Some comments on the 44th NCAA DivI Championship Game:
I feel bad for people who could have watched this game but decided to
watch Duke-UNLV instead. I feel a little better for those people who
switched to ESPN after Duke-UNLV and at least caught the BU comeback
and the overtimes.
I also couldn't help but think: for all those people tuning into ESPN
across America and watching a college hockey game for the very first
time, what a brilliant introduction to the sport. This game had everything
you'd ever want to see in hockey. Powerful offenses, methodical power
plays, fantastic goaltending, pinpoint passing, crunching bodychecks,
clutch defensive plays, TWO huge comebacks, exciting overtime play, and a
ton of great individual efforts that combined into two superb team
performances.
I've only been watching the DivI championship game since 1985, so I have to
qualify this by saying that I did not see the famous BG-UMD 4ot match in
1984. That said, Saturday's game was the best championship game I have
ever seen, and very possibly the greatest college game I have ever seen.
It beats out Harvard-Minnesota in 1989, RPI-UMD in 1985 (just barely), and
Maine-Northeastern in 1988 for the HE championship, among others. It was
uncharacteristically high-scoring for a championship game, but it wasn't
like that ridiculous NHL All-Star Game last year. Both teams had such
great scorers that it wasn't possible to keep the score down when they
really wanted to put that puck in the net. I don't think it would have
been as high-scoring if BU hadn't jumped out to that early lead (causing
NMU to turn it on in the 2nd) or if NMU hadn't stormed back in the 2nd and
early 3rd (causing BU to turn it on in the 3rd).
I couldn't help but get that feeling of deja vu after the second overtime
ended. Four years ago, on another Easter Eve, I sat and watched the New
York Islanders beat Washington, 3-2, in the seventh game of their playoff
series - a seventh game that started at 7:30 and didn't end until after
2 am, halfway through the *fourth* overtime. If you thought Saturday's
game was long, imagine sitting through a game for six and a half hours!
I had to change tapes twice during the game. First after the third period,
then again after the second overtime. I had grabbed a tape with an hour
of tape left on it, thinking, "The way it's been going, it will definitely
be decided within the first two overtimes."
Not all of our mail has rolled in yet and I'm sure some people have already
given good descriptions of what happened. I also don't know that I can do
justice to what a fantastic game it was. On top of that, I started making
a few notes when the game started, and as it went on I wrote less and less
because I was so involved in the game. When BU tied it, I just wrote one
word: Sacco! I will admit that I began the game pulling for BU but still
hoping for a good match, and when they mounted their comeback I was
*really* pulling for them.
Still, I thought Northern was definitely the better team, and to that end,
justice was done in the form of the better team winning. Werenka was just
stupendous, the player of the game in my opinion with Beattie a close
second. Werenka made one great defensive play after another, and BU made
him work. Then he'd lead a rush into the BU zone. What a player. And
Beattie won a lot of big draws with his feet and was nearly unstoppable
all night. Congratulations to NMU and their fans, the Wildcats sure did
earn it!
Finally, congratulations to the Terriers for a great season and a great
effort. I don't know how much respect they had from Western people before
the game, but they had to have earned some just as NMU earned it from
Eastern folks. Probably just about everyone had them counted out with
eight minutes left. There's no loss of pride in losing a game like this,
and they can be disapppointed but still proud. BU will graduate goalie
John Bradley (a tough second period, but he was hung out to dry),
defensemen Phil von Stefenelli and Mark Krys, and forwards David Tomlinson,
Ed Ronan, Chris McCann. and Darin MacDonald. In addition, sophomores Tony
Amonte, Peter Ahola, and Petteri Koskimaki, junior Shawn McEachern, and
freshman Keith Tkachuk all have opportunities with the pros or with their
countries' Olympic Teams (Ahola and Koskimaki with Finland). That's a
loss of at least 7, maybe 12 players, with 10 or 11 players very likely to
be gone. I enjoyed watching this team over the past two years, except when
they were beating up on my poor Warriors. Who knows when, if ever, I may
actually root for BU again? :-)
What a game.
Charlie Shub writes:
> However, I'm still not convinced
>the Northern "non-goal" in the second period was not a goal.
I agree, the replays are no help and there is no sound so we can try to see
if the puck does go in before the whistle. So, I don't think we can easily
ascertain whether the wipeout was a good one or not. That's something
we'll probably never know. Werenka was clearly knocked into the net by an
opponent, but that wasn't the issue. If the referee decides that he blew
the whistle before the puck went in the net, then nothing else matters.
That's what I am assuming the officials' conference after the goal was
meant to determine.
Jim Baines writes:
>No overtime penalties? That's full-fledged baloney.
In a way I agree, and in a way I agree with the "let them play" school of
thought. I am glad the game was decided in a manner that can't be argued
(although, had BU won, Northern may have had a legitimate argument based
on the Werenka non-goal). Both teams committed an equal number of
uncalled infractions, from my viewpoint. But I also think the "don't
change the rules just because it's ot" view is valid. I'd like to say
there's a gray area here, but there isn't! Either you call the penalty
or you do not. I cannot honestly say that I agree wholeheartedly with
either side. I have problems with both.
NUMBERS
The 15 goals is the most scored in an NCAA championship game in 34 years.
In 1957, Colorado College beat Michigan, 13-6. 1991 was the third highest-
scoring championship; in 1950, CC beat BU, 13-4.
Northern's 8 goals are the most by an NCAA championship-winning team since
Michigan beat BC, 8-2, in 1965. BU's 7 goals are the most *ever* by a
runner-up.
The game time of 81:57 makes this the second-longest championship game, to
1984's 97:11 (Bowling Green 4, Minn-Duluth 3 in 4 ots).
Three of the first 36 championship games were decided in overtime. Three
of the last four championship games have been decided in overtime.
NMU's win gives the WCHA two straight national championships. The last
conference to do this was also the WCHA with North Dakota in 1982 and
Wisconsin in 1983. That ended a stretch of six straight national champion-
ships by the WCHA. The last conference other than the WCHA to win two
straight was the ECAC with BU in 1971 and 1972.
- mike
p.s. my string of predicting the national champ comes to an end. can't
come any closer, though...
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