Naturally, one gets the impression that a rivalry like BC-BU brings out a lot of students who aren't regulars, and that was certainly obvious from where I sat.

The thing about Conte Forum is that the main student section is split, so that half of the students are directly behind each goal. Part of the thinking, I suppose, is that the goalie is never too far from a group of fans ready to chant "SIEVE" at him. The problem with that is that when the fans are chanting someone else - "LET'S GO EAGLES!" - the chant is out of sync between the fans on one side of the ice and the fans on the other.

This is a problem that Minnesota has as well at Mariucci Arena, although Minnesota at least gives the students seats in the right-wing corner at each end of the ice, so they can better see the play develop. BC gives the students the seats directly behind the goal, which, in my opinion, kinda stink. You can tell, because every time I'm in a building that has the press box at one end, I complain about it. Harvard, Princeton, Union...I'm looking at you. Miami gets a pass on whatever students do find themselves directly behind the goal, mostly because the standing-room section at Cady Arena is really cool (By the way, Miami fans, since you're wondering, I'll be seeing the RedHawks on Saturday, December 15 at RPI.). New Hampshire also sticks the students behind the goal, but they kind of surround the area behind the net, which works, partly because the sight lines are a bit different with the Olympic sheet.

However, views aside, the split student section leaves chants out of sync when most of the other spectators aren't cheering. This in contrast to places like Cornell, Vermont and Wisconsin, where everybody cheers, not just the students.

Michigan gets it right on this one, as the Michigan student section runs the length of the ice - or at least the neutral zone - opposite the press box, so that even if only the students are cheering (and I haven't paid enough attention to the fans at Michigan games to notice), it doesn't sound odd.

Of course, on this particular night, the BC student section was augmented by a group that sat in the upper rows in front of the press box, and if they got into a cheer, then it sounded fairly normal. This was the case on a couple of the "Sucks to B-U" chants, and when they saw fit to call Brian McGuirk an a******. However, the students in this section weren't as into it as the fans behind the goals.

Also, since the students who sit behind the goals have the protective netting above them, they can't be blamed for any of the rally towels that were thrown onto the ice. That falls squarely on the ones in those upper rows, and those folks should be reminded that throwing objects on the ice can result in a penalty.

Besides, if you're going to throw something after Nathan Gerbe scores his third goal of the game, throw your hat. I saw a shower of towels - even though, as I wrote on Power Plays, it looked like BU had thrown in the towel - but only one hat for Gerbe's hat trick.

Then again, if I had to choose between a rally towel I'd just gotten for free and a favorite hat, I might be tempted to throw the towel, too. I used to wear hats to games that I didn't care about getting back, myself, although, at Dartmouth games, any hats thrown on the ice are helpfully hung on the back of the penalty boxes at the end of the game.

So, to sum it all up, playing the Terriers does pack more fans into Conte Forum - the game was announced as a sellout - but many of the newcomers are what Cornell fans refer to as "facetimers," so it doesn't make all that much of an impact on the overall atmosphere.

Then again, I shouldn't be complaining about game atmosphere and student involvement at BC...I'm going to Harvard tonight.