The quality of life in Southern Maine has greatly improved now that we
can pick up Joe Carr's play-by-play on WZAN - even if they do run ads
saying Maine is the "defending national champion"  :->
 
I was listening a couple of weeks ago during the Northeastern series
and Larry Mahoney was on and was talking about "dives".  He hinted that
there seemed to be some talk among coaches to institute a "dive rule":
Intentionally dive to draw a penalty, and you spend 2 minutes in the Sin
Bin yourself.  Interesting idea, but I don't think it would fly.
 
The topic of best player to come out of Maine came up, so I have to comment,
since I saw all the players mentioned thus far, and unfortunately I have
to say that the best player that Maine produced never went to DivI.
In my junior year NYA graduated Matt Roper, a goaltender who was a brick
wall and a pretzel rolled into one.  He'd make Yogi's jealous with his
muscle control.  After losing 14 players from 1989's title team
we were decimated.  In 1990, including our prep/international schedule,
we finished one game over .500 only because Matt posted a 2.00 GAA with
a save pct. near .950  He made 73 saves on 83 shots against Catholic
Memorial, and managed to keep one of Canada's top high school teams
 
to only six goals in a game in Moncton.  However, Matt chose to go
to St. Anslem's after a year at Choate and has since transferred to
the University of Southern Maine.  Had Matt chosen DivI, I believe
he would have made a strong name for himself.
 
As for the best DivI player to come out of Maine, I'd have to concur
with MikeM that Eric Weinrich stands head and shoulders above anyone
else who has come out of the state.  Barry Clukey has a LONG way to go
to catch him.  Actually, after 5 years of watching them, I still rank
Jeff Libby ahead of Barry until Barry proves he can stay out of the
penalty box.
 
For anyone who is looking to see who the next player from Maine to make
an impact will be, I hope you're ready for a long wait because there
is no one right now.
 
Sunday night ESPN viewers got to see a former UMaine star pick up an
assist and score a spectacular goal for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
However, the player was not Paul Kariya, it was Bob Corkum, the Ducks'
leading scorer last season.  Before the Ducks sent half of the Sacco
Duo down to San Diego, their roster looked like a Hockey East All-Star
roster: Corkum, Kariya, both Saccos, Douris (UNH) and Sweeney (BC).
All they need is a HE goalie and they can have an all HE-starting lineup.
 
Thats all for this week.
 
John Forsyth
"Contact the White House now for your own copy of the Federal Budget:
only $98.00 plus shipping and handling!"