Jim Baines writes:
>The Northeastern upset over BC is great news in the eyes of Maine fans.
 
    I'm amazed that you feel this way.  The Huskies led both games up at
    Maine this season before settling for a 6-6 tie and a 3-1 loss, and
    lost 9-3 at home.  Last year, Northeastern won and tied at home,
    lost a close one at Maine, and then lost 7-3 in the fourth game.
    Northeastern has an incredible (winning) record against Maine over the
    past five years or so, considering Maine's overall success.  Their home
    record against Maine is nearly unblemished since 1986-87, (sorry I
    don't have those numbers here right now), and the Garden is the
    same size as Northeastern's smaller home rink.  The last time
    the two teams met at the Garden, Northeastern stole the Hockey East
    Championship.  I have been following Hockey East closely since 1986-87,
    and one constant in the past five years has been that Northeastern
    always plays Maine tough.  Don't forget that Maine has not played
    in the Garden since December 1988, while Northeastern plays two
    games there each year in the Beanpot in addition to all the home games
    in a similarly-sized rink.
 
    I would be willing to bet that, should Maine defeat Lowell Saturday
    as they are favored to (can't be sure of anything this year in
    Hockey East), the one team Shawn Walsh does NOT want to meet in the
    next round is Northeastern.
 
>First of all, this give the Black Bears a clear shot at the #1 ranking
>in the East in the NCAA tourney.
 
    I really don't think it does.  If the committee's MO is the same as in
    recent years, a conference tourney game means no more than any other
    game during the regular season.  If you look at the posting I sent
    out yesterday, BC has the clear advantage over Maine in all categories,
    plus they won the head-to-head series.  The NCAA does not care that
    BC was upset in the first round of their playoffs because conference
    playoffs and the NCAA tourney are completely separate entities.  Likewise,
    it's nice and all that Northeastern upset BC; having spent three
    years at NU, I must admit my heart was in my throat in those final
    minutes, but still, that doesn't change the fact that Northeastern went
    7-24-2 over the rest of the season.  They MUST win the Hockey East
    Championship to go to the NCAA tournament.  It's crazy to even think
    about, isn't it?  A 10-24-2 team getting an automatic bid?  It could
    happen...
 
>But most importantly, the upset will give the Maine team something to
>think about.  Maine will look at Lowell a bit more seriously when the
>time comes for THEIR Hockey East quarterfinal game.  Lowell has already
>beaten Maine this year in the Alfond Arena, so you better bet than
>Maine will be ready for them!
 
    I agree with you.  As Kap and I were discussing, this win by NU both
    gives life to the two real underdogs left in Hockey East, Merrimack and
    Lowell, but it also serves notice on BU and Maine that the same thing
    could happen to them.  I doubt it, but still, it's a one-game winner-
    take-all series, and anythng can happen in one game.  I would add that
    if Merrimack were to beat BU tonight, that would definitely be a bigger
    upset than last night because BU has dominated the series forever.  In
    fact, it would be Merrimack's first non-forfeit win in the history of the
    world over BU.
 
 
    - mike