Hi Folks:
 
It was great to watch Maine Hockey again after almost a year
and it is still just as exciting!
 
I just got back from the game at The Palace. Michigan won the
game 6-3. Of course, when me and Vardu had arrived and decided
to park the car at the South side, only to find our seats were
in the North side, I knew we were in for a rough night :-).
 
I am sorry that I didnt get to meet any H-Lers out there
(though I think I saw John H. coming in...were you wearing a
Halco (sp?) jersey John?). I had had a very tiring day at work
and I did not really feel like getting up and walking around -
I just lay in my chair through both intermissions :>.
 
 
Game Thoughts:
 
Contrary to what the game score might indicate, I felt that
this was a victory for the Michigan defense more than their
offense. Their defense sprung the offense for their goals and
more importantly, throttled the Maine offense from scoring,
despite several good scoring chances - I think Maine ended up
with something like 35-22 SOG (very unofficial), and about
26-13 scoring chances (not sure again) - and Maine kept
coming in waves.
 
And while Turco played solid game, he was not the difference.
The D was.
 
Period 1:
 
Maine opened slow, but picked up speed and pretty soon were
playing the drop-the-puck-in-the-zone-and-keep-it-there game.
However, Michigan scored first, on a shot from near the blue
line to Allison's left - a shot which he could have and should
have stopped. he had clear sight of the shot but he let it
between his skates (keep your stick on the ice Blair :) ).
With only about a minute left, Maine would answer with a goal
on their own and the period ended in a 1-1 tie. Overall, I
thought both teams had justified the tie, though it appeared
to me that Maine looked a little more tired near the end.
 
 
Period 2:
Michigan opened the scoring again with yet another shot from
near the blue line that Allison let in. This one was more in
traffic though. Maine answered with a power play goal (the
first PPG in the game - I think it was 0 for 5 combined till
then). A tied game and it appeared to me that things were going
to go the same way in the game...wrong! Maine would lose its
wheels again - two times in a short span, the D was caught
napping (I cant find a better word for it, as the defensemen
were just standing around like zombies as the play developed
around them). The third goal was a beauty as whoever it was,
walked in on Allison and beat him clean with a very nice fake
and move. The fourth goal was pretty as well, as a wolverine
was left all by himself on Allison's right side and with a
neat pass, it was in.
 
Then came, the Goal-That-Almost-Was-But-Wasnt :
 
First came a shot on Turco to his left side; he deflected it
to the backboard from where it rebounded on to the same side;
a Maine player took a whack at it and it hit the post and
bounced right back in front of the net; Turco went sprawling
and tried to cover up; he probably thought he did, as he lay
sprawled (waiting for the whistle?); the puck however, had
eluded him and was lying right on the goal line; the Maine
player meanwhile was taking pokes at it trying to push it
in; then the ref blew the whistle, probably, because he had
lost sight of the puck and thought Turco was on top of it.
 
The interesting thing I thought was that had Turco realized
he did not have the puck and had made any attempts to get up,
he very likely would have pushed it in.
 
So period 2 ended with Michigan leading 4-2, and I was happy
it was not worse, since Maine was really slow again toward
the end of the period.
 
 
Period 3:
 
Now came the nail in the coffin - Maine went on a power play
and in a major lapse lost the puck to Michigan who would walk
in on a 2-on-1 and score a SHG. Very shortly thereafter,
Michigan scored a PPG to make it 6-2 and now I knew things were
getting tough for Maine :).
 
Then Maine beat Turco on a breakaway and had a nice shot from
his left, but the puck hit the post and stayed out - now, I knew
things were getting really tough :>.
I told Vardu that perhaps it was the payback for Brendan Morrison
hitting the post in the first OT of last year's semi's...perhaps
not :-).
 
The referees however had come alive in this period and ended up
creating a 5-on-3 PP for Maine for 1:53 mins. So, Maine got its
3rd goal of the night. Then with 23 seconds left on the second
penalty Maine got another 5-on-3 and then a 5-on-4 for 51 seconds.
This was it for Maine, if they had any shot at coming back in
this game, but they failed to convert (the Mich D was still
playing big).
 
So, the game ended at 6-3. Again, I think the Mich D played a
superior game. Their offense is still there and I think they are
going to only get tougher.
 
 
For Maine, the offense is good; but, I have concerns about the D.
As the old adage goes, the D is more important than the O to
win championships - perhaps Maine is missing the leadership of a
Chris Imes (they did seem lost at times) there. I think that Tory
needs to pick up the mantle that Imes left behind. If they learn
quickly from this, they should be going places again.
 
All in all, a well played game of hockey and I am glad to see that
the excitement is still there. There was indeed a moment of silence
requested at the beginning of the game for Travis Roy. Definitely,
a good jesture.
 
 
One thing that bothered me (even more than the outcome of the game!),
was that the local radio station that was giving out the three
stars of the game gave them all to Michigan. Now, I know that there
is no need to always give one to the losing team, but in this game
I didnt think it was that difficult to give one to Maine. Oh well.
It just made me feel a little bad at the end of a good, well fought
game.
 
 
Cheers
Venky [who is hoping to catch more college hockey now that he has
       begun but hoping that there are no more blasted Thursday
       night games!]
 
PS: To anyone else who saw the game - did Red really try to pull
    Turco in the last few minutes of the game for a 6th player?
    With the puck deep in the Maine zone, it appeared to me that
    that is what he was trying to do. Surprising, if it was,
    considering the score and the time left.
 
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