I had my first chance to witness the Black Bears in person since the =
93-94 season.  I can certainly say it was a real treat as Maine and DU =
put on an excellent display of college hockey.  In a real contrast of =
styles and size (DU was much bigger than our young Black Bears) both =
teams played with tenacity in front of 10,000 plus fans in what felt =
like a playoff atmosphere.
 
I have not witnessed any other games this year, so I have no ability to =
make any comparisons on how Maine is playing compared to earlier games, =
but they look like a team with a chance of giving the rest of Hockey =
East fits the rest of this season.
 
As for the return of Coach Walsh, he appeared to be very enthusiastic =
with his players.  I think Walsh has the ability to motivate these young =
Black Bears and may put a spark back into this season.
 
The Air Force game was much more of a ho-hum affair as most of the DU =
fans had not yet arrived and the arena was pretty empty.  Maine was able =
to pretty much have their way with the Falcons and set many tournament =
offensive records in the process.
 
The DU-Yale game was another fantastic game (DU with another overtime =
victory to win their 5th straight Norwest Denver Cup).
 
On Friday afternoon during the Yale-Air Force matchup, my wife and I =
(both UMaine grads) spotted Coach Walsh sitting nearby to us scouting =
the game.  We hesitantly went up to wish him luck and welcome him back, =
not wanting to disturb him too much.  Walsh ended up talking with us for =
several minutes discussing happenings back in Maine and asking about us =
and how we ended up in Colorado.  He expressed his joy of being back =
with the team and you could really sense his enthusiasm.=20
 
Welcome back Shawn!
 
Go Blue!
Rob E.
 
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