Ed Ferguson writes:
>Concordia has already played exhibitions against three HE teams:
>(again this is my recollection of the BDN's morning article)
>Concordia defeated New Hampshire, but lost to Lowell and (surprise!)
>Merrimack.  Concordia will open against Lowell in the 4:00 Friday
>game so they get a chance to even the record against both Lowell
>and HE.  (Maine plays Army Friday night at 7:00)  I know some of
>you have seen Concordia play; was the New Hampshire win a fluke
>or is Concordia really that good, but simply forgot how to play
>when they faced Merrimack?
 
Ouch, boy does that hurt. :-)  Believe me, folks, I've been watching hockey
long enough to know that Merrimack is NOT that bad a team!  Look at their 7
losses: PC by 4 goals, BC twice by 2 goals (one an ENG), UAA by 2 goals, and
Lowell, ND, and RPI by 1 goal (ND in OT).  Perhaps later on in the year,
they will be winning these close games.
 
Anyway, as far as the games you are referring to go, remember they were only
exhibitions.  You can't put that much weight on their outcomes either way.
 
Concordia is supposedly one of the better OUAA teams, but their strength is
goaltending.  Robert Desjardins is good.  The team is small and quick but not
too deep, and also they are very prone to taking stupid penalties.  And,
even the best OUAA teams are not comparable to the best US college teams
because university hockey in Canada is not that big.  I recall that Concordia
lost to North Adams (DivIII) in the consolation of the RIT tourney, 7-6,
after losing to (RIT?) in the first round.  Concordia also was hammered by
Clarkson Wednesday night, 8-1.  They will play Union this weekend.  I do not
expect them to make a serious run at the Dexter championship.
 
Thanks for letting us know of this news, BTW!
---
Mike Machnik        [log in to unmask]       [log in to unmask]