Opinions are always welcome. And now - you're not a newb.

Mahoney, James wrote:

>If you don't mind the opinions of a newb, I'll add my two cents.
> 
>I only made it to the BU game and it was my first time seeing this year's team in person.  Ryan and Hopson were both very active throughout the game.  Ryan came up just short on a couple breakaways.  Purcell had a couple sequences that just amazed me and left the defense behind.  I thought the first line played pretty well and got a decent number of chances even with Leveille being shadowed the entire night.  
> 
>I was impressed with the way Lundin and Danis-Pepin played D.  Simon played the body extremely well and knows how to use his size to his advantage.  He even went down the wing on a mini break when one of the forwards played it ahead.  I think they could have used Bellamy and Johnson on the night though.  BU seemed to start pushing their way around (especially after the 1st) and Maine seemed to lose their aggression.  Could have used some big hitters to return the checks.  
> 
>Bishop was really good and still scary at the same time.  Kind of like usual I guess.  His positioning looks great this year and he handles the puck as good as anyone.  But those skills allow him to take chances that had me cringing a couple times.  At least twice he was behind his net and flipped it up over his own goal to try to clear the zone.  It worked well once but the other time (during a BU power play) it fluttered and didn't make it across the blue line.  Thankfully nothing bad happened as a result.  And when he came out on that even chance breakaway I almost died.  He was a good 30 feet out.  Good thing Lundin was back to cover too.  
> 
>So 1st period was great, 2nd was too sloppy, and I thought the 3rd was kind of lacidasical, but evenly played.  Not a bad game, but with the start they had I think I expected a better result.  So there you have it.
> 
>another James
>
>________________________________
>
>From: The Maine Hockey Discussion List on behalf of james acheson
>Sent: Mon 11/6/2006 6:43 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: the weekend of the 3rd/4th of November
>
>
>AWFUL quiet for a 3 point weekend.
> 
>MY first thought upon leaving the Agganis (where Maine earned its first point, EVER) is that you know it's a good year when a tie against BU AT BU stinks!
> 
>For those of you who were not at BU this weekend and who remember Mike Legg's lacrosse-style goal for Michigan about 10 years ago...  Billy Ryan had the puck behind the BU net with absolutely no pressure.  He looked right, then left then right and realized that he had all the time in the world, so he lowered his hands and attemted a couple times to pick the puck up with his stick (Like Mike Legg).  he did not lift the puck, but had he done it and scored, we would be calling it the Billy Ryan goal for years to come.
> 
>Maine played well against BU and against Merrimack.  This year more than any other year since 1992 with Pellerin and 1993 with Kariya, the Merrimack arena was FULL of Maine fans.  The Merrimack fans that I usually sit with when Maine is not there were amazed at how many fans came down for this game.
> 
>At Merrimack, Purcell put on a stick handling show in the first period.  Inside a face off circle, there were 3 Merrimack defenders and Purcell, and he played the puck in and out of all of them while pretty much standing still.  I had just gotten into the rink and I was standing with Sill, Carrierre and one other Black Bear and when Purcell did his work, all 3 of them just busted up laughing!  You also know it is a good year when Leveille is your second best stick handler.
> 
>At BU, BIlly and Keenan put on shows of their own with their stick handling.  Also, of note, at least to me, is that Keenan was throwing his weight around much more than I have ever seen him do.  While he did not crush anyone like Bells would have, he did stop them in their tracks and make them realize that they were not going to skate past him untouched.
> 
> 
> 
>
>
>Deron Treadwell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>	Maine defeats Merrimack 4-1 tonight at North Andover.
>	
>	First Period
>	ME-1 Tyler (Shepheard, Duffy) PPG 9:12
>	MC-1 Kimball (Robitaille, Alexiou) 14:22
>	
>	Second Period
>	ME-2 Lundin PPG (Purcell, Leveille) 9:45
>	ME-3 Johnson PPG (Purcell, Soares) 11:40
>	
>	Third Period
>	ME-4 Soares PPG 6:07 (Purcell, Johnson)
>	
>	Bishop stopped 15 of 16 shots for the win.
>	Healy made 34 saves on 38 shots for Merrimack.
>	
>	Notes:
>	- Maine was 4 for 10 on PP
>	- Maine outshot Merrimack 22-3 in decisive second period.
>	- Shepheard 5min maj hitting from behind in third, game Misconduct/DQ? 
>	Radio wasn't sure which one was called.
>	- Maine is now 109-0-6 when leading after two periods in their last 115
>	games.
>	- Maine plays at BU Saturday night
>	
>
>
>________________________________
>
>Cheap Talk? Check out <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/postman8/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=39663/*http://voice.yahoo.com>  Yahoo! Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates.
>
>
>  
>