Tony (Ogre) writes:
>   I would not want to be New Hampshire this weekend.
>   Merrimack is looking like a team on a mission right now.
>   They have won the games they had to win down the stretch,
>     and other teams (like B.C.) have lost the games they
>     had to lose for Merrimack to avoid having to play
>     Maine or Boston University in the first round.
 
Yes, as folks may have gathered from my post on Saturday's MC-UML game,
Merrimack is playing its best at this point in the season.  Ron Anderson
even said that he thinks the team is playing better than it has in four
years.  That is primarily due to two things.  First, this team is laden
with seniors and juniors, and it's the first year that the team is
completely composed of players who were recruited to play in Hockey East.
Players like Fowler, McMillan, Gibson, and Gravelle are pulling together
and doing the job at both ends of the ice, with the leadership of Fowler
being the key.
 
Second, after seemingly struggling early on to find themselves, they appear
to have learned what it takes to win games and are playing with a good
balance of offense and defense.  They're taking care of things in their own
end and not allowing the opposing forwards to run amok (witness the
difference between the Maine series in November and the Maine series last
week).  I would also add that senior goalie Mike Doneghey is playing with a
tremendous amount of confidence.  MC assistant coach Brian D'Accord, who I
interviewed between periods (and may bring him back for the playoffs, he had
some interesting insights), noted that the fact that Anderson has named
Doneghey his starter gives Doneghey the confidence to play aggressively
without worry of being pulled.  I believe Doneghey to be one of the unsung
heroes in HE for the way he has played this year, after riding the bench for
three years; no one could have expected him to play as well as he has.
D'Accord talked about how he worked with Doneghey to get him to come out
more and challenge the shooters, and it has paid off.  The addition of
D'Accord and assistant Scott MacPherson to the staff this year has helped
quite a bit.
 
>   The big indicator is that this weekend, B.C. was beating
>     Northeastern, then choked (sorry B.C. fans) and lost
>     in overtime.  Merrimack, knowing that their destiny was
>     now actually in their own hands, came back to upset
>     UMass/Lowell in overtime.  If either game had been a
>     tie, B.C. would have won out in the standings.  It may
>     have been some luck, but Merrimack looks like they
>     believe in themselves right now.  They look like R.P.I
>     did last year in the ECAC's.
 
BC actually had two great chances to wrap up 6th.  Besides the NU game
which they lost in OT, at home, they led PC 4-2 last Saturday before the
Friars came back to force OT, and the game ended a tie.  If BC had been
able to pick up just one more point in either game, they would have wrapped
up 6th.
 
There are some similarities between that RPI team and Merrimack...good
goaltending, attention to defense, etc. although I am still a little wary
of comparing RPI's run at the ECAC title last year to Merrimack this year.
But you have a point about Merrimack believing in themselves.  They truly
believe that as long as the game is close near the end, they will win;
their 4-0-2 overtime record is a good example of this.  Anderson talked
about the character the team displayed in continuing to fight back last
night after falling behind 4-3, and even when they had the apparent tying
goal waved off.  It would have been easy to pack it in and blame the
referees.
 
>Boston University center Jacques Joubert, when it looked
>  like BU was going to be playing Merrimack, yet it was still
>  not certain (we're now playing B.C.):  "B.C. is a lot more
>  talented, but Merrimack works harder."  "I'd rather play
>  B.C."
 
Interesting...Anderson said before last night's game that he did not have a
preference as to whether he played at BU or UNH, although that is
characteristic of him, to publicly downplay situations like this.  But
D'Accord said that they were likely to go into a series with UNH having
more confidence since they had already beaten the Wildcats once this year.
BU did win all four meetings against Merrimack, but the games were all
close (scores: 5-2, 5-4, 6-2, 5-4).
 
However, as I'd said in my writeup, Anderson seemed to suggest that he did
think it was important to get the win and go to UNH when he pulled the
goalie with 2.5 minutes left to give his team a 6x4 advantage, which
they scored on.
 
Merrimack has always been a hard-working team, even back in the DivII days
(as Northeastern well knows; the Warriors fought back from a 7-3 deficit in
the 1988 NC$$ total goals series by scoring seven unanswered goals over the
last 26 minutes to win, 10-8).  Thus, it was very distressing to Anderson
and fans when they were blowing leads in the third period two months ago
and allowing 5 and 6 goals in the last 20 minutes.  They seem to have
turned that around.  It should be an interesting series because I see UNH
as a similar team; the teams are pretty evenly matched despite UNH
finishing 3rd and Merrimack 6th, and UNH has also had that ability to
pull out wins at the end of close games.  Sudden death is a real
possibility.
 
>Good luck Warriors, I won't be surprised to see you in the
>  Garden.
 
Thanks, it is not often we get such support from down on Commonwealth
Ave...must have something to do with the fact that Anderson is a BU
grad. :-)  I personally am looking forward to an exciting series and
perhaps a chance to see the sudden death format first hand.  A win for
Merrimack in the series could do wonders for the recruiting, as the Beanpot
schools know how valuable it is to be able to tell kids they will be able
to play in the Garden every year - if potential Merrimack recruits see the
team make the HE final four, they will have similar aspirations.  Since
Merrimack drew BC, BU and Maine in its first three years of HE tournament
play, this is the first year they will go into a series and match up well
with the opponent.  Of course, I am also hoping for a chance to call a
game from high above rinkside at the old building. :-)  But at the same
time, I have a friend playing for UNH (Kevin Thomson, captain) and I'd
like to see him do well.
 
I will close by wishing all the HE teams and their fans good luck in
the tournament, and the same to all of the other teams as well.  Also,
thanks to everyone who followed HE this year through my weekly updates
and Merrimack game recaps (and occasional other games).  Chances are that
I won't be able to be as prolific next season with Heather and me getting
married in November.  But it has been nice to be able to see posts from
people at some of the other HE schools, like Tony and Sid for BU, Chris
for UNH, and everyone at Maine.  It wasn't that long ago that I was the
only person from a HE school able to post on a consistent basis, so I
hope everyone knows how much their efforts are appreciated as well as
the efforts of everyone else on the list.
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)    *HMN*