Box scores at the end of this posting.
Congratulations to Maine and UNH for making the 1992 Hockey East Championship
Game after a couple of hard-fought victories. For Maine, it will be their
sixth straight trip to the championship game, while UNH makes its first. It
is also UNH's first trip to a conference championship game since the Wildcats
won the 1979 ECAC Championship, and it is only their third such championship
game ever.
MAINE-BC
Maine defeated BC, 7-3, but this game wasn't iced until the third period.
BC played an effective checking style and got a big goal from Callahan to
be down only 2-1 after one. Nicest goal of the game may have been Maine's
2nd when Cal Ingraham threaded the needle perfectly to send Hockey East
Player of the Year Scott Pellerin in all alone.
The Eagles continued to play effectively in their own end against Maine
through much of the second, and when Beran & Joyce scored goals 37 seconds
apart to suddenly give BC a 3-2 lead halfway through the game, the crowd
was stunned and thoughts of an upset were going through even Shawn Walsh's
mind. He said afterward that while LaGrand was making unbelievable saves
and BC was fighting its way to the lead, he was wondering if it was going
to be that kind of night. But his players remained calm and took advantage
of three straight BC penalties to score a PPG and then get another goal from
Pellerin to get their one-goal lead back entering the third.
Goals by Roy and Matt Martin before the three-minute mark of the third
proved to do the Eagles in, who couldn't afford to be down three to Maine.
Ingraham would add another late for the 7-3 final.
The game was Len Ceglarski's last behind the bench and it was nice to be in
the interview room after the game for Lenny's final postgame press conference.
He talked about how much he would miss everyone and how he was proud of the
way his team played at the end of the year. Next, Shawn Walsh opened his
postgame comments with a great tribute to Lenny, saying how he was happy
for his team's win but that the happiness was tempered by the sadness of
knowing it was Lenny's final game. He said it would be nice if a place
could be found for Len somewhere in the game because he's a great ambassador
for college hockey.
The player who got the most interest was undoubtedly Maine's Cal Ingraham.
Listed at 5'5" 158 lb (5'4" in the Maine guide), Ingraham, who transferred
to Maine this season from Air Force and has 15-29--44 in 35 games, walked
in the interview room and couldn't see over the heads of all the reporters. :-)
He followed teammate Scott Pellerin in, and Shawn introduced them by saying,
"This is Scott Pellerin...and I think you know who this is." :-) Shawn
talked about how late in the game Ingraham missed his shift and Maine had
only four players on the ice, and Shawn said that he told Cal it was ok,
they can't tell when he is out there anyway. :-)
I happened to run into my old HS coach at the game, his son plays for BC,
and we talked about some of the players including Ingraham because he
coached Ingraham, Roenick, Heinze, Ronan, etc. when they were young (Cal and
his brother Bob, now at Air Force, are both from nearby Georgetown, MA). I
didn't know this, but apparently Ingraham only got an offer from Air Force
out of high school! Nobody else thought he could play DivI. It turned out
that USAF wasn't for him, he came to Maine, and is now the most exciting
player in Hockey East. I love watching this guy play. Forget Maine's big
guns, their best line right now is Pellerin-Salfi-Ingraham.
The win was Maine's 30th of the year, their fifth straight campaign with
30 or more wins. And Shawn Walsh has never won a national coach of the year
trophy?
UNH-PC
As expected, this one turned out to be a great game. The difference was
that UNH's guns scored the goals and PC's did not. Credit Jeff Levy for
much of that; despite letting in two weak goals, he also made many more
brilliant saves that kept the Wildcats in front. Savo Mitrovic's two goals
were both huge, especially the second which gave the Wildcats a 4-2 lead
when he rifled a shot by Brad Mullahy from the right circle.
Though picking up a point each, PC's Gaudreau & Boback were otherwise held
off the board in a brilliant defensive effort by the Wildcats, who dove
for loose pucks like it was the NBA. Two of the Friars' other scorers who
were to be counted on, freshmen Chad Quenneville and Craig Darby, were silent,
maybe due to the pressure.
Best sign of the night came from the tiny PC side. After the wild Wildcat
fans would go crazy, a PC fan held up a sign that read,
"U
Need
Help"
But the story of the night was the return of the UNH faithful to the Garden.
Announced attendance was a surprisingly low 5,337 (it looked more like 7-8K),
and if that's right, then probably 4500 were UNH fans. They poured down
Route 95 and took the Garden by storm. Last year I selected the Cornell fans
as best fans of Hockeyfest, and I know most of the Cornell fans are already
on their way or in Boston, but you have a real battle on your hands this
year. When Mitrovic made it 4-2 with 3:38 left, the fans went crazy and would
not shut up. They were calmed a bit when Boback's goal brought PC within
one at 18:21, but 26 seconds later Amodeo iced it and the rafters of the old
building nearly came down. Good thing there weren't 15,000 UNH fans. :-)
Oh yeah, there was no fish, much to the disappointment of many. Something
tells me we will see it tomorrow, however, I have heard a nasty rumor that
there is a movement afoot to get rid of this tradition from within UNH.
Saturday's Championship Game between the two teams with possibly the best
fans in the league should be something. I can see 10,000 fans coming down
from NH and Maine to see this game, meaning a typically good ECAC turnout
might result in a sellout.
This year, Maine went 2-0-1 against UNH, thrashing the Wildcats 9-0 and 6-2
in Maine back in December and tying 4-4 at Lively Snively a few weeks ago.
HOCKEY EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: #2 UNH vs #1 Maine, 8 pm EST, Sat 3/14/92 (tv - NESN)
Thursday, March 12, 1992 at Boston Garden, Boston, MA
HOCKEY EAST SEMIFINAL
Boston College Eagles (14-18-3) 1 2 0 - 3
Maine Black Bears (30-3-2) 2 2 3 - 7
FIRST PERIOD UM-BC
1. UM1, Chris Imes 3 (Patrice Tardif, Cal Ingraham), 5:05. PPG 1-0
2. UM2, Scott Pellerin 31 (Ingraham), 7:42. 2-0
3. BC1, Jack Callahan 15 (Sal Manganaro), 8:40. 2-1
Penalty: BC, Cleary (interference) 3:58.
SECOND PERIOD
4. BC2, Marc Beran 22 (John Joyce, David Franzosa), 10:00. PPG 2-2
5. BC3, Joyce 9 (Jason Rathbone, Joe Cleary), 10:37. 2-3
6. UM3, Randy Olson 10 (Jim Montgomery, Matt Martin), 14:54. PPG 3-3
7. UM4, Pellerin 32 (Kent Salfi), 16:26. GWG 4-3
Penalties: UM, Imes (hooking) 7:37; UM, Martin (roughing) 8:17; BC, Hall
(cross-checking) 10:48; BC, Beran (delay of game) 12:24; BC, Moran (holding)
13:29; UM, Montgomery (hooking) 18:11.
THIRD PERIOD
8. UM5, Jean-Yves Roy 32 (Montgomery, Imes), 0:27. 5-3
9. UM6, Martin 4 (Olson, Ingraham), 2:22. PPG 6-3
10. UM7, Ingraham 15 (Martin Mercier), 17:43. 7-3
Penalties: BC, Pascucci (cross-checking) 0:27; UM, Weinrich (holding) 7:44;
BC, Canavan (high-sticking) 7:44; UM, Roy (interference) 11:29; BC, Cleary
(roughing) 11:48; UM, Ingraham (high-sticking) 15:18.
SHOTS ON GOAL: Boston College 9--7--8 = 24
Maine 11-14-14 = 39
GOALIES: BC, Scott LaGrand (11-16-2, 58:52, 39 sh-32 sv),
Josh Singewald (1:08, 0-0).
UM, Garth Snow (25-3-2, 60:00, 24-21).
POWER PLAYS: BC 1 of 5. Maine 3 of 6.
PENALTIES: BC 7/14. Maine 6/12.
REFEREE: Drew Taylor. LINESMEN: Bill Jones, John Melanson.
ATT: none given.
MIKE'S THREE STARS: 1. Cal Ingraham (1-3--4).
2. Scott Pellerin, Maine (2-0--2).
3. Scott LaGrand, BC (39 sh-32 sv).
Thursday, March 12, 1992 at Boston Garden, Boston, MA
HOCKEY EAST SEMIFINAL
Providence Friars (21-13-2) 0 2 1 - 3
New Hampshire Wildcats (22-11-2) 1 2 2 - 5
FIRST PERIOD UNH-PC
1. UNH1, Jesse Cooper 3 (Nick Poole), 18:26. 1-0
Penalties: UNH, Messina (interference) 4:39; PC, bench minor served by Breen
(too many men on ice) 9:32; PC, Kane (holding) 16:08; UNH, Malone
(interference) 19:48.
SECOND PERIOD
2. PC1, Brady Kramer 11 (Rob Gaudreau, Brian Ridolfi), 6:07. PPG 1-1
3. UNH2, Savo Mitrovic 14 (Domenic Amodeo), 7:55. PPG 2-1
4. PC2, Shaun Kane 11 (Ridolfi), 12:10. PPG 2-2
5. UNH3, Poole 2 (Rob Donovan), 12:47. 3-2
Penalties: UNH, Mitrovic (interference) 5:15; PC, Kane (interference) 6:34;
PC, Socha (holding) 8:29; UNH, Mitrovic (tripping) 8:53; UNH, Amodeo
(hooking) 11:17.
THIRD PERIOD
6. UNH4, Mitrovic 15 (unassisted), 16:22. SHG GWG 4-2
7. PC3, Mike Boback 24 (Chris Therien), 18:21. 4-3
8. UNH5, Amodeo 26 (Jim McGrath, Glenn Stewart), 18:47. 5-3
Penalty: UNH, Messina (interference) 14:39.
SHOTS ON GOAL: Providence 11-13-13 = 37
New Hampshire 13--7-11 = 31
GOALIES: PC, Brad Mullahy (11-9-2, 60:00, 31 sh-26 sv).
UNH, Jeff Levy (20-11-2, 60:00, 37-34).
POWER PLAYS: PC 2 of 6. UNH 1 of 4.
PENALTIES: PC 4/8. UNH 6/12.
REFEREE: John Gravallese. LINESMEN: Bob Fowkes, John Jones.
ATT: 5,337 (capacity 14,448).
MIKE'S THREE STARS: 1. Jeff Levy, UNH (37 sh-34 sv).
2. Savo Mitrovic, UNH (2-0--2, GWG).
3. Brian Ridolfi, PC (0-2--2).
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