THE GAMES
  1. I was very pleased to see CC back in the phinal phour
and I expected a great first semi between conference rivals,
but NoDak was just too much.  There's just no surface area
to hit those smurf forwards. :-)
  2. Wow!  BU played a GREAT game.  Michigan wasn't at
the top (or bottom) of their game.  BU outhit, outschemed and
in the end outplayed UM.  Michigan had more chances, but
BU made more of theirs.  Obviously, not scoring on the five
minute major was a key factor...not scoring on the pp at all,
for that matter.  I'd also point to the BU pp late in the second
period.  It's 2-1 BU and UM's Matt Herr has a quality shorthanded
chance, but Poti (I believe) makes a tremendous, hustling play
to deny Herr before he could deke Larocque, the play turns
back up ice and UM overcommits on Drury as BU makes it
3-1.  Herr is a dangerous penalty killer (5 shgs this season).
It *could* have been 2-2, but ten seconds later it was 3-1.
  3. Wow, again!  NoDak really pulled off the Cinderella
season.  And they are SO young!  I wonder how many UND
faithful have already used the word "repeat" in a sentence
this week. :-)  The weight of the (college hockey) world is
now squarely on their shoulders.
 
THE HOBEY
It goes without saying that I think the best candidate was
chosen.  As for the outcry over Brendan's remark(s)...I simply
have to laugh.  (A) The remark in question was directed at
his teammates.  Probably the wrong forum to do so, but he's
the captain...and part of being a captain is consoling your
'mates following a tough loss.  (B) Berenson made the same
comment beforehand.  Parker made the same comment
beforehand.  Bob Norton made the same comment, repeatedly,
beforehand.  Apparently it was OK for them and not for Brendan?
(C) Most importantly, the comment was dead TRUE!  The best
team doesn't always win.  It would be ignorant to think otherwise.
Personally, I'm not sure that the best team has won the tourney
since 1993.  That's why they play the games, eh.  The winner
has every right to claim to be the "best" team.  Most educated
followers will have a different definition of "best."  History will
remember the tourney winner...and that's fine.  It's simply a norm
of our society.  Were Arizona and Tennessee the best hoops
teams over the course of this season?  No, but they played the
best over the couple of days that *really* mattered.  If Morrison
has lost most or all of your respect based on that one comment,
then your respect wasn't worth having in the first place.
 
Btw...anyone that wasn't at least somewhat impressed with
Morrison on Thursday doesn't watch much hockey.  He did
create scoring chances.  Not as many as usual, but they were
there.  Mostly on the power play.  Larocque, and occasionally
the BU defense, were simply up to the challenge.  I think Larocque's
performance has been under publicized due to the outstanding
defensive effort by the Terriers as a whole.  He twice stopped
Morrison on the shortside, made a sweet glove save after
Morrison tried to bury a rebound from the slot, and stopped at
least a couple pp chances by Luhning that were in part set up
by Morrison.  UM and BU each had enough chances to win
that game...BU converted on more.  Let's give Larocque some
credit, he earned it.  And, note that 30%-50% of BU checks
were directed at Morrison.  That should tell you something, no?
Brendan didn't play his best game, but he played his heart
out.  What more can you ask for?  BU simply played better
that day.
 
MICHIGAN (HOCKEY) FANS
Jeez, we are the scum of the Earth, no?  How terrible of us to
show up in great number and support our team, without whoring
ourselves out to the Badger faithful.  Shocking.  The hatred,
which is often jealousy in disguise, toward UM and Wolverine
fans is something to behold.  Face it...Michigan is a HUGE
institution playing a small time sport.  When I was in Fairbanks
in October, I stopped at a department store to buy film and
maybe some souvenirs.  Guess what?  The ratio of Michigan
clothing to UAF clothings was along the magnitude of 10:1.
I saw a UM stocking cap that I had never seen in Ann Arbor.
(Almost bought it, but I decided to go to the campus bookstore
and get something that said "UAF" on it instead.)  Bottom line?
If you see someone in Milwaukee with an RPI sweatshirt, chances
are that he/she is a faithful, knowledgeable follower of college
hockey.  If you see someone with a Michigan sweatshirt, the
same cannot be said.  It *may* be a faithful, knowledgeable
follower of college hockey or it may be the UM alum living in
Racine who has never seen a hockey game but couldn't get
tickets to the football game the last time the Wolverines were
in Madison.  I'm sorry that UM has the largest alumni base in
the world.  I'm sorry that UM has, arguably, the world's most
popular athletic program.  I'd love to support a small school
were hockey was the athletic department's number one priority,
but I don't.  I support Michigan hockey and that means that I too
have to deal with all of the bandwagon/fair weather UM fans.
It also means that I get to put up with the following on a constant
basis:
 
From Larry Sander ([log in to unmask])
>Obviously one can ignore Lake Michigan in computing the
>distance from Ann Arbor to Milwaukee since the Michigan
>team (an presumably its fans) can supposedly walk on water.
 
Why thank you, Larry.  I can walk on water.  It's an old trick taught
to only us Michiganders by Native Americans.  You see, we
freeze it first.  Then we call it "ice."  Sometimes we even use
magical shoes with steel blades attached to them.
 
Obviously one can take a direct line when computing the
distance from Larry's right ear to Larry's left ear since there
are no obstacles between them.
 
From Bob Svec ([log in to unmask])
>REMEMBER - PANSIES ARE MAIZE AND BLUE TOO!
 
Sticks and stones, Bob, sticks and stones.
 
From Steve Glazewski ([log in to unmask])
>What happened to all the Michigan fans again?
>It was a replay of 1993; lose the semi and go home.
 
See MICHIGAN (HOCKEY) FANS above.  There were more UM
fans in attendance on Saturday than BU or NoDak fans.  Period.
The guy from Racine went home and filled out his order form for
football tickets again.
 
>And why didn't Red have the class (sorry Wolves) to stay around
>and be introduced as part of the 50th anniversary all-time team?
 
I agree with Steve on this one.  I was very disappointed that Red
didn't stay to be honored on Saturday.  At the same time, I can
understand his desire to return home on the charter with his team.
I wonder if Red would have stayed if Matchefts and Rendall (the
other former Wolverines honored on Saturday) were not there
in person.
 
And...please don't call UM the Wolves.  The Wolves play at UM-
Dearborn.  I can't speak for all other UM fans, but many consider it
a great insult to be called "Wolves."  My feelings for UM-Dearborn
are similar to those I have for UIC...hence, the association is a
very unpleasant one.  My apologies for singling out Steve, here.
I'm sure he meant no harm.  Most people aren't aware of the "Wolves"
connotations and even fewer care.  Some of the UM followers on
Hockey-L, myself included, have been zipping off private replies
to folks who refer to Michigan as "Wolves" on the list.  This just
seemed like a good opportunity to make a public reply.  So, in the
future, if you'd like to intentionally set some of the UM backers off :-),
you now know to call us "Wolves."
 
>Yah, stay with the team and all, but he's got all the rest of
>the quarter/semester to see those guys, and there should be
>some celebration held back in Ann Arbor for that team anyway.
 
Actually, several of the players may leave for the pros this week.
And, there is no celebration for the team here in Ann Arbor.  Yes,
there should be.  I'm very proud of them, and would love to cheer
for them.  But, in the grand scheme of Michigan athletics, losing a
semifinal hockey game is not worthy of a pep rally/celebration.
Sad, but true.
 
Again, I too wish Red had stayed in Milwaukee so I could have
cheered loudly for him on Saturday.  But, the reasons for staying
that Steve mentioned aren't very valid (from my perspective).
 
BARKAN BASH
Our beloved (?! :-) Jon Barkan was gifted with a CCHA referee
sweater, complete with nameplate on the back.  I think this alone
makes him the fourth or fifth best whistleblower in the CCHA. :-)
Btw...everyone got to see the CCHA's best, Matt Shegos, on
Saturday.  I thought he did a great job.  The CCHA can boast
some of the best on-ice officials (refs and linesmen) in the NCAA.
The only problem this fan has is that they also have the worst. :-)
 
JASON BLAKE (FERRIS STATE)
When Jason Blake was a freshman at Ferris State in 1994-95,
he reminded me a lot of former-Wolverine Brian Wiseman.  He
was a talented scorer, small in stature, and very sly with his stick.
He'd likely hook or spear you, then walk around you for a goal.
Basically, a little prick that everyone in the league would dislike
save for the team he was playing for.  I only saw NoDak play their
final three games this season, but Blake looks like a much happier
player, seems to have let up on some of the stick work (too bad,
he was very good at it :-) and now concentrates on agitating the
opposition with his explosive scoring.  My point?  Congratulations
to him, he's a key element of a championship team.  Ironic that
one former FSU Bulldog (JJ Bamberger) would score the winning
goal in the ACHA championship game and another (Blake)
would be a Hobey Baker finalist on the NCAA champions.  Wow!
 
THIS JUST IN
From Jason Greene ([log in to unmask])
>If I had to choose the biggest idiot, I'd have a hard time nailing my
>choice down to anything less than 22 (Michigan players and Red
>Berenson).  See following post called "Berenson calls Morrison
>'Mature And Classy.' Wow."
 
Well then...there you have it.  All of a sudden, the entire Michigan
team are idiots.  Damn, I hate it when that happens.  Morrison IS
mature and classy.  Remember his reaction to winning the title last
year?  He immediately dedicated it to all of the former UM players
that had come so close.  Check out his interview with Jon Barkan
on USA Today's site and Paula Weston's article on USCHO.  Does
anyone even remember him accepting the Hobey?  He did so
"on behalf of the University of Michigan."  I guess some people
wouldn't know class if it jumped up and bit them.
 
>Too many people here have already commented on the various quips by just
>about every Michigan player and/or coach and their "best team" hangup.
>Simply put, the trophy went to the best team in college hockey for 1996-97,
>North Dakota. Just like last year, the best team was Michigan.
 
Well then...there you have it. :-)  I guess everyone will define "best"
to fit their needs.  Funny, I don't recall "just about every Michigan
player" being involved in this.  Oh well.  Sometimes facts differ
depending on what color of glasses you see through.
 
FINAL WORD
Congratulations to BU, CC, UM and UND for an exciting phinal phour.
Dig deep into your pockets NoDak fans, winning is very expensive.
You'll be surprised at how many cool souvenirs that you just HAVE
to buy. :-)
 
Beyond that I'll let the anti-Michigan crowd have the final word.  I
wouldn't want to deny them the satisfaction of that, they've earned it.
 
 
John Haeussler ([log in to unmask])
sometimes the best team doesn't win
 
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