At 4:19 PM -0500 12/22/96, Robert H. Gross wrote [on INFO-HOCKEY-L]:
> I haven't seen this posted yet (Mike must be on vacation;-) so I thought
>I put
> up the score. Dartmouth has now won 5 of its last 6 games and seems to be
> playing better hockey.
 
Yup, they sure do seem to be playing well.  I haven't gone away yet but I
did not have time to post anything yet due to holiday related endeavors.
However, a box and recap just went out to INFO-HOCKEY-L.
 
> I only heard the game on the radio and the (student?) announcers seemed to be
> having fun (I'm hapopy for them) and even occasionally had time to talk about
> the hockey game in progress. It seemed that Dartmouth was in control from the
> start of the second period on and Merrimack played a very "chippy" style
> getting itself in penalty trouble for at least the last half of the game.
 
More accurately, Jayson Philbin played a chippy style, especially the
incident detailed in the game recap on I-H-L which resulted in his
ejection.  He had seven penalties for 18 minutes over the final two
periods, more than the rest of the team combined.  I don't know what it is
with him and teams from the Granite State (he was also ejected in his last
game, against UNH), but his style of playing is not what I'd like to see
and it is hurting the team right now.  I'm sure frustration and
inexperience have a lot to do with it, but this isn't the way to turn
things around.
 
And again, Philbin's actions should not have been described as being
indicative of the rest of the team.  That just wasn't the case.
 
Eric Almon played a great game getting his first collegiate action in net
for Dartmouth.  He looked shaky early on but was only beaten once, and he
settled down after that.  Merrimack has made a lot of goalies look good
lately, scoring only 13 goals in their last seven games, but Almon earned
his status as #1 star with 42 saves.  He stopped about four breakaways,
most in the first and second periods when the game was still close.
 
And Dartmouth continued to play well and work hard.  I like what I have
seen from them in the two games against Merrimack.  From the goaltender on
out they are doing the job.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                [log in to unmask]               *HMM* 11/13/93
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