http://www.audionet.com/schools/ncaa/hockey/
 
Hope some folks had a chance to listen to the games on Audionet.  I did
color for the Denver-BU game along with Adam Wodon, and Jayson Moy and Dave
Hendrickson helped out on the broadcasts of the other games.  Audionet
still has the "tapes" of the games in their archive at the above URL.  On
what other medium can you go back and listen to the games after they're
over. :-)  You can even "fast forward" to the parts you want to hear.
Almost as good as having a tape of your own.
 
Please send us your feedback.  We're looking forward to what should be a
great Final Four.
 
I want to send an open request to Colorado College coach Don Lucia and
Denver coach George Gwozdecky.  PLEASE, please take advantage of the
reduction in the WCHA schedule to schedule some games out East!  CC and DU
were two outstanding teams and a lot of fun to watch.  I know they gained
some new fans in the East.  Both teams play hockey the way it should be
played with skilled, hard working players and two coaches who are terrific
guys and a credit to the profession.  The Colorado teams conducted
themselves with class, right down to the end when DU senior Mike Corbett
remained on the ice for the announcement of the All Regional Team to honor
those players after a tough loss in what turned out to be his last college
game.
 
It is funny, there is definitely a regional bias among everyone following
or covering this event - you want to see teams from your conference or
region do well and move on.  But to a certain extent, that went away this
weekend in Worcester.  CC & DU gained a lot of respect, and as the weekend
went on, I felt that these were two teams that I wanted to see more of.  I
could see that the same was true for other members of the press, and this
was clear in the fact that a decidedly Eastern press contingent voted four
of six slots on the All East Regional Team to players from CC & DU.  Heck,
I think I gave them five of my six slots.
 
I try not to get involved in the whole "my conference is better than yours"
deal, but as I said on the broadcast and to MVP Jim Mullin afterward, if CC
& DU are the fourth and fifth best teams in the WCHA, then the WCHA has had
a heck of a season.  These teams are as good as the best the East has to
offer.  Jim thought that it said a lot about the strength of the WCHA, and
I agree, but more than that, the way CC & DU played this weekend said even
more about the type of character that the teams and their coaches have.
 
What I will take away from this tournament the most is a feeling of sadness
that I did not get to see more of some of the great players on the teams
that were eliminated.  Four teams had their seasons end this weekend in
Worcester, and three of them - Vermont, Clarkson, and Denver - were teams
that I have not seen as much as I wished.
 
The senior names that come to mind immediately are: Vermont's Martin St
Louis and Eric Perrin; Clarkson's Todd White and Jean-Francois Houle; and
Denver's Mullin, Erik Andersson, Antti Laaksonen, and Petri Gunther.  These
players and their other senior teammates gave a heck of an effort and
deserved to be seen more.  The same is true for UNH, although I've been
more fortunate than some to have seen a lot of them.
 
I came into this weekend admittedly hoping to see the Hockey East teams and
ECAC teams do well.  But after Chris Drury's winning goal, it was not easy
to watch the Denver players gather around Mullin, clearly disappointed at
how things had turned out following a great effort on their part.  They had
nothing to hang their heads about and a lot to be proud of.  I hope they
remember that.  On the one hand I was happy to see BU return to the Final
Four...on the other hand, I wanted to see more of DU.
 
That is the toughest thing about sports and events such as this: two teams
can give a great effort, but both can't win.  You could definitely sense in
the postgame press conferences the sadness felt by the teams that fell just
short.  That's what caused me to stop Martin St Louis in the hall Friday
night and tell him that he has been a credit to this game and a joy to
watch.  It's the type of thing I know I'd want someone to tell me.
 
This is a great game, college hockey.  I'm not sure where I stack up
personally as far as color men go, but I like to think that one of my
strengths is the enthusiasm I have for the game and I try to convey that to
the audience.  Hopefully that comes across in games such as this.  The
announcers I have always enjoyed hearing are the ones who give you that
feeling of, this is a great game, I wish you could be here to see and
experience it.  That's what I try to do.
 
Congratulations to CC & BU for moving on to the Final Four, but more than
that, congratulations to all of the teams in Worcester for getting as far
as you did and having a tremendous season.  There will be disappointment to
end the season for 11 of the 12 teams in this tournament, more for some
than others, but don't let it take away from what you accomplished.
Remember the good things and that people appreciate having had the chance
to see you play.  When you get down to it, we may all represent different
schools, but in the end we're all the same and just trying to do the best
we can.  In that regard, there are truly no losers here.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                [log in to unmask]               *HMM* 11/13/93
*****   (Part-Time) Color Voice of Merrimack Hockey  WCAP 980 AM    *****
*****       Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page located at:       *****
*****   http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html    *****
>>>    U.S. College Hockey Online http://www.uscollegehockey.com/     <<<
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.