At 09:25 PM 2/1/00 , you wrote:
>My impression is that they are playing hard but
>not with a "3-period" commitment...  Teams are not
>going to lay down for Maine - they are going to
>have to beat them...
 
This is my feeling as well.  The last time Maine had a first period lead
(or perhaps even a first period that didn't have them behind) was January
11 @ UMass.  Since then Maine has been slow out of the dressing room in
each game and spotting teams leads.
 
The fact we haven't loss all these games is a testament to how strong the
team is.  When you are spotting teams 2 goal first period leads, it's tough
to win.
 
>I see Hockey East as still being very wide open...
>UNH has struggled as of late.  BU is rolling now
>but they are there because of "heart" not because
>of overwhelming talent - same could be said of
>Northeastern (who by the way is really on the bubble
>for the NCAA tourney - just check out their
>pairwise ranking...).
 
A couple points here..
 
Maine is realistically battling for third-place.  While Hockey East hasn't
been decided, it would take a major collapse for UNH and BU to not be
either first or second when the season is over.
 
BU may not be over flowing with talent, but where they do have talent is in
net.  Ricky DiPetro is very, very impressive.  In my opinion, he is the
largest reason that BU is in first-place.  Without him (and with Jason
Tapp) BU would be down with Maine in the 4th-5th place area.  They also
have some great defensemen in Auferio, Dyment and this new kid Meyers.
 
One thing I noticed this past weekend is that BC appears to finally have
realized how good they *should* be.  Their defensemen played oustanding,
and they may very well have the best defensemen in the country.  Allen,
Mottau, Orpik and Scuderi I all thought would be the #1 d-man on any
team.  Now that BC is getting some good goaltending, watch-out, they could
run the table.
 
-Deron