At 10:17 PM 3/11/96, Chris Craig wrote:
>Andrew Brecher <[log in to unmask]> writes:
>>This is to anyone who was at the women's final...I'm really curious now, was
>>the hockey playing still solid through all the overtimes or were they all
>>dead on their skates?
>
>I wasn't there, but I did watch the last couple of overtime periods on
>tape-delay.  There were a lot of tie-ups on the boards, and the
>goaltenders were very quick to freeze the puck at almost every opportunity.
>I'd say they were certainly a little slower than usual, but when the heat was
>on, they picked it up a notch.
 
The 3rd through 5th overtimes were rather slow.  That's to be expected,
however.  By that time, teams are more worried about giving up the GWG than
scoring it.  Play good defense and stop play whenever you can, and wait for
a chance.  That chance seemed to have come a few times, but only Fisher
could capitalize on it.
 
Richard Hungerford noted that the first two periods were slow and that the
pace didn't pick up until the third.  I agree; I thought this was because
PC deliberately tried to slow it down (quite a feat on the big ice
surface), knowing that UNH was deeper and more talented.  After all, UNH
had blown out PC in one other game on that surface, 11-3 (1/13/96).  This
game could have been over early if not for Meghan Smith and the PC defense.
 
Also, PC skated only two lines and two sets of defense all game.  The
Friars only have four defensemen listed on their roster and ten forwards
(six played).  UNH has six Ds and 16 Fs (not sure how many played, probably
not all).
 
Both teams had stretches of dominating play in the third.  There was a lot
of up and down action, and this carried over into most of the first two
overtimes.
 
>In particular, Brandy Fisher scored the
>winning goal by doing what every hockey coach preaches -- skating hard to the
>net.  When she crossed the blue line, she was two strides behind the PC
>defender who was covering her.  But she continued to
>drive hard to the net and got around the PC player to get into position to
>get the rebound.  If anyone gets the chance to watch the replay, watch how
>she never stopped moving her legs, even as she took the shot.  I've seen a
>lot of UNH men put in a lot less effort than that...
 
Exactly my thought - although it was not UNH I was thinking of. :-)  On a
play like this, PC's lack of depth really hurt.  The player she beat was
Catherine Hanson, a D who I really liked and who played pretty well.  She
just could not get close enough in time to contain Fisher for the rebound,
and Fisher roofed it on a shot that Smith had little chance of stopping
after having made the first save.  Tough to blame Hanson since she had
probably seen about 90 minutes of ice time or more on the night!  Ray
Bourque, my foot. :-)
 
After this game, I could definitely appreciate Richard's women's
commentaries more. :-)  I could visualize the players he talked about and
found myself nodding in agreement.  Clearly he does a fine job and deserves
a pat on the back for a job well done in promoting the women's game on
here!
 
I can't help but add a few more thoughts:
 
* First, major kudos to WNDS-50 (Derry, NH) for running the game in its
entirety on delayed broadcast - including all five overtimes.  They just
cut out the intermissions starting with the end of regulation.  It took 4
1/2 hours to show a 5 1/2 hour game and the broadcast lasted from 8 pm to
12:30 am, running over the time slot by an hour and a half.  And they
pre-empted paid infomercial programming, too - not Baywatch or whatever.
(nothing against DaveH and other Baywatch fans)
 
* If you could get by the less than stellar WNDS cameras (nowhere near the
quality of WABU or NESN) and the color work of Bob Gamere, then it was
great that WNDS broadcast this game.  Gamere had the best line of the
night, though, during the third overtime (I think): "These women are
getting more tv time than Steve Forbes!"
 
* I am told that ESPN showed the highlight of the GWG.  This may be the
first time that women's college hockey in the US has ever made it onto
ESPN.
 
* The game started at 2 pm and ended at 7:30.  If there had been a third
game in the NU-Lowell men's Hockey East series (7:00 start in Lowell, over
an hour away), I had planned to go to it...but I would have had to miss it,
because I sure wasn't going to leave this game.
 
* Dave Reusch wrote:
>Our very own Mike and Heather Machnik also became the proud owners
>of one of the gift certificates raffled today.  Way to go Mike!
 
Yes, this was a surprise.  I guess anyone listening to the PA had to know
we were there.  Credit Heather, she fills out anything and everything that
gives you a free chance to win something.  Lost the 50-50, though - what
else is new.
 
* Believe it or not, several penalties were called in OT - about 4 on PC
and 2-3 on UNH.  All were killed, including a major for slashing after the
whistle to PC's Hanson late in the fourth OT that carried over to the fifth
OT.  (Slap Shot fans will undoubtedly draw a name connection, but it isn't
fair. :-))  Most of the calls were good penalties as either team foiled a
good scoring attempt by the other.  But one or two left me shaking my head,
as the referees had established that they were not going to call anything
(no calls in the third and in the 1st & 2nd OTs) and then made incidental
calls away from the play.  Fortunately they did not decide the game.
 
* Both teams had players of the star variety.  Laurie Baker and Alison
Wheeler of PC were marvelous and so were Carisa Zaban and Annie Camins of
UNH.  Camins has the ability to turn it up a notch when she gets the puck
and make it tough for the defenders to stay with her.  And Zaban is a
crafty forward who leads UNH in scoring.  She and Baker are only freshman
and lead their teams in scoring - wow.
 
* Both teams also had excellent defensemen.  I mentioned PC's Hanson, but
her partner, Alana Blahoski, also caught my eye with her two-way play.
UNH's Heather Reinke, who assisted on the winner after starting the play,
often stepped up into the offense.  Although the women's game purports to
not allow checking, the physical play is still very important...as Blahoski
showed by boxing out in front of the net on the penalty kill and not
allowing UNH forwards near rebounds.
 
* Both goalies were spectacular and earned their spots as co-goalies on the
All Tourney Team.  PC's Meghan Smith stopped 57 of 60 shots and did not
allow a goal for about 100 minutes through the third period and overtimes.
Many of those saves were huge, including one when a UNH forward broke
through the defense and nearly ended it with two seconds left in the third
or fourth OT.  And UNH's Dina Solimini faced numerous stretches where PC
carried the play and threatened to win it, ending with 40-plus saves
herself.  She was quick to cover the puck when she had to and didn't leave
many rebounds.
 
* Thirty seconds before the game winning goal, I finally said out loud what
I had been thinking for a while: "It doesn't look like this game is going
to end for a long time."  I should have known better.
 
* Finally, a thought from someone who has spent a lot of time watching the
men's game and very little watching the women's game.  Back in 1987 or so,
former NU men's scoring leader Rod Isbister was an assistant coach for the
NU women's team.  He told me that it is so much easier coaching women then
men because "they do what you ask them to, and they don't have ego problems
like the guys do."  That was very evident in this game and it made the game
enjoyable to watch.  There were no confrontations after the whistle, the
positional play was superb, and the role players were as important as the
stars.  And everyone gave everything they had until the end.  I can think
of a few men's players who could stand to watch this game and learn
something.
 
UNH won the game, but there were no losers.  Women's hockey was the big
winner.  There were a lot of great playoff games in men's DivI-II-III
hockey this weekend, but the women unquestionably stole the show.  Dick
Lutsk closed the WNDS broadcast by saying, "Years from now, 50,000 people
will say they were here," and he may be right.  But the thousand or so fans
and the two teams were involved in something they will never forget.  I
consider myself lucky and privileged to have been there, and I cannot say
that about more than a handful of men's games I have seen.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
>> Co-owner of the College Hockey Lists at University of Maine System  <<
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