Rita-Ann Monde wrote:

"As for the bracket pairings, how pleased were BU-UNH at meeting for the
5th time this season? I know having 4 hockey east teams and 5 wcha
teams was a headache for the committee, but as discussed in detail last
week here and elsewhere, some unfavorable matchups [like BU-UNH part V]
could have been avoided.  So, i think "some" credit, still might be too
much."


As a long-time UNH hockey fan, and because UNH hardly ever gets to play
Harvard, I can say that I was rooting for Harvard to beat BU in the NE
Regionals, which the Crimson could have done without a 3-minute BU surge
at the beginning of the third period. But, along with the metro-Boston
Bean Pot rivalries, the UNH-BU rivalry goes way back, long before
UNH-Maine, and long before Jack Parker and Dick Umile, so no
disappointment from me to see these two teams square off again. Ditto for
the players no doubt, as BU's Freddy Meyer is from New Hampshire and UNH's
Mike Ayers, Shawn Collins, and Steve Saviano are from eastern
Massachusetts. And, UNH coach Dick Umile, is from Melrose, Mass.

It seems to me that three of the four regionals played out just as the
pairwise rankings would suggest they would, with the Midwest being the
exception.

UNH and Cornell should have lots of motivation for their game on the 10th,
Cornell remembering their knock out in the East Regionals last year by
UNH, and UNH trying to exorcise their 3rd period implosion in St. Paul
against Maine. I suspect that the Gopher-Wolverine match up will be just
as exciting as in last year's Frozen Four. Lanny Gare, with his separated
shoulder from the first shift in the BU game last night, is listed as
"day-to-day."

Go Cats!

Thom Davis
UNH '71