On the question of whether or not Maine can be beat...it is interesting to
note that they don't seem to have been playing as well lately as they were
early on.  I wonder if they are unintentionally becoming complacent.  They
will have a tough series this coming weekend at Northeastern, site of too
many Huskie upsets of Maine over the years to count.  Then, they host BU
for a set up in Orono, and the Terriers are the hottest team in the country
over the last 18 games at 16-1-1 - next to Maine, anyway, which is 17-0-1
over that stretch.
 
Several people I talked to this weekend suggested that BU may be the best
in the nation right now.  I don't agree with that, but it's tough to argue
with how they've done lately.  Over that stretch, BU has beaten Miami
(leading the CCHA), Harvard (leading the ECAC), and Wisconsin (2nd in the
WCHA).  But I also don't think this BU team is as good as some of the BU
teams a couple of years ago which had records that weren't as impressive as
this year's edition.  I got a lot of flak for my pick of Harvard to beat BU
in the Beanpot Mon night, but I made that pick on the air and I'll stick
with it.  It was suggested to me that Harvard's downfall will be the fact
that it takes quite a few penalties, but I wonder if that is a side effect
of playing in the ECAC where the referees seem to call more penalties than
HE and the play is more physical.  The Beanpot final will probably have
ECAC refs since it involves Harvard, but I'd bet the Crimson would fare
better under HE refs.  That aside, I think Harvard can take the play to BU
better than almost any other team has been able to, and BU's lack of depth
on defense could hurt them late in the game if it's a physical game and the
teams are tired.  The Terriers have thrived on the concept of total team
defense, and I think they'll need to get that to win.
 
That leads me to this note on Harvard...the Crimson were quick to deny it
was an excuse, but the Sunday Globe reported that Harvard made the trip to
RPI with 12 players suffering from the flu, most notably Drury and Farrell.
Tomassoni credited RPI for playing well and earning the win, but one has to
wonder just how much Harvard was affected.  I have personally seen how
teams in the past have been hurt by flu outbreaks, and this is a distinct
possibility here.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the
Beanpot; Tomassoni said that his team will be ready to play, but I wouldn't
expect him to use anything as an excuse anyway.
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Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)    *HMN*