Since I joined Maine play-by-play man Dan Hannigan on WZON to provide color
for both games this weekend, I don't have anything in the way of detailed
notes on the series, but I will try to comment on a few of the things Deron
wrote in his recap.  I may have more on the first game later.
 
Fortunately, we survived the snowstorm that lasted much of the 200-plus
mile drive home from Orono (5-plus hours), which is why I am able to bring
this to you. :-)
 
Deron Treadwell posted on INFO-HOCKEY-L:
[Sun 03Dec95]
>MAINE 9 Merrimack 5
>
>Maine simply destroyed Merrimack tonight 9-5 this afternoon at Alfond Arena
>in Orono, Maine.  This game was not as close as the score, Maine led 9-3
>after 50 minutes and coasted home for the win.
 
I will take some issue with this...Merrimack was in this game until a bad
interference penalty on Kris Porter led to Jeff Tory's PPG near the end of
the second period.  It was a 5-3 game until that penalty and goal, and
Merrimack had been playing well at even strength and mounting a serious
threat.  Merrimack outshot Maine at even strength after two, 17-13.  In
fact, for the game, even strength shots favored Maine by only one, 28-27.
 
Power play was the difference in the game.  After two periods, Maine had 3
PPGs to Merrimack's one, and the score was 6-3.  Merrimack's inability to
stop the Maine power play cost them.  Despite the score, this was a much
closer game in terms of on-ice play than Saturday night's 6-2 Maine win.
 
>Shawn Wansborough had the
>hat trick for the Black Bears, who scored 4 times in the second period.
 
However, two of Wansborough's three goals came in the third when, I felt,
the game was already over.  I felt confident that Wansborough would have
been named #1 star, as he was, but I made what I knew would be a
controversial statement on air by saying that Trevor Roenick was the true
star of the game.
 
This is because Roenick was heavily involved in perhaps the three biggest
goals of the game, even though he didn't figure in the scoring on all of
them.  First, with Merrimack up 1-0 midway through the first, he forced
Merrimack D Darrel Scoville to turn over the puck behind his own net and
started off the sequence that led to Brett Clark tying the game - in fact,
Roenick made the final pass.
 
Maine had a slim 2-1 lead after one, but a big PPG by Tory through a nice
screen set by Roenick made it 3-1 in the second.  Roenick didn't get an
assist, but he was the reason Thibeault never saw the puck.
 
Merrimack kept fighting back through the second.  After Shermerhorn made it
4-1 and Maine threatened to pull away, Martin Laroche cut the lead to 4-2 -
but this was followed by a Maine goal in which a centering pass by Mansoff
went off a Merrimack D and in.  Still, the Warriors kept plugging, as they
would outshoot Maine for the period 13-8, and Laroche scored again to make
it 5-3 before Porter's penalty away from the play and the Tory PPG, which
was set up by Roenick and was the backbreaker.  If the score stays 5-3
after two, with the way Merrimack was playing well at even strength, the
game would still have been within reach.
 
Tory was a good selection as the game's second star.  I was surprised at
the choice of Porter from Merrimack as the third star, because of his
ill-timed penalty (and that would have been enough for me to nix the
choice, but I am a tough judge), but he played very well otherwise with
1-2--3.  That they scored five goals (the most Merrimack has ever scored in
DivI against Maine) without leading scorer Casey Kesselring, out with a
first-degree shoulder separation, was a bright spot.  And Porter led the
way as the first line of Poirier-Laroche-Porter didn't miss a beat.  When
Kesselring returns, it will be a tough decision whether to put Kesselring
back on that line or leave Porter there.
 
Another big loss today was D Tom Costa, scratched just before faceoff with
an injury suffered in warmups Saturday night.  Costa's physical play was
missed, and even though Ryan Guzior filled in well in his first varsity
game ever, he is not as physical a player as Costa is.
 
>Mike Machnik will likely have his usual thoughts upon his return from Maine,
>but I'll say a few words about MC's weekend.  It has to be sheer
>disappointment for the Warriors who played Maine so close last year.  That
>was a building point for the program coming into this year.  To come up to
>Maine and get blown out twice, was not how Ron Anderson wanted to continue
>the process.
 
The disappointment came in that the team did not play against Maine in the
way they needed to in order to have a chance to win.  Merrimack has always
had trouble playing at Maine, and one MC player said that he felt they gave
Maine too much respect this weekend.  That was clear in the way that they
allowed the Maine forwards to establish a presence in front of the net that
few teams have been able to this season.  The physical play was sorely
lacking from Merrimack's game this weekend, and it showed.  They started
off well in the first period both nights, but they tended to back off the
Maine forwards and did not hit the way they needed to - the way they have
pounded teams like Maine and BU in the past.  It was more difficult, I
thought, for them to come back after Sat night and do this Sun afternoon
because of the fatigue involved in playing Sun's game just 14 hours after
Sat's game ended.  Maine took advantage of the open space that they were
given, and they made Merrimack pay.
 
Another factor in the series, I believe, was the absence of All-HE goalie
Martin Legault, out with a broken bone in his foot suffered over the last
week.  Merrimack refused to use this as an excuse and I was wary of even
mentioning this, until I had it mentioned to me by a well-known Maine media
member.  He felt that the team did not display the kind of confidence in
front of Thibeault that it did with Legault in net.  While Thibeault did
not play badly overall, he also was not nearly as aggressive as Legault is
- note how Thibeault tended to stay back in his net, giving Maine a lot of
space to shoot at.  The team may have sensed this and panicked at times.
 
Legault was the goaltender last season when Merrimack held Maine to 9 goals
in three games.  He will also miss the BU series next week, so Thibeault
will need to regain the confidence he had in two good games vs BU last
season, as well as having the D realize and correct their mistakes.  I've
noticed that when Thibeault gets off to a good start, the D responds by
picking up his lead and playing well.
 
Overall for Merrimack, a betting man would have picked Maine to win both
games, especially with Legault out, so the sweep was not a surprise.
Allowing 15 goals in two games was, but it's not devastating because a loss
is still a loss whether it's by one goal or four.  What will be interesting
will be if they come out Friday against BU at home with a return to the
physical game that has brought them success in the past, since Merrimack
tends to play more emotionally and physically at home and against BU.  They
can win with Thibeault in net, but they need to give him more help than
they did this weekend as well as playing with more discipline - a number of
bad penalties really hurt them against Maine.  They also need a healthy
Costa back to help establish that physical presence against BU.
 
I believe both coaches were surprised at the way the series turned out,
with the number of goals Maine scored easily, but it does point out the
fact that Merrimack cannot get away from their bread and butter.  I'll be
very interested to see what happens in the rematch in February at
Merrimack.  The Warriors will certainly have something to prove, and now
they have incentive.  I would venture to say that February 3rd is already
circled on their calendar.  Even one win in three games against Maine this
season would be positive.  This series could serve as a wakeup call.
 
BTW, Wansborough did have a great weekend for Maine, even if I would have
chosen Roenick over him as first star.  He wound up with 5-1--6 in the two
games and has 15-7--22 on the year, one of the more consistent Maine
forwards thus far.  Steve Kariya and Scott Parmentier also played well.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
>> Co-owner of the College Hockey Lists at University of Maine System  <<
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