Apologies for the lateness of the material. However the 15 inches of snow
and power blackout in Albany partially justifies my tardiness.
The following is a collection of observations about the weekend in Milwaukee,
in descending order from most hockey relevant to least. All in all my first
real road trip was a terrific experience, and hockey in Wisconsin, to say the
least, is an engaging exercise.
Hockey at Bradley
First of all, the Bradley Arena is the best hockey venue I have visited. My
seats ("obstructed view") in the first row in the corner were superb. The
entire ice surface stretched out below me and I could see things behind the
goal which are usually very difficult to observe. I can't imagine what the
view must have been like from the seats on the red line. Of course, that
doesn't spell complete satisfaction with the Milwaukee tourney.
1. The BU defense lost their intensity in the pivotal second period of the
championship game. Their play, so physical and positionally sound against
Michigan, suddenly became careless and sluggish. Defensive gaffes would
represent the margin of difference as they cough up the puck twice resulting
in the two goal margin of victory.
2. In the first period it appeared BU was sending their defense in deep, i.e.
Poti, and rotating the forwards to cover up at the top of the point. The
result was the two assists from Poti, who had an outstanding two games. But
in the second BU stopped doing this, perhaps as a result of the cautious
"don't lose" strategy Parker employed during the first intermission.
3. However I heartily agree with Dave Hendrickson's comments: this was one
of if not the best coaching jobs Parker has done during his successful
tenure. On paper this BU team had no right to be playing in the final game.
But after taking outMichiganwith what has been characterized by some as a
neutral zone trap (it didn't look thesame as the NJ Devils version though)
his team is labelled the favorite inthe final game by the Wisconsin press.
The Michigan game is also notable in the confidence Parker places in his
freshman as three of them become the stars of the game instead of the
expected Hobey runner up or his senior linemate, so hot through the Hockey
East playoffs and East Regionals. It takes a lot of guts to put your game
in the hands of two freshman defenseman, (albeit the top defensive picks
in the East) and an inexperienced and virtually unknown Finnish forward.
4. What is going on in college hockey? The national champion is a very
small, quick and young team from the WCHA playing a physical and experienced
Eastern team. I constantly remarked how small North Dakota was, a team
which would be dwarfed by the much bigger current iteration of the ECAC.
5. The Shegos crew (that is "the good Shegos") was outstanding. I fully
understand the affection from the CCHA crowd for him. Shegos didn't call
any of the ticky tacky stuff, but didn't pull a swallow-the-whistle-act
either. Even though play had gone on unimpeded for most of the third
period, Shegos raised his hand for the obvious elbowing/interference call on
the boards in the BU end, almost simultaneously with my screams from the
sidelines. Several times I thought the linesman made erroneous off-sides
calls, but it probably was a result of the angle I was sitting in.
6. Why was the ECAC shut-out from the officiating pool (not that they didn't
deserve it.)? Is the fact that the top two refs are now Gallagher and
Emmian (where did you go Rob Hearn) have any influence on the NC$$
assignments?
7. Minor b*tch with the All-Tourney selections: I would have picked
Brendan Morrison over Chris Drury for the team. While Morrison only had one
point, his goal was absolute top quality, in a crucial part of the game.
Morrison endured game-long banging from the BU forwards, and still found
a way to make his way to the front of the net when everyone assumed he
would be the #1 priority for the BU defense. Also, I don't think Schweitzer
deserved the goalie selection--Larocque was better. Two of the ND goals
were the direct result of defensive mistakes, and none of the other goals
were of the shaky variety. His play through the Michigan game, and
particularly the first period of the championship game, was top notch. But
when the other team scores 6 goals on you, the spoils go to the winner.
8. Choke of the tourney award goes to the replay screen on the scoreboard.
After the ESPN2 feed showed the stick-to-the-face from the Michigan player
(Morrison?) eliciting major groans from the audience, the management
discontinued all replays on penalties and controversial plays, through the
championship game.
9. RPI made the #1 and #3 spots on the "most bizarre goals" list (can you
say freshman goaltending?). RPI's third place showing on the best hits list
had an unmentioned outcome: after Eric Healy checked the Cornell(?) skater
into the box he was soon rewarded with a two minute interference call. So
much for clean hits by the ECAC zebras.
10. Heard from Tony the ogre Biscardi after Period One on Saturday: "I'm very
worried that BU is depending on their goaltender to keep them in the game."
Heard from B. Morris and M. Machnik: "North Dakota is in big trouble."
11. Heard from J. Haussleur during the CC/UND game: "I'm very worried about
tonight's game."
12. Why didn't Red Berenson show up for the All-Time Tournament Team? Also,
where was Ken Dryden? It would have been wonderful to have seen him (he's
still alive, right?)
13. (Warm up the flamethrowers) UND fans in my section were not the most
erudite hockey fans I have encountered. During the Michigan game during
a BU power play--"why didn't they call icing?" On a delayed penalty against
UND in third period, "they're pulling their goalie this early?"
14. Wisconsin fans were easy prey for "let's go Red!" cheers in all three
games.
15. Thursday night you were either FROM Michigan or AGAINST them.
Non-Hockey Observations
16. Milwaukee is a nice host city, but no better than Providence. Milwaukee
is a gritty blue collar town with a nice waterfront and decent German
restaurants, but my Eastern bias still prefers the savoir faire of my home
region.
17. Madison is a great town, one of the gems in college hockey, and
everything else. UW's Kohl Arena will be the premier college hockey arena
in the country (although I haven't seen Mariucci) seating 17,000 when the
upper deck is opened. It looks beautiful from the outside. According to
my local source Wisconsin will only open the lower deck for regular season
games, resulting in a capacity of 11,000 for Badger hockey games. I would
love to see Kohl someday host a Frozen Four. Not only would the fan get
to see the games in a top-rate facility, he would also have all the
entertainment opportunities that Madison offers.
18. When it comes to beer, Wisconsin is in another league. Where else
does your corner tavern offer German Maibocks on tap? The Essen House
in Madison sports 2,000 mugs hanging from the ceiling, owned by each of
the patrons who join with their $20 membership fees. The major issue left
to be resolved during the Kohl Center construction is where the location
of the beer garden will be.
19. The Hockey-l dinner was good fun, as usual. Nice to make the
reacquaintance with Jim Love and Greg Ambrose, and of course, Carol "your
cruise director" White. Also, Charlie Shub's Johnstown Chiefs hockey
jersey should earn the award for best dressed.
20. Even the airplane ride was fun. Got to talk to Bob Norton in the
airport on Sunday before he boarded his Midwest Express flight to Boston.
Quoth Nawton: "they should hold this tourney at the Bradley every year."
On the flight out from Pittsburgh, nearly 100% full of Frozen Four
attendees, made the misstep of proclaiming "Michigan will crush BU". To
which a voice several rows in front responded "Want to make a wager?"
(Thanks for the use of the bandwidth). Can't wait to beat BU at the
Fieldhouse after their Icebreaker Tournament win next October! :-)
***************************************************************************
Brian Morris RPI Engineers--the future's bright
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