Heather and I were at RPI Friday night for one of the biggest upsets
of the young season (Merrimack 4-2), although we got there VERY late
(just before game time).  We were hoping to run into a few list folks,
but the combination of our late arrival and having lost the seat locations
of some people :-( meant we didn't run into anyone.  Next time...
 
Anyway, I have a few thoughts to add to what Jayson Moy, Dave Josselyn,
etc. have said.  (Dave, btw, used to cover the Warriors as sports
editor for the Argus, Merrimack's school paper, and is now working on
a master's in journalism at Syracuse...so he's not jumping on the
bandwagon just because of the 3-0 start. :-))  Most of the comments I
have seen so far have been right on the mark.
 
* Merrimack's third goal, the one by Naylor that was disputed, did
go in.  I couldn't tell from where we were in the press box at the
time, but Heather and I stayed in Albany this weekend so we got to see
the highlights on all three local newscasts.  (It led all 3 sports
reports.)  One station had a shot from right behind the net and it
did show the puck going in.  I heard some grumbling from RPI folks
after the game about this goal so I was curious to see it...plus, I
overheard someone suggesting that even Merrimack thought it wasn't in
because "they kept playing".  However, the tv highlight showed Naylor
raising his arms and celebrating right after the shot, and at the same
time the referee who was right there signaled the goal.  That goal made
it 3-0 in the second.
 
* By the time Merrimack broke the scoreless tie halfway through the
second, the Warriors had already clearly become confident that they
could win the game.  The first goal by Goble served both to shock RPI
(but not the way they would have liked) and to fire up MC.  Thus
followed the goals by Mailhiot and Naylor, all three within 31
seconds, and suddenly it had gone from 0-0 to 3-0.  I think this was
further evidence of what I posted last week: that if any teams fall
asleep at any point during the game, this team *will* take advantage
of it.  We've seen it happen in every game so far.  This is also the
new Merrimack record for fastest three goals.
 
* After the second, some of the Merrimack freshmen who didn't know a
thing about RPI or the polls were joking as they headed into the
locker room.  Junior D Dan Hodge quickly went in to straighten them
out.  Leadership like this will be a key throughout the season.
 
* Merrimack's Jim Gibson received a DQ for spearing late in the first
period.  At the time, we thought that perhaps the ref who made the
call had been fooled by Askew's apparent act (some RPI folks in the
press box said as much).  But video showed that the penalty was
committed and the call was correct.  Gibson also missed the Army game
on Sunday...if the act had occurred in a Hockey East game, he would
also have missed this Friday's game.
 
* RPI went 0 for 7 on the power play.  That includes a minute and a
half of a 5x3 early in the third, and two minutes of Gibson's major in
the second.
 
* I feel bad for the RPI team.  The Capital District media have already
awarded them the 1994 national championship.  Heather and I were
amazed at how the papers and tv called this game a tuneup, a warmup,
etc.  The 11:00 sports reports were like a funeral (and of course
Merrimack took a few more knocks as being unworthy of being on the
same ice), and the same went for the three papers the next day.
Examples:
 
* Laura Vecsey in the Times Union: "Maybe, just maybe, after the
Engineers' opening night flop against Merrimack - a team deemed the
worst in Hockey East in yet another pre-season poll - there's already
a wrinkle of anxiety amongst the Engineers....the Engineers have been
ranked in the top five of every preseason poll in the country...`We're
going to have a good club,' Powers said.  `We're going to win games.'
That's what everybody says."
 
* Scott Goldman in the Troy Record: "This was supposed to be just a
walk in the park to notch the first of many victories in this season
of high hopes.  A 6-1 triumph, perhaps, with Houston Field House
rocking and rolling, and everyone all smiles at night's end...Perhaps
this loss really did snap RPI back into the real world, away from the
dreams of St Paul, Minn., and playing for the national championship."
 
BTW, I brought extra copies of the papers back to the folks at Merrimack.
Sometimes it helps to realize that even when you do pull off a win
like this, you still don't get any respect.
 
Meanwhile, we have the following quotes from RPI, also from the
papers.
 
* Head Coach Buddy Powers: "Merrimack did a great job of eliminating
us from second chances...A lot of times there were pucks loose in
front of the net and we didn't get to them."
 
* Powers on whether RPI took Merrimack lightly: "These guys were as
juiced up as I've ever seen them before a game.  We went out there and
played hard, but Merrimack played hard too.  They didn't take a step
backward to us."
 
* Kelly Askew: "They were moving guys away from the net and taking the
body.  We just didn't adapt to that quickly enough."
 
Let's be honest.  RPI knew this was going to be a tough game.
Merrimack has always played RPI close, going back to a near-upset in
1985 that almost brought the unbeaten streak to a grinding halt,
continuing through a 2-0 Jim Hrivnak shutout in the RPI Invitational a
few years ago, and the 3-3 tie last season when then MC G Dan Millar and
RPI G Neil Little could have swapped places with the same result.
 
But Buddy and his players have to endure this from the local press.
"How could you lose to MERRIMACK!?"  "Wasn't this supposed to be a
tuneup?"  And so on.  And then they write about how RPI only lost
because they took Merrimack lightly (Buddy says that's not the case),
or that if they'd only capitalized on their chances they'd have won.
Nowhere except in the Buddy and Askew quotes is there even a hint to
the fact that Merrimack's defense (which everyone reading this knows is
good because I have been telling you) played a huge part in the win by
running over the smaller RPI forwards, knocking them out of the slot,
banging the rebounds away, forcing most of the RPI shots to come from the
outside, etc.
 
MC G Martin Legault played very well, sure, but the goal this year is
to 1) have a goaltender who will stop the initial shot, and 2) have a
defense that will clear the rebounds.  Legault was criticized in several
articles because of the rebounds - the Schenectady Gazette said he "gave
up more rebounds than a tight basketball rim" - but he also stopped the
first shots that Little didn't.  And the save he made with 41 seconds left
on Askew to keep it a 1-goal game was said to be Askew's fault for not
holding the puck long enough to pick his spot.  Hmm...they don't shoot
enough...but then when they shoot quickly (before they get run over),
they still get criticized.
 
BTW, I have seen no mention of this *anywhere*...but Legault wears his
glove on his right hand, not his left.  If he is a "normal" goalie,
Askew scores to tie it on that shot because high to the stick side is
just about the hardest shot to stop.  Whether Askew shot where he did
because of reflex (shooting on a "normal" goalie in practice and in
most games), I do not know.
 
Anyway, I thought it was very clear that while RPI expected and got a
good game from Merrimack, the press refused to accept that as a reason
for the loss and is probably going to keep hounding them about it.
And that's too bad.  Buddy is right, they WILL win their share of
games.  But the intangibles, like the pressure they are facing (and
how they deal with it), will have a lot to do with how far they go.
It sometimes makes me glad that Merrimack gets as little press as they
do. :-)  (I think SID Jim Seavey had to write the game story for the local
paper!)
 
I'm sure RPI will have a pretty good season.  I'm not so sure yet that
they can win the national championship.  The defense and goaltending
are there, but as has been discussed here so many times, they need a
player or group of players to step up as the go-to guys when they need
a goal.  You can't win a national championship without scoring.  For
all the shots on goal RPI had against Merrimack, far too many were
half-hearted or just shots from the blue line that Legault saw all the
way.  And the ones that were good attempts were stopped - but RPI will
have to expect that they are going to run into hot goalies.  I've seen
situations where a guy (like Askew? he has the potential) will step up
and get it done, carrying the team with one big goal after another.
But I'd say right now, the book is out.  Good luck to the Engineers
and please try not to read the papers.
 
I see from Wayne's post of the WMEB poll (thanks, Wayne) that
Merrimack gets 2 votes this week.  Holy cow, as Phil Rizzuto would
say.  I think that's the first time since 1988-89, but I'm not sure.
I also think it's silly and is clearly on the basis of the 3-0 record.
There is potential, but this team still has a lot to show me.  We've
seen good goaltending (great at times), solid defense (usually), and
goal-scoring from players who needed to score this season (Adams,
Atkinson, Naylor).  But there's a long way to go, and I don't know how
long it will hold up, especially when we get into the league schedule.
Still, it's nice after the last four years to have people excited about
Merrimack hockey again.  Merrimack will surprise some more teams
before this season is through.
 
I see John posted my prediction of the game.  I did believe there was
the potential for this to happen, and I don't always feel that way.
But I'm sure you all realize I had nothing to lose, either.  If RPI
wins, then forget the pick, they were supposed to.  If Merrimack wins,
then hey, Mike called it! :-)  Just don't start taking out mortgages
on the house to bet on my selections...although, I think the only
other prediction I've made is that Merrimack will not finish last in
HE, and that's one I am confident of.
---                                                                  ---
Mike Machnik                                           [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                   *HMN* 11/13/93
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