hockey is not meant to be played in 80 degree weather.
The building can't handle it, the ice can't handle it
and some fans (ME) can't handle it.
 
I showed up to game 1 to cheer for Clarkson, the lone
remaining ECAC team. There weren't many cheering opportunities.
Clarkson reminded me of an all-star team that had  never
practiced together before. The pases were all one step ahead of
or behind their intended targets. Shots were telegraphed in advance
and seemed tentative. Most of this came from the outstanding
defensive play of Colorado College who did not seem intimidated at all
by the large number of Clarkson fans compared to CC's section
of about a dozen or so.  They played an excellent game and kept
Clarkson off their game all afternoon.
 
 
UNH/Wisconsin could have been an excellent game depending on
which UNH team and which Wisconsin team showed up. Since I hadn't
seen UNH since October and Wisconsin, not at all, I'm still not
sure which teams showed up. The UNH team that couldn't put the
puck in the net during the last month of the season and its abbreviated
run in HEA tournament was not in evidence. Misters Krog,Mowers, Nolan and
friends were all there and were ready to make up for their last
embarassing recent performances. I suspect that the Wisconsin team
that showed up was not the same one that defeated UND last weekend.
Wisconsin has been erratic all year and it appeared that they weren't
firing on all cylinders Saturday. It took UNH a while to get used to
the WCHA style of hockey (i.e. you ALWAYS finish your check no matter
where the puck has gone) but once they did, the Badgers couldn't keep
up with UNH's superior speed.  Both goalies let in several goals they
shouldn't have and both teams scored on deflections by the defensive
team. The lack of quality goaltending was more attributable to lack of
quality defense on behalf of both teams. This was a real run and gun
game that was very entertaining to watch but is not the kind of hockey
that wins national championships. Whether UNH can play a solid defensive
game to go with their outstanding offense will dtermine whether they can
get past BU. Whether Wisconsin can is now irrelevant for 1997-1998.
UNH/BU part 4 should be a war today.
 
Announced attendance was 6727. But a lot of Clarkson people left after
game 1 and a lot of UNH and Wisconsin people didn't arrive until
the mid-game break. I doubt there were more than 5000 people in
the Knick at any one time.
Attendance was down for several reasons:
No local teams (RPI/Union).
Afternoon games (I suspect there might have been more if the games
started later in the day. Noon is kind of tough).
The weather. Temperatures in the high 70's probably kept the number
of last minute walk-ins to a minimum.
 
Thanks you top the University of Wisconsin band for providing their
usual show. Outstanding performance. We always enjoy the Badgers
coming to Albany.
 
I stumbled into something last night that was kind of neat.
I was trying to get a broadcast of Michigan/UND. I couldn't
get into WTKA's broadcast because the server was at full capacity.
I kept getting bumped off of UND's broadcast and got really annoyed.
I then searched for WTKA's homepage and found that they were broadcasting
the game on real video. They apparently picked up the NCAA PPV from
Ann Arbor and pumped it out over the internet.
I only have a 28.8 modem so I didn't really get to see a full motion
view (but I sure am going to look into Road-Runner now) but I got a
pretty clear audio broadcast and I got video from Yost at the rate
of one frame every 2-3 seconds, kind of like a collage of still pictures.
It didn't allow me to watch the game but it did give me a sense of what
Yost looked like and a feel for the atmosphere. Maybe next year, I'll
start posting "Video on the NET".
 
I'm all caught up with the NCAA pool and will post some comments
during the week after the regionals are over.
 
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