Mahoney actually called Bishop's play "extremely shaky while allowing
five goals over the game’s first 23:25".
I think that unfair ... Bishop sat back in his net and dared VT shooters
to hit him ... and they made great shots just below the crossbar and
inside a post to beat him. During his color commentary, Mahoney said
Bishop had a clear look at a shot from the point (the first goal of the
game), yet I was on perfect line with the (Carlson) shot and could see
that Bishop was totally screened ... he may have even been moving left,
expecting a pass from his right to left. In any event, the shooter had a
1'x3' area to Bishop's right and hit it.
During much of the first half of the game, it didn't seem like either
goalie could stop a shot. At one point, Mahoney reported 7 Grade-A shots
for each side, with Fallon stopping all 7 and Bishop stopping 2 (it was
5-3 VT at that point, I recall).
Had not the players been tough playing from behind, and had the Pep Band
not showed up during their Thanksgiving Break (along with 50 or so
Maineiacs), it might have been a dismal afternoon at the Alfond.
Unlike some other games, I thought UMaine did a much better at not
hanging their heads when something bad happened ... as VT goals extended
a 1-goal lead several times. To their credit, UMaine battled back each
time. However, though Sweetland no doubt has a lot of game-tying and
game-winning assists in his future, I doubt Bellamy will be scoring many
of those goals (Yes, I know Bellamy had an unbelievably great assist and
"the" goal, and was probably first-star of the game) ... the team needs
some other scorers, or for the goalie and team defense to be much better
(in order to win games). (IMHO)
Trivia Q1: How many minutes of play has UMaine gone without holding a lead?
Finally, I'll comment that one "tradition" has turned this season. (Many
of) the fans don't have the confidence in a UMaine rally, and the
opponents don't have the same fear of that rally happening. VT was
stunned to have UMaine tie the game, and almost stumbled to a loss, but
regained their play to end the game with some chances of their own and
earn a tie. Said another way, (IMHO) neither the fans nor VT expected
the rally to succeed ... yet it did. That's more than a little something
for the players to hang their hat on.
Next up is a surprisingly good New Brunswick team that beat New
Hampshire 6 weeks ago. UNB was last year's University Cup Champion and
currently sports an 18-2 record, losing only to UMass-Lowell, a 5-3
exhibition, and UDEM, a 5-4 loss in OT to a school of 55,000 students.
Trivia Q2: What was the UNB nickname before the current "Varsity Reds"?
cheers, wayne
Deron Treadwell wrote:
> Pretty quiet here...
> Here's Larry Mahoney's recap:
> http://bangornews.com/news/t/maineblackbears.aspx?articleid=156938&zoneid=225
> <http://bangornews.com/news/t/maineblackbears.aspx?articleid=156938&zoneid=225>
>
> He calls Ben Bishop "shaky" in the piece, which would have been my
> guess just looking at the box score. With this team, 5 goals should
> always be enough to win.
> He also notes that the six-game winless streak is the longest for the
> program since 1985-86. (Gasp).
> -Deron
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