Bob Woodbury wrote:

> Should be an interesting conversation with my Walsh-hating buddy at
> Foot Locker in the Mariner Mall in Superior, Wisconsin. His reason for
> hating Shawn - called for a stick measurement in the last two minutes
> of a game against Minnesota-Duluth, for whom this guy was a player.
> Maine tied the game on the penalty, then won it.

I'm sure it's worked on other occasions, but this is the first time I've
heard of the stick-measurement strategy being successful (not that
somebody was caught, but that the team on the resulting power play
actually scored).  Figures it would have been a Shawn Walsh team that
pulled it off.

I can understand the player being upset, and maybe I can even understand
the player STILL being upset.  Nevertheless, it always amazes me that,
when some coach calls for a stick measurement on an opposing player, and
the stick is found to be in violation (thus resulting in a power play,
usually late in a one-goal game), the abuse is heaped on the coach for
some kind of "gamesmanship", rather than on the guy whose stick isn't
legal.  Who's breaking the rules here?  The usual argument is that there
is some sort of unwritten rule against calling for a stick measurement,
since "everybody" uses an illegal stick.  Two words:  puuhhhhh - leeeeze.

My favorite stick-measuring moment (or some would call it "fiasco")
occurred several years ago, back when Mercyhurst was in the Division III
ECAC West and its bitterest rival was Elmira.  The two met in a typical
late-season brouhaha, probably with the regular-season title on the
line, and with about a minute left, the Mercyhurst coach called for a
stick measurement on an Elmira player.  Bingo, illegal stick, Mercyhurst
power play.  But wait!  During the same stoppage in play, the Elmira
coach responded by calling for a stick measurement on a Mercyhurst
player.  One guess as to what happened.  Well, suddenly, Mercyhurst
didn't have a power play any more...

Bill F.