Karen Verrill writes:
>* On the why people don't like Shawn Walsh- I think some of it comes from his
> early days of what could be called whining. He used to always complain and
> scream at the refs. He also used to pull "rule stuff". Like measuring sticks
> and making the BC players take off their too large CCM embloms on their pants.
 
It's interesting, back when this happened, people around the league
actually seemed to be happy Walsh spoke out and did what he did (the BC
logo thing) since it was perceived that the league revolved around BC; some
folks thought BC was allowed to do what it wanted and the heck with
everyone else.  Another example is when he was quoted as saying that the
scheduling favored BC.  Who knows if there was a bias towards BC then, but
I can tell you that a lot of people saw it that way.  And, the rivalry
between BC and Maine was hot and heavy then; it has dropped off a bit since
BC has struggled the last couple of years, but it's been supplanted by a
perhaps more intense rivalry between Maine and BU.  That's to be expected
between the top teams in any league.
 
The 1991 HE championship game between BU and Maine was something to see.
Both coaches were playing the role to the hilt, getting on the referees,
going nuts on the bench, and so on.  I don't know, maybe Shawn has calmed
down in his old age. :-)
 
> Also he is an ultimate salesman, and salesmen aren't always the most popular
> people. Maybe the NHL should hire him as their PR man.
 
The salesman role is undoubtedly one he plays well, but if you look closely
and listen closely to the things he says, it's clear that besides plugging
his program and players, he also plugs the game itself and that's something
I like to see from a coach with as high a visibility as he has.  A perfect
example of this was his reaction following Maine's OT loss to BU in that
1991 HE championship game.  Rather than being downcast and irritated, he
walked into the postgame interview room at the Garden, stepped up to the
mike, looked around and grinned and said, "Wasn't that a GREAT advertisement
for the sport of college hockey?  What a game!"
 
>*On whether Cal was pi*sed about not being on the HE All-Star team- We sat with
> his family at one of the Maine receptions and yes, he was very disappointed,
> but not as angry as his mother was. The whole family was thrilled with the
> All-American selection and it showed to them (and the rest of Maine) what a
> (to quote Kariya) farce the selection really was. To quote his mother- If
> people in his own league can't appreciate him, it's nice to see that the rest
> of the country does.
 
I do understand Mrs Ingraham and any of the Maine fans being upset, but
please don't think he wasn't appreciated by the other people in the league.
There were a number of articles in the local paper about Cal during the
year, although he is from nearby Georgetown, MA, which may have accounted
for it.  But I saw his being left off the all-star teams as a numbers game
since there were a bunch of deserving forwards who made it (Donovan, Henry,
Murray, and Sacco all had outstanding years), as well as the probability
that they wanted to recognize players from other teams and Cal was the
unfortunate one who was left out.  It's a decision that can be second-
guessed, for sure, but I don't think it is representative of any lack of
respect for the season he had.
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
alternate address days: [log in to unmask]             *HMN*  11/13/93
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)