Jim Montgomery and Kent Salfi each scored twice to lead Maine to a 4-1 win
over UNH in the 8th Hockey East Championship Game. It was Maine's 2nd title
in six straight tries, the other coming in 1989. The key for Maine was a
stifling defense that allowed the powerful Wildcats only 20 shots on net
and 31 attempts overall. As Maine coach Shawn Walsh said after the game,
maybe this will get his defense some respect, and it could be the play of
that defense that carries the Black Bears all the way.
There were an amazing 12,212 fans on hand (not including the many passes to
friends/family and VIPs that had most seats filled), and that's pretty good
considering UNH was the closest of the four teams playing tonight. Both
sides' fans were equally vocal and excited at the game's start although UNH
fans became a little quieter as their team fell behind by two and three goals
in the second. The first period was all exciting, up-and-down action and
when Scott Morrow beat a defenseman to flip the puck by Mike Dunham at 4:01,
giving UNH a 1-0 lead, I thought the Garden would surely collapse as the UNH
fans went absolutely bonkers. That was to be followed by several spectacular
saves by Jeff Levy that kept the UNH following in a frenzy. In between periods,
we were all talking about what a fantastic crowd was on hand - it made for
a truly special atmosphere. It was different from the ECAC games in that
somehow the tickets were sold such that both sides had fans sitting in all
parts of the Garden, so whenever something happened, the whole Garden seemed
to erupt whether it be Maine or UNH fans.
Although the Maine fans get a close second tied with Cornell, I have to give
my Fans of the Weekend Award to UNH.
Levy seemed to be on a roll but Montgomery's two goals in the latter half of
the period to give Maine a 2-1 lead after one, and after an early shelling
of Dunham by UNH, the 'Cats wouldn't be able to get much offense together
the rest of the game. Dunham played much better than he has recently, according
to Maine writers, and they seem to feel he may be The Man the rest of the way.
A hooking penalty to Jean-Yves Roy at 8:06 of the second proved to backfire
for UNH. The Black Bears' Tony Link blocked a shot and Kent Salfi went in
alone for a shorthanded goal that made the score 3-1, and with the way UNH
was having trouble getting shots off, that made for an uphill battle that the
Wildcats wouldn't be able to win. Salfi added another at 12:29 to make it
4-1. The replay doesn't show it clearly, but Salfi was offside on the play -
I thought so and several other people agreed, although it didn't make a
difference in the result. Ingraham carried up the right side, over the blue
line and passed across to Salfi who broke free from the man who was covering
him to take the pass and fire it by Levy, a shot that doesn't get by Levy
often. On the replay, Ingraham is isolated and then it swings over to Salfi
who is so far into the zone (Ingraham got rid of the puck right after entering
the zone) that he had to be offside.
UNH continued to play tough, killing off penalties and getting good netminding
from Levy to keep Maine off the board the rest of the game, but they could
not penetrate the tough Maine defense and Dunham.
Congratulations to Maine for showing why it is at least the best team in the
East, outscoring its three playoff opponents 18-4. And congratulations to
UNH for a great tourney, they can't be disappointed in their showing and are
sure to make some waves in the nationals. It wouldn't be surprising to see
these two meet up again somewhere down the line. Both teams will await the
seedings March 22nd. It is likely that both teams will end up in the East
regional, seeded in the top 4 in the East, so it looks like the Black Bear and
Wildcat Traveling Show will make its next stop in Providence March 26th & 28th.
On Maine, since I've gotten to see their last three games live, they look very,
very tough. I've been wary of proclaiming them national champions, but
especially after tonight, they sure do look unbeatable and anyone else who
saw this game will probably agree. Any opponent faces the challenge of:
1) shutting down all four lines. The top three, at least, are all capable of
scoring at any time and if you match lines to go after one or even two, the
third will kill you. The top line lately has been the second line of Scott
Pellerin-Salfi-Ingraham, with the first line of Brian Downey-Montgomery-
Patrice Tardif being probably more powerful but also more closely watched,
which has allowed the Salfi line to break free. Not to mention that the
third line features Jean-Yves Roy (32-24--56!) along with Martin Robitaille
and Randy Olson. Good luck.
2) beating the Maine special teams. Maine has a tenacious shorthanded fore-
check the likes of which I don't think I have ever seen, and it isn't unusual
for teams to have trouble just getting the puck out of their zone. And
with players like the above-mentioned on the power play - sometimes with five
forwards at once - it's no surprise Maine's PP is humming along at 26-27%.
3) once you get the puck, moving it up ice and keeping a sustained attack on
either Dunham or Snow. Both goalies are tough to beat. And knowing that
defense wins you championships, Shawn Walsh has apparently made sure his
team doesn't neglect this and the No-Name Defense has played extremely well
lately despite supposedly being Maine's Achilles' Heel. They're getting a
lot of help from the forwards like Pellerin who can and do play very well
in their own end.
So will Maine win it all? Umm...I've been trying to stay away from predictions
(giving "lines" on games along with reasons why both teams could win), but I
am itching to try to get back into the win column after picking the 1985-90
national champs and then missing last year's by a triple-ot goal. I do think
Maine could be vulnerable in Providence after the two-week layoff, especially
if they end up facing a West team on March 28th. Their only competition will
come from the West, be it in Providence or Albany, but that is stiff
competition no matter who it is. They could draw either Wisconsin or NMU in
Providence, and Bangor Daily News writer Larry Mahoney says the Black Bears
are itching to pay back both teams for recent losses (Wisconsin in December,
NMU in last year's semifinals). I am leaning very heavily towards them now
but will wait till I see the bracket next week to review the games and decide
who I like. I guess that's fair. Or maybe I'll just go to the old standby, the
dartboard. Maybe I can borrow Bill Fenwick's. :-) (ouch!)
By the way, let's give a hand to referee Frank Cole, Hockey East's best, for
calling a great championship game. He let the teams play in the first period
and allowed some borderline stuff to go, yet there was no after-the-whistle
action. Sure, he missed a few calls later on in the game, but they weren't
key and didn't decide the game. I don't expect any referee to be perfect,
just consistent and to not become the focal point of the game, and Cole met
both of these IMO. Calling the lines left a little to be desired, but again
I didn't see where it had a serious outcome on the game and UNH coach Dick
Umile had no complaint with the Salfi goal I talked about, not that I would
expect a class guy like Umile to wrongly blame his team's loss on such a play.
Box and all-tourney team follow.
Saturday, March 14, 1992 at Boston Garden, Boston, MA
HOCKEY EAST CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
New Hampshire Wildcats (22-12-2) 1 0 0 - 1
Maine Black Bears (31-3-2) 2 2 0 - 4
FIRST PERIOD UM-UNH
1. UNH1, Scott Morrow 29 (Joe Flanagan, Domenic Amodeo), 4:01. PPG 0-1
2. UM1, Jim Montgomery 19 (Jason Weinrich, Brian Downey), 12:22. 1-1
3. UM2, Montgomery 20 (Downey), 18:13. GWG 2-1
Penalties: UM, Tardif (tripping) 3:40; UNH, Stewart (slashing) 4:48.
SECOND PERIOD
4. UM3, Kent Salfi 11 (Tony Link), 8:55. SHG 3-1
5. UM4, Salfi 12 (Cal Ingraham, Chris Imes), 12:29. 4-1
Penalties: UNH, Flinton (tripping) 3:12; UM, Roy (hooking) 8:06; UNH, Malone
(cross-checking) 12:41; UNH, McGrath (roughing) 18:27.
THIRD PERIOD
No scoring.
Penalties: UNH, Dexter (tripping) 1:52; UM, Ingraham (high-sticking) 5:53;
UNH, Messina (holding) 12:58; UM, Link (holding) 18:06; UNH, Amodeo
(slashing) 18:34.
SHOTS ON GOAL: New Hampshire 7--6--7 = 20
Maine 13--8-12 = 33
GOALIES: UNH, Jeff Levy (20-12-2, 60:00, 33 sh-29 sv).
UM, Mike Dunham (6-0-0, 60:00, 20-19).
POWER PLAYS: UNH 1 of 4. UM 0 of 7.
PENALTIES: UNH 7/14. UM 4/8.
REFEREE: Frank Cole. LINESMEN: John Jones & Bob Fowkes.
ATT: 12,212 (capacity 14,448).
MIKE'S THREE STARS: 1. Jim Montgomery, Maine (2-0--2).
2. Jeff Levy, UNH (33 sh-29 sv).
3. Kent Salfi, Maine (2-0--2).
HOCKEY EAST ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
G Jeff Levy, UNH
D Chris Imes, Maine
D Rob Gaudreau, Providence
F Scott Pellerin, Maine
F Jim Montgomery, Maine
F Domenic Amodeo, UNH
TOURNAMENT MVP: LW Scott Pellerin, Maine
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Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] mikem@{beanpot,bubba}.ma30.bull.com
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