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http://www.portland.com/sports/college/hockey/020408umcol.shtml

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                     Monday, April 8, 2002

                     COLUMN: Kevin Thomas



                        Black Bears will move on once again




                      Copyright  2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.









ST. PAUL, Minn. - It was the talk of the media room at the Xcel Energy Center.

"Should it have been a penalty?"

Down the road at the crowded lobby of the St. Paul Hotel, headquarters for the Frozen Four, the questions lingered.

"A penalty? In overtime?"

Even on Sunday morning at the airport, as groggy heads awaited early flights out of Minnesota, the topic of conversation was easy to overhear.

"Well, a lot of penalties could have been called in overtime, but . . ."

The talk, of course, surrounded the NCAA men's hockey championship game Saturday night. Minnesota beat Maine 4-3 in overtime. The winning goal came on a power play after Maine's Michael Schutte was sent to the penalty box for tripping a Minnesota player in the neutral zone.

The trip was neither vicious nor did it stop a scoring chance - the usual requirements for a penalty to be called in overtime. This was not just overtime, it was overtime of the national championship game.

"It's certainly very frustrating," Maine Coach Tim Whitehead said, "especially for our players."

No one was more frustrated than Peter Metcalf, Maine's captain and guardian of late coach Shawn Walsh's memory in the locker room. Metcalf did not mince words after Saturday's game, lashing out at the NCAA for using referee Steve Piotrowski in the game. Piotrowski ejected Walsh from the last game he coached, in last year's NCAA tournament.

"Bad play by the NCAA," Metcalf said. (Not surprisingly, when transcripts of the players comments were printed for the media, Metcalf's comments were omitted).

The problem is the subjective nature of hockey officiating. Infractions are ignored sometimes, cracked down on at other times. So when a penalty is called in a crucial situation, cries of foul are bound to occur.

Still, Whitehead knows that all the debates in hotel lobbies, airports and everywhere else will not change a thing.

"It's a crazy game," Whitehead said. The penalty "is not the reason we lost. They won because they found a way to win. They battled back. It was a great comeback."

While it is natural to sympathize with the Black Bears, it is also easy to feel good for the Golden Gophers. Here is a team in the heart of college hockey unable to win a national title in 23 years. One Minneapolis columnist said it was the most amazing feat in Minnesota sports since 1980, this "ability of the Gophers to bob and weave out of the way of the national puck title since 1979."

The Golden Gophers were gracious in victory. Defenseman Jordan Leopold said he would have made the same play Schutte did. Forward Johnny Pohl said "we were lucky. Maine really took it to us for a lot of the game.

"Maine could have easily won that game and maybe even deserved it up until that last minute. We got a lucky bounce (on the goal that tied the game with under a minute to play)."

The Maine locker room obviously was quiet. Players talked in whispers, or barely at all.

"We thought it was our destiny," Maine forward Tom Reimann said of the Black Bears' run at the national title.

Martin Kariya was asked what Walsh would have thought.

"I think Coach Walsh would be really happy with our effort," he said. "But he would probably come in here and say something that I can't say on tape.

"But I think he would have been very proud."

Pride describes this Maine team. No other Black Bears hockey team had to go through what these players did. They met with their coach on the first day of school and then attended his funeral three weeks later.

The memory of when this team lined up at the wake before Walsh's casket still lingers from six months earlier. They lined up again the next day at the cemetery to offer condolences to Walsh's wife, Lynne.

As Walsh would have wanted, these players dealt with their grief and moved on.

Late Saturday night they had to line up again, tears in their eyes, shaking the hands of the winning Minnesota players. It must have been hard, but nothing compared to the real heartbreak of six months prior.

And again, they will move on.

EPILOGUE: Next year's team looks promising, with the loss of only four seniors. Of course, those seniors - Metcalf, forward Niko Dimitrakos and goalies Mike Morrison and Matt Yeats - played major roles during 2001-02 season.

But more leaders will emerge and Maine will again be a top contender.

EPILOGUE II: While it is true Maine has to follow its sacred policy and open the head-coaching job since Whitehead could only be hired on an interim basis until a full search was made for a permanent coach, is it possible the school could hire someone other than Whitehead?

Whitehead provided a calming influence during the most difficult times. He allowed players to work out their grief while slowly getting them to respond and take responsibility for the team. He then directed them to the NCAA championship game.

What do you tell other candidates for the job? They have to do better than that?

Here's hoping for a token search and quick hire of Whitehead.

Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:

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