No box tonite, I couldn't hear the PA as well as last night, and it may be
for the reason we lost.  Commentary follows --
 
The on-again-off-again streak of the Black Bears held form for another
weekend, but now I can't attribute the lack of attention to the opponent on
an inability to scout the other team.  That opportunity was available to
Maine when University of New Hampshire faced U. Lowell in the second game
of the Geovernor's Cup the night before.
 
What Maine should have seen was a team built for the large surface.  Maine
played the physical game, but played it along the boards.  I suggested last
night playing the game in the open ice.  Maine accounted itself well when
in open ice (early).  I can report that Ben Guite's board check on Mowers
in the second period left Mowers incapacitated, but reports from the
hospital indicated (preliminarily) that it was a moderate concussion, not
the more serious injury it seemed at the time.  It was a pall over the
remainder of the game.
 
Matile of NH played a superb game in goal, which I will qualify only by
saying he faced the easier shots of the night.    Very few odd-man rushes
as in the night before.  This was the same NH team which blanked BU earlier
in the year, without doubt.
 
It was a much bigger crowd than the night before, filled, however, with
proportionally more NH supporters than with a larger amount of people down
from the north.  Although by the fourth goal in the first period, Maine
partisans were rendered silent.  Honestly, much less enthusiasm than I
would have expected from a home crowd whose team was putting a pasting on a
hated opponent.
 
This summary goes only to the Maine list.  If you're  a NH supporter
reading this, OK.   All I wonder is whether, as happened during the time
that Mowers was being attended by the medical staff, some clod will yell
"cheat" when the results tonite had nothing whatsoever to do with Shawn
Walsh.  At least the clods who followed up on that drivel were shouted
down, and the time left until Mowers was removed from the ice was
respectfully silent.
 
Let's not overly analyze this one, just set it aside and not repeat such a
performance, and hope Mowers makes a full recovery.
 
 
 
 
Dan Doucette
UMaine 78 MPA 80
 
*** Beers may now be in the booth, but Jean-Yves Roy ***
***    should be kept with the big club in Boston    ***