At 03:35 PM 3/2/97 -0500, Larry Latour wrote:
 
>I have a bit of a quibble with the use of the word "turning the
>corner".  On the ice Maine has NEVER been away.  Factor out all of the
>off-ice baloney and forfeits, and Maine has fielded a consistently top
>ten team EVERY year since 1986-87.  This year's seniors, Cardinal,
>Shermerhorn, Mansoff, and Roenick, stand head to head with the likes of
>Pellerin, Roy, the Capuanos, McHugh, Golden, Kariya, Montgomery,
>Ingraham, King, Snow, etc., etc.
>
>I wouldn't call that turning a corner.
 
Allow me to disagree and explain.
 
First, the string of fielding "a consistently top ten team EVERY year since
1986-87" is not true.
 
In 1993-94, the season better known as the "forfeit season", Maine would
have been only a few games over .500 if they had not lost so many games to
forfeit.
 
I don't know of any poll that would have considered that team to be in the
top 10, and while there was some disagreement as to whether or not they
should have been in the NCAA Tournament,  that season was not a top ten
season IMHO.
 
Now, I agree they were still a good team, don't get me wrong.  Furthermore I
also agree that Maine had nationally great teams the following two years.
 
However, my contention that the corner was being turned really stems from
what we've seen this year.  I'm sorry, but when Maine was 7-7-1, and two of
those wins coming against a Division II team, and being blown out by UNH
twice, losing to Northeastern and only tying them in your own building, etc,
they were not a top ten team, and they were only average at best.
 
Why?  Inexperience, injuries, etc.  But at some point, a corner did have to
be turned because they ended up 24-10-1.
 
But this isn't unexpected.  Let's face it, when you lose four players like
Allison, Lovell, Clark and Tory, there are going to be some growing pains.
If you look at just final records, you could easily say that Maine didn't
have a corner to turn, that they did just "reload" as Larry suggests because
Maine lost only one more game this year than all of last year's talented team.
 
Looking at this year more closely, Maine did turn a corner.  They went from
an average team, lingering in the back of the pack in Hockey East, to one of
the best teams in the country.  It was a transformation and in Novemeber we
felt this team was rebuilding and might take a few years to return, now they
have indeed "reloaded" or "turned the corner" and we aren't going to worry
about whether or not Maine's program will return, only when it is going to
win another national title.
 
In many ways, saying "reloading" and "turning the corner" mean the same thing.
---
Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])