Since Cabletron's outside link seems to be down this weekend, I am
using this account temporarily.
Heather and I decided to head down to Northeastern tonight to take in
the only DivI action in town this evening, and here is a short report.
Friday, November 25, 1994 at Matthews Arena, Boston, MA
NONCONFERENCE GAME
Denver Pioneers (6-5-0) 1 5 3 - 9
Northeastern Huskies (6-3-2) 2 1 1 - 4
FIRST PERIOD DU-NU
1. NU1, J.F. Aube 6 (Jordon Shields, Dan McGillis), 15:51. PPG 0-1
2. NU2, Justin Kearns 3 (Dan Lupo, Eric Petersen), 17:26. 0-2
3. DU1, Anders Bjork 3 (Mike Naylor), 17:59. 1-2
SECOND PERIOD
4. DU2, Chris Kenady 7 (Kelly Hollingshead, Jason Elders), 7:23. 2-2
5. DU3, Naylor 2 (Hollingshead, Craig McMillan), 9:44. PPG 3-2
6. DU4, Antti Laaksonen 2 (McMillan), 12:39. 4x4 4-2
7. DU5, Angelo Ricci 4 (Laaksonen, Petri Gunther), 13:35. PPG GWG 5-2
8. DU6, Elders 4 (Kenady), 14:38. 6-2
9. NU3, Scott Campbell 3 (Jason Melong, Lupo), 19:10. PPG 6-3
THIRD PERIOD
10. DU7, Elders 5 (Kenady, McMillan), 2:36. PPG 7-3
11. DU8, Bjork 4 (Sean Ortiz), 3:05. 8-3
12. DU9, Elders 6 (Naylor, McMillan), 4:29. PPG 9-3
13. NU4, Aube 7 (Shields, McGillis), 13:33. PPG 9-4
SHOTS ON GOAL: Denver 10-13-14 = 37
Northeastern 9--6--9 = 24
SAVES: DU, Jim Mullin (W, 4-2-0, 60:00, 24 sh-20 sv).
NU, Mike Veisor (L, 5-1-1, 34:38, 22 sh-26 sv),
Todd Reynolds (25:22, 15 sh-12 sv).
POWER PLAYS: DU 4 for 6. NU 3 for 10.
PENALTIES: DU 14/42. NU 9/21.
REFEREES: Bob Fowkes, Rich Fowkes. LINESMAN: Chuck Wynters.
ATTENDANCE: 1,101 (capacity 6,000).
THREE STARS: 1. LW Jason Elders, Denver (3-1--4).
2. D Craig McMillan, Denver (0-4--4).
3. LW Mike Naylor, Denver (1-2--3).
Trailing 2-0 late in the first, Denver scored the game's next six goals
to take a 6-3 lead after two and rolled to a 9-4 upset win over host
Northeastern in a nonconference game.
The Pioneers got goals from six different players in the outburst, with
five goals coming in a span of 7:15 midway through the second period.
Jason Elders added two more in the third for the hat trick. The line
of Elders-Angelo Ricci-Chris Kenady accounted for 5 goals and 3 assists
on the night.
For NU, goalie Mike Veisor suffered his first loss of the year and was
replaced by Todd Reynolds with 5:22 left in the second and Denver up 6-2.
The vaunted NU penalty kill, which entered the game as the best in
Hockey East, surrendered 4 goals on 6 chances including 2 in the second.
NU seemed to be in a good position to pull out its 7th win of the year,
with first period goals by J.F. Aube and Justin Kearns. Kearns' goal
was set up nicely by Dan Lupo, who took a feed at center ice, dodged
a defender at the blue line, and fed Kearns in front for the goal. But
the Huskies got caught napping in their own end just 33 seconds later,
when a strong forecheck allowed Mike Naylor to get the puck away from
a defenseman carrying out from behind the net, and Naylor fed Anders
Bjork in front for a bang-bang goal that made it 2-1.
The Huskies suffered a severe blow late in the period when their best
defenseman, Francois Bouchard, was hit from behind by Ricci along the
boards deep in the NU end. Ricci drew a major on the play, which I
did not see clearly - but Heather said she did not think it appeared
too bad except that Bouchard apparently had his head down and was not
ready for the hit. NU trainer Ben Miller came out to attend to
Bouchard, who initially crumpled to the ice and did not move. He was
helped off and did not return. Later, Ben told me that Bouchard had
suffered a slight concussion and was being held at the hospital overnight
for observation, and his status is uncertain. At first there was concern
that Bouchard may have suffered a broken clavicle and scapula, but all
Ben could say for certain was that x-rays would be taken and that
Bouchard had complained of shoulder difficulties. Hopefully he is
okay and will be able to return soon.
The NU defense collapsed without Bouchard available, and Denver was
quick to capitalize on mistake after mistake made by the home team.
Problems began early in the second when NU was on the man advantage
because of Ricci's major and took a bad too many men penalty with just
under two minutes remaining on the penalty, nullifying the rest of the
major.
When Kenady and Naylor scored to suddenly put DU up 3-2, midway through
the period, it signaled the beginning of several defensive breakdowns
by the Huskies. Three more goals followed within 2 minutes to make
it 6-2, and at that point NU coach Ben Smith called a timeout and Veisor
was replaced by Reynolds. Scott Campbell would score for NU to make it
6-3 late in the period, but the hole had already been dug, and it was deep.
Three more Denver goals came within a span of 1:53 early in the third,
and at that point all that remained was for the clock to be run out.
But the Huskies unfortunately allowed their frustrations to get the better
of them, and several players spent their entire shifts trying to take
a run at anyone wearing crimson and gold. Things came to a head at 9:25
after a shift on which several Huskies took vicious whacks at Ricci,
and NU's Dan Lupo and DU's Kenady were ejected for fighting. During
the altercation, NU goalie Todd Reynolds left his crease and skated
in to get in a few punches of his own, but all he received was an unusual
penalty for boarding (maybe this was supposed to be roughing). Reynolds
could have easily been assessed a minor for leaving the crease as well
as a DQ for fighting, but he escaped with just the minor for boarding.
To their credit, the Pioneers stood their ground but rarely retaliated or
instigated anything, especially not to the extent that the frustrated
Huskies did. I believe that Denver coach George Gwozdecky deserves
credit for this. Past DU teams I had seen about 6-7 years ago would
have only helped to make the situation worse, but Gwozdecky seemed to
have done a good job of keeping his players focused. Ricci was the target
of constant cheap shots, probably because of his hit on Bouchard, but
he seemed to keep his head in the game and not retaliate. Late in the game,
a DU player took a bad penalty and also incurred a misconduct and game
misconduct (according to the game summary; the shot chart did not show
the latter). Gwozdecky could be heard screaming across the ice to his
player, "Use your head!" He also leaned over to add a few private words
as the player was being led off the ice. This impressed me quite a bit
and may have helped prevent things from really getting out of hand.
Northeastern, simply put, did not look very good, either in the way they
failed to take care of things in their own end which contributed to
Denver building the insurmountable lead or in the way they allowed their
frustrations to get the better of them in the third. After a solid
first period defensively by NU, Denver was able to do almost anything it
wanted the rest of the way. NU seems to have a weakness in the area
of clean physical play, as was shown last weekend against Merrimack,
and with Denver being physical as well, it gave the Huskies more trouble.
Denver was impressive in the way they took advantage of everything they
were given in blowing the game open. Goaltender Jim Mullin was not
tested much when it counted, with Denver carrying the play the last
two periods, but he did help keep the score close in the first. It took
a while for DU to get going, but in the second period they looked like
a team that could play with anyone in the country. They have now posted
wins over two highly regarded teams, Colorado College and Northeastern.
Denver next takes on Boston College Saturday night at BC in the Pioneers'
second and final game on this Eastern swing. BC got an idea of what
they will be in for, as a number of Eagle players watched the game from
the balcony tonight. Northeastern will try to regroup with what is
bound to be a tough game against upstart Dartmouth, Sunday afternoon
at Matthews Arena at 2 pm.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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