At 10:09 AM 2/27/00 -0800, Anthony J. Buffa wrote:
>3) Lastly, anyone out there close enough to the RPI Engineers to talk
>about their recent meltdown and any chance of righting the ship before
>the playoffs??????  HOw can a team beat UNH and BU, and then go into
>such a horrendous slump... is it injuries? Perhaps a name change on the
>jerseys back to RPI might help :-)
 
I don't know about RPI's meltdown, but consider that the Engineers beat the
Terriers on October 15th... which was followed by BU losses to Niagara and
Vermont (pre-hazing, of course). The Terriers simply weren't playing the
hockey then that they are now. October and BU
 
This is no surprise, as the BU pattern for strong squads has generally been:
 
October: Lose to ECAC (usu. RPI or UVM) right away, win rest of month
Novemberer: Win all but one or two games
December: Fall apart after Consitution Day (December 8th or so)
January: Fix things mid-month after losing to a bottom-feeder or two
February: Win Beanpot, lose only one game all month
March: Playoffs: make HEA finals, get bye in NCAAs, win regionals
April: Frozen Four appearance and subsequent loss in semis or finals
 
...the only real difference this year is that BU figured out what was wrong
*before* January, allowing them. That and the fact that NOBODY expected
them to be this good.
 
In any other year with this kind of BU team, I'd fully expect to see them
in the Frozen Four, then lose to a Western foe. But since it's back in
Providence, I expect BU to do the same thing the last 2 times the finals
were there -- hoist the trophy. (now if only I could find tickets...)
 
 
greenie
 
S P O O N  ! !
(go BU)
 
 
 
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