My thought is the "D" corps of this year's team is much better defensively,
but not nearly as good as older squads with abilities on both ends of the
rink.  The 03-04 defensive corps is NOT a bunch of drillers on offense.

I guess the question really boils down to this:  Do you like tight
low-scoring games, or a more wide open contest, but with solid netminding in
both cases ?

Is a 2-1 win more satisfying than one that is like 6-3 ?  In both cases one
could say the victor's "defense was better", but it is comparative.

As I ponder the upcoming Friday contest, I would not be surprised at a match
where the teams score a combined 4-5 goals.

Just like in the pro league, offensive numbers in the college game are down
in recent years; the pervasive use of the "trap" works against a more
wide-open hockey contest.  Leagues at all levels of the game are looking
more toward "opening up" the game of hockey.

I do like watching the older games on ESPN Classic...seemed to me the
skaters were faster, created more room to work, but compare the older
goalies mechanics to those of today's, there is a HUGE difference.

Look at the way that a Frankie Doyle or Jimmy Howard carry themselves in the
crease compared to some of the goalies for teams established after the
demise of the NHL "original six", and you can see that one or both of our
present goalies could easily have replaced some of the sieves in NHL nets
from the late 1970's.

One man's thoughts

Wayne T Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
>As end of season tweaking goes, this is a huge "tweak".  If Jimmy Howard
>became exhausted last year, can't that happen again this year with his
>new responsibilities?  Barring injury or mop-up minutes, I'd say we saw
>the last of Frankie Doyle 9 days ago in the HEA Quarterfinals with
>Merrimack.  :-(
>
>Anyway, congratulations to the Black bears on a great weekend of hockey.
>  In case any of us had any doubts, this has to be the best defensive
>Maine team of all time.  How that compares to other all-time teams, I
>don' know.  Opinions?