At 08:36 AM 10/13/98 -0400, Zolt, Jeff wrote:
>Any thoughts on who will be starting goalie this year for U/Maine???
 
I just wanted to weigh in on this question and post some other observations
from the preseason as we get ready for Game 1 Friday night.
 
The goalie job is Alfie Michaud's to lose, but Mike Morrison has really
impressed me in the preseason.  In both the Hockey Maddness and Blue/White
scrimmages, he may very well have been the best goaltender.  He's big and
aggressive.  I like him and I think he's an excellent addition to the program.
 
Matt Yeats won't be available till December, but I think he's clearly the
#3 goalie and if he's not needed it might be good to try and red-shirt him.
 The only problem I see with that is that he will have already been here
one year as of January.  Tough to ask a kid to be a freshman NEXT fall
after being here a year and a half.
 
That said, Alfie looked good too.  However one problem is he still can't
stop a breakaway to save his life.  One of the problems he has had over the
past couple of years is stopping players in alone.  Now, you can say that
should never happen, but it will.  In the Blue/White game Alfie faced two
breakaways and let in two goals.  We'll see what happens.
 
The defense looks great for Maine.  Metcalf and Janik are smooth rookies
and while I haven't seen the starting defensive pairs yet, I'd expect both
to be starting.  Defense was certainly a weak point and to have such a
great recruiting class on the blue line is wonderful.  I've heard good
things about Ed Wood too, but he was hurt during the Blue/White game.
 
Up front, Maine looks much deeper than they have been in any year recently.
 Many good players will sit for the Black Bears.  Barrett Heisten is the
real deal.  This kid came in highly touted and so far he's shown why.
He'll play with Kariya and could put up some big numbers.
 
Another guy who I love early on is Brendan Walsh.  Every other team in
Hockey East is going to hate this kid because he is so feisty on the ice.
He is a scrapper and hopefully he won't take dumb penalities, but there is
a lot of potential there.
 
Kariya looks faster and more skilled every year!  Dan Kerluke has a new
hair color and I was real impressed with him this preseason.  His intensity
was terrific and he already has a cannon of a shot.  Anders Lundback
continues to impress on defense, he'll be a mainstay.  Cory Larose netted a
pair of goals in the Blue/White game.  Two straight 40+ point seasons for
Larose, this is a key year for him.  It would be great to see him turn into
an elite player in the league.
 
A couple other notes.  One, the intensity in the two scrimmages I saw was
incredible.  Everyone played hard and you could tell that both sides wanted
to win.  I think this is important as we enter the season that the
intensity is already there from the start.
 
Finally, I want to give credit to BILL STEWART for his remarkable pick of
the Three Stars of the Blue/White game.  He picked it exactly.. now I'd
like to see him post his Hockey East/National picks!!  I'll throw my own
out there for discussion later!
 
Too bad no one locally is picking up the games this weekend on TV.
 
Drop the Puck!!
 
---
Deron Treadwell - [log in to unmask]