Last week there was mention made of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit
issue with the article on BU's Mike Grier.  Over the weekend, Heather
and I finally picked one up and opened to that page first (really),
and staring us in the face was a beautiful page and a half photograph
of Grier and Merrimack's John Jakopin jockeying for position in front
of the Merrimack net.
 
MC goalie Eric Thibeault is also in the picture.  This was the game
where Thibeault made 54 saves in a 3-2 Merrimack win, their first ever
at BU.  The photo is from the second period, since the chairs from
BU's function room at the far end of the rink (opposite the press box)
can be seen in the background of the picture.
 
Grier gets some fine publicity in the article, so I'll leave that to
Gerry Callahan, whose piece is not too bad.  (I liked the one in THN
better, but that was directed towards a hockey audience, and this one
is more general.)
 
But I thought some people might be wondering who the guy in the
picture with Grier was, so here's what never made it into SI. :-)
 
Jakopin, a 6-5/225 sophomore who was drafted by Chicago, has been one
of the real keys to Merrimack's 7-2-1 record of late, playing both
forward and defense with regularity.  Merrimack has been so deep at
defense that for a while, two first-semester regulars had to sit with
the Christmas return of seniors Mark Cornforth and Dan Hodge.  Soon, a
seventh D would dress, but this only seemed to confuse things.
 
What has helped the team settle into a groove is that Jakopin, one-half
of Merrimack's Twin Towers with 6-8/225 Steve McKenna, was switched to
a third-line right wing spot to add some size up front.  Jakopin has
responded well, including a goal and an assist in Saturday's 4-0 win
over BC.
 
Key to the success of the switch is that Ron Anderson has not
hesitated to use Jakopin at defense, either - when another D takes a
penalty, isn't playing well, or when some help is needed on the
blueline in that particular game because of matchups - and Jakopin has
immediately jumped right back into his old position as if he'd never
left.  Like McKenna, he has a long reach and can pokecheck the puck
away, and he will be the best of the Warrior two-way defensemen coming
back next season.  He plays the body well, and he can also take the
puck and go end to end with the best of them.
 
In fact, it is not unusual for Jakopin to take a shift at RW, a shift
at D, a shift at RW, etc.  It is a testament to the depth of the
defense that they can take a player of Jakopin's caliber (HE Rookie
Team D last year) and move him up front, and also a testament to his
level of play that he can change position from shift to shift as
needed without skipping a beat.
 
Saturday night, he picked up his goal while playing RW (setting up
behind the net and then centering a pass that went in off Taylor's
stick), and the assist came while playing defense (starting the
breakout with a pass to Hodge, who fed Daryl Krauss for a breakaway
goal).  On the latter, he was covering for a fellow D who had been
assessed 14 minutes in penalties along with a BC player during a
scuffle.
 
So, that is the number 5 who is getting ready to move Mike Grier away
from the front of the Merrimack net in Sports Illustrated. :-)
 
Effectively, Merrimack has had the luxury of dressing 12 forwards
AND seven defensemen each night.  When everyone is in sync and this
works, it's clearly a real advantage that not every team can enjoy.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93