Matt Dewkett wrote:
> Here is a blip from Dave Hendrickson's article on
> USCHO.com  "Denver, however, was nowhere to be found
> in the nation's top defensive rankings. In December,
> the Pioneers couldn't hold a 7-1 lead over Minnesota
> State and lost, 8-7. A later rematch saw a 6-2 lead
> evaporate into a 7-7 tie before a late goal and
> empty-netter resulted in a 9-7 win. Those midseason
> struggles rendered Denver only the fifth-best
> defensive team in its own conference."

What this quote doesn't tell you is that Denver completely re-engineered
their team shortly after the referenced point of the season.  In the
last 15 games, Denver allowed 33 goals, a very respectable 2.20 GAA. Of
course Maine allowed just 21 goals in their last 15 games for a (WOW!!!)
1.4 GAA.

During this time against the consensus best team (NoDak) Denver tied 1-1
and won 1-0 (they also lost to NoDak 6-1).  The number of goals allowed
is inflated due to a bad series in the WCHA tournament against CC and a
9-7 struggle/win with Duluth.

They still weren't nearly as consistant as Maine, but they proved they
could often play with the best teams.

And the point of Hendrickson's article was not that they were a great
team all year, but they had learned how to win (and play defense).

I think the Maine coaching staff knew better what the Maine team needed
to do this year (at the beginning of the year) than did George Gwozdecky
and the Denver staff!  :-)

cheers, wayne