On Wed, 3 Jul 1996, Paul Gentile wrote:
> A little over two months before BU's Terriers face off against Minn.
> Looks like Minnesota will be 0-1 going into their big series with CC.
I wonder if anyone else feels this way. This should be quite a game, for
several reasons:
1) Last meetings
The last several times these two teams have met, it has been in pretty
important circumstances. The last meeting was a 7-3 BU win in the 1995
NCAA final four, propelling BU into the final and on the way to their
national championship. If anyone remembers the game, it was tied 3-3 going
into the third period, before BU, the better team, pulled away.
The time before that was in the same season, in the championship game of
the Mariucci Classic, Minnesota's tournament. The game was a 4-3 loss for
Minnesota, in OT, in a tightly contested game.
The previous meeting was a BU win, 4-1, in the NCAA final four the year
before that, which sent BU on to face, and get killed by, LSSU.
The two teams did not meet last year, thanks to Mike Legg and his pals.
It is clear there is a lot of bad blood between these teams, with BU
coming out on the top in recent years. To suppose it will be a cake walk
for BU seems illogical. But will Minnesota be able to get the monkey off
their back?
2) What they lost
Both Minnesota and BU should have reduced squads, after losing some
outstanding seniors. These two teams lost arguably the best two seniors
from last year in Minnesota's Brian Bonin, Hobey Baker award winner, and
BU's Jay Pandolfo, Hobey Baker runner-up. How they respond to these and
other losses will be interesting to see.
Of course, it is also a matter of what they gain. BU's flashy new
recruit is a defenseman, Tom Poti, which symbolizes, I think, a switch
from the high powered offense to a more defensive minded squad.
Conversely, Minnesota's top rookie is a pure sniper by the name of Dave
Spehar, one of the highest touted offensive players to come out of the
Minnesota state high school system. This, as well as the graduation of a
number of key defensemen, should signal a change from defense to offense.
This game could be a lot different than people expect.
3) 1st game of the season
Typically, BU is a team that starts slow (last year's 5-1 record
excepted). Minnesota has also started off slow in recent years (the 6-0
start two years ago notwithstanding). Both could be the result of tough
schedules, but they could also be a sign of teams that are still trying to
shake off the rust from a long summer. Which team shows up to play could
have quite an impact on the outcome.
The Hall of Fame Game kicks off a couple of long seasons for these squads.
For Minnesota in particular, it means the 34 game NCAA limit, two Alaska
exemptions, and this Hall of Fame Game, and we have 37 games during the
regular season, as well as at least two post-season games guaranteed (1st
round WCHA), meaning Minnesota has 39 games that they will play *other*
than any other post-season contests they make it to (a maximum of 6 more
games -- 2 WCHA and 4 NCAA).
As for the web page detailing NHL hockey depths, I wouldn't put too much
stock in it. Just perusing the list I saw a number of errors, including
misspellings of players names (i.e. Minnesota's Jay Moser listed as John
Moser), unannounced plyer moves (i.e. Minnesota's Crowley's rights going
from Philadelphia to Anaheim, the release of Minnesota's Dan Trebil by
New Jersey and subsequent pick up by Anaheim, the drafting of
Minnesota's Erik Rasmussen for Buffalo) and incorrect labeling of
player's teams (i.e. Ferris State's John Hillman listed as being with
Minnesota, his former team). Interesting to look at, but not
very scientific. The college players, by the way, seem to be listed
alphabetically at the bottom of each pro team's prospects.
-Lee-nerd
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"It is not written in the stars that I will always understand what is
going on - a truism that I often find damnably annoying."
-Robert Heinlein
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