CBJ's Boston crew excited to return to their college days

Almost five years ago, Jordan Harris scored a goal he’ll remember the rest of his life.

Now a Blue Jackets defenseman, back in 2020, Harris wore the college colors of Northeastern University. More than fourteen minutes into the second overtime of the Beanpot championship game and with the Huskies on the power play, Harris let loose a wrist shot from the top of the zone that sailed through traffic and kept on going until it hit the net behind Boston University goalie Sam Tucker.

Pandemonium inside TD Garden ensued, with the red-and-black clad Husky fans among the record crowd of 17,850 going nuts as Harris raced to embrace goalie Craig Pantano and his teammates streamed off the bench. The victory in the Beanpot – contested each year for bragging rights between the four Division I hockey schools in Boston – was Northeastern’s third in a row for the first time in school history.

“I feel like in the moment, it was like deep into overtime, and I was just so tired,” Harris said this week while reminiscing about the goal. “I think I was more relieved the game was over. Looking back and seeing the replay and seeing the student section, that’s something I’ll cherish forever.”

Harris is one of three Blue Jackets – joined by fellow Northeastern product Zach Aston-Reese and Boston University’s Dante Fabbro – to have taken part in one of the more unique college hockey environments in the country.

The three hail from different corners of North America, but they got to spend their college years not just living in a special city but adding to the history of the rivalries between schools – including Boston College and Harvard – that have endured for decades.

As the Blue Jackets get ready to take on the Bruins in Boston tomorrow night, all three had smiles on their faces as they relived what it was like to take part.

“I wish I could have done 10 years, honestly,” Aston-Reese said when looking back at his college career.

He’s as good a place to jump off as any, as the wing was the first of the CBJ Bostonians to arrive in New England. A native of Staten Island, N.Y., he began his college career at Northeastern in 2013-14 when the Huskies were going through a rough patch, as the Huskies had won just nine of 34 games the year before his arrival and hadn’t won the Hockey East conference or the Beanpot since 1988.

Slowly but surely, the Huskies worked their way back up the food chain, winning the Hockey East title and making an NCAA tournament appearance in 2015-16 before Aston-Reese led the nation in scoring a year later, leading to Harris calling ZAR a “Husky legend.”

They never captured the Beanpot during Aston-Reese's tenure, falling in the title game in ‘14 and ‘15, but they did put Northeastern hockey back on the map.

“We were the forgotten Boston school that sucked, and we all had a chip on our shoulder to prove everybody wrong,” Aston-Reese said. “We never won a Beanpot when I was there, but we never finished last. I always say that. We won Hockey East my junior year, so that was cool. We worked so hard.”

Harris didn’t arrive at Northeastern until the 2018-19 season, but the Haverhill, Mass., native grew up steeped in the traditions of one of hockey’s American hotbeds. He committed a week after visiting the campus and was on teams that won the 2019 and ‘20 Beanpot, captured the Hockey East regular season title in 2022 and made a pair of NCAA tournament appearances.

“It's so historic,” he said of taking part in the rivalries. “Especially being from Mass, growing up watching the Beanpot. I feel like Northeastern is a little overshadowed by the other schools, so to be able to get the big wins we got when I was there to really put it on the map – we made two NCAA tournaments, two Beanpots, Hockey East regular season – that's so cool. Especially when you know the history of BU, BC and Harvard.”

The Blue Jackets’ newest acquisition saw the rivalry from the other side of things. Despite growing up in Coquitlam, British Columbia, an entire continent away from Beantown, Fabbro attended Boston University for three seasons and captained the team his final year.

With five national championships and 24 Frozen Four appearances, BU is one of college hockey’s traditional powers, and Fabbro played in such big games as the Beanpot and outdoors games at Fenway Park throughout his tenure from 2017-19.

“I got to play in the Beanpot every year, a bunch of outdoor games at Frozen Fenway,” he said. “Just being in that college atmosphere, it’s definitely a college city for sure. It was a really unique experience for me. Obviously it was more of a city campus and living that way, but it was just a lot of fun. I really enjoyed my teammates I had there and the coaches.”

The cherry on the top of being part of such a competitive hockey culture was living in one of the most historic cities in the country, with no lack of things to do. From an active social scene to landmark spots in American history to great shopping to all four major sports, the guys said living in Boston provided plenty of opportunities for fun.

“We got to go to Fenway quite a bit actually,” Fabbro said. “I think it was a 10-minute drive to the heart of Boston. You’d get to go see Boston Common and everything. It was just a great city to explore, lots of history. I’m grateful I got the opportunity to go there.”

Added Aston-Reese: “It was a great city, honestly. There are so many cool little areas that are so unique and so many people that are college aged. There was always something to do.”

All three players acknowledged they were part of something bigger than themselves when they attended college in The Hub.

“Getting to experience the tradition of everything and just how much it means to the city and each university, it was a pretty special moment for myself,” Fabbro said. “I never got to win a Beanpot, which was obviously one of the biggest regrets for sure, but just playing in that atmosphere was pretty surreal. It’s cool to see the university camaraderie and the spirit coming out at games.”