Maine-OSU
        Good speed shown by both teams and good job of officiating -- including
excellent use of video replay to call back a Maine goal (which was a very
impressive midair tip however you look at it). Steve Kariya played an
outstanding game, I wonder if it will help his Hobey chances. Lots of great
movement away from the puck, good job helping to control play all over the ice.
        It never felt like OSU ever posed a threat to Maine. Power plays were
relatively harmless, a combination of the Buckeyes not being either
organized or quick enough and aggressive penalty killing by the Black Bears.
        Defensively OSU's biggest difficulty was in keeping Maine players away
from the front of the goal -- all four Maine tallies came within a few feet
of Maund, making it quite difficult to show the heroics we come to expect.
The best way to describe OSU's loss would really be in basketball terms:
they gave up too many offensive rebounds simply because they never boxed out.
        They may play well enough in the CCHA to get themselves into the
tournament these two years, but I'm still waiting for better NC showings
from the Buckeyes.
 
 
Michigan-DU
        The only thing that surprised me about this game was the attendance -- and
people thought this game would be empty! The centrum looked pretty darn
full to me.
        Michigan has always found a way to win these games, this was only one more
example. On the flipside I've always felt that Denver was really not as
good as their record implied, 9-game winning streak and defeat of NoDak
notwithstanding.
        The interesting thing about this game was that Denver beat the living crap
out of Michigan for almost 30 minutes, while giving up size and physical
presence at the same time. I've seen Denver get tossed around by a bunch of
other teams this year. In the timeout my guess is that Red told the
wolverines "you're bigger, faster, and you're losing."
        At the same time the Wolverines woke up, the Pioneers simply stopped
skating. They looked tired and careless, and wouldn't play the game safe.
Even against a team like Michigan it's not too hard to circle the wagons
and focus on the task at hand -- protecting a 3 goal lead.
        To allow Michigan to storm back and tie the game is one thing; to allow 2
more goals is pathetic.
        Credit to Red for keeping his team focused on the game, and a big pointing
finger to Gwozdecky for not keeping his team in the game. My big question
is: did I miss Gwozdecky calling a timeout for his team? Coach George
should have probably called for one when the game was knotted at 3, and
definitely should have used it once the Pioneers fell behind.
 
 
 
greenie
 
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