Well, I've finally shaken off the nasty cold I picked up in Boston, and
have a pot pourri of thoughts/comments on HockeyFest and recent posts to the
'net.  I'll not belabor the excellent game summaries/comments by Mike M. and
Chris C., but for those of you in the West who have yet to face the Maine
juggernaut, read on -
 
Mike writes:
>A hooking penalty to Jean-Yves Roy at 8:06 of the second proved to backfire
>for UNH.  The Black Bears' Tony Link blocked a shot and Kent Salfi went in
>alone for a shorthanded goal that made the score 3-1, and with the way UNH
>was having trouble getting shots off, that made for an uphill battle that the
>Wildcats wouldn't be able to win.
 
   Mike and Chris have both commented on the uphill battle any Maine opponent
faces in trying to find a way to beat this team.  Apart from their tremendous
4-line offensive talent, my lasting impression of this game is how smoothly
the Black Bears alternate between offense/defense - their own end/center ice
play was magnificent, and all the more impressive when you consider it was
executed on the small Garden ice.  If you're going to dump-and-chase as UNH
tried to do, your forwards have to at least have a good chance at beating the
opposition defense to the puck in the corners. It rarely happened - the Maine
forwards would harass the off-puck 'Cat forwards at center ice, then switch
off to the trailing UNH defensemen who were intent on following the play into
the attacking zone.  All that bumping at center ice gave the Maine defense a
momentary man advantage in the Maine end, which usually resulted in a quick
outlet pass to a bump-and-run Maine forward in the neutral zone.  Boom, the
UNH defense was back on its heels often before it got to the red line, and
the next wave of Maine attackers was swooping into the Wildcat zone.  It was
scary to watch as a UNH fan, a thing of beauty to all the Maine supporters.
Even if you do manage to break free from the corners in the attacking zone
and can bring your defense into play at the points, the back-checking Maine
forwards jump all over sloppy puck-handling, and the offense is off and
skating back up-ice in a twinkling.  All we UNH fans could do was shake our
heads ....
 
>Knowing that defense wins you championships, Shawn Walsh has apparently made
>sure his team doesn't neglect this, and the No-Name Defense has played
>extremely well lately despite supposedly being Maine's Achilles' Heel.
 
   They'll not be unknown for long if Maine's stellar play continues ....
 
>Salfi added another at 12:29 to make it 4-1.  The replay doesn't show it
>clearly, but Salfi was offside on the play - I thought so and several other
>people agreed, although it didn't make a difference in the result.
 
   Yes, we thought it was off-sides as well, but it hardly mattered - it
was going to take more than UNH could muster to beat Maine, and two goals
was as much a mountain as three ....
 
>I've been wary of proclaiming them national champions, but especially after
>tonight, they sure do look unbeatable and anyone else who saw this game will
>probably agree.
 
   For one reason or another we ended up sitting in "Coaches Corner" for this
game: retired BC coach L. Ceglarski sat just to our left and entertained a
steady stream of well-wishers and autograph seekers; Harvard coach Tomassini
(sp ??) sat just to our right, and spent most of the game discussing strategy
with his young son/nephew; and Merrimack coach R. Anderson was sitting with
his wife directly in front of us.  Once the game had ended and we all stood
and watched the Maine celebration unfolding on the ice, I leaned forward and
politely tapped Anderson on the shoulder. "Well Coach, what's it gonna take
to beat this team ??" I asked with a smile.  He just turned to me with a
wry grin and replied: "You shouldn't be too disappointed that you lost to-
night.  We haven't seen a team like that in a long time, and there probably
won't be another for quite a while.  Be glad that you the chance to see them
play."  Maine's now only one game from Albany and the showcase of the Phinal
Phour - be there, or miss *your* chance to see probably the finest Eastern
collegiate team since the 1985 RPI NC$$ Champions, and the BU back-to-back
NC$$ Finalists in the early 1970s.
 
  So, now it's on to the NC$$ play-offs.  Mike, Keith, Robin, et al. have
trotted out a ream of statistics supporting one position or another re: which
teams and in what order they should be seeded for the regional tournament. As
much as I support the *idea* of a quantitative, bean-counter approach to the
thorny issue of how best to "rank" the various teams, I still think there's
room for some subjective evaluation of a team's recent performance.  The
NC$$ Committee may not admit it, but I suspect there's more than a little
opinionated second-guessing going on behind closed doors.  And what's being
talked about ??  Read on .....
 
         The 1992 Road to the Phinal Phour (DivI Hockey Division)
         --------------------------------------------------------
 
(1) The Cynical View:
--------------------
 
   Play like squat the last month of the season (2-2-2) following the Bean-
pot, then squeak into the last remaining HE home-ice berth on the last day of
the regular season by rallying at home in the third period to beat the con-
ference's last place team, a team that had beaten you exactly *once* in all
your recorded meetings.  Next, lose in the HE quarterfinals at home in a
record-shattering brawl-fest vs. a team you hadn't beaten all season, winding
up 0-3-1 vs. HE's sub-0.500 fifth-place finisher.  Your reward for this
stunning display of hockey prowess and sportsmanship is (in all likelihood)
to get the #3 Eastern seed, meaning you get to face the #6 West seed and
(with a victory) the opportunity to advance to Albany and the Phinal Phour
by avoiding #1 Maine, a team peaking for the play-offs (13-0-2) that you
haven't played since January.  The fact that your coach is on the NC$$
selection/seeding committee (along with the Cornell AD among 3 others) - and
probably helped slide Cornell in over Harvard/St. Lawrence last year - is
just coincidence, and won't make any difference when the match-ups are
decided *this* year.  It's a perfect world we live in ..... GO SLU !!!
 
(2) The Chin-up View:
--------------------
 
   Play with poise and determination down the stretch (6-2-2), and wrap-up
second place in HE, your highest finish ever since HE was founded.  Play
tentatively against the seventh-place finisher at home in the quarterfinals,
but ultimately prevail on the strength of a 50 save performance by your
All-American goal-keeper.  Advance to Boston Garden for the first time in
9 years, and avenge 3 regular season losses to your long-time nemesis with
a thrilling 6-4 victory in the HE semi-finals.  Playing in a conference
championship for the first time in 13 years, you give #1 Maine a game for
two periods or so, ultimately losing 4-1 (the last goal unquestionably off-
sides, though not a factor in the outcome).  Your reward is to graciously
accept a NC$$ bid of any kind - your first since 1983 - and (in all likeli-
hood) be seeded East #4 behind a deserving SLU squad at E#2 and the @#$?%$#@
team mentioned above. I had no illusions we deserved a first round bye, and
in fact am mighty pleased how this year's senior-led squad improved from
7-20-3 the year they were being recruited, to 17-17-5 their sophomore season,
to 22 victory campaigns the last two years.  So bring on a worthy opponent
in Providence, and hopefully we'll get another crack at Maine next weekend.
Maine *deserves* to represent the East in Albany, but I'll not complain if
some miracle occurs and UNH can sweep two games at the Civic Center :-)
 
					Cheers from the Chesapeake - Jim