I thought that the boys showed that they can compete
and come back in a grand way!
it was great seeing Keenan steal at least 4 pucks,
twice leading directly to goals, Bellamy stole one
short handed and FINALLY Maine had a 2 on 0 where the
puck carrier skated in and dished the puck at the last
second so his partner/trailer could put it into the
open side of the net.  Maine dominated the 3rd and OT,
BUT, that was partly due to teh UVM game plan to let
Maine have the puck out at the perimeter.  Unlike in
the past few years, Maine did more than just control
the play at the perimeters, Maine was able to
penetrate to the net and score.

in my opinion Bellamy needs to stay out on the PP and
learn to relax a little... he whiffed on a few shots
from in close, trying to shoot it as fast as he can,
rather than to corrall the puck and to use softer
hands to shoot it where he wants.  the million mile an
hour one timer does not work for him in games.

Keenan was on fire.
There were still a few too many turn overs by the
whole team, and UNH and Michigan) would have made
Maine pay for the mistakes, luckily UVM did not have
enough skilled players to make Maine pay for turnovers
right away.

Dimmen is really picking it up and looking fantastic.
Banwell really lambasted someone like Matt Martin
would have.  Uvm was skating the puck into the
offensive zone and Banwell stod the guy up and knocked
him on his butt... he hit the guy again when he got up
and was called for roughing, but if he had left it at
the first hit, it would have been only the second time
in about 3 years that I can remember a Maine defender
stand a guy up at the blue line and completely take
him out of the play.  I liked that.

on a side note, Derek Damon is playing in the AHL,
after being called up from the ECHL, where he was the
league leading scorer at the time.    ( Soares is
pretty high up on the list as well).  derek scored a
goal and an assist, both on the PP in his second game
with the Albany River Rats.  We saw him in his first
game and he looked very good, and by no means out of
place, positionally, defensively, speedwise or
strengthwise.  I think he may stay in the AHL, he
looks good and the coach likes him enough to
immediately place him on the top line and the top PP
unit.


--- Jon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I think Shaky was the proper term, I  used worse
> muttering to
> myself:).  On the first goal He was definetely
> moving to the left
> while the puck was on the right side of the ice, the
> vermont shooter
> had the whole net. I thought he had a clear view of
> it but his
> movement ot the left allowed the goal. Sitting back
> in the net doesn't
> sould like the normal goalie speak we all hear.
> Don't you come out and
> challenge the shooters?
>  Jon
> 
> On Nov 27, 2007 12:52 AM, Wayne T Smith
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > Mahoney actually called Bishop's play "extremely
> shaky while allowing
> > five goals over the game's first 23:25".
> >
> > I think that unfair ... Bishop sat back in his net
> and dared VT shooters
> > to hit him ... and they made great shots just
> below the crossbar and
> > inside a post to beat him. During his color
> commentary, Mahoney said
> > Bishop had a clear look at a shot from the point
> (the first goal of the
> > game), yet I was on perfect line with the
> (Carlson) shot and could see
> > that Bishop was totally screened ... he may have
> even been moving left,
> > expecting a pass from his right to left. In any
> event, the shooter had a
> > 1'x3' area to Bishop's right and hit it.
> >
> > During much of the first half of the game, it
> didn't seem like either
> > goalie could stop a shot. At one point, Mahoney
> reported 7 Grade-A shots
> > for each side, with Fallon stopping all 7 and
> Bishop stopping 2 (it was
> > 5-3 VT at that point, I recall).
> >
> > Had not the players been tough playing from
> behind, and had the Pep Band
> > not showed up during their Thanksgiving Break
> (along with 50 or so
> > Maineiacs), it might have been a dismal afternoon
> at the Alfond.
> >
> > Unlike some other games, I thought UMaine did a
> much better at not
> > hanging their heads when something bad happened
> ... as VT goals extended
> > a 1-goal lead several times. To their credit,
> UMaine battled back each
> > time. However, though Sweetland no doubt has a lot
> of game-tying and
> > game-winning assists in his future, I doubt
> Bellamy will be scoring many
> > of those goals (Yes, I know Bellamy had an
> unbelievably great assist and
> > "the" goal, and was probably first-star of the
> game) ... the team needs
> > some other scorers, or for the goalie and team
> defense to be much better
> > (in order to win games). (IMHO)
> >
> > Trivia Q1: How many minutes of play has UMaine
> gone without holding a lead?
> >
> > Finally, I'll comment that one "tradition" has
> turned this season. (Many
> > of) the fans don't have the confidence in a UMaine
> rally, and the
> > opponents don't have the same fear of that rally
> happening. VT was
> > stunned to have UMaine tie the game, and almost
> stumbled to a loss, but
> > regained their play to end the game with some
> chances of their own and
> > earn a tie. Said another way, (IMHO) neither the
> fans nor VT expected
> > the rally to succeed ... yet it did. That's more
> than a little something
> > for the players to hang their hat on.
> >
> > Next up is a surprisingly good New Brunswick team
> that beat New
> > Hampshire 6 weeks ago. UNB was last year's
> University Cup Champion and
> > currently sports an 18-2 record, losing only to
> UMass-Lowell, a 5-3
> > exhibition, and UDEM, a 5-4 loss in OT to a school
> of 55,000 students.
> >
> > Trivia Q2: What was the UNB nickname before the
> current "Varsity Reds"?
> >
> > cheers, wayne
> >
> >
> > Deron Treadwell wrote:
> > > Pretty quiet here...
> > > Here's Larry Mahoney's recap:
> > >
>
http://bangornews.com/news/t/maineblackbears.aspx?articleid=156938&zoneid=225
> > >
>
<http://bangornews.com/news/t/maineblackbears.aspx?articleid=156938&zoneid=225>
> > >
> > > He calls Ben Bishop "shaky" in the piece, which
> would have been my
> > > guess just looking at the box score. With this
> team, 5 goals should
> > > always be enough to win.
> > > He also notes that the six-game winless streak
> is the longest for the
> > > program since 1985-86. (Gasp).
> > > -Deron
> >
> 



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