james acheson wrote, in part:

> also, who saw Michel's spear?  was it a doozy?  and what led to it?


I saw it.  As I recall, Michel circled the Maine/south net with puck in
hand and a Northeastern little pest (#9, Cal Ingraham-like, Mudryk (wish
he played for Maine!)) trailing, but bugging Leveille with his stick.
At more or less the blue line, Leveille shoveled the puck forward and
now trailed the play, still with Mudryk in tow.

Exasperated at being continually slowed, Leveille turned to Mudryk, and
with the pair still skating up ice, banged the left elbow/midsection of
Mudryk.  Leveille's stick was horizontal, but the blade of his stick was
2 feet *beyond* Mudryk, clearly *not* a spear, if you had the right
angle.  Mudryk hit the ice like he'd been hit with a cannon ball and as
he turned to a trailing Jeff Bunyan, Bunyan raises his arm.  I figured
it to be a slash and a dive, as the original Bunyan signal was slash ...
a result similar to an earlier NU hook on Jankus, but the call was a
spear.  Mudryk seemed unhurt and quite satisfied. (A spear is an
automatic disqualification).  It *was not* a spear, IMHO, was not a
slash and was not at all a "doozy".

In fact, I turned to my Alfond neighbor and said "don't worry, there'll
be a makeup in a minute" ... and their was.   As with the late-game
Damon penalty the night before, it was a retaliation at an important
part of the game.  (But thinking about it, with games as they are ...
very defensive oriented ... any time is important, as there aren't many
chances for scoring).

(* ramble on*)

Now, IMHO, there were 2 instances that *should* have been
disqualifications in that game, but Leveille should only be penalized
for turning back to an offending NU player, instead of ignoring the
instigation.  My DQs would have been butt-ending against NU in the North
end, a few seconds before an NU goal, and any number of players on both
sides for Fighting/Punching.

But what really bugs me is HockeyEast.  Just as the Commissioner Joe is
telling everyone how the rules are now being called (see his recent
USCHO.com article at  http://www.uscho.com/news/2005/01/24_009725.php),
we see another old-school call of the weekend by Jeff Bunyan.  Very
depressing.  Obviously, college hockey hasn't bought into the new NCAA
directives to CALL THE RULES and probably won't until we get a new
generation of referees, if then.

(* ramble off *)

> how were Tyler and Bellamy?


I thought both were very good.  Tyler really cut down on his mistakes
this weekend and played well.  Bellamy was a force all over the ice.  If
he can find ways to score,  he'll be a premiere player!

> did Ryan pass at all in the game he played?


hee.

> Was Moore still hustling and looking like he wanted to win?


IMHO, although Moore will never look like a 4th-liner hustling for his
next shift, he's usually one of the best players on the ice ... and one
the opposition recognizes as such.  In fact, an NU person I chatted with
this weekend included Moore as one of two players they prepared for.

> Did Deschamps really blow it on the second NU goal??? (Like he really
> blew it against NU   earlier in the season?)


Sort of.  There was a long do-or-die pass with only Deschamps back and
an NU player flying past his offensive blue line.  Deschamps had a clear
shot with his stick to deflect the thigh-high pass, but whiffed on it.
9 times out of 10, he'll deflect the puck and the play will go to a
corner.  Having turned to play the puck, he couldn't catch the NU
player, now in on Howard alone. It looked like he showed a little bit of
going left, then cut right. As Howard moved left, the NU player hit the
5-hole and the back of the net.

This was a very good, but not great effort from the Bears.  The
intensity we saw against BU wasn't quite to the same level, and there
were ups and downs, but it was a very good effort ... and very good
against a rough and instigating NU team, believe it or not.

Let's see, being an academic institution, perhaps everyone should get a
grade?

   Maine - A-
   NU - A-
   (on ice) Officials - C
   Minor officials - C
   Maine-iaks - A
   Band - A-
   Ushers - B+ (hee)
   Unknown person in GG that spilled a hot chocolate on fans below - U
   Everyone that writes about the game on ME-Hockey or Hockey-L: A+
(hee hee)

cheers, wayne