Murphy Brothers To Square Off for First Time Tonight

Amid the sticks strewn about the ice and gloves blithely tossed high into the air at Pepsi Arena, what, apart from the joy of winning a second Whitelaw Cup in three years, could have been on the minds of Harvard’s skaters?

How about the UMass-Maine score?

Well, maybe not for most. But for sophomore forward Dan Murphy, thoughts of Crimson success quickly faded to thoughts of the Minutemen and Black Bears, then tied at one and headed into an extra frame.

While his teammates continued to celebrate inside the rink’s bowels en route to the locker room and then the bus, the two Hockey East powers slugged their way into a third overtime.

Moments after the Crimson bus rumbled onto the highway, Maine finally put an end to Murphy’s agony.

Nearly midway through the period, the record for longest Hockey East championship already set, Black Bears defenseman Matthew Deschamps sent a wrister screeching towards Gabe Winer’s net and off Murphy’s stick into the net.

Off Ben Murphy’s stick, that is, sending the Minutemen home without an NCAA tournament berth and his younger brother back to Cambridge a happy man. Once he heard, anyway.

“John Daigneau’s dad must’ve called him,” Dan said. “And then he told me.”

Then again, his relief probably didn’t stack up too well against his older brother’s, especially not after 109:27 of play—when Ben’s goal wrapped the contest—well within reach of midnight’s shadow.

“It was a great feeling, obviously, to help the team out on the scoreboard,” he said. “Now we just have to carry the emotion and momentum into the tournament.”

It shouldn’t be too hard to bring a little emotion for the ride this time around too. Especially not after watching the draw announced on Sunday.

No. 1 Maine vs. No. 4 Harvard. March 26. The Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y., 5 p.m.

Ben versus Dan, for the first time since donning their respective Blue and Crimson sweaters. No, it probably won’t be too hard to bring a little emotion over to Pepsi Arena this weekend either.

“It is pretty exciting to get a chance to play against him and have the opportunity to do so on the biggest stage for the first time,” Ben said. “It makes me feel good knowing that my brother has had the same success that I have and it is a proud accomplishment for the family.”

Tonight’s contest will mark the first time the two have shared the ice since sharing the spotlight at Cushing Academy three years ago, when the two helped the squad to an undefeated season in Ben’s final year.

“We are pretty close,” Ben said. “We are a lot closer now that we have grown up. We know each other’s style pretty well, growing up playing on the same teams and even playing on the same lines a lot. We know each other’s style of game pretty well.”

Whether that helps either side more than the other is as yet unclear. But that’s not the most important question of the evening.

Far more noteworthy are the colors that Fran and Ellen Murphy will be sporting in the Pepsi Arena stands come the opening faceoff.

Dan grins and thinks for a moment before shrugging the question off. Hey, they’re both their parents. They couldn’t possibly support one or the other. Or could they?

If you listen to Ben they could.

What colors will his parents be wearing?

“White.” The Black Bears’ home colors.

But come the conclusion of tonight’s game, that’ll be just another idle pre-game thought, not worth another second of consideration.

Far more important will be the thoughts on the minds of both Harvard’s and Maine’s skaters. And this time, you can bet not one will be thinking about anything else.