John Whelan writes:
>         The one thing I got to experience that those in attendance
> didn't was the Sportscenter immediately preceding, on which co-host
> Jack Edwards repeatedly talked up the championship game.  For example,
> in the middle of a bunch of "highlights" of ridiculous fights, he
> observed that we wouldn't be seeing any of this nonsense in the
> college hockey championship.  If you're sending a comment to ESPN, you
> might want to put in a good word for Edwards.  (Oh, and according to
> his bio at <http://ESPN.SportsZone.com/editors/studios/bios/je.html>
> he graduated from UNH in '79, so I'm guessing he was as surprised to
> hear Michigan had beaten Rhode Island in the semis as the rest of us.)
 
If I remember right from his tenure in Boston (Channel 5?), Jack was always
more of a "friend" to college hockey than many of the other sports anchors.
It seems that he still tries to plug it whenever he can.
 
One thing that the folks in attendance got to see that didn't make it on tv
was the truly brilliant video that was shown on the center ice screens just
prior to the game.  If you taped the game, you can get a sense of it at the
beginning of the broadcast when Levy and Engblom are doing their intro
since it was going on at the same time.  The lights came down with about
6:00 on the board...the video was a quick recap of highlights leading to
this game and was backed with music from "Rocky", the piece that you hear
as they are building up to the climactic final battle of the movie, that
starts with the bell tolling and so on.  This, combined with the graphics
beamed down on the ice surface, really got the crowd going and as it ended,
the lights came up and the teams took the ice.  It sent a chill down my
spine and was a wonderful way to lead into the game, which lived up to
expectations.
 
It also showed that while the FleetCenter does not have the history that
the Garden had, it can still be a terrific venue for this event -- and a
top notch event like this can create much the same kind of atmosphere that
it did in the Garden.  The FleetCenter has been criticized as being a
boring, sterile arena, but it was anything but on this night.
 
I've been waiting for a long time for the finals to come back to Boston,
and with the way the whole weekend went, I was very proud and like many,
looking forward to when the finals return here.  Everything was first class
and the event was afforded the status it has come to deserve.  It received
major coverage from the Boston media and got a lot of attention from people
who don't normally give it that attention.  I think the Globe and Herald
alone had about 22 people in total covering it.
 
Speaking of which, other than the distance from the ice surface which you
can't really do anything about, one place the FleetCenter really shone was
in its press box and press facilities.  That is what you'd expect from a
major league arena, but this was the first time I could remember seeing
every spot on press row filled -- and press row runs all the way around
Level 9 of the building and allows everyone a front row view.  Better yet,
no seats had to be taken away to give everyone a spot because the building
has so much in the way of press seating.  It showed that the FleetCenter
can handle big events like this, and many more are planned for the future.
 
Other thoughts...
 
It was nice that every team that made it there was able to end its season
on somewhat of a positive note even though only one could end with a win.
UNH made it back for the first time in 16 years; Ohio State for the first
time ever; and BC showed its resurgence is even further ahead of schedule
than anyone thought it would be.
 
A lot of teams have a very positive postseason banquet coming up, along
with a lot to look forward to, and that is always nice.
 
The awarding of the Hockey Humanitarian Award to Wisconsin's Erik Raygor
(and special citation of merit to the North Dakota team for their work a
year ago during the flood), along with the presentation of the Hobey Baker
to Chris Drury, went very well too.  All were very deserving.  Faneuil Hall
was as great of a setting for the Hobey presentation as there has ever
been, and BU did a terrific job with it.
 
After an emotional speech by Drury, the BU captain came outside to sign
autographs and shake hands with everyone who came up, and you had to feel
good watching Drury sincerely thank each and every person who offered his
or her hand in congratulations.  He seemed to spend more time thanking
people than they did in praising him.  A great moment for the game and for
BU and Drury.  I've always been struck by the way in which Drury, a kid who
got more publicity at the age of 12 than he may have yet received as a
hockey player (pitching Trumbull, CT to the Little League World Series
title), has always remained humble and even embarrassed at the attention he
has been given.  That can only happen if you are raised by parents and
coaches who are able to keep you focused on the right things, and those
people certainly deserved to share in the honor.
 
I'm not sure how many people realize what a great story it was for Michigan
to win the title the way they did.  How often do you see a team go as far
as they did while skating only four Ds?  I thought that as the game went on
and into OT that this might hurt them, especially when Van Ryn went down
for a bit late in the third period and Michigan had to go with only 3 Ds,
but they continued to play well and might have been the biggest reason for
Michigan's win.  Bubba Berenzweig not only emerged as one of the top Ds in
the game, but he made a lot of friends among the Boston press and fans for
the way he plays and the way he handled himself with all the media
attention.  Michigan as a whole shut down Reasoner and Gionta like no one
else has been able to do since the Beanpot.  BC was outshot for only the
sixth time this season.
 
BC's inexperience and reliance on rookies seemed to catch up with them as
the game went along and the pressure mounted, for the first time I have
seen.  Those of us who follow Hockey East expected this to be a concern for
BC as we got into the latter stages of the season and the playoffs, but as
these kids continued to respond, I for one came to believe that they were
capable of far more than people thought.  They did make more
uncharacteristic mistakes in the third period and overtime than I expected,
but that they got as far as they did (a couple of ringers off the pipe from
a national title) tells you a lot about where BC is headed.  BC is back.
That's good for Boston hockey, for Hockey East and for college hockey in
general.  It's great to see for a class act like Jerry York and the quality
of the players (on and off the ice) that he has brought to the program.
 
And Michigan won the title with a boatload of rookies, many of whom played
a significant role.  A great combination of upperclassman leadership and
youthful drive and desire.  So much for rebuilding.
 
Thanks Boston, and thanks to all the teams, fans and personnel who made it
the great event that it was.  One to remember, that is for sure.
 
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