I'm considerably more calm now than I was last night at 9:00 when I heard that
UMass-Lowell was being sent out West as the number three seed.  (My original
subject line was going to be "Grabbing the Vaseline and Bending Over.")  The
focus of my anger was NOT that I was now going to miss seeing the Chiefs
despite my Albany tickets; the focus of my anger was that the team was being
shipped out West despite being seemingly the consensus #3 team in the East and
thus would not enjoy the fan support that they deserve.
 
My initial thoughts were that UML was getting screwed because we don't have
the historically huge travelling contingent that some other teams do.  Although
as an emerging power, I *was* proud of the UML fans at the Hockey East
championships.  I wound up moving from my seats in the balcony -- sorry to
any of you who stopped by -- so my son and I could join other players and
parents from the Jr. Chiefs, a team my son plays for.  And from my position
down in the Loges I felt that UML fans acquited themselves quite well.  We
had good numbers and aside from BU's four tubas, trombones, trumpets et al
doing a number on the UMass-Lowell Virtual Band, I thought the fans made a
lot of noise and were highly spirited.  (Although the one fan who
punctuated DiGregorio's post-game words with, "Your refs SUCK!" was perhaps
*too* highly spirited.  Kind of an ugly moment, though nowheres near as ugly
as Hockey-L'er Brian Zive running around the Garden with his shirt off.  :-)
For those lucky ones who haven't seen the act, Brian probably has more hair
on the back of his hands than most of us have on our chests.)
 
In any case, I viewed the shipping out West as a "You won't get any fans to
Albany, so what's the difference if we send you halfway across the country"
statement.  A real slap in the face.  And an unfair assumption since I heard
a lot of talk about other fans, not just confirmed Get-A-Lifers like myself,
heading to Albany.  Unfortunately, there'll be almost no UML fans there.  I
can't afford it -- my son has tournaments in Ottawa and Toronto this summer
and there's only so much scratch to go around -- and the semi-casual fans who
were contemplating making the Albany trek are total non-starters for Michigan.
 
Now that I've read what the process is, I have the following reactions:  It
still boggles my mind that UML is the third WEST seed and that Wisconsin is
the fourth EAST seed.  Isn't maximizing the draw one of the considerations?
Is this the first time that the crossovers have been
from seeds higher than fifth?  It seems intuitively obvious that if a team is
seeded third, they deserve to play in THEIR region in front of THEIR fans.
What is Lowell's *reward* for being the number three seed?  They get to play
Michigan State AT Michigan State.  As rewards go, that kind of reminds me of
times that my boss comes up to me and says that there's an *opportunity*.
Do me no favors, please.
 
I only see one silver lining in all this.  If UML were going to be made the
number 4 Eastern seed behind UNH, a seeding that makes no sense to me at all,
(I viewed UML as a CLEAR 3rd) then if we can get past Michigan State in their
own rink, facing Minnesota second round is preferable to facing BU (no flames,
please!).  I respect Minnesota a great deal as I also do Harvard, the team I
expected to see in the second round, but any road through BU to the Final Four
is a tough road indeed.
 
 
Hockey East semis and finals observations
-----------------------------------------
 
First off, it was nice to meet on Friday night fellow HOCKEY-Lers Bruce Spencer
from UNH and BU fans TonyTheOgre (one word) and Adam Bryant.  All nice people
and knowledgable fans.
 
UML vs. UNH - First period, UML dominated.  Shots on goal at one point, I
believe was something like 14-3 before a 5-on-3 power play for UNH narrowed
the gap to the period ending 15-7 level.  Lowell only led 1-0 where it counted,
though.
 
The rest of the game featured a constant parade to the penalty box for the
Chiefs.  The Hockey East playoff record for power plays had been seven,
according to the tournament book.  Well, at one point Lowell had killed *all
twelve* penalties against them, including two 5-on-3 if memory serves me
correctly.  I believe one of UNH's scores was eventually on the power play,
so I believe the final total was 1 for 13 on the power play for UML.
 
This IMO was the key to the final two periods.  UML has the best penalty kill
in the nation (statistically, they are so far ahead of the second place team
in HE that it isn't funny), but UNH's powerplay looked positively inept at
times.  UML deserves some of the credit for this, but UNH must shoulder some
of the blame as well.  It was like shooting fish in the barrel to yell,
"Decline the penalty!"
 
However, all the time in the penalty box kept Lowell from generating the
offensive flow that they showed in the first period.  They did eventually
get to a 3-0 lead, however.  Then Tom Nolan split the D on a breakaway (I'm
not sure if this was partially due to a change) and broke Roloson's shutout
streak.  After Malone brought it to within one, Roloson had to hold the fort
for the last five minutes or so as UNH generated more pressure than they had
on many previous power plays.  Mike Murray sealed it with an open net goal.
 
Had Lowell not given itself something like a 13-5 powerplay disadvantage, IMO
the score would not have been as close.  And my obvious thought going into the
finals was that Lowell could not give BU that many power plays or they'd get
destroyed.
 
UML vs. BU - Although I like Lowell's goaltending, special teams, and first
line forwards over BU's, BU's team depth and defense were very impressive.
As TonyTheOgre has pointed out, BU's defense is more talented
than UML's.  Although Lowell's best defensemen are very good, they are not of
the caliber of Brenan, Linna, and O'Sullivan.  And I thought the Pomichter,
Bates, Grier line played very well for BU.  In summary, BU showed why they are
number one in the nation, but UML hung in and had some chances to tie it.  It
was a great final and both teams, as well as the fans for both teams, had cause
to be proud.
 
*****************************************************        ,-******-,
* Dave Hendrickson "Robo" [log in to unmask] *     *'     ##     '*
*        A Hockey Polygamist and Get-A-Lifer        *   *##   ___##___   ##*
* GO BROONS!!!      Go Red Wings!!     Go LA Kings! *  *   ##|   ___  \##   *
* GO UMASS-LOWELL!!!    Go Maine!!           Go BU! * *      |  |___)  |     *
* --------------------------------------------------* *######|   ___  <######*
* Although I can't remember ever having an original * *      |  |___)  |     *
* thought, and am certainly parroting someone who   *  *   ##|________/##   *
* actually has a brain, these opinions are mine,    *   *##      ##      ##*
* not Hewlett-Packard's.                            *     *,     ##     ,*
*****************************************************        '-*******-'