in, some will tell you), the men in blue triumphed again for the second consecutive evening, winning at the Sidney J. Watson Arena 4-3—and there ensued the tailspin.
An unconvincing win against an anemic Curry side was followed by a 4-2 loss to visiting powerhouse Norwich and then another to the Huskies of Southern Maine a game later, which put the Polar Bears at 7-4-0 overall, 2-4-0 since their promising 5-0-0 start. Retrospectively, it was then, back on January 15, when the word nadir might have been the most applicable, as Bowdoin's players and its fans will tell you.
The team had reached its crossroads, and it was up to them whether they would bind together to salvage a sinking ship, or capsize. Luckily, they chose the former. The Polar Bears pounded a paltry University of New England squad the next game 7-1, which sparked an incredible rally that saw Bowdoin win 10 of their 12 twelve matchups, (with the mere stains of a tie and a loss coming against Williams and Middlebury, respectively) and secured the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC playoffs.
Conversely, the December Bowdoin-Colby clash had quite the opposite effect on the Mules, who finished off the 2009-10 regular season at 1-6-1 in their last eight games, barely capturing the eighth and final playoff spot, and thus confirming our greatest hope, and strangely, too, our greatest fear: facing the men in blue in the postseason.
The rivalry between Bowdoin and Colby needs no explanation. Before most of us even set foot on this campus, we know full well the gravity of the contention between the two Maine-based institutions, a dual-antagonism whose animosity it begets is only amplified in athletic competition, and whose enmity reaches its zenith on the ice. Bowdoin's worst-kept secret is the one everyone already knows: hockey dominates.
Therefore, it is only fitting that these two familiar foes square off for honor, bragging rights, and a trip to the semifinals in the first postseason matchup between the two squads since the current format began 11 years ago. That's right: Bowdoin and Colby have never played each other in the NESCAC playoffs; Saturday night will be a first.
Last spring I wrote an article accusing Bowdoin students of not fulfilling their roles as, well, Bowdoin students, claiming that: "[on] the fateful day that each of you [the students] decided to come to Bowdoin, you, perhaps unknowingly, signed an unwritten agreement that you would support not only your friends and their personal endeavors during your respective careers at this prestigious institution, but your peers, as well, and, the school itself; you are not fulfilling your duty to your friends, peers, and school by staying home [and not going to the games]."
And while severe lack of school spirit continues to be a prevailing epidemic that has only worsened over my last four years here, the fact that a reported 800 tickets had been sold as of Tuesday for this weekend's much-anticipated showdown tells me that we need not worry about putting Bowdoin bums in the chairs. The only point of worry, of course, is the opponent.
It's true that Bowdoin finished first in the NESCAC this year and that Colby finished third-to-last, which was good enough to merit a playoff berth. But it's also true that Bowdoin has not beaten Colby this year and lost their most recent game to the Mules at home.
If there is any game where both teams' records could be more insignificant, I know not of such a matchup. This is it. It's Bowdoin. It's Colby. It's the playoffs. And while the only thing bigger than this would be a shot at the team that ripped off the Montreal Canadiens logo and called it their own in the finals, this is certainly the next best thing.
It's the greatest rivalry we know, and we'll all get a chance to be a part of it Saturday night, 7 p.m. at the Sid. See you from the rafters.