The Brown Bears needed an overtime period to subdue the Moncton Blue
Eagles, 5-4, in an exhibition game played this afternoon at Meehan
Auditorium.  Senior forward Matt Kohansky, last season's leading scorer,
tallied a shorthanded goal on the last Brown rush of the game to propel
the Bears into the last week of their pre-season practice on a high
note.  Kohansky caught the Moncton squad in deep on their power play and
went coast-to-coast for the winning marker.  Senior forwards John
Petricig and Doug Janjevich, sophomore forward Keith Kirley, and
freshman defenseman Chris Busby also scored for Brown.  Each of the
three Bear goaltenders saw one period of action.

Next weekend, the start of the regular season:
On Friday, the ECAC campaign gets under way as Brown hosts the Harvard
Crimson in the 131st renewal of the oldest, continuing rivalry in
collegiate ice hockey.  And on Saturday evening, the Providence College
Friars visit Meehan Auditorium to face Brown in the 15th annual Mayor's
Cup Game.  The Bears are defending the Cup this year and have won the
trophy in four of the last five meetings.

This tough opening weekend should give an early indication of how much
success the Bears will have in making a significant move in the ECAC
playoff race.

Much will depend upon the performance of Brown's 2005 recruiting class
which includes 6 forwards and 3 defensemen.  The Bear's will need to get
some consistent scoring from this group.  Brown does return 2 junior
goaltenders in Tampa Bay Lightning draftee, Brian Eklund, and Graham
McNally.  In addition, highly-regarded Yann Danis joins the Bear squad
after finishing last season with the best goals against average in
Canadian Junior A hockey.  Moreover, all 6 defensemen from last season
return and, together with the 3 freshman blueliners, should comprise the
Bears' biggest strength.

But the Bears need to score more often and will need sophomores like
Edmonton Oiler draftee, Chris Legg, and Keith Kirley to use their year
of Division I experience to step up their goal production.

Without increased scoring, the Bears will once again place unreasonable
pressure on their talented goaltenders to help them remain in the thick
of the ultra-competitive ECAC.

Drop the puck!

Bill Corrigan

LET'S GO BRUNO!