Mike asks for a few comments.  So I'll jump in.
 
>Goalies: I didn't think Dunham played well Friday night.  I also think
>Shawn was smart to pull him when he did, because otherwise, Lowell might
>have won the game.  Snow has been nothing short of outstanding the whole
Actually I not sure that it was a case of Dunham playing badly, but rather the
the rest of the team playing so much better when Snow was in there.  His
composure in the goal crease really seemed to spur the forwards into skating
just a little faster to evade the forechecking of Lowell.
 
 
>year long.  Maine can be vulnerable in its own end, and it's vital to their
>national title hopes, I think, to have a goalie in there who has proven
>he'll do the job when the game is on the line, as it was the last period
>and a half against Lowell and most of the game against BU.  I don't know if
I can see how they would be--their forwards love to get into those rink-long
rushes, and it doesn't take them very long to go from their own goalmouth to
the opponent's.  It's interesting to note that in both games the NESN
commentators stressed that Maine was playing more defensive-minded than they
did during the season.  I also think Chris Imes (sp) played an outstanding
series back on the blue line.
 
>plans are to continue the goalie rotation, but I certainly would not be
>surprised if it's Snow from here on out.  Even though Harvard won a
>national title by rotating goalies in 1989, I am still a firm believer in
>the need to have one go-to goalie down the stretch.
In absolute agreement, as I have previously noted.  I think Maine is a better
team with Snow behind the net, and Harvard is better with Tracy in goal.
A hot goaltender is virtually the key to the NC$$ championship, Providence's
Chris Terreri in 1985 is the best example to come to mind.  Goalies can only
play that well when they exude the confidence that they can stop anything.
Come to think of it that's how Snow looked on Saturday.
 
>Kariya: He broke free for a few points against Lowell, but BU played him
>closely and contained him.  His presence could work to Maine's advantage in
>the tourney.  My assessment of his season is that early on, opponents had
>Kariya.  That seems to have changed lately, and in fact Montgomery, for
>example, has increased his output as the season went on while Kariya's has
>gone down a bit.  That's why I think his presence will help Maine: if you
>shadow him, the others will break free, and if you don't contain him
>effectively, he will beat you.  He also sees so much ice time, often double
>shifting, that it's hard to put one guy on him.
In the Saturday game it seemed that whenever Kariya touched the puck, three BU
players would immediately converge upon him, to which he would respond by
making a last second dish to the now-unguarded winger flying down the slot.
The only thing that mattered was whether the winger got to the open spot in
time to handle Kariya's pass.  What really impressed me was Kariya's
unbelievable ice presence, his uncanny ability to know where everyone was on
the ice.  The only two players I can think of who have this ice vision are
Adam Oates--and Wayne Gretzky.
 
The only thing I think Maine has to worry about is themselves, the heavy
baggage of their nearly perfect season, their history of choking in the
playoffs, and the fact that they've beaten almost all the good teams once
already.  Their challenge is simply letting their talent come to the top--and
when it comes to talent there is no other team with as much of it as Maine.