Scott Quakkelaar wrote:
 
> i seem to remember potent wolverine teams of the early nineties
>  that lost leads in the third period to maine in the nc$$ tournament
>  because they couldn't play defense to protect their lead.
 
It seemed to me that it was a bit more complicated than that.  Those teams
specialized in run-and-gun.  I thought that part of the reason that they blew
leads was that Red took them out of their game.  They went into a defensive
shell to protect the lead, a correct move for many teams.  For those
Wolverines, though, it meant that they were trying to play in a way that they
weren't good at, and certainly weren't comfortable with.  They would have
been better off keeping the throttles wide open.  It gets second-guessed if
it goes wrong, and you get accused of running up the score if it works too
well.  Nevertheless, I think it's the approach that would have worked better
for Michigan.
 
J. Michael Neal
 
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