WOW!  This was one heck of a hockey game for the most part, but I do have to
admit that I was awfully disappointed at first in Paul Kariya's performance.
Wait!  Don't stop reading yet, I changed my mind by the end of the game, but
at first, he seemed awfully nervous or something.  He did end up having a great
game (despite only getting an assist), but more on that in a minute...
 
I was most pleased to catch the game on PASS, carrying Prime Network's feed:
 
First, a question:  Is #31 for Maine Cal "Ingram" or "Ingra-ham"?  I thought it
was the first, but the announcers said the second for the whole game.  As has
already been said, though, the announcers didn't know much about (college)
hockey.  There were several instances in which they "criticized" players for
not shooting/passing or whatever, only to reverse their comments after they saw
a replay of whatever play it was they were debating.  At least the game was on,
I suppose I shouldn't complain.
 
This appeared to me to be a fairly rough game, with both teams hitting pretty
hard.  Seemed to me that Michigan did a better job in this category, at least
in knocking the Maine players off the puck.  I had to wonder about the officials
sometimes though (they were from the ECAC -- I think that fact was brought up
last week regarding some "questionable" non-calls).  There was quite literally
a brief wrestling match between two players (seriously, the Maine player had
his opponent PINNED (!), then the Michigan man escaped and flipped the other
guy onto his back -- no call!  And that's just one example.  I think the biggest
question mark about the officials was the potential tying goal by Maine that
was not counted:
 
The puck was in the Michigan zone, and going behind the net.  A Maine player
chased it, with a defender hot on his heels.  Sweeping around with the puck, he
slid it past Shields for what he (sorry, I know this would be a lot easier to
follow if I had some names...) thought was a goal.  A couple of Maine sticks
went into the air in celebration, but there was no light from the goal judge,
and the official quickly made it clear that there was no goal.  When the
defenseman was trying to get at the puck, he ran into the net (unintentionally)
and, just as the shot was let go, the back and front of the net were lifted up.
The puck did cross the plane (actually, it went about 5 inches or so into the
goal) and slid out underneath the uplifted bar and into the corner.  It happened
so fast that it took a couple of slow-motion replays to see exactly what did
take place.  The announcers...wait, enough about the announcers.  Suffice it to
say that they said it should have been a goal, then sided with the official
ruling.  The official ruling was that it was no goal because the net was knocked
off the moorings.  This, I think, is the center of the debate that will most
likely follow.  Does anyone know what the exact rules are?  Yes, the net was
lifted up (the puck slid underneath it, after all....).  BUT (seems to me that
this is a big one) it didn't come off the posts.  It may have folded one of the
posts over and was just resting on the rubber (or whatever they are made of)
but it did come back down essentially in place.  Granted that the game couldn't
be played with the net "essentially in place," but play also would have stopped
if this would have counted as a goal.  It happened so fast that it was very hard
to tell at full speed, but the puck did in fact go in, and I was surprised that
the goal judge's light didn't come on.  Interestingly enough, they talked to
the Secretary of rules (not the official title, and I don't have his name.  My
apologies for a somewhat ill-informed post -- this is my first "results" post --
criticism welcome (private and constructive....:-) ) after the third period, and
he really didn't say much.  He said that it was "something we'd probably never
see again" and that maybe they should write a rule allowing (GASP!) review by
instant replay in the tournament.  He really never said anything about this
particular situation, except that it was "very difficult" to call.
 
But back to the game:  I thought Michigan outplayed Maine through the first two
periods, and the score at the second intermission showed: 3-2.  Maine seemed to
be making several mental mistakes on defense, which directly resulted in two
goals.  The awesome Bear firepower that I was eagerly awaiting in my first Maine
game was sadly missing, and I thought they tried to finesse too many shots.
All that changed in the third, though, when they outshot the Wolverines 15-3.
It says a lot for Steve Shields, though, that Maine only came out of the period
with one point.  He certainly is one of the best goalies in college hockey,
despite the way the announcers (oops, I brought 'em up again) kept saying that
he doesn't look pretty making saves, but at least he gets the job done.  He
sure did a job on Kariya late in the third, when Maine was on one of their final
rushes of the game.  Kariya was streaking between two defenders when the three
of them went down (a good no-call here, there really wasn't a penalty) just
inside the Michigan zone.  Kariya and the puck (I don't think he really had
control when he was down) kept sliding toward the net, and all of a sudden, he
popped up and ripped a shot, which Shields somehow stopped.  It was one of the
most incredible shots I've ever seen.  One second he was flat on the ice,
sliding, and then he was up and shooting.  Ingraham took a swing at the rebound
and it ended up going around the back of the net to -- Kariya.  He swung out in
front with it and took another shot that (I think) hit a defenseman and came
right back to him.  He shot again *HARD* and Shields stopped THAT too.  I think
Steve got a little rattled at the end of that flurry, though, because Maine
players were right around the crease poking at him and the puck, and he wanted
a penalty.  The third ended with a 3-3 tie, and even though Kariya didn't score,
I did get a chance to see what all of the hype was all about.
 
After the furious pace of the end of the third, the overtime period was an
anticlimax.  At 1:36 into the period, Maine's Strauss (I don't think that's
right.  Boy, I'm REALLY sorry about that.  I should have written things down...)
slipped one past Shields in a fairly ordinary looking play that I didn't really
expect to turn into anything.  A well done goes out to both teams for an
excellent game, and good luck to Maine in their quest for the title.