First, for those who have access to The Maine Campus, we're putting out
an eight-page special pullout section on the winter sports scene here
at UMaine. I'll post a hockey story some might find interesting ...
 
 
But anyway, while on the injury topic, I had a chance to talk with
Barrett Heisten today and he is just getting back skating after taking
a nasty hit last Friday night. I had a chance to see "the hit" he took
and it was pretty nasty. When I spoke to Hesiten, though, he said he
was feeling much better. But there isn't any doubt it was a "Welcome to
college hockey Mr. Heisten" type hit.
 
On another topic, I spoke to the University of Moncton coach, Pete
Belliveau, Wednesday and some of the kids on his team have some names
that will keep the PA system pretty busy Friday night. he said his team
has tried for years to get into the tournament, but he's only allowed
six exhibition games, so it made it tough.
 
"We've tried to get into this tournament and finally, for us, we did.
Now, we get to go where hockey is second to none," Belliveau said.
 
On the two most critical parts of the game ... he stressed the
officiating and often times insinuated his team would probably take a
lot of penalties.
 
"Speed is going to be a factor. And of course, officiating will be the
biggest concern. The officiating is different in Canada and we'll have
to adapt differently."
 
And lastly, he made it clear his team wasn't just happy to be here.
 
"We're going to play a very aggressive hockey games. We build our team
around character and grit. We're going to play in-your-face hockey. And
we're not afriad of playing physical."
 
I had a chance to watch them practice today while waiting to interview
Heisten, and the things they were working on were interesting   like
checking into the boards.
 
Moncton's assistants also spent probably 15-20 minutes shooting the
pucks around the boards while making its goalies stop them from behind
the net. A good chunk of today's practice was spent working on the play
off the boards and "getting the bounces down."
 
Maybe just mindless stuff here, but some out there might find it
interesting.
 
Oh yeah, any thoughts on having both the Purple Eagles and Blue Eagles
in town? Pretty random.