Bring on the Wildcats!!!
 
Okay, okay, I'm gonna try not to gloat, but allow me to point this out:
Most everybody on HOCKEY-L picked either Maine in three or Minnesota as
the winner of this series.  Only *I* said Maine in two.  That's all I
have to say about that.
 
Truthfully, I was kinda concerned about Maine after their lackluster
play against Northeastern and Boston University in the Hockey East
tourney.  I think Maine rose to the occassion and played the best that
they did all season.  I'll give my series MVP award to Black Bear goalie
Mike Dunham, who stopped 27 shots (including a few incredible ones) in
game one's 4-0 shutout over the Gophers.  Minnesota came ready to play
in game two, and took charge with a 3-1 lead, but the Alfond Arena
crowd helped to ignite the Bears with four unanswered goals: a gift
goal (although UMinn's 3rd goal was a gift too), a shot from the right
circle, a wrist shot from the left into the far upper corner, and a
CANNON from the left face-off spot.  Maine's defense and goalie Garth
Snow hung on for the 5-3 victory, which will send both Maine and
Minnesota to the same area, except the Bears will play hockey on their
trip.
 
Game Two      1    2    3    F
------------- -    -    -    -
Minnesota     2    1    0    3
Maine         1    2    2    5
 
Some other thoughts:
--------------------
Wayne gave Minnesota's Gopher "Mascot of the Game" honors for game one.
I wasn't impressed with either one, but I'll have to agree.  Bananas
didn't even show up on the ice in the second game, while at least the
Gopher came to the ice with a stick.  I would have liked to have seen
the two mascots play a little one-on-one hockey during the intermission.
It would have been the best (and only!) stunt Bananas has done all year.
Actually Wayne, I kinda liked Bananas making fun of the Minnesota cheer-
leaders...THAT'S HIS JOB.  What's he gonna do, applaud them? Hardly!
As for the onions on your hot dog....that's your problem. :)
 
Speaking of cheerleaders, I have to admit I was impressed by UMinn's
skating ladies, although I didn't exactly "welcome" them to the ice,
and I wasn't the only one either.  Something tells me that the UMaine
cheerleaders are gonna hear about this, for right now, we don't have
cheerleaders at the games.  I hope that changes soon, assuming they can
skate! :)
 
UMinn's band was unquestionably a top-notch group.  (I sat on the same
side as they did in game two, and right next to our band in game one.)
I expected them to sulk after game two's loss, but they stayed right
with the Gophers until the bitter end.  At times, I found them to be
a little premature in their actions (i.e. playing their school song
when they haven't scored in several minutes, or near the beginning of
a power play when they hadn't scored yet), but they really knew how to
keep their spirits high and play their tunes exceptionally well.
Oh, and I heard the "I'm blind, I'm deaf, I wanna be a ref" chant, too.
A good one!  Hopefully, it'll pick up here, too.
 
A final note about the announcement of other game scores.  We cheered
for Clarkson, groaned a little about UAA losing to NMU (we all like an
underdog), but most of the crowd booed (and I mean BOOed) B.U.'s lead
over Michigan.  I understand B.U. fans cheered for us, but you gotta
keep in mind that we saw Jack Parker throw the water bottles and clip-
board on the ice here, and have had disrespect for Parker and the
Terriers ever since.  Personally, I was kinda glad B.U. beat Michigan,
because nothin' would be sweeter for Maine fans than a champioship
victory over the Terriers!
 
Northern Michigan?  Well, we've beaten them twice this year, but that
may not mean a whole lot in THIS game.  In two tries, Maine has NEVER
gotten past a national semifinal.  But the last one, in 1989 at St.
Paul, was against Minnesota, which is a tough home-crowd advantage to
overcome (and Harvard DESERVED the 1989 national championship for doing
it!).  We'll just have to wait and see.  Thursday afternoon, 3 pm EST,
the eyes of Maine will be watching.  (I have a class from 2:10 - 3:25
Thursdays, but....:) )
 
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Jim Baines, a.k.a. "Sportscaster",  BITNET: IO60312@MAINE           |
|"Fill the Steins to Dear Old Maine..."  GO BLACK BEARS!!!           |
| M! A! I! N! E!  GooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOO BLUE!!!   All the way, baby!|
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