'Ironic' time for Flyers' third-round pick
He will play in Frozen Four in Philly, possibly his future home ice
SETTLING ONTO the couch at his off-campus house which he once described as "not totally 'Animal House,' but along those lines," Union College defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere flicked on the television.
Having survived and advanced to their second Frozen Four in 3 years, the Flyers' third-round pick and his teammates watched last night's Northeast Regional final between UMass-Lowell and Boston College intently.
They waited with baited breath to learn their opponent for when they take the ice at the Wells Fargo Center on April 10 in the national semifinal.
This time, Gostisbehere knows, anything less than a win against Boston College, a 4-3 winner last night, to get one game closer to a national title will be unacceptable. Union College hasn't lost since Jan. 31 and the Dutchmen entered as the 16-team tournament's overall No. 3 seed.
"This is different than the first time," Gostisbehere told the Daily News yesterday by phone. "When we won our regional [in 2012], I remember walking into the locker room and we were dancing around. We were more excited to just be there.
"This time, we were kind of calm. We know we aren't satisfied. We were probably a little relieved, I think the regional is probably the scariest part."
Equally scary, Gostisbehere said, was a bone-crunching hit on Friday against the University of Vermont in which his entire left leg went numb. He was writhing on the ice in pain before returning to lift the Dutchmen to a 5-2 win before they topped Providence, 3-1, in the final in Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday afternoon.
For Gostisbehere, a Hobey Baker Award finalist, the trip to Philadelphia means maybe a little bit more. The Frozen Four is nice, sure, but to play it in the home building of the team that drafted him 78th overall in 2012 is even more special.
With the Flyers jockeying for him to sign and leave school, he may not even be leaving the city.
"It's pretty awesome," Gostisbehere said. "We've played all over, but it's kind of ironic for me the way it's all worked out. I'm excited to come there. The Flyers texted me congratulations. I'm going to have my parents and my grandparents and my aunts and uncles there. It's going to be fun."