At 11:08 PM -0400 8/29/96, Deron Treadwell wrote:
> Lovell is going to help UMass, but he's not going to help them do
> anything spectacular in half a season.  In case you missed it the
> NCAA says he needs to sit out half the year because of the transfer
> of credits.. whatever.  The point is UMass will be a preseason #7,
> #8 or #9 team in Hockey East next year, and Lovell, while talented,
> is not going to make that big of an impact from December on.
 
I'll weigh in here as someone from neither Maine nor UMass who is also
dumbfounded by this, to say the least.
 
UMass plays 10 of its 24 HE games in the first half, before Lovell can
play.  They could be in a pretty deep hole by then.  Lovell will make an
impact - how much is yet to be determined, but I think a line of him,
Bonneau and probably Norris looks pretty good.  Still, I agree - will it
make enough of a difference?  He won't turn them into a contender overnight.
 
Either way, the real question isn't why UMass took him - anyone would be
thrilled to have him, he's a terrific player.  But why would he go?  The
only thing I can think of is that he really did not want to be at Maine for
whatever reason.  If that's true, and if no one offered him a scholarship
(wonder if he is getting one from UMass), then UMass makes sense as the
cheapest alternative (in-state tuition).  Still, why pay to go anywhere
else when you're getting a scholarship from Maine, which I presume he was?
 
Note that if he was getting one from Maine, this presumably opens up
another scholarship that Maine could use on another player this season.
 
> Going a step farther here, is Lovell helping his pro potential by
> transfering to UMass and missing half a season?  I don't think so.
 
I tend to agree.  If he stayed at Maine, even though they wouldn't make the
playoffs, then he would still get to play better competition (Michigan,
LSSU) and play for a year, with better teammates, then go pro.  According
to the UMass release, he can choose to sit all of this year and play in
97-98.  But then he'd be putting off a pro career for a year and have taken
a year off from organized hockey.  Any way I look at it, it seems
preferable to stay at Maine.  But as I said, maybe there were some other
factors involved that we don't know about.
 
> But to transfer to UMass after all
> Maine did for Lovell is a slap in our face as fans, and if for no
> other reason I hope Maine wins their appeal just to spite Lovell.
 
I have to admit that I thought of this right off the bat.  If Maine does
win its appeal, then Lovell's decision really does not look good.  Of
course that's a chance you take, but as I said, it seems to me that staying
at Maine, even if they don't get to play in the playoffs, would have made
more sense, especially when transferring causes him to lose credits.  Very
strange indeed.  I wasn't too surprised at Mahoney's decision, particularly
since he gets to play for Crowder, who I know is regarded highly by Maine
people (and the rest of us).  Lovell's decision astounded me.
 
Looking at it from a Merrimack viewpoint, hey, the Warriors only have to
face him once next year instead of three times.  Merrimack plays UMass
twice in November (without Lovell) and once in late January.
 
On the other hand, Maine gets to face him three times, all near the end of
the season.
 
It's ironic that Lovell's first games will be in the RPI Invitational.  In
Dec 94, he tore up the tourney with 5 goals and 3 assists in Maine wins
over Miami and RPI, and he was named tourney MVP.  I wonder if anyone has
ever won that (or any) tourney MVP for two different teams...
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
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