BC's Alber is one that got away

by Ryan Fay

When Boston College defenseman Patch Alber suffered a serious knee injury in late December, one of the first phone calls the Clifton Park native received came from Schenectady.

"Rick Bennett was one of the first in the hockey community to reach out to Patch right after his knee surgery on New Year's day," said Larry Alber, Patch's father.

Alber, who returned to action on March 15th against Vermont after missing 20 games, has a long history with the Union head coach. The elder Alber said Union recruited Patch and that Bennett, then an assistant under Nate Leaman, was the primary contact between Union and his son. The two still keep in touch.

"Union's interest seemed serious at the time," the elder Alber recalled. "Leaman called Patch the summer between his junior and senior years of high school -- as soon as NCAA rules allowed."

The elder Alber said the Dutchmen had a lot to offer in his son's eyes. 

"Union was attractive to Patch primarily for its location close to home, its reputation as a great academic institution, its coaching staff, the direction that Union was heading as an up and coming powerhouse, and that a teammate from Northwood School, Mario Valery-Trabucco, played there," the elder Alber said.

Ultimately, though, things didn't come together.

"Patch was, and still is, small for a defenseman at 5'10, 170-pounds and that made most coaches and teams postpone any offers until the end of the season," the elder Alber said. "At the end of the day, Union just didn’t see enough to seal the deal."

Bennett wishes he could have that decision back.

"You can chalk that one up to a bad decision by Rick Bennett -- a real bad decision by Rick Bennett," Bennett said. "I had a chance to see Patch play. We really liked his character. It was one of those where we weren't sure for a defenseman what we were looking for at that time. I'm not going to throw it on the other staff -- I'll take credit for that one."

The elder Alber said there aren't any hard feelings because Union wasn't the only school to say 'thanks, but no thanks.'

"I'm not blaming Union, as RPI and a few other ECAC teams all expressed interest but offers just didn’t materialize," he said. "Boston College seemed to be willing to overlook his size and took a chance on him as a recruited walk-on and he jumped at it."

Alber, now a senior, impressed enough to earn a scholarship the past two years. In four years on Chestnut Hill, the 24-year-old has dressed in 112 games, scoring four goals and chipping in 25 assists. He has a cumulative plus-51 rating.

"He has had a real fine career for us," said Boston College head coach Jerry York.

Along the way, Alber has won national championships in 2010 and 2012. Union, which faces Alber and the Eagles tomorrow at 9 p.m. in the East Regional semifinal, hopes the local kid doesn't add a third.