Mightnight Madness is one of the few nights I go to the arena without
my notebook and go simply to enjoy the surroundings.
 
It was a nice evening, as always, to be back in the Alfond.  I have
some negative comments with regards to how it was run, but let's talk
about some of the postives.
 
Alfie Michaud did not participate as Maine (smartly) awaits NCAA
Clearinghouse approval for him.  Hopefully this is just a formality
and not acutally a problem.
 
The goaltenders did look ok though, Bryan Masotta (transfer from RPI)
seemed to lead the way followed by Ed Waszcuk (spelling is wrong I
know).  Masotta hasn't been mentioned by many people as figuring in,
but he looked pretty good to me.  Masotta didn't do well at RPI but
he complained the coaching staff didn't let him play his style.
Standbrook might be able to work with him and if Michaud pans out
Masotta might be a solid backup.
 
I don't know if anyone else saw this during the scrimage but David
Cullen and Chris Roeder (not Raeder as I've spelt it before) stood
out as the playmakers on the blue line.
 
Cullen played for the blue team during the scrimage and several times
led the rush down the ice, and seemed to take charge on the ice.
Cullen really developed down the stretch last year and with big shoes
to fill on the blueline, he'd be a welcome addition.
 
Roeder led the team out of the locker room, and he is very quick for
his size.  He showed in the brief scrimage that he's game ready and
can mix it up down low.  He'll impress.
 
As far as forwards, Reg Cardinal was impressive to me.  As far as new
guys, it's hard to rate them with only seeing 10 minutes of scrimage,
but Ben Guite and the Stewart kid both looked good.  In fact none of
the frosh seemed to make any glaring mistakes.  Pasquell (sp?)
levelled a couple of Bears with some good hits.  Other returnees that
impressed:  Vitorino (wearing new number 11), Shermerhorn and
Wansborough.
 
We'll learn more next week, Saturday Oct. 12 is the Blue/White game,
hope to see more.
 
Attendence was 2,101 last night.
 
Who is in charge of the program?  In past years there was a "spirit
competition" in which dorms and greeks competed to see who was
loudest.  Not only did this bring lots of rowdy students, but it made
the last half hour before the team took the ice loud.  That did not
take place, and it was sorely missed.
 
I'm glad as many people turned out as they did, but there wasn't much
for noise until the last minute before they came out and not much
after that.  That was disappointing, but I'm glad 2,101 people showed
up and hopefully that is a good sign for the season.
 
A fun night for me, but the program could have been put together
better.
 
Anyone else there?  Let's hear some thoughts.
---
Deron Treadwell - [log in to unmask]
Editor, US College Hockey Online
USCHO:  http://www.uscollegehockey.com