>Deron Wrote
>
>- One thing clearly missing from this team is leadership.  I'm sorry, but
>this is ridiculous.  The coaches can only do so much the rest has to come
>from within.  Past Maine captains are not resting easy tonight.
>
>- Maine has 7 seniors.  Did they forget what it takes to get to a national
>title game?
>
And then wrote

I read a couple different recaps of the game and didn't see much for quotes
from Tim Whitehead.  The only thing I did see was he made a wishy washy
comment about liking the way they played.

Stop being part of the problem.  He needs to light a fire under Maine for
tonight.

Great coaches get their teams ready to play.  As far as I'm concerned
Maine's problems have reached epidemic proportions now and the coach can no
longer rely on the captains or team leadership, or experience to pull them
through.  He has to do what he can to make it happen.  If Maine loses
tonight (or Saturday) and you see quotes that they "weren't ready" or
"didn't come to play" that will be Tim Whitehead's fault.

Deron I respect your opinions, but like many of us we seem to be
searching far and wide for excuses.

It's not the coaches fault and then it is the coaches fault are the easy ones.

But we have to look at reality

#1  We have been spoiled for a VERY long time, and for the first
time, on the ice, we are looking at a team that is struggling in
dealing with adversity.

#2 I agreed with Coach Whitehead weeks ago when he said that things
came easy early on and as a result this team thought it had an on/off
switch, and thus could out talent teams rather than outwork them.
We're all finding out that is not the case.

#3  We as fans can want things, but it's the team that has to want
them more.  Maine's goal every year is a national championship, what
does a Coach need to say to as seasoned a group as this to light them
up, they have to want it!

#4 I think we were all led into a false sense of security with the
early success of the goalies and the team was too!  To have 3 soft
goals happen in a playoff game gives me greater cause for concern for
any future games.  To play with confidence as a team you have to be
confident the goalie will make the save, otherwise you start playing
tentative.

We're all concerned with what the future holds after we lose 50% of
our goals scored, but quite frankly I did not expect this team to
struggle down the stretch the way it has!  I'm sure North Dakota's
fans are feeling the same way, and they have a coach that can be
fiery.

I have confidence in the coaching staff and know they are doing all
they can do, and I know if the players do all they can Maine can be
successful, what I don't know is if they have the necessary
confidence to get things done.

Bob Fitta  "Just another frustrated Bear fan"

--
Bob Fitta
Director of Advertising
Harvard Magazine
http://www.harvard-magazine.com
ph (617) 496-6631  fax (617) 495-0324