Daniel Olsen wrote:
>
> The suspension of Owen, if it is indeed for half of the season, significantly
> hurts SLU's ability to contend in the ECAC.  In his years at SLU, Bracco has
> been inconsistent at best; I don't believe he gave up less than six goals in
> any of the Clarkson games that he has played in.  Owen, on the other hand, has
> been very impressive.  His record is misleading since he very often drew the
> goaltending assignment against SLU's tougher opponents.  With this loss, I
> cannot see SLU maintaining a spot in the top 6 in the ECAC.
 
First of all, the local paper said that it was a suspension for the first
semester of his play...I really havn't heard *anything* else to clarify
how many games this suspension will be for...the first semester could
mean until Dec. 17 (the last day of finals) or until Jan. 23 (when
students come back to campus)...
 
But beyond this point, I think that it is highly unlikely that one player
will cause such a drastic fall in SLU's play...I am the first to admit
that it *could* hurt SLU in a few key games, but down the stretch this
really should not signigicantly affect SLU's ranking...Bracco has proven
that he can hold his own against his opponents and actually last year he
excelled with a fabulous 12-3 recod...it is true that this is a bit
deceptive because many of those came against teams that finished in the
lower half of the league...I find it hard to believe that Bracco will do
much worse than this against those same teams this year...as well, he has
shown that he can beat upper echelon teams and should be competitive in
those situations as well...you are correct that he has been shelled by
Clarkson each time he has started, but I think that these were much more
a reflection of the team's play rather than simply Bracco's fault.
 
Bracco is a highly experience and dependable goalie in whom the team can
put all their confidence...Bracco, in the past, has been pushed to the
front or pulled to the back depending on single game performances and now
that he is the only starter for SLU, he will be able to work through his
slumps and find his own niche without worry of Owen having to "save
him"...I really think that this *could* be a blessing in disguise for SLU
but only time will tell...And as for his record against Clarkson, the
team seems to have gotten past the mid-ninties slump and I think that
Bracco will as well...Look for the streak to be extended to 3 in a row:)
 
Kevin Todd
SLU '96
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.