(these are not meant to be complete game reviews since others have
already sent their comments.)
Clarkson (29-9-2) 1 1 1 - 3
Boston University (28-10-2) 5 0 2 - 7
FIRST
CU1, Mike Casselman 19th (Sylvain Lapointe, Craig Conroy), 0:31.
BU1, Tony Amonte 28th (Keith Tkachuk), 5:15.
BU2, Amonte 29th (Phil von Stefenelli, Peter Ahola), 9:46. SHG
BU3, Chris McCann 9th (David Sacco, Mike Bavis), 13:12.
BU4, David Tomlinson 29th (Petteri Koskimaki), 15:51.
BU5, Amonte 30th (Shawn McEachern, Tom Dion), 17:45.
Penalties: CU, Guy Sanderson (interference), 5:39.
BU, Tkachuk (interference), 9:22.
SECOND
CU2, Scott Thomas 28th (Casselman, Conroy), 6:48.
THIRD
BU6, McEachern 33rd (Tkachuk, Amonte), 3:44.
CU3, Ed Sabo 10th (David Green, Mikko Tavi), 8:52.
BU7, Doug Friedman 6th (Mark Bavis), 11:59.
Penalty: BU, Ahola (cross-checking), 18:12.
SHOTS POWER PLAYS
Clarkson 8--5--6 = 19 0 for 2
Boston University 16--8-10 = 34 0 for 1
SAVES
CU, Mike Rogles (55:51, 32 shots-26 saves), Jason Currie (4:09,
2 shots-1 save).
BU, Scott Cashman (60:00, 19 shots-16 saves).
REFEREE-Shepherd.
ATT-11,723.
You know the saying: never awaken a sleeping giant. The biggest mistake
Clarkson's Mike Casselman could have made was tipping Sylvain Lapointe's
shot from the point past Scott Cashman just 31 seconds into the game.
From that point on, it was all BU. The Terriers cashed in at 5:15 when
Clarkson's Ed Henrich made a drop pass behind his own net without looking,
and Keith Tkachuk was more than happy to take the puck and feed Amonte
in front who was drifting in from the point.
The Terriers outshot Clarkson 34-19 for the game, 16-8 in a first period
that produced five BU goals. BU fans were singing the Tony Amonte song
(to the tune of that Italian love song):
"When the puck's in the net,
It's a hat trick you'll get,
That's Amonte..."
Though not many penalties were called in the game (Clarkson had two power
plays to BU's one), special teams were again a key for BU. Amonte's second
goal of the period came during a Clarkson power play that was held to no
shots on goal and little time in the BU zone. You simply can't get
lackadaisical with Amonte and McEachern out there killing a penalty, and
it cost the Knights. Rogles was caught too far out of the net trying to
block a possible pass to McEachern, and Amonte was able to stuff it in
before Rogles could get his glove in the way.
BU's third goal came off of a 3x2 as the Knights' Henrich was again
responsible. He couldn't tie up Chris McCann in front, and McCann
deposited a David Sacco pass into the net past Rogles for a 3-1 lead.
Again, as I pointed out after the Michigan series, BU is forcing the
opponents to make costly mistakes and is quick to capitalize on them.
The fourth BU goal was a lucky one, but it did come after some heavy
Terrier pressure and strong forechecking.
Amonte got his trick at 17:45 when he camped at the right side of the
crease, paid rent, built a new home and swimming pool and watched
Shawn McEachern take the puck away from three Knights and slide it
across the front of the crease to him. After scoring the goal, his 30th,
Amonte went and got the puck and gave it to Jack Parker. At midseason,
Parker had told Amonte, "You've got [only] nine goals. You're not going
to get 30, so think about other ways to help the team." Amonte told him
he would get 30 - and he'd give him the puck when he did.
To Clarkson's credit, they hung tough and stayed even on the scoreboard
with BU through the rest of the game (2-2), even though the Terriers
continued to have the better scoring opportunities. Rogles returned to
start the second and played well over the last two periods in a game
that easily could have been 11-3 without the several big stops Rogles made
on breakways by Tomlinson, Friedman, Sacco, and McEachern.
You can chalk up four of the five first-period BU goals to poor defense on
the part of Clarkson, but again I expected experience to play a part in
this game, and it did. NMU coach Rick Comley was clearly concerned after
the Terrier onslaught in that period. I agree BU wasn't as impressive
over the final two periods, but even then they still remained even on
the board with Clarkson and never allowed the Knights to get within three
goals. That killer instinct kicked in early in the third and much of
the third was all BU again. Clarkson tried, as expected, to slow down
BU by playing a heavy-hitting, physical game, and they crushed several
Terriers throughout the game with solid checks. But BU has a unique
combination of size and quickness, and they didn't seem to mind at all
playing the physical game - then they'd spot an opening and away they
would go. To me, that is what makes them so difficult to beat.
Cashman was caught out of position quite a few times, particularly on
Thomas' second period goal when he knocked in the rebound of a wide shot
that came off the back boards. He wasn't really tested, though. The
hotter BU goalie of late has been senior John Bradley, and JB will be
getting the call Saturday night. JB was the man when BU won the Beanpot
and the Hockey East Championship, and he'll look to make it 3 for 3.
BU has outscored the opponents 19-5 in three NCAA games and is now 11-1
in their last 12 games.
Amonte shocked a lot of people by announcing afterwards that Saturday's
game would probably be his last in a BU uniform, but not many on the HE
scene, most of all Parker, expected Amonte to return for his junior year
as far back as 1989 when he entered BU.
ESPN's Tom Mees did play-by-play for both semifinals on Prime and will
do the final on ESPN. Unfortunately he annoyed Boston folks all through
the BU game by referring to BU as "Boston" or "Boston U". ESPN has since
been phoned and hopefully this will be corrected for the championship bout.
BU or Boston University is ok, but that's all. Anything else sounds silly.
By the way, #15's name is pronounced mick-ECK-rin, not mick-EECH-ern or
even mick-ECK-ern. I doubt they will get that right too, but at least
everyone here will know it. I noticed the St Paul Civic Center announcer
got Tkachuk's name wrong too (correct: ka-CHOOK), and I cannot understand
why a professional tv announcer and a rink announcer cannot take a few
minutes before a game to find out how to say a guy's name.
Northern Michigan (37-5-4) 1 2 2 - 5
Maine (32-9-2) 1 1 1 - 3
FIRST
NMU1, Brad Werenka (Scott Beattie, Jim Hiller), 2:29.
UM1, Jean-Yves Roy 35th (Brian Straub), 19:11. SHG
Penalties: NMU, Beattie (slashing), 6:09.
NMU, Szabo (holding), 15:43.
UM, Brian Downey (hooking), 17:20.
NMU, Ed Ward (cross-checking), 20:00.
UM, Steve Widmeyer (high-sticking), 20:00.
SECOND
UM2, Roy 36th (Martin Robitaille), 0:47.
NMU2, Hiller (Beattie, Lou Melone), 9:44. PPG
NMU3, Tony Szabo (Darryl Plandowski, Dallas Drake), 11:04. PPG
Penalties: UM, Martin Mercier (holding), 4:18.
UM, Scott Pellerin (elbowing), 8:49.
UM, Kent Salfi (interference), 10:46.
THIRD
UM3, Roy 37th (Downey, Straub), 10:38. PPG
NMU4, Drake (Scott), 16:47.
NMU5, Plandowski (Antos), 19:40. ENG
Penalty: NMU, Drake (elbowing), 9:08.
SHOTS POWER PLAYS
Northern Michigan 12-11-15 = 38 2 for 4
Maine 12--7--8 = 27 1 for 3
SAVES
NMU, Bill Pye (60:00, 27 shots-24 saves).
UM, Mike Dunham (~59:00, 37 shots-33 saves).
REFEREE-Gallagher.
ATT-11,651.
Unfortunately, I did not get to see most of this game since the Red Sox
exhibition ran over and then NESN had trouble sending out the feed. I
did tape the replay, but even that wasn't shown till after 1:30 am when
they said it would be on at 1. Anyway, I got to see about the last half
of the game live and it was a good one. NMU and BU are very similar teams
and it should make for a great final. I thought Maine did a miraculous
job to hang in the game as long as they did while Northern was dominating
the play for long stretches of time. Only the Montgomery-Roy-Downey line
seemed to be able to generate good chances for Maine, and that imbalance
is probably what hurt the Black Bears. They needed some of the other
players to step forth and contribute as well.
I was amused at the announcers suggesting that after Slug Liner Dave
Lacouture broke his clavicle, Walsh might just sit the other two instead
of double-shifting another center. That is really the only line Maine had
that was mixing it up out there. It's too bad that happened to Lacouture
because he played his heart out lately and was one of the best players on
the ice for Maine along with Tepper in the HE Final Four. The same goes
for NMU's Lou Melone, who was having a solid game but will have to miss
the final with an injury to his left leg.
Northern really impressed me against Maine. They controlled the puck quite
a bit and took advantage of back-to-back Maine penalties with two PPGs in
1:20 in the middle of the second. NMU also didn't take many penalties
and kept the Maine power play off the ice. They played a strong,
consistent team game. If they do that Saturday we will have another great
final on our hands. NMU goes to 25 games without a loss (23-0-2).
PICK
I know I've been on the BU bandwagon since the beginning of the tourney,
and I still think they'll win it. It was interesting to note the
difference between NMU and BU's celebrations after winning. The Wildcats
were pretty boisterous after knocking off a team that handed them two of
their five losses. BU, defeating a team it had also lost to earlier in
the season, was even more subdued than they were last week. What a
difference it can make when a team has already been here before. I will
not be *surprised* if Northern wins it, because I think we're down to the
two best teams in the country now and they're both capable of winning it.
Talent and heart are clearly equal on the two clubs. So again, I believe
that experience will be the deciding factor. I think we will see
Northern make more mistakes than BU and BU will again take advantage.
I actually think a shootout favors NMU, although Comley didn't seem
to think so last night. But I don't think it will be a shootout, and
it won't be a blowout either. BU 4, NMU 3. Then next year Merrimack
can kick the you-know-what out of BU. :-)
- mike
p.s. congratulations to Clarkson & Maine for their fantastic seasons.
Neither was expected to get this far, and both should be proud of
what they've done (don't give me that "Maine chokes in the semis"
garbage that I've heard from several non-listers - look who they've
lost to in those games). And Clarkson never packed it in when it
could have been so easy after that disastrous first period. They
should be a top team again next season and if they get this far
again, watch what a difference the experience will make.
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