There's been some talk on both these games on both lists so I'm sending
this to both.  BTW, the updates to the scores in the archives and the
Hockey East report will all go out sometime Monday; you've seen all the
scores involving HE teams on hockey-l anyway.  Warning, this turned out a
little long.
 
Friday, after driving through a blinding snowstorm in Western Mass. (was
wondering whether or not that was a good idea at the time, but it only
lasted about an hour) on route to Syracuse, I went with Heather to see
Plattsburgh play Colgate in Hamilton.  We arrived with the score 3-0 and as
has been posted, it only got worse for Plattsburgh as they trailed 5-0
after one, 13-1 after two and lost 14-3.  I was surprised at the outcome,
but I see a few reasons for it.  One, it was Colgate's last game of the
semester and they had not gotten a win against an NC$$ team yet, and they
clearly knew they had everything to lose in this game.  They looked like
Stanley Cup champs on this night.  Everything went right.  This can be a
tough game for a DivI team to play (ask Clarkson), the DivI team has
everything to lose and the DivIII team has nothing to lose.  But Colgate
came right out with relentless pressure and was able to convert on most of
the mistakes Plattsburgh made, due to the difference in depth and speed.
 
Two, Plattsburgh's style of play just did not match up well with Colgate.
From what I have seen of the Cardinals, they are almost purely a dump-and-
chase team, which is odd because they've looked their best when they decide
to skate with the puck.  Plattsburgh would constantly carry the puck up one
side and dump it in the opposite corner, but Colgate was well aware that
they like to do this and their quicker, bigger defensemen would get the
puck first almost always and move it up ice while Plattsburgh had three
forwards deep in the zone.  Couple this with the fact that Plattsburgh's
defense is not its strong point, and you have a blowout.  However, Heather
almost brought the house down when Plattsburgh scored in the second to make
it 11-1. :-)
 
Saturday, we went to Buffalo for the Plattsburgh-Canisius game, and it was
a very exciting game between two pretty evenly matched teams.  Canisius
plays outstanding defense and goalie Derek Slater was very impressive.  As
long as those two things continue, the Ice Griffs will go on to a very
successful year.  Other than the officiating :-), probably what won it for
Plattsburgh was a very strong team work effort that was the best I've seen
after four times this year.  Coach Cavanaugh has a point about the
officiating, and you all know I'm not one to jump on the officials...
everything was let go in the third period, which is certainly debatable but
fine as long as it goes both ways, but in the OT, a mild skirmish occurred
behind the Canisius net which resulted in the Canisius player getting a
double minor and the Plattsburgh player getting only one minor.  The
offsetting minors canceled and Plattsburgh wound up with a power play on
which they scored the winner.
 
For Plattsburgh, keys were probably the play of forward John Wells (5'7",
145) and goalie Mike Mondello.   Wells is one of the smallest guys I have
ever seen play college hockey but was all over the ice and figured in a
goal or 2.  Mondello, despite being among the SUNYAC leaders in GAA, has
been shaky when I've seen him but rebounded from the shelling at Colgate to
play a terrific game and made several big saves when counted on.
 
The injury to Cleghorn was scary...he was down on the ice and not moving
for about a half hour, then paramedics arrived and took him off on a
stretcher.  From reading the other posts, it sounds like there were a
number of other serious injuries in hockey this weekend - very odd.  The
disappointing thing was how the fans reacted - some guy dressed up in a
superhero-type outfit went up on the ledge over where Cleghorn was being
attended to and led cheers from there.  Meanwhile, a kid who was taking
pictures for some publication also went up there and starting snapping
photos (complete with flash); when Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery yelled at
the kid to knock it off, the kid aimed the flash at Emery and set it off,
then went back to taking more pictures.  Emery showed some restraint by not
climbing the glass and smashing the kid's camera, which is probably what
I'd have done. :-)  Too bad how a few meatheads have to ruin it for the
real hockey fans.
 
Heather and I were treated to the hospitality of a couple of Canisius
folks, Dr Steve Roth and Coach Brian Cavanaugh who we both met...I was
impressed by Dr Roth's mostly successful attempts to keep some of the more
obnoxious fans in line after the game.  And Coach Cavanaugh's wife was the
one who sold me the winning ticket (read below).  After the game, we talked
to Coach a little about the program and its possible future.  Canisius, as
many of you know, is a Division I school playing in the ECAC West, and as
such they are not eligible for the DivI tourney because they don't play the
required 20 games vs DivI teams, nor can they play in either the DivII or
DivIII tourneys because they are categorized as a DivI program.
 
But, they are in a unique situation of being the only major hockey program in
Buffalo (as a Bruins fan, I don't count the Sabres :-)) and a lot of great
opportunities exist there if the school decides it wants to up its stake in
the program.  Canisius' success this year (9-3-0 so far) should have a
positive feedback, and Coach Cavanaugh mentioned that whereas the school
had been considering building a new basketball facility, recently some
thoughts have been raised to making it a combined basketball-hockey arena.
Having an arena on campus helps tremendously in terms of recruiting and fan
interest (ask Lowell, which plays off campus and has struggled in both
areas).  Best of luck to everyone there the rest of the season and in
getting college hockey recognized as a major sport in Buffalo.
 
In the Cliff Clavin (obscure trivia) dept., I've seen about 300 games over
the last 8 years and other than flying to Kalamazoo with Merrimack back in
October, this was the farthest I have ever gone for a game (Buffalo is
about 9 hours from my home).
 
Heather wrote in her commentary to hockey3:
 
>I'll let Mike M. explain my next comment when he posts from his house...:-)
>P.S. Mike, you never even gave me a cut of the take!
 
(Mike "M."?  What other Mike is there?  What haven't you told me? :-))
 
Believe it or not, *I* won the 50-50 raffle at Canisius Saturday night, a
hefty 145 bucks.  I know, I know, when we get married it becomes "we won
the 50-50".  But she knows she did get a cut of the take...it's on her
finger.  (It's going towards the next ring payment.)
 
Have to complete this novel with something that still has me laughing...
Heather, the First Lady of Cardinal Hockey, made a grocery bag full of
cookies for the team to take on their ride back from Buffalo (that's not
the funny part, but at least I got some too).  Anyway, to discourage her
ravenous family from eating the cookie dough, she put the following note on
the bowl:
 
"DO *NOT* TOUCH OR I'LL BREAK EVERY BONE YOU HAVE."  (caps and emphasis
hers)
 
Heather's dad got the note and added the following to the bottom and gave
it to me:
 
"Michael - This is a sample of the sensitive, delicate, feminine creature
you are in love with.  Good luck.  - THN"
 
I plan on saving the note and when our kids talk back to her, I'll show it
to them and say, "See this?  Do you really want to find out if she means it?"
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)    *HMN*