Funny how the later ends of the post-game thread get me to thinking about last weekend and looking forward to next season. I won't be the first nor will be the last to say that Denver out-Mained our Black Bears. Lindsay and I were warned by our midwestern guests that Denver was a team employing the defensive mode. They then said the Denver victory shootout over UMD was uncharacteristic -- turned out to be prophetic words. Funny as my sense of the flow of the last game in 02-03 against Michigan at Yost seems hauntingly familiar to that I took away from the NC game in Boston. Also similar was the respect gained for the winning school after Maine's loss. Compare last year to this year - we all remember the win/lose cycle and the ultimate collapse last year. This season, I see the nil-nil tie at Northeastern as the turning point. Maine went a blistering 12-2 following that scoreless draw: they rebounded from a loss against UMLowell with a 4-0 drubbing the following night. Their only other loss after 0-0 -- the NC game against DU. Why the success this year ? I want to point out where the Maine coaching staff and players deserve plaudits this year for an unrecognized accomplishment - adjusting The real adjustment I believe began with the draw at Northeastern. The small adjustments which lead to victories inside each game, and others which carry forward in games day to day, were made this year. Look at the variety of styles Maine had to face in its last dozen games, from Merrimack to UMass to BC and all. While you may think the low-scoring results of these games show Maine didn't do much on one side of the rink, on the defensive side they certainly HAD to adjust. They skated with the skaters and mucked with the muckers, albeit they couldn't deposit many against most of the opponents except against Harvard, but did so when it really counted. The DU scoring blitz against UMD may have clouded Maine coaching minds into thinking the NC game would end up more wide open than the BC game was. As late as the third period, Maine did not adjust to the defensive style that Denver adopted and did not open up the game sufficiently on offense until the now-famous 6 on 3. Reality hit a bit too late for the Black Bears. Certainly the skein of one-goal low scoring victories can't continue next year at the 12-2 pace. The other teams will adjust: UMass already has and I am thinking of them looming in Maine's mirror throughout all of next year. Great teams finish their opponents and give no quarter. 4-1 or 5-2 wins next year would be MUCH more satisfying. Who out there can help the Maine coaching staff next year in teaching two areas of necessary adjustment: (1) - better chances, shot selection and puck movement on the PP and (2) - winning offensive-zone faceoffs. My choices for the captains - Mushaluk (repeat) with Penner, and Derek Damon with the "C" Finally, for fans in the remainder of college hockey nation, the legacy of this season's UMaine team might be when the NC$$ adopts the same crease violation rule as in the NHL. I'll take away more than that, of course. Meanwhile, my offer of cash money still stands for a digital image of Dick Umile which shows him behind the New Hampshire bench rolling his eyes... Happy off season all !! Dan