At 04:45 PM 11/18/96 -0500, Howard Quimby wrote:
 
>I think Dave pretty much covered it from the unbiased view, but I'll throw in
>my thoughts as a biased UNH observer.  I wouldn't have called the penalty shot
>and was surprised when Cole awarded it.  However, I also wouldn't have called
>a major and game misconduct for Gagnon's hit on Cardinal.  Now these aren't
>the same penalties, but both were good opportunities to pick up a goal (or in
>Maine's case, as many as they could get in 5 minutes).  I think this is more
>of an issue because UNH made the most of their opportunity while Maine failed
>to convert.
 
I disagree here Howard, not that the two incidents don't give quality
scoring chances for both sides, but I think that if you look at when they
occured, the situations are not equal.
 
The penalty shot occurs with Maine trailing 3-2, after leading 2-0, and the
goal makes it 4-2, and is the game winning goal.  It was a huge play in the
game.  I'm not going to get into whether or not it was a good or bad call
because I didn't physically see it.  I do however think it was a big play.
 
Now on the other side Maine gets a 5-minute power play on the Gagnon major
with 11:47 left in the game, and Maine trailing 6-2.  Granted, this is a
great chance to try and get back into the game, but the game was essentially
over at this point, while the penalty shot was a key moment in a close game
that UNH was threatening (and did) break wide open.
 
Whether or not the call was a good one is debatable, but it ended up being a
key call in the game, more so than the Gagnon penalty.
 
>Did Cole have a perfect night behind the whistle?  No, a ref never does, but I
>don't think it impacted the outcome.  Both teams got away with penalties that
>were not called and like every other game it all evened out in the end.
 
As far as Cole's officiating, the complaints that Maine people and Dave cite
are not the first that I've heard about Cole this year.
 
I agree with Wayne that Frank Cole is a great official, but I can't help but
wonder if perhaps he's suffering from going back to the one official system??
 
Despite what Cronin and others have said, the officials didn't lose the
games for Maine this weekend.
---
Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])