I just returned last night from Milwaukee...sorry I didn't get a chance to
meet everyone from Hockey-L. I caught a flight out at 7am Wednesday so I
missed the bulk of the mail pertaining to meeting places, etc. Hopefully
I'll see everyone next year.
 
Anyway...I was listening to WEEI Sportsradio here in Boston and they
reported (on Dale Arnold's show this morning) that Shawn Walsh has signed
a four-year extension of his current coaching contract with the University.
So this should dispell all the UMass rumors. I attended every press conference
with Walsh last weekend and everytime someone asked him about UMass he
basically gave a wishy-washy answer, which left us guessing, but my gut
hunch was that he was Amherst-bound. But in light of what I suspect is a
sizeable pay bonus from Maine for grabbing the NC$$ title, I also think
there's room on the UMass campus for only one coach with a big ego--and that's
John Calipari, the hoops coach.
 
However, it looks like Walsh may have his work cut out for the team to repeat
as NC$$ champions. With some time to kill in the media workroom at the
Bradley Center the other day, here's what Sean Grande (BU color analyst)
and myself came up with for next year's preseason Maine roster:
 
Paul Kariya: Canadian Olympic team.
Jim Montgomery: graduates.
Cal Ingraham: owes NC$$ his senior year as a red shirt after transfer from USAFA
 
Eric Fenton: graduates.
Peter Ferraro: goes pro.
Chris Ferraro: goes pro.
Martin Mercier: graduates.
Dave LaCouture: graduates.
Kent Salfi: graduates.
Chris Imes: goes pro.
 
Garth Snow: graduates.
Mike Dunham: goes pro.
 
So there you have it..all of current 1st and 4th lines, as well as 1st line D
and both goalies.
Of course, some of this is speculation (i.e. the Ferraros), but it's fun to
think about (if you're not a Maine fan :-) However, it still leaves Walsh with
a talented core to build around, and rumor has it they've landed a couple of
top recruits (including a goalie), so I wouldn't be surprised to see UM
repeat as HE champs.
 
Oh, as for the Shrine East-West All-Star game next weekend at the Alfond,
I believe that Bernie Corbett, BU play-by-play man, purchased the radio
broadcast rights to the game. I'm not sure what'll happen, but I suspect
that Boston-area listeners will at least be able to hear his call of the
game on WBIV, 1060-AM. As soon as I find out something definite, I'll pass it
along.
 
Congrats to the 42-1-2 Maine Black Bears...although I won't forget anytime soon
where the "1" came from :-)
 
--Sid Whitaker
BU '94