I guess this is really "This and That - Part 2".
 
Ed Priest writes:
>Lake Superior:
>1. What really impressed me was their discipline - starting about
>midway through the 2nd period BU was playing pretty chippy - an
>awfull lot of uncalled charging penalties and stick tripping - but
>LSSU NEVER retaliated.
 
Funny, that is what impressed me about BU.  They did not get cheap or
turn the game into a brawl when they fell behind, and I have seen them
do that in the past.  This is the first time I have heard anyone claim
that BU got chippy during the game.  They played no worse than LSSU
and no differently than usual, and believe me, I was looking for BU to
start trouble.  But it didn't happen.
 
By some strange coincidence, BU was on the flight Heather and I took
back from St Paul.  I was impressed enough with the way BU did not resort
to cheapness, that I mentioned to some of them that I thought they
represented themselves and their school and league very well.  One of
them replied, "Yeah...until last night!"  My answer was that well,
those things sometimes happen.  I have been on the same end enough
times to know that.
 
We also talked to BU SID Ed Carpenter for a while since the flight was
delayed.  Ed said that of course, the players were down.  I wondered
whether it really was more difficult to deal with the 8-7 OT loss BU
took in 1991, or the thrashing Saturday night...because in a close
loss, you think how things would have been different if you'd done
this or that - while in a blowout there's really nothing to say.
 
Ed agreed, but he also said that what seemed to be most upsetting to
BU was that they did not feel they gave a good account of themselves
on national tv and with everyone in Boston watching.  So maybe this
was a more difficult loss than 1991.  I'm not a BU fan - and I am sure
everyone in St Paul knows Heather was not :-), but especially after
sitting on that plane with them for 2 hours, we had to feel for them.
 
>2. That face-off play is amazing. Everytime the Boston player
>would end up tripped and on the ice - with the LSSU blueliner
>getting an open shot. Do they ever get called for interference
>or tripping? Did they get away with this all year?
 
Certainly interference has been allowed by the referees more than it
should be, but it was almost an epidemic this weekend.  I am sure we
will see some sort of rule change or emphasis on it next season.
 
I think that the other 8 coaches in HE will be studying the tapes to
see what LSSU did to make the Terriers look as bad as they did.  I
knew Jeff Jackson was an outstanding coach, but it looked like he
really did a number on Jack Parker.  LSSU seemed to know exactly how
to defense BU's breakout and power play, and they moved the puck at
will against BU's penalty kill (which, to be honest, was not very good
this season anyway - 6th in HE, I believe).  BU was never able to
adjust.
 
The first thought I had after the game was that BU is going to come
back next season with a vengeance and wreak havoc on the rest of HE.
That's one reason I felt it would have been better (for the rest of
us) for BU to have won or else lost a close one.
 
The following 4 BU players were seniors this season: F Doug Friedman, D
Dan Donato, F Jon Jenkins, F Jon Pratt.  So virtually everyone returns,
including the top 6 scorers, and the list of incoming freshmen is quite
impressive.  Harvard loses 4 of its top 5 scorers and six seniors
overall - F Chris Baird, F Brian Farrell, D Sean McCann, D Derek Maguire,
D Lou Body, and F Ian Kennish.
 
LSSU had 5 seniors: F Clayton Beddoes, F Kurt Miller, D Steven Barnes,
F Jay Ness, and D Darren Wetherill.  Beddoes and Miller are top 4
scorers.  And Minnesota had 6 seniors, including 3 of the top 5
scorers: F Jeff Nielsen, F Tony Bianchi, D Chris McAlpine, F Joe
Dziedzic, D Eric Means, and G Steve Green.
 
BTW, according to Ed (the one whose ties the world was made for), BU
will be in the Mariucci Classic next season.  I think he said LSSU would
be there too, which would be interesting.  Northeastern has apparently
received an invite to the Badger Showdown.  Watch out, Milwaukee, for
another Barkan Bash.
---                                                                 ---
Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMM* 11/13/93