After working 60 hours a week at LL Bean this season (before getting
laid off at Christmas - always a pleasant experience) and a two week
vacation, its back-to-school time, and I can start posting again.
That also means that for the people who wanted updates on players in
the AHL I'll start sending those out again (except for Jim Carey,since
Carol Singer gets the info in her paper before its printed in the Portland
Press Herald  ;)
 
Speaking of the PPH, I enjoyed an article printed last weekend in the
"UMaine notebook" by Kevin Thomas, a staff writer.  In the piece he
says that "Redshirt freshman Jeff Libby is healthy again" but will not
get his spot back in the lineup because of the remarkable play of Jason
Dekker.  Sounds like a good scoop, except that Jeff was in the lineup
the night before the article appeared (and almost scored a goal, BTW)
Jeff is the one I cursed earlier in the season by mentioning what a fine
player he was in high school...he promptly went out and tore up his knee
that night in Alaska.  :(
 
There was a quick (if you blinked, you missed it) clip of Paul Kariya
on ESPN last night in their "NHL Preview" on SportsCenter.  They got
my attention by saying that Les Canadiens "Lost Guy Carbonneau, and got
little in return".  Granted, Jim Montgomery is not exactly The GreatOne,
but haven't they noticed that when a Montreal native returns to play in
the Forum for the Habs his skill level increases remarkably?
 
Former Black Bear Bob Beers (NY Isles) was also in the news.  He got
hit in the face with a puck in practice and will be out for a couple of
months.
 
A friend of mine, and sometimes poster to this newsgroup, who is a member
of the student senate in Orono informs me that David MacIssac is running
for student body president, and is expected to win in a landslide.
 
I see that Wayne opened up Pandora's Box and introduced HEAL points to
the world.  As a statistician for NYA I loathed the HEAL system, but now
that I have seen the formulas for CHODR and others, its not so bad  :->
 
Not to dampen spirits in Orono (the southern Maine media is already
trumpeting them as favorites to win a second title in three years)
but the storyline for this weekend sounds similar to that of three
years ago when #1, once-beaten UMO played against an underrated, tough
team from Northeastern.  The outcome was a 5-4 Husky victory that
temporarily bumped Maine from the top spot.  Of course, that was in
Boston, so hopefully the hometown crowd will prevent that from happening
again.
 
Thats all for now, time to go hanker down for a nor'easter thats bearing
down on us.
 
John Forsyth
"One of the 32% of college students who believe that politics
is "worthwhile".