Ryan Robbins writes:
>Whoah! I had to do a double take when I saw this score! Is this
>the biggest win in Merrimack's history?
 
No...that would have to be the 1988 NC$$ win over Northeastern, which
really got the program on the map and paved the way for entry into
Hockey East 10 months later.
 
Beating LSSU, the eventual champ, the next week in the first of the
two game set also looms large because of what LSSU went on to do.  But
they could have lost both games to LSSU and it would not have affected
the status of the NU win.
 
Merrimack beating BU is their biggest win of the year, but it doesn't
stand to mean much if they go on to struggle the rest of the way and
lose in the first round.
 
However, the win does rank as one of the milestones the program has
accomplished since 1989.  Others would be the first ever win over BU
in 1991-92, the win in the 1990 q-finals over BC (though they went on
to lose the series), a 1990 reg season win over BC (then one of the
top teams in the country), and the tie with Maine earlier this year.
 
It all goes to proving yourself competitive in the league and capable
of making the next step to contending for something better.
 
In his excellent writeup, Jason Patton noted that a hot goalie can
take you places and that Thibeault appears to be that man.  On the
strength of two games, yes, but that is not enough to undo the fact
that Martin Legault is still the number one goaltender on this team.
Thibeault may have played himself into a 1a role after being just
another backup two weeks ago, and if he has truly arrived, it would
not be all that surprising since both were highly touted coming in but
Legault proved himself more capable early on.  Sometimes it does take
a while for some players to develop.
 
It would also mean that the concerns about Legault being overplayed
because there is no one else who can do the job would be put to rest.
Many times near the end of last season, Ron Anderson would take
Legault out of games once the team had no chance of winning - he
always said it was not because Legault played poorly but because the
guy just needed a break.  He wanted Legault to be rested for the
playoffs, yet still, some of the goals Legault gave up in the first
q-final game vs Lowell were goals a tired goalie allows.
 
A fear I am sure Maine has is that the overplaying of Allison will
come back to haunt them in the playoffs.  Allison looked like a very
tired goalie in the two games Maine played in the RPI Invitational.
The break Maine enjoyed after that tourney could not have come at a
better time, but the same problem may crop up in March.
 
Continued solid play by Thibeault will mean that Merrimack can enter
the playoffs with two rested goalies who can do the job - two goalies
that the coaches and players have confidence in.  Confidence in the
man between the pipes is really what matters to Merrimack since the
key is how the defense plays in front of him.
 
>With a tie against Maine and a win at Boston University, I would
>think that no matter what the final standings are or how the
>playoffs finish Merrimack should be proud of this season. (Not said
>with ill intentions.)
 
Understood. :-)  However, in the grand scheme of things, this is still
only one win.  And taken amongst all of the results to date, it really
only makes up for one of the many games they had chances to win but
did not.  Prior to beating BU, Merrimack was 3-6-4 in HE but had not
been able to beat any of the top teams - wins came over PC and
UMass-Amherst (2).
 
It takes more than one hand for me to count HE games that Merrimack
had a good chance to win but did not - games that a better and more
experienced team would have won.  Games that a team that wants to
contend for home ice or even an NC$$ berth should win.  I'm thinking
of games where they led late or much of the way and gave up late goals
to tie or lose: one-goal losses to UNH (2), UML, and ties with PC, NU,
and Maine.  That's a total of 22 HE points (counting the SO wins over
PC and Maine as a loss of 2 pts, and the SO loss to NU as a loss of 3
pts).
 
Those add'l 22 pts would be enough for first place right now, or even
2nd if you figure BU was the only win that could have been a loss.
You can't expect a team to take all of the points it "should have
had".  But these are points that Merrimack realistically had there for
the taking, points that a team that knows how to win the tight ones
will take, more often than not.  Look at Maine.
 
So, the fallout from this game from the Merrimack point of view will
be whether it signifies that they have learned how to do what it takes
to win close games against the better teams.  If they have, they will
go on the rest of the way to start winning those close games and
establish themselves as a team to watch out for in the HE tourney.
 
But if they have not, and they go on to keep losing the close ones and
remain in the middle of the pack or lower, then the win over BU will
just be a fond memory around which to center the 1994-95 highlight film.
 
I would prefer that this win not be the centerpiece of the highlight film.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93