Ben Flickinger <[log in to unmask]> posted:
...
> On the skill level...I stand by my comment that UNO should have won this
> game. Shots on goal don't tell the whole story. UNO had probably 3 times
as
> many scoring chances but drew iron, missed high or wide, etc.
 
Forgive my scepticism, but I've been a fan of college hockey for just under
three decades.
I'll grant you that clanging a post is a bad luck thing often a millimeter
different from a goal,
but I can't recall any game in which I remember more than a few of these by
one team.
From that experience I conclude that most of these extra scoring chances
ended in missed
shots - not the proof of a more skilled team, but rather a sign of an
impatient (probably
young?) team trying to force it instead of working to develop a play.  Now
before someone
else puts it in, I'll be the first to say that a team can err on the other
side, getting too cute
and taking one or two too many passes.  It's a balance that a team with the
right skill level
and experience eventually works out.
 
> On my fighting comment, which I knew some of you wouldn't like:
> ...
> I personally think one isolated fight after a late hit or a cheap shot or
> something could spark them. Maybe it doesn't hafta be a fight, but I don't
> think UNO should let someone run around on our home ice wrecking havoc and
> not making him pay somehow, and since the refs weren't penalizing him, ...
 
I'll probably be one of many on this list to take issue with you.  If you
like fights instead
or hockey, go follow the pros.  Personally I think nothing is more
ridiculous than guys
in hockey gear struggling around like dancing bears instead of displaying
some hockey skills.
I think most on this list will agree that tight rules against fighting with
solid suspensions are
a great safeguard to make sure that Our Game doesn't degenerate into NHL
farm teams.
Personally I'd enjoy the NHL a LOT more if they had the same rules - unpaid
and long
suspensions that escalated with subsequent infractions.
 
> It doesn't help that Coach Kemp's gotten them scared to do just that
because of his
> no tolerance stance on any retaliation penalties, so if they're going to
get a 1 game suspension from
> him for retaliating, maybe they should at least make it worth their while.
 
Au contraire, mon frere!  It most assuredly does help that this coach takes
such a stand.  He's
telling them what kind of a game we want to have.  You win it playing the
game on the ice.  I fully realize
how frustrating some non-calls can be, especially if it seems inconsistent.
The answer to that is for the
coach to learn to lobby the refs - an art of diplomacy that varies with each
coach and each ref.
Anyone who's ever seen Jackie Parker jawin' at the ref's knows that this can
be effective, but
as I seem to recall both Mike Machnik and Dave Hendrickson have pointed out,
a coach needs
to learn to pick his spots - you don't argue constantly or else you're
ignored.
 
I hope you come over to this way of seeing the game.  It can be frustrating
to lose when you are
sure your team is really better than those scores (believe me, as a BU fan I
understand that this year.)
I'm just glad to see the sport I love growing.  I only hope that it doesn't
lose any of its clean, pure
hockey style as it does so.  I'd rather have a 12-team NC$$ Tournament than
have us turn into the
sort of farm-team junk that big-time college football represents.  Hang in
there! UNO will get its share.
 
Dave Carroll
BU '73
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.