An interesting thought I had after the weekend's Merrimack-BU series...
 
I couldn't help but find it poignant that at the same time that we had this
series going on between two teams that have battled hard over the last two
seasons, the following also took place:
 
* Friday night at the Volpe, in between periods on the ice, Merrimack
President Richard Santagati gave a check to BU coach Jack Parker that
represented the donation by Merrimack College to the Travis Roy Fund that
night, the sum total of the entire night's gate receipts from the biggest
home crowd Merrimack will probably get this year.  The crowd stood and
applauded as Parker turned to all parts of the rink and waved & clapped to
show his appreciation.  1995 Merrimack grad Mark Cornforth also donated his
paycheck to the Fund from that evening's game that Cornforth was playing
for the Boston Bruins.
 
* Before Saturday night's rematch at Walter Brown, BU honored Merrimack
coach Ron Anderson by presenting him the Harry Cleverly Award for
dedication to the coachng profession by a BU alumnus.  The BU crowd stood
and gave Anderson a rousing ovation, and Anderson smiled and raised his
hand to acknowledge them as he walked across the ice towards his bench with
the award in hand.
 
Meanwhile, the two teams played their hearts out and gave us two very
exciting and hard-fought games that went down to the wire.
 
It was clear that these were two coaches and schools that respected each
other both on and off the ice, and we are the better for having witnessed
it.  To me, this is what the game of college hockey is all about.
 
BU is a program that is "there", and Merrimack is a program that is trying
to get there.  On the face of it, there should be no comparison between the
two.  But when they have met, they have given us some of the more exciting
games that I have seen over the last two years, games that have been
emotional, close, and worth the price of admission for the fans.
 
I can't help but think about what this rivalry could blossom into in
upcoming years if Merrimack continues to improve and the games continue to
be good ones.  I'm not saying that for BU it would ever approach the BU-BC
rivalry, but looking at it from the outside, it seems to have a chance to
be a strong secondary rivalry for BU behind one or two others.  And for
Merrimack, it has probably become their biggest rivalry since joining the
league.  I can only imagine what it might become if the two teams are
actually at the same level someday soon, i.e. fighting for a Hockey East or
even an NCAA Championship.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
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