I do not think that the game was called evenly. Bells
was called for boarding when he hit a kid face to
face, the kid turned and went into the boards head
first, but he turned and embellished. It was a 2
referee game and the ref who was in the zone actually
shook his head, no, and the ref who was 2 zones away
put his arm up and signalled boarding. THEN, a minute
after Bells came out of the box, he was clobbered
inthe head with a high stick... no call. Maine was
called for interference late in the game for tickey
tack crap along the boards and a few minutes later,
Clarke was tackled by a denver Dman and their goalie,
the d man stayed on top of him with a ref telling them
to break it up, he stayed for about 3 seconds more,
and then as Clarke was trying to get up, the D man
kept cross checking him back down 3 times. No call.
This was not a case where 2 guys were just wrestling
and Clarke lost, this was one sided and there was no
call.
I am not complaining though becuase last season, Maine
got the good end of a lot of bad calls in North
dakota. A LOT of bad calls. I am saying that it was
not really a case of Maine not giving themselves a
chance to win.
so, my report from Denver.
Maine looked good. not great, and not bad. Ben was
very good, and stopped all of the shots he should
have. he did not let in any weak goals.
Sweetland had at least 6 grade A scoring chances from
no more than 10 feet from the net. mannino was great
in stopping all of them.
Bellamy had the "great hands" of the game. he learned
a toe drag that would make Teddy Purcell ask for tips.
BElls burnt a defenseman just like Teddy did last
year in Lowell, if you remember that one. BElls did
not score, but he looked like a real stick handler.
Earlier in the game he did the same move and got
around a defender in the neutral zone.
Van Dyk is the next Imes. (This is not said lightly).
He is completely poised. he made one freshman
mistake last night, but every other time he was
involved in teh play, he was awesome, he made hits
when he should have, and he swept the puck away when
he should have. He also started the best passing play
I have seen in YEARS, out side of Brian Gionta, Blake
Bellefuille, Paul Kariya and JIm Montgomery). Van Dyk
passed to Sweetland who passed to Dee (or vice versa,
while skating into the denver zone, each pass, got
Mannnino to move and each pass was tape to tape, while
the boys were flying. There are 3 great freshmen
right there.
Billy had 2 assists in my book. He held the puck just
long enough to make Mannino commit twice and then
passes cross crease to a wide open Keenan Hopson and
Keenan was not able to convert either pass. I am not
knocking Keenan, but the passes were great, and they
were of the Kariya to Ingraham variety where all
Keenan had to do was redirect the puck and put it in
from about 2 feet out. we will see many of these
goals scored this year so I am not worried about first
game jitters.
The Freshmen forewards were tossed around like rag
dolls much of the game last night, they had trouble
with the big D men in the WCHA, this sort of thing is
not new.
Hahn, Laise and clarke were flying last night and all
3 looked very good.
Duffy had the hit of the game, he cleand a guy;s clock
in the open ice in Maine;s defensive zone. Duffy
looked good overall, as did all of the D. Tyler did
not jump into the offense like I am used to seeing.
And ther was one shift where Bret looked like he did
not know waht to do (for only a second) and Van Dyk
raced over and took the puck up ice and made
everything all better.... Josh looked like a seasoned
veteran all night. (well, one time on the PP, he
pinched down, trying to keep the puck in the offensive
zone and a little Denver forward raced past him with
it... Ramsay bailed Josh out on that play... but that
was Josh's only mistake all night).
What else? Billy looked good, but there were times
where I think he tried to do a little too much by
himself and not pass, but if the passes I wrote about
earlier are any indication, maybe he should do a lot
by himself.
Simon has become a VERY strong defender, he is using
his strength to move people around, and he uses his
reach to break up passes that nobody else could
possibly reach. He does not look like the same player
as 2 years ago, AT ALL.
One Powerplay unit had Bells screening the net, with
Billy and Keenan at forward. I liked that group.
Bells ALMOST had a goal off a reabound, but he rushed
his blind backhand shot, not knowin that he had a
completely open net and when he shot blindly, he hit
the post and not the 4 feet of open goal line that he
could have used. the other powerplayy unit was Ramsay
and 4 freshmen. they did not look as good, but I like
the idea of giving the new guys confidence. I hope
that this conficence does not come at the expense of
upsetting upperclassmen who have been waiting for
their chance on the powerplay. I have an idea that
Laise/Hahn/Clark/Marshall would not not stink on the
PP, but we have never gotten to know if they would or
would not.
Here's hoping maine can score early tonight.
--- Deron Treadwell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> See below links to USCHO recap. Maine really hurt
> themselves with
> penalties last night and I agree with Whitehead that
> they did not give
> themselves the best opportunity to win.
>
>
http://www.uscho.com/recaps/20072008/m/10/12/me-du.php
>
> Also, Hockey East did NOT fare very well at all last
> night. A
> staggering performance:
>
> Maine lost to Denver 2-0
> BC lost to Michigan 4-3
> BU lost to Robert Morris 3-2
> Vermont lost to Miami 2-1
> Providence lost to St. Lawrence 4-1
> UMass lost to Clarkson 2-1
> New Hamphire lost an exhibition game against New
> Brunswick 4-3
>
> The lone victory: Merrimack beat Niagara 4-2.
>
> Lowell was idle.
>
> -Deron
>
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