At 11:26 AM 3/8/98 -0800, Paul Gentile wrote:
 
>Lowell was not the hospitable host that UNH might have hoped for. In a game
>where Lowell had fifth place on the line and UNH had nothing. the Riverhawks
>certainly came to play.
 
What do you mean UNH had "nothing" on the line?
 
How about winning the final game of the regular season, go enter the
playoffs on an "up" note -- especially considering their recent performance?
 
How about the fact that a loss to Lowell will certainly drop them in the PWR?
 
How about the fact that this is the first time in 5 years they've been shut
out?
 
 
Apologies to the Wildcat fans out there, but I watched this game on tape
last night (after I saw the CC-MTU game) and it really looks like UNH is in
trouble.
 
Trouble with a capital "P" and that stands for "PWR"
 
Barring an opening-round loss in the HEA playoffs (a possibility given
their recent performance), UNH should make the tournament. However, short
of winning the HEA tournament, it's likely they'll lose the eastern bye,
with BU, BC, and Yale all lined up ahead of them.
 
For UNH to win the Hockey East tournament, that means they'll (most likely)
need to beat TWO very hot teams in Hockey East right now -- BC and BU. Of
course, there's also the possibility they'll meet Northeastern in the
championship, the same team that swept them last week.
 
UNH has certainly showed this season they have the ability and the
firepower to go all the way (to HEA, anyway) -- but where has it been
recently?
 
The situation with UNH is what Jack Parker tries so hard every year to
avoid, and for the most part is successful. According to Parker, the season
for him doesn't start until the Beanpot. I wonder if Jerry York feels the
same way. Looking at the records "since the beanpot"
 
Records since February 1, 1998:
Boston U                10-1-0
Boston Coll              6-1-2
Northeastern             4-5-1
New Hampshire    5-5-0
 
 
There's a more than one reason Parker looks at the Beanpot as a starting
point; besides it being the first "major" games his squad plays, it marks
the point in the season where roughly 10 games remain -- and although the
PWR looks at the "last 20" these are 10 games played entirely within one's
conference -- 10 games that will define a team's position in the conference
tournament, in which success is required for garnering a top seed in the
national tournament.
 
So what's up with UNH in this picture? They've played .500 hockey since
February 1st. For UNH to gain an eastern bye, they'll most likely have to
win 4 games in a row (assuming a two-game sweep of Maine) -- with the last
two coming against BU, BC, or Northeastern.
 
Is there a best-possible solution here?
 
BU: They played 'em 1-1-1, but their last game between each other was on
December 12 -- it'll have been over three months since they faced off. The
Terriers are arguably the nation's top team (#1 winning percentage, #1 RPI,
#1 defense) and have won 7 straight games, and 9 of their last 10. To top
it off, two of the best goaltenders in the country in Michel Laroque and
Tom Noble.
 
BC: Here they face the nation's #2 scorer (Reasoner) and a team that hasn't
lost in 8 games. To top it off, UNH went 1-2 against them... although the
two losses were waaaaaaaay back in November, then plucked the Eagles 9-3 on
Jan 27.
 
Northeastern: The Huskies haven't had a 20 win season since 1985, have a
hot glove in Marc Robitaille, swept the Wildcats two weekends ago, and just
played BC to an overtime tie. On the other hand, the Huskies are the only
home-ice team doing worse in their last 10 than UNH, and in early Feburary
lost to Army and split at home against Maine.
 
Barring any first-round upsets (that Lowell-Northeastern series oughtta go
to 3 games), the best that UNH can really hope for is that is a win over BC
in the semis and a victory over the Huskies in the finals. But that's not all.
 
To gain that Eastern bye, UNH better hope that Clarkson and Yale don't face
each other in the ECAC finals -- better yet, that neither of them win the
tournament. Should Clarkson and Yale face each other in the finals, it'll
make for a real tight race in the Eastern PWR.
 
 
Why should UNH be so concerned about winning that Eastern bye? Namely that
with a 3rd or 4th seed, they're likely to face a hot team like Colorado
College (currently 11th in the PWR), and a tough road into the Final Four.
 
That's a lot to ask for a slumping team.
 
 
 
 
 
greenie
S P O O N  ! !
(go BU)
 
Since BU dropped football, does that mean Silber fumbled?
Real grass at Nickerson for the *real* football! Yippee!
 
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