The Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team found out Saturday that all good things come to an end, losing a 2-1 third period lead to Union.
The Bobcats had been 54-0-5 when leading after two periods, a streak that started March 17, 2007.
Now that the streak is over, it is time to look back on it, and appreciate it for what it was. Would it be too bold to compare it to other streaks in sports, such as the UConn women’s 90-game win streak? Or the 142 consecutive cuts made by Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour? Do we dare compare it to the improbable streaks of days college students string together without washing gym shorts? I don’t think we can.
The streak is impressive, but I doubt the average sports fan at Quinnipiac even knew of the streak before it ended. I think in order for a streak to be great, it has to be something that everyone knows about — something that is talked about every time that particular team heads out to play.
I used to wear this sick Block Island T-shirt in high school, and for the better part of senior year I was scoring with girls each time I wore it, eventually realizing I was on an amazing win streak. People joked about it at first, but then it got serious. None of my friends wanted to be the guy to jinx me, but every time I went to a party I could still hear the murmurs in the background from my friends, but I had to ignore it. I had to just go out there and play my game, and not worry about the streak. I had to keep my eyes on the prize.
That’s exactly what Quinnipiac has done for the better part of three years, they have gone out and just played their game. They didn’t worry about some streak, they just wanted to go out and win.
This streak represents how great our hockey team has been at closing out games over the past couple of years. The most important thing now is to move forward and try to start a new streak. I hope we start it Friday against Dartmouth, and then carry it into the Yale game next week. I haven’t been to many hockey games this year, but I saw how rowdy it got last year against Yale, and I expect nothing less out of our team, and especially our fans.
