I haven't seen anyone post much about this game, so I'll do it. This
was Prime's College Hockey Game of The Week, which I saw live on
Friday. I was glad to get the chance to see Western Michigan play
before they come to Minnesota for the Mariucci Classic.
 
Some comments:
 
Everything people have said about the Lakers being in trouble is
true. I have seen five games with Lake State over the last two years,
four last year and now this one, and this one by far was the weakest.
 
Lake State does have its good points. Like their penalty killing. It
looked fine in Friday night's game, keeping WMU 0 for 5 at some
crucial points in the game. And statistically, I understand the
shorthanded play is one of their strongest points--it gives them
something to build on, I suppose.
 
The power play was not very effective, however, as WMU kept them
scoreless on 4 chances (although the first goal came nine seconds
after a penalty had expired).
 
Of course, Western Michigan didn't look particularly impressive,
either. They dominated the first period (but only slightly), but was
not able to score, to leave the teams tied at 0 after one.
 
In the second, the Lakers came out stronger, and outshot Western
Michigan, and got the first goal of the night, just past before the
halfway point of the game.
 
The third period made it look like it was all over for the Broncos,
as they took a couple of dumb penalties, which kept them out of any
significant play in the first half of the period. But with just more
than five minutes left in the game, WMU scored to tie the game and
send the teams to overtime. Actually, the third period and the
overtime looked pretty even, with no clear advantage to either side
in play, although clearly there was an advantage to WMU on the
scoreboard.
 
There were a few players from either side that impressed me:
 
LSSU
#4 (Captain) Keith Aldridge. Aldridge seemed to handle himself very
well, and played an important part for the Lakers, a clear leader on
the ice. Nice job.
 
#8 Mike Morin. This guy is FAST. He really had some wheels, and that
allowed him to be involved in some key plays, skating past the WMU
defense. He scored the only goal for the Lakers (his sixth of the
season).
 
WMU
#14 (Captain) Gallentine. I guess you have to be pretty good to be
the captain, but both captains were very impressive. Gallentine was
always in the play when he was on the ice, making things happen. He
gave a lot of hustle, and I thought he played extremely well.
 
#33 Cardwell. He was all over the ice. It might have been his entire
line, but #33 kept jumping out at me. Cardwell scored the tying goal
in the third, but he was a factor all night long. The line was #33
Cardwell, #5 Duke, and #8 Mayers, that was very impressive. Easily
WMU's best line. Fast skating, and hard work. Nice to watch.
 
Unfortunately, that was about all to see that was really good. There
were several players, especially on LSSU's squad, that were
disappointments. And it sounds like they didn't do any better on
Saturday.
 
Misc. notes:
 
The announcers seemed to be pro-LSSU. I am not sure why that is, but
they seemed to talk about everything from the Laker perspective. It
bothered me a bit, because I would think a national broadcast should
be a bit less biased.
 
I have a new suggestion for the shootouts, for those who have been
following the Hockey East controversy. How about a shootout for any
game that has less than 5 goals scored? :-)
 
I thought about this about halfway through the overtime period, the
score tied 1-1, and looking like it might stay that way. I said to
myself, "This game needs a shootout. Maybe two." The whole thing was
pretty boring, with little scoring, and not that much pressure put on
either goalie, who, by the way, played pretty evenly.
 
If we look at this weekend's Hockey East matchup between BU and
Maine, we see a 5-5 tie, BU wins shootout 2-1. As Ryan Robbins
pointed out, after scoring 5 goals each, why should a crummy shoot
out determine the better team? The teams are evenly matched. Plus,
the fan, seeing 10 goals scored, has gotten his/her money's worth.
 
But take a 0-0 or 1-1 tie. Neither team has shown itself to be
clearly better. The fans, seeing 0 or 2 goals, want a little more. A
shootout would bring a little excitement to an otherwise boring game
(whoops! I should watch myself--not all low scoring games are boring,
but most are--the 3-2 Mich. St.-Wisc. game last weekend, for example,
or the 2-1 WMU-LSSU game here).
 
We could even explain it this way: the players haven't had much
offensive opportunity to bury the puck--they need a little extra
practice :-) How about a shoot out to get them going? Maybe two or
three if it is a 0-0 tie.
 
Any takers on this idea? :-) :-)
 
                                                Lee-nerd
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"Violence is the last resort of the incompetent." --Isaac Asimov