Brian writes:
>     I think that luck
> played a part in the game (as it does in most) but to attribute the
> win almost solely to luck, as Mike seems to, is doing a disservice
> to the participants. UNH had about a 14-3 advantage in power
> plays (the exact #'s elude me), I EXPECT THAT UNH WOULD DOMINATE
> WHEN THE HAVE A MAN ADVANTAGE, why is does that make them so great
> (or why does that diminish Clarkson's effort). From talking to a
> friend who went to the game (a someone's posting on hockey-L), he
> (they) didn't think the UNH was that dominant on the even-strength
> situations, just the PP advantage (which I would expect). If anything
> made Clarkson look bad, it was taking so many penalties not being
> dominated while shorthanded.
 
UNH's domination while a man up is NOT what makes their effort impressive.
The fact that they had a 14-3 power play advantage does though. You get
this sort of advantage by out-hustling the other team and by continually
forcing them to take penalties in an effort to break up scoring chances.
The fact that they could do this against an excellent team is impressive.
Mike and I and others are not saying that it was pure (or even mostly)
luck that Clarkson won this game, but one way or another, they were
fortunate to come away with a victory in this game. UNH seems to be a
strong team this year, so it would seem that either Clarkson got somewhat
lucky to win OR that they are just much the best team in NCAA hockey that
they can give up so many power plays and still "deserve" to beat another
top 10 caliber team. I think it's a combination of the two. We don't
mean to take anything away from how strong Clarkson is. I think they are
right there with Maine and Michigan. But I also think they escaped with
one by beating another fine team with an effort that was most likely not
their best.
				Mark Daly
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