More from Providence...
 
GAME 1:  Wisconsin was the story here, they were clearly the better team on the
ice.  St. Lawrence started very flat, maybe the two week layoff???  Wisconsin's
TEAM defense was excellent and SLU got very few quality opportunities and even
fewer second shots.  SLU did have its spurts of good play, and if they could
have strung a few of them into an entire game, it would have been a much more
interesting game.  A hobey bake note:  WHY Duane Derksen??  He did not impress
me at all.  In particular the second St. Lawrence goal he was down on his knees
a good 2 or 3 seconds before the shot leaving the entire upper corner for the
taking.  All I can say is he must have been 15 times better during the regular
season.  If he is a hobey candidate MSU's GILMORE should win the award.
 
GAME 2:  The UPSET.  Unlike the first game, the BETTER team did not win, which
will sometimes happen in a one game college Hockey series.  Michigan State
should be congratulated for an excellently executed game plan.  The grabbed,
hooked and held the Maine forwards as much as possible, not letting them get
started.  This led to the barrage of penalties, on both sides which others on
this list have mentioned.  As a quick side note, IMO the official did not do
a bad job, with the glaring exception of the Jean-Yves Roy misconduct, there
were many more penalties that could have been called, and IMO quite a few dives
by both teams which were appropriately let go.  He did not call as many
penalties in the 3rd, but there really weren't as many.  Michigan State did
an excellent job of cutting down the passing lanes in the neutral zone and
"packing it in" in front of the net, blocking alot of shots.  However, they
weren't able to do it all game and at the end of the second period Maine began
to pick things up.  Gilmore, however was extremely impressive.  If he remains
this hot, MSU could be looking square at the National Chamionship.  I would
also like to note that I thought Garth Snow played a very solid game in the
nets for Maine.  All of the goals MSU scored were from very good plays and he
made some excellent saves in the third when Maine opened the game up, allowing
them to keep presing wtihout falling further behind.  I was also very impressed
with Snow's puck handling skills (another reason for me to wonder about Derksen
as a hobey candidate.)
 
OVERALL:
	A boring, slow first game, a much more exciting second game Saturday
in Providence.  The Eastern teams were obviously hurt by the long layoff.  Yes,
the EAST is done for the year, and that's the way the puck bounces, next year
could be a different story, who knows. Excellent turnout by MAINE fans, it is
good to see traditions continue.  Also not bad contingencies from Wisconsin
and SLU, but overall the Arena was sparse.  Send the Tourney to Home sites,
get the fans more involved and give the top seeds an actual advantgae they
worked all year for it (Just my opinions.)
	CONGRATS to MSU and Wisconsin, but now
who do I route for?????   MICHIGAN I guess, they're the only team left I like,
GO BLUE.
 
SEE YOU in Albany,
 
 
-Ryan Stone
 Lawrence University (Appleton, WI) '93
 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute '93
 
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