> but were
>in front of a "big Red Freakout" crowd (5500+ screaming lunatics
>(present company included) all decked in red).
 
I'll make comments on this later....
 
>There was an article in this morning's Times Union where Union coach
>Stan Moore was interviewed and stated that his team was humiliated
>by the loss to RPI two weeks ago at Achilles and even more humiliated
>by the cheapness of their play that night. He was quoted as saying
>"I won't allow the players to play that way. They're going to have
>slip-ups from time to time but we don't want it to become a habit".
 
I read somewhere (I believe it was in Friday's TU) that during their
first practice after the game in Schenectady, Moore had the players
line up after every drill and stare at the penalty box for a few minutes.
This was supposed to tell them that the penalty box is a bad place....
 
This was the most disciplined game they could play, under the
circumstances (playing the archrival on their home ice in front
of the "freakout").
 
>RPI outplayed Union during the 1st period but the Dutchmen
>defense kept the puck away from goaltender  Leeor Shtrom.
>Despite Rpi's dominance, Shtrom was only called on to make
>7 saves to RPI's Prekaski's 19.
 
I would have to disagree on this. Outside of the power plays, I
thought the play was pretty even. RPI's goal was on a 5-on-3
and Union controlled the last 6+ minutes due to their man-advantage.
The 5-on-5 play seemed very even and there was a good flow
to the game.
 
I've never seen Union do better on the power play than they did
in the first period. They did everything they had to - set up plays,
cycle the puck around the defense, put shots on goal, etc. - except
score. They finally did that 20 second into the 2nd period.
 
>There was an unusual play at 13:50 of the second that I didn't
>understand. An interference call was made against Joel Bond from Union.
>Just as the whistle blew, something happened on the far side of
>the ice where Eric Healey (I believe ) threw his stick. I don't
>know whether he was mad at some non-call or just disgusted with something
>that he did, but, regardless, the thrown stick caught one of the
>assistant referrees across the face (fortunately no serious injury).
>There was then a few minutes of discussion and a penalty was called
>on RPI: a bench minor. If the penalty was because of the thrown
>stick (as well it should have been), why wasn't the call against Healey?
>Instead, someone else served the penalty. I didn't have my Walkman
>at the game so I didn't hear any explanation from the radio
>announcers,so if anyone knows what happened, please enlighten me.
 
Accounting from what people next to me saw.....
 
Healey was skating in the neutral zone with the puck towards the RPI
bench when he just got leveled on what (I thought) was a clean hit. He
fell into the boards and his stick broke. He got up and, out of frustration,
threw his stick (what was left of it), but apparently not intentionally trying
to hit the official with it. It hit the linesman in the face, but I don't think
Gallagher saw it. At the next whistle, the officials convened. They called
a bench minor probably because the lineman never knew what hit him
and found immediately after the incident, two Union players on the ice
(both with sticks) and an RPI player diving into the bench. Thus, he didn't
know WHO threw their stick, but he knew which team he played for.
 
During the "break" in which the officials convened, I found it very
interesting that Gallagher was really laying into someone on the
RPI bench. I thought he may have been putting Healey in his place,
as he skated up & down the bench until he found a particular player.
 
>The third period was wide open hockey with both teams playing
>well. As time started winding down, the play tended toward tight
>defense as no-one wanted to make the mistake that would lose the game.
 
I was quite impressed with Union's composure. After dropping behind
3-2, they didn't give up. They stuck with the game they had been
playing all night and their blue-collar, scrappy effort gave them the
tying goal.
 
>The play opened up a bit in OT until the one play that marred the game.
>At 2:04 of OT Charlie Moxham skated up to Mark Murphy behind the Union
>end line and viciously speared him across the mid-section.
>Moxham was called for a major spearing call and a game disqualification.
 
Being at the opposite end of the ice, I never saw it happen. However, seeing
the type of game that was being played (tight-checking, evenly-played, yet a
little bit open), why on Earth would you call a major penalty??? It goes back to
the unwritten rule of calling a one-sided penalty in an OT playoff game - you
just don't do it unless it's clearly blatant. In this case, it may have been a
blatant penalty by Moxham, but a 5-minute major and game disqaulification????
I know this game will not have much of an impact on who goes to the NCAA
tournament or anything, but Gallagher just gave RPI a chance to win the game
with 3 minutes left in OT. I can easily understand a 2-minute penalty for
roughing
or something similar, but not a 5-minute major.
 
I can see why RPI fans were disappointed with the tie. As Mark said, RPI is
better
than Union - on paper. But, THAT'S WHY THE PLAY THE GAME!!!! Union
was not intimidated whatsoever by the "freaks" in the stands and showed a lot
of poise and composure. I feel that Union is better than their 4-15-2 record
shows,
but that statistic doesn't show up on any piece of paper, unfortunately.   ;-)
 
Regarding the "5500+ screaming lunatics".....
 
Where was the screaming?? I was expecting to not be able to hear myself think.
However, I could hear the Union contingent in Section 11 (opposite end of the
ice from my seat in Section 1) more clearly than the "screaming lunatics"
two rows
behind me! Saturday afternoon's mass at St. Edward's would rival this!
 
OK - I exaggerate, but I think my point is clear. This really wasn't the
crowd I was
expecting to see. Yes, it was packed & sold out, but the majority of them
seemed to
be sitting on their hands for most of the game. Definitley, not the freakout
that I've
seen in the past.
 
 
Andy Weise
SUNY Potsdam  '93
Union College  '95
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.