Having just returned to school from spring break and a trip to the Final
Four (albiet only a 10-minute long trip, being from Rhode Island), my
comments on the event:
 
If I had a hockey team, and could take only one player from the entire
tournament, I would take Chris Drury of BU.  This guy is an eighteen
year-old freshman in a sport filled with 19, 20, and 21 (we've got 2 of
them at Brown I think) freshman, and was outstanding in the games I saw
him play.  He was everywherre on the ice, outhustling everybody, and had a
nose for taking the puck off opposing players sticks.  He played
outstanding defense and seemed, to me, to be the most aggresive,
hardest-working player on the ice.  Additionally, of course, is that Drury
is inarguably a winner, having won a world championship (Little League for
Trumbull, CT) and a national championship for BU before he turned 20.
 
The difference between BU and the rest of the teams was simple:  Although
BU's goalies are not as strong as some other's (notably Blair Allison of
Maine), BU's  defense was vastly superior to everyone else's.  Every one
of their defensemen were outstanding throughout, giving them an unnatural
combination of depth and talent.  A note on their depth: Brown coach Bob
Gaudet told me that BU has a defenseman (I can't remember his name) who
was a first-round NHL draft pick, but isn't good enought to DRESS for BU.
That says something.
 
Very little can be said of the Maine-Michigan game that hasn't already
been said time and time again.  It was a classic, and, considering the
game I went to was the Brown-Princeton ECAC play-off game that went into 2
OTs, had tough compitition for the best game of the year (in my mind).
Anyway, the Maine-Michigan blew every other game out of the water; it was
a shame it was the afternoon game, and as a result there were some empty
seats to be seen, despite the sell-out.  No doubt people who had tickets
and didn't attend will rip off the stub and claim to have went.
 
I was so impressed with the whole event, I've alrady bought my tickets for
Cincinnati next year.  Let's hope it's as exciting and enjoyable.
 
Not much more I can say, except congratulations to Bostin University and
Hockey East in general.
 
David Blackburn
Brown University