Better attendance than Saturday by a small margin. The
numbers are still deceiving. I think they stated about 7500
but most UNH and BU fans didn't show until the BC game was
almost over and most BC fans left after the first game.
 
The outside temperature was slightly cooler and the ice seemed to
be in better shape Sunday than Saturday.
 
game 1 - BC and CC
I wondered whether CC was going to be able to stay in the game
after playing Clarkson the previous day.  The fatigue factor
didn't play into this one at all. CC was never in the game.
BC came out flying. I haven't seen a team this fast all year.
CC tried lining their opponents up for hard checks and would
up reading the names and numbers off the back of the BC jerseys.
BC just blew past them all afternoon.
My season's tickets at RPI are down low (4th row) so I'm used
to watching the skaters fly by at ice level. At the Knick
I sat up higher (row R) and Saturday, the skaters seemed slow
(maybe softer ice) from where I was sitting. Then BC came
out Sunday and even from row R, they just flew.
(By the way, did I mention they were fast???)
 
game 2 - BU and UNH
I know the arguments against intra-conference matchups in the
early rounds of tournaments, and I agree with the arguments mostly.
But this game I wouldn't have missed for the world.
This was more than a game to get to the Phinal Phour, this was
going to be a war. You could tell that from the UNH fans, the BU
fans and the BC fans. BU has a fine and very successful hockey
tradition. As such, they are natural targets for evryone else,
and especially everyone else in HEA. I knew this before but I
never "experienced" it until Sunday.  Now I better understand
that yearly taunting/bashing that goes on out west for and
against Minnesota. Same idea, great hockey tradition, same
pride, same jealousy  etc.
 
I commented early in the game that UNH had the talent to beat
BU but would have to do it early before their legs got rubbery
from playing the day before.  So much for my prognostication.
 
My opinions? Overall, I thought that BU was the superior skilled
team. They checked, skated, passed and handled the stick very well.
I was very impressed by Poti and Sylvia.
BUT, UNH was hungrier. They had more heart and their skills were
not so different from BU that their heart made the difference.
 
By the second half of the third period, (I had moved upstairs
right above the BU net), it became clear that fatigue had set in
and that UNH was in trouble. They were switching lines much more frequently
than BU and seemed to be concentrating on defense and only picking
their spots for offensive attacks.  When the OT started, BU started
methodically attacking and UNH seemed to be doing all it could just to defend
its own net. When the high sticking call was made in OT, it was all
over. Too bad UNH, good try but not good enough.
 
When UNH failed to score on its first 2-1 break while a man down,
I commented that BU would never let that situation develop again.
As I finished the sentence, UNH broke in 2 on 1 again and this time
Mowers put it away as the crowd erupted. (It was another case of
the "neutral crowd" cheering for the underdog).
The BU fans sat in stunned silence and the few remaining BC
fans began their chants of "over-rated".
 
One thing that did bother me was that large contingent of BU fans
never did cheer for their defeated team and the saddened BU team
left the ice for the last time without acknowledging their fans
and without their fans acknowledging them for a fine season.
Meanwhile, the jubilant Wildcats were at the other end of the rink
doing dances in front of their appreciative fans.
 
Oh well, just my $.02.
 
I thought the officiating was decent for all 4 games in Albany.
Matt Shegos did a good job in the BU/UNH game. The assistants
made a lot of calls behind the play and I thought that this was
a positive. Shegos did seem to put his whistle away in the 3rd
but this has been my complaint about every referee all year long.
 
I thought the 5 minute hitting from behind + game misconduct
call against BC's Bobby Allen in the first game was a good call.
I also thought that the high stick Shegos called in the BU/UNH
OT was a call he had to make. It wasn't an intentional high stick
but the high stick call is one call that most refs make whenever
it happens.
 
My overall opinion?  4 good games. The BU-UNH game was outstanding
and worth the overall price of admission for both days.
 
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