Bob Hoffman writes about Mass Lowell's 6-5 OT win over Northeastern. I agree, this was a great game to watch (I was there) in terms of being exciting, and NESN lucked out with its second straight OT game. There was an excellent turnout - perhaps 90% of capacity - and credit should go to Lowell coach Bruce Crowder, who continues to rejuvenate the Chief program and make Lowell a fun place to watch a game again. I still don't understand the Domino's Pizza giveaway, though...at two points during the game, the announcer said, "It's Domino's Pizza Time!" and a cheerleader (not skating) came out and tossed a pizza into the crowd. I hope it didn't take 30 minutes for that pizza to arrive. Charlie Chief, Lowell's puck mascot, seems to have been toned down from the time a year or two ago when she performed the controversial striptease act in Lowell's season-ending home game. (This drew the ire of the UML president, who was at the game.) She wears heavy blue sweatpants now instead of a tight black bodysuit underneath the puck. (Maybe it's a he this year.) Anyway... I don't have a box (strictly a spectator tonight), but after NU tied it at 4-4 with a couple minutes left, Bazin put the Chiefs ahead 5-4, and then NU coach Ben Smith surprised some by pulling the goalie almost immediately (between 1.5 & 2 min left). It paid off, as Jason Melong, one of the hardest working Huskies, tipped in a shot with under a minute to go to send it into OT. The key there for Northeastern was Mike Taylor winning several straight key faceoffs deep in the Lowell end; the Chiefs could not clear the puck. At this point, you might have expected the teams to settle for the tie, but this isn't the NHL. And both teams had a lot at stake, as both were tied for 4th in HE with a chance to take sole possession of second with a win. It was all up and down action in the overtime, but then Lowell got a 2x1 with under 30 seconds to go and capitalized, Bazin feeding Ian Hebert for the winner. It was a game that probably neither team deserved to lose, and both showed that they wanted it. There isn't room for mistakes at Lowell, the smallest rink in DivI (185x85), as the neutral zone is almost nonexistent. Both teams skate very well, and several times we saw sloppy changes result in quick 3x2s or 2x1s going back the other way. Lowell opened a 3-0 lead after one, outshooting NU 19-8, but the Huskies regrouped to outshoot Lowell 14-4 in the second and cut the lead to 4-2. NU made it 4-3 early in the third before the late game excitement. It was impressive to see the way Lowell consistently hit the puckcarrier, and Northeastern had trouble adjusting to this. Mike Murray showed some bursts of speed but still seemed to be shaking off his recent injury. For NU, forward Dan Lupo and freshman D Rick Schuwerk stood out. Lowell goes to 7-3-2, 4-2-1 in HE (2nd), while NU drops to 7-3-1, 3-3-1 HE (5th). Lowell next plays at Maine Sunday (2 pm) and NU will host UNH Sat night. * Patrick Blake asked about the last time Maine lost 3 of 4. It was in the 1989-90 season, during a stretch where Maine dropped 4 in a row on the road to NU, UAA (2), and Lowell - Jan 3-12, 1990. Including tonight's 7-3 loss to UNH, that is a stretch of 159 games before losing 3 of 4 again. Note that this was a nonleague game between Maine & UNH; it does not count in the HE standings. UNH last beat Maine on 2/3/89, 4-3 at UNH. Maine had won the last 5 and was 14-0-1 in the last 15 meetings, 23-1-1 in the last 25. * I didn't see it, but supposedly the Boston Globe had an article where the Providence AD said that PC did not want the wins from Maine's possible upcoming forfeits. He was supposed to have said that they'd rather get the wins on the ice. I figure that despite this, PC will still take the wins if they are awarded to the Friars. Someone asked at the game why HE did not just come out with a ruling on the forfeits; commish Bob DeGregorio has said that the league will wait until everything with the NC$$ is done before HE decides if it needs to take any action. There seems to be a strong sentiment for not "punishing" the other six HE teams by awarding six points to PC, but mind you, this is only from a few people I've talked to. * HE is all bunched up right now. If Maine should forfeit the three games to PC and BC wins at home vs BU, then 7 of the 8 teams would be separated by 3-4 points. I still expect BU to finish first, but it does set the stage for an exciting second half. * I heard all the same CCHA scores posted by Glen Keeney (including UAF over BG 6-4) from the Lowell station. Nothing additional to report, except that I watched most of UIC's 3-2 win over Ohio State on tape delay. UIC seemed to outplay OSU for much of the game, but Askey was very good in the Buckeyes' net. UIC moved into 9th in the CCHA with the win; OSU dropped to 11th. * NESN will have BU-BC on delay Sat night about 10 pm, after the Bruins game. This *might* be the 179th meeting of the two teams; BU has won the last six straight games against the Eagles, all last season. Only one was at BC, though. According to BU, the all-time series stands at 88-80-10 BU. (BC's records have it 86-76-9 BU, a difference of 7 games.) --- --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93 <<<<<< Color Voice of the (7-7-1) Merrimack Warriors WCCM 800 AM >>>>>>