I would have posted this yesterday, but I'm having trouble with my mail system.
 
All in all I thought the Providence Championships were splendid.  The host city
should be commended for the great job they did in catering to the fans.  It was
a nice touch having all the stands around the Civic Center area selling food
and beverages (especially the Pete's Wicked Ale truck.)  I found the people,
including the policeman, to be very friendly and helpful.  The only gripe I can
make is the high cost of parking ($8.00) although I'm sure there were cheaper
alternatives.  The Civic Center itself seemed small to me, but that also served
to increase the decibel level, especially on Saturday.  It also made it fun
spotting the coaches out in the audience--I saw Jeff Jackson sitting below the
Maine band, and Dan Fridgen on the aisle above Mike Machnik.
 
The Hockey-L gathering was a highlight in itself.  It was great fun wandering
around the Civic Center on Thursday and being accosted ( ;-) )by fellow
listers.  I have great admiration for the depth of support exhibited by some
of those fans who travelled so far to witness their team's play, especially the
disconsolate John Haussler, who journeyed back to Michigan on Friday.  Wayne's
family received the deserved accolades for all their work (and patience) with
the list.  Ron Correia also merits mention for the nice job with the dinner at
the Player's Corner Pub.  BTW who was selling those $2 beers--not bad for
Anchor Steam!)  Ron set the standard for future Hockey-L gatherings--imagine
getting the Hanson Bros. just for Hockey-L!  I did talk with the middle
Hanson about his work as GM with the Albany River Rats last year.  He was
a pretty regular guy, and said he thought the Albany franchise was a pretty
solid operation.
 
Also, thanks to Luiz Valente on his Providence guide.  Cheryl and I dined
at an Italian restaurant on Atwell Street on Saturday night.  Excellent! and
very reasonable.
 
The competition was quite good--even without the epochal struggle between
Michigan and Maine.  BU was clearly the class of the field.  On Thursday's game
I thought that BU looked a little lazy, yet still had the excess talent to
easily out-class Minnesota.  Herlofsky also looked a little soft, but the
BU defense could have supported anyone playing in the net.  BU is an amazingly
deep team.  While Grier seemed to have an off-series, other guys like Kaj
Linna, O'Sullivan and Jacques Joubert really sparkled.  Jack Parker put on
a great coaching show supplying the right answers all night.  I was wondering
why Maine was so upset on the first BU goal.  Looked like a pick play off the
face-off, but as we all know, that's fair game in a championship.  I also
got a kick out of the BU fans chanting BC sucks at the end of the semi-final
game.
 
Oh yes, and Maine--this team is the team to beat next year.  Although they lose
Chris Imes, this team has got a surplus of horses to win next year.  Add young
Kariya and it seems like they'll have all the pieces.  I have to comment about
two Black Bears--Chris Imes and Shawn Walsh.  Although Allison put on the show
in Thursday's game, Imes was simply awesome.  As Mike noted, Imes was
constantly circling back to cover the Maine defense's mistakes, laying some
heavy muscle on both Michigan's and BU's forwards.  I thought that Imes'
defensive responsibilites might have taken away his offense in the BU game.
Walsh also seemed unwilling to play him on the power play, going instead with
Jeff Tory most of the time.  I thought perhaps that was to give Imes a rest
for the load he seemed to be carrying.  In the Michigan game Imes' offense was,
for lack of a better word, great.  The third Maine goal was a masterpiece.
Imes took the puck on the point and started skating down the slot.  I kept
yelling shoot, shoot but Imes instead evaded the oncoming defenseman and bore
on.  Reaching the corner of the crease Imes stopped, and kept waiting, waiting,
until a Maine forward finally got open on the opposite corner.  Quick dish,
quick score.  Hate to hang a label on him, but I think Imes is a can't-miss
in the NHL.
 
Shawn Walsh--he proved to me what an outstanding coach he is.  He is a master
of the between-periods speech.  In both the Michigan and BU games Walsh took
his team into the lockerroom, outlined a play, and watched his team execute.
In the Michigan game I think it took about 30 seconds for Maine to score in the
second period; with BU Maine took about 90 seconds to (temporarily) claw back
into the game.  I watched the patience of the Maine team in that semi-final
overtime, and thought what a superb coach Walsh must be to instill such
dedication in his players.  Repeatedly Maine would bring the puck into the
Michigan end, but every time one of the Maine forwards would peel back into the
center zone to play defense.  The only time I can remember the Maine defense
getting caught was when Imes pinched in deep and got knocked down.  On that
play Allison showed his mettle--I sat staring at the goal light, only it never
went on.
 
Perhaps I should temper my prediction on Maine--Michigan will be back next year
too.  The Wolverines had the best #1 line in the nation this year.  Freshman
Marty Turco played every bit as well as Allison, and his return alone must
establish Michigan as the beast in the West.
 
Sorry to ramble so much, but once again, congratulations to BU, the best team
in the nation (you have to be to beat LSSU.)  BU won its championship in a
great tournament, which really painted a nice picture of college hockey.  Too
bad the television viewers didn't get to see it.
******************************************************************************
Brian Morris                  RPI Engineers--1995 ECAC Champions
[log in to unmask]     Tenth Anniversary of the '85 Championship