Luiz Valente writes:
 
>As I expected, Frank Cole called an
>excellent game. He was able to control the chippiness that often dominates
>Brown/Princeton contests, and prevented Princeton from playing its usual
>clutch-and-grab game by calling holding penalties against the Tigers
>early and often ...
 
Not to nitpick, but the penalties in the first period were as follows:
 
0614 B Hoiness (Cross-checking)
1148 B Mooney (roughing) (and a brutal call at that)
1319 P Masters (hooking)
1659 B Flynn (hooking)
 
In the second (in part):
 
0043 P Bertoli (holding)
0319 B A. Smith (hooking)
0602 P J. Smith (tripping)
 
From here out, they were all aggressive penalties (unsportsmanlike
conduct, roughing, boarding, high-sticking, cross-checking, fighting).
 
Grand total, Brown two restraining fouls and Princeton three. The Jason
Smith trip was a diving effort to knock the puck off the stick of a Brown
forward who was about to go in alone - Smith got the puck (and feet), so
it was a borderline call. I agree that Cole and Drew Taylor called a good
game; they usually do -- but the relative lack of chippy play (and it was
still a pretty chippy game) was probably due to the fact that it was a one
goal game throughout.
 
>Coach Cahoon once again had the glass to the side of
>the Princeton bench covered in an attempt to block the view of fans who
>tried to sit in that area. It didn't matter as attendance was a dismal
>1,000, and there were plenty of empty seats. As the final score proved,
>gamesmanship only carries your team so far ...
 
This misrepresents coach Cahoon's intent. He didn't do it to block anyone's
view of the game; he did it to prevent the 'rowdy students' (in the words
of Charles W) from attempting to distract players and staff on the bench.
The Tigers started doing this at Meehan during the second game of last year's
quarterfinal series as a response to the fans' ongoing activities. I don't
condone or denounce Princeton's choice of action, I'm just pointing out a
misleading part of Luiz' post.
 
>It may have taken four years, but I hope Princeton defenseman Jason Smith has
>finally realized that the smaller Brown players won't be intimidated by his
>size. It was was inspiring to see Mike Flynn and Damian Prescott carrying on
>Erich Trach's tradition, and standing up to Smith ...
 
If you were 6-4, 225 and one of only two or three overtly physical players
on your team, you might find yourself needing to play the intimidator's
roll pretty often. If Jason Smith DIDN'T try and intimidate opposing players,
I wouldn't want him on my team. Of course Flynn and Prescott (and Trach before
them) didn't back down -- they are tough kids.  Being the biggest guy
out there isn't easy -- if someone knocks you down, you look bad. If you
knock someone else down, you are a bully. If someone runs your goalie or
knocks down your teammate, eveyone looks to you to even the score. Jason
Smith is one the meanest, toughest guys I've seen in the ECAC over the last
7-10 years (put him up there with coach Schafer). He gives no quarter and
takes none. Brown has seen its share of guys who fit the same mold.
 
Geoff Howell
Drop the Puck Magazine
 
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