"The Beanpot was back," Boston University head coach Albie O'Connell said following his club's daring 1-0 win over Northeastern to secure their first championship in seven years. Damn straight.

After a one-year hiatus, the first interruption in the tournament's history, the city of Boston's four Division 1 NCAA men's hockey teams (Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern, and Harvard) returned to TD Garden to duke it out in a two-leg, single-elimination series for the honour to hoist the Beanpot.

It started last week, with Boston University eking out a 4-3 win over Boston University in the first of two semi-finals matches, followed not long after by Northeastern's commanding 3-1 win over Boston College. This set the stage for Monday's doubleheader, with Boston College and Harvard playing to a tie in the consolation game, and the Terriers scoring the game's only goal with less than three minutes left to secure their 31st Beanpot title in program history.

I just so happened to be there for the duration of the tournament scouting the local college and prep hockey circuit between the two legs of competition, and these are my observations on the prospects who participated.