Regarding the discussion on Soucy and other goalies, I do believe that the
stats alone don't always tell the story.  If you look at the goalies with
impressive GAAs, they usually tend to play for teams with great defenses.
BU's three goalies are 3-5 in HE in GAA, and that is primarily due to the
total team defense BU has played this year (the goalies have played well
too, don't get me wrong).
 
Some of the more outstanding season performances have been turned in by
goalies who played for weak teams.  Two of the best goalies in HE last
year, I thought, were Mark Richards of UMass-Lowell (1st Team HE All-Star)
and Steve D'Amore of Merrimack.  Neither had outstanding defenses, in fact
Merrimack's was downright poor.  But Richards was the prime reason UML
finished 6th in HE, 6-11-4.  D'Amore was the iron man for Merrimack and
kept the Warriors in many games they had no right being in, and I heard
many an opposing SID say he thought D'Amore deserved mention in the
postseason honors.  I have also been impressed with the performances of
both teams' goalies this year, Dwayne Roloson (UML) and Mike Doneghey (MC).
Roloson may be the best goalie in HE.
 
One thing I always thought was interesting had to do with former NU goalie
Rich Burchill.  Burchill was a Boston Globe All-Scholastic, I believe,
coming out of Catholic Memorial and chose to go to UNH over several
programs that were doing much better at the time.  He told me that was
because he knew he would see 50+ shots a game at UNH and it would help him
become a better goalie.  He transferred to NU after two years and backed up
Bruce Racine for a year, then closed out his career with an outstanding
senior season playing for a struggling NU team.
 
Similarly, some coaches are rethinking the way they recruit goalies.
Instead of going after the kids who play for great teams (and maybe see
only 15-20 shots a game), they are looking at kids who play for poor high
school or junior teams and see twice as many shots - it helps make them
better.
 
Back to Soucy, I do think he is an outstanding goalie from the couple of
times I've seen him.  Little and Tracy belong in this category, too.  Of
course, my opinion might be swayed from the fact that I've seen them play
well the few times I've seen them, while Soucy apparently did not play well
when Bri saw him.  It's hard to evaluate the players you don't see every
game.
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Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)    *HMN*