In a message dated 4/11/2004 9:35:27 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> Things almost went according to plan last night, but after coming up
> just short and the disappointment that naturally comes with losing by
> one goal in the national championship game, there really isn't much to
> complain about.
>
> For starters, few here would have believed it had we said before the
> season started that we would appear in the national championship game.
> We were supposed to be rebuilding, right?  Of course we were.  Turns
> out that our goaltending was even better than we thought and the
> emergence of some on our blue line helped stabilize things.  However,
> we *were* rebuilding up front and that inconsistency up front of
> scoring goals did hurt us at times.  It just underscores how good our
> goalies and defense actually were.
>
> Losing is never easy, but what will haunt Coach Whitehead and his staff
> is that Maine played well Saturday.  I agree with those like Bob Norton
> who say Maine got beat at their own game.  Denver and Maine went
> toe-to-toe and kept each other away from the front of the net and the
> goaltenders picked up the rest.  If not for one guy who got free on one
> power play, they might still be playing.  But at the end of the day,
> Maine played their game and simply got beat.
>
> You can't complain about the power play.  It's been brutal all year,
> but especially in the playoffs.  It is probably mostly mental at this
> point, not having the confidence.  Much like the off-season helped
> erase the memories of the 2003 collapse, this off-season will hopefully
> to serve to wipe this memory away too.  But it wasn't like the power
> play didn't show up Saturday, it's been missing for weeks.  We've won
> without it before.
>
> You can't complain about the officiating.  The rule may stink, but the
> rule was followed on Maine's disallowed goal.  Give Maine credit for
> not using it as an excuse -- because it wasn't.  I can't believe the
> ref gave Maine a 5x3 to end the game, but he called the penalties that
> had to be called.  That's pretty unusual in itself.
>
> You can't complain about the class of our players and coaches.  I
> thought Tim Whitehead's comments rang very true.  He didn't hide his
> emotions and how he felt, but it didn't come across as arrogant or
> defiant -- just classy and personal.  The players, who still were
> stunned from losing 1-0 in a game I truly believe they all thought they
> would eventually tie, represented the program well and they did not
> make excuses.  Yes, they lamented their lack of ability to score goals,
> but they took nothing away from Denver and they did not use the
> disallowed goal as an excuse.
>
> We all want to win.  As Todd Jackson rightly said on Friday, and as
> Shawn Walsh himself said, the University of Maine plays for national
> championships, period.  So in that sense, as a program Maine did not
> achieve their goal.  But as the curtain falls on this season, it is
> hard to say anything negative about where the program stands.  In the
> six years that we've returned to the national tournament stage after
> the NCAA problems we've appeared in THREE National Championship games,
> FOUR Frozen Fours and have made the NCAA Tournament all six years.
> Yes, we'd like to win them all, because you never know if you'll get
> there again.  But all signs point to our program being healthy and
> strong.
>
> And it's hard to complain about that.
>
> Thanks for the memories!
>
> ---
> Deron Treadwell - [log in to unmask]
>

Right on, Deron!