Thoughts and Things from the RPI Invitational Tournament
 
For those not reading box scores, here are the results:
 
DECEMBER 29
 
Maine 5  Miami (Ohio) 3
RPI 7  Merrimack 4
 
DECEMBER 30
 
Merrimack 4  Miami (Ohio) 2
Maine 8  RPI 5
 
Maine wins for the second time in as many appearances at the RPI
Invitational, joining Michigan, Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth in that
department.  St. Lawrence is the only team to win 3 championships in
only 3 appearances.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
 
F-Kelly Askew, RPI
F-Craig Hamelin, RPI
F-Matt Adams, Merrimack
D-Dan Boyle, Miami
D-Dave MacIsaac, Maine
G-Blair Allison, Maine
 
TOURNAMENT MVP
 
Tim Lovell, Maine
 
 
Attendance for the first day was 4,175 and for the second 4,602,
neither a sellout (the Field House seats 5,200+), but a nice increase of
400+.  A lot of people, such as Ralph Slate, had other commitments
and could only make the Friday night game.
 
Local press was talking about a move to the Knickerbocker Arena.
Not a rumor, just a suggestion.  Frankly, unless this tournament sells
out the Field House, a move is highly unlikely.  This was one of the
best fields, in terms of quality and cross-section of teams, to come to
the RPI Invitational in a long time, and still only 4,600+ showed up to
see Maine play RPI.  If you don't sell out a game against the number
one team in the nation, you don't need a bigger arena (which you will
have to pay for).  Give up the dream.
 
As for the tournament itself, all four games were good.  None were
definitely decided until late, so suspense was there.  Miami, in losing
both games, had the roughest time.  The Redskins only dressed 15
skaters for the second night.  Four regulars were removed, and only
one person put into the lineup to replace them.  Apparently, Coach
Mazzoleni felt they were only going through the motions and wanted
to send a message to the team.  I thought they played well against
Maine the night before.  It was close until Maine shut them down in the
third, allowing only two shots on goal.  The second night, Coach
Mazzoleni proved to be more of an impediment to his team than
anything else.  He took a costly bench minor for some choice words
with the referee and Merrimack scored their insurance goal on the
ensuing power play.  Consensus in the Field House last night was that
the Miami bus was not the place to be.  In fact, during the first
intermission of the championship game, the PA announcer called for
the Miami team to meet in the locker room.  I wouldn't doubt some of
the guys were hiding out.
 
Merrimack is a team that puzzles me.  They appear to play much better
than their record indicates (5-10-3 after the tournament).  It is a young
team, so that could be the reason.  They have played RPI tight in both
games this year, and did a good job against Miami.  I can't say much
more, as I really didn't pay that close attention in their games.  I spent
most of the Miami-Merrimack game talking to people or listening to
Barry Manilow on the walkman I received for Christmas.  Yes, I like
Barry.
 
Maine wins are ugly, as Coach Walsh says.  This is not the team that
featured Paul Kariya.  These two games remind me of the Maine team
at Hockeyfest in 1992.  The games were tight until the third period,
when Maine decided to take over.  Miami had two shots on goal in the
third, RPI had only one.  That's right, one.  Maine's defense is a brick
wall when they want to be.  Not much flow in the Maine-RPI game,
but a lot of play along the boards and in the corners.  I do mean a lot.  I
did play-by-play for this game, and the puck seemed to be in the corner
60% of the time.  That's an exaggeration, I know, but it was there a
lot.
 
RPI had a good tournament.  They played well against Merrimack, and
the loss to Maine was the first loss all season in which I wasn't
thoroughly disgusted with their play.  They did blow a 3-0 lead, then a
4-2 lead, and kept going for the home run pass during the final 30
minutes of play, but they were able to get Maine back on their heels
early in the game.  Also, RPI scored 5 in a losing cause and the game
was tied at 5-5 until 21 seconds remained to be played in the second.
So RPI was not out of this game until late.  Usually they're long gone
by that time.
 
For the future, it appears the tournament next year will feature
Clarkson, Providence and Illinois-Chicago, not Lake Superior.  It's
good to see another western team coming to Troy, the last time prior
to Miami was Alaska-Fairbanks in 1990.  No offense to UIC, but I
wish it were Wisconsin, Michigan or Minnesota coming to town, to see
how this tournament would draw with a western powerhouse in the
building.  I can dream.
 
Kurt Stutt
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