Doug Garn writes:
>Name is Doug Garn and I live in Sault Ste Marie, MI, home of the
>Lake Superior State Lakers.  I'm a self-confessed hockey fan (wife
>and kids say hockey nut).
 
Some would use the term, "Hockey Get-A-Lifer." :-)  (courtesy of Dave
Hendrickson)
 
>Our radio announcer Bill Crawford (I watched on tv & listened to the radio)
>was talking about the referee Shepard and is obvious dislike for the
>Lakers.  Anyone care to comment on his officiating of tonights game?
>I thought the official did a poor job of last nights game against Clarkson.
 
The crew was the same crew, from the WCHA headed by Shepherd, that did
the Clarkson-LSSU game.
 
There were some instances in the third period when I felt BU was being
allowed to take some liberties that could have been called.  That
might be what Crawford was referring to.  I don't know anything about
any animosity between Shepherd and LSSU.
 
We sat behind the LSSU radio team in the upper balcony of the Centrum
where the media was located.  Several times in the third, the LSSU
folks seemed rather distressed at the officiating.  They may have had
a case.
 
BTW, Jon Barkan, NC$$ Final Four party-thrower extraordinaire (prepare
yourselves, those of you coming to Providence - you've never seen
anything like this before), was on hand and did color with Crawford
for the LSSU broadcast tonight.  After the game ended, he looked over
at me and mouthed the words, "Awesome...simply awesome."
 
>The radio had on Blaine Lacher (our goalie last year and now playing for
>the Boston Bruins) for a interview.  He said that he had watched BU play
>5 times this year and he had never seen them play such a organized and
>defensive game as they had tonight.  Comments?  Did they play that much
>better then they had in regular season and league playoffs?
 
I don't know all of the other times Blaine saw BU, but he seems to
have forgotten the HE Championship Game pretty quickly. :-)  (He was
there for that one, perhaps to see Paul Pooley's Friars in their upset
attempt.)
 
Despite not being a BU fan, I have seen BU's last four games and six
of their last seven.  In each game, their defense was outstanding and
dictated the way they controlled the play.  Their strength has been
forcing teams to dump it in and then having the Ds get to it first and
quickly transition the breakout going the other way.  It keeps teams
on the run all game and it's awful tough to counter - you can't carry
into the zone, and when you try to dump and chase, you can't get to
the puck first.  And then you find yourself facing their powerful
forwards coming at you.  They'll be difficult to stop.  I don't think
this is the best BU team ever, but it may be the deepest.
 
BTW, once Blaine took a seat with his dad in the upper balcony, it
didn't take long for the word to spread that he was there.  The guy
has become a fan darling.  Kids kept running up to get his autograph
and soon security had to start controlling who went up there.  Heather
and I sat with DaveH and his 10-year-old son Ryan - a real hockey-savvy
kid who we often found ourselves discussing strategy with.  Ryan
deserves a pat on the back for the way he understood how difficult it
must have been for Blaine to go places now that he is a celebrity, as
Ryan waited patiently for the end of the period to ask Blaine to sign
his NC$$ program which featured a picture of last year's LSSU team,
and Blaine obliged.  A lot of kids seemed to have trouble realizing
that Blaine probably wanted to have some time just to enjoy the game
with his dad, but Ryan is obviously a kid with a good head on his
shoulders.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93