I have so far refrained from commenting on the BU-Maine OT game, mostly because
I am a Cornell fan and I don't care all that much.  However, I have kept up with
the posts and a couple things need to be mentioned from an entirely neutral
point of view.
 
 
1) What Coach Walsh has said:
 
Coach Walsh has specifically denied putting 5 players on the ice on purpose.
I refuse to believe he, or any coach, would actually LIE about this.  In my mind
this closes the incident.  (OTOH, I think this bit of caoching was a little bit
careless - a coach SHOULD know where his players are, particularly the ones on
the ice.  However, Coach Walsh has a National Championship, while my coaching
record is, and is likely to remain, 0-0-0)
 
 
2)  What others have been saying:
 
>From: Brian Zive <[log in to unmask]>
 
>The thing that tipped it off for me that proved (perhaps) that Walsh new
>what he did was his actions right after the buzzer sounded.
 
>Before his players even emptied the bench, he practically crawled over them
>to get on the ice and run across the rink to shake Parker's hand.  Usually
>it's a calm walk across the ice; Walsh bolted out of the Maine bench before
>his players ever got out of the bench.  His intent was to get on the ice
>as soon as possible and get to the dressing room before anyone realized what
>happened.
 
As Nero Wolfe might say: Pfui.  Balderdash.  Rubbish.
 
Maybe he was carried away by the excitement of the game.  Maybe he wanted to
congratulate Caoch Parker on some brilliant bit of coaching.  Maybe someone gave
him a hot foot.  You can say what you saw at the game and may believe what you
want, but to openly speculate on Coach Walsh's motives with evidence as weak as
this is silly.
 
>It was interesting that on Sunday night he didn't dare walk past the student
>section of the ice, where the opposing teams enters and exits.  He took
>the BU exit.
 
More rubbish.
 
>But, I also believe that Walsh has very little integrity.
 
A very serious accusation, quite out of place in a public posting.  Very
impolite, as well.  When Tony B., the BU Ogre, got a little carried away in the
heat of the moment after the game, it was a little more understandable, although
not acceptable.  You do not have the "heat of the moment" excuse (nor have you
apologized as Tony did).
 
As I said before, I think I am pretty impartial about this whole thing, since I
really don't care.  I can sympathize with BU fans.  It is always distressing to
lose (or, in this case, tie) a game, especially when something clearly unfair
happened.  However, let's try not to let this list degenerate to name-calling,
and keep the postings to facts and hockey impressions as much as possible.
 
Brian Frankie
CU  '91  '92
(And why, why is Cornell not ranked in the Top 10?  OK, I guess I know the
answer to that question.)