Some miscellaneous thoughts and tidbits: * The Eastern Regionals are very close to a sellout now. I had not gotten tickets previously due to a tournament my son was playing in, but as soon as it became clear that we'd only miss the beginning of the Maine game on Saturday, I tried to order tickets. There were NO two seats side-by-side that were available for both nights. I was able to get seats directly in front of/behind each other which was fine for me. We'll see if Ryan gets to spill popcorn on me or if he's wearing my Coke. :-) But in any case, if you still want tickets, you'd best get off your butt. * When it comes to matchups, BU seems to have no luck at all. Last year, as the number one seed in the Hockey East tournament, instead of facing a legit bottom seed in the first round, they got Maine which had been artifically lowered due to the forfeits. (BU sucked it up and won.) This year they get the number one seed in the East and what is waiting for them? The Boogeyman is making noises in the closet. They get the winner of Clarkson-Lake Superior. No dissing Clarkson here, but Lake Superior has got to be the team everyone is looking at. And the team that has the best shot in the East of beating BU. I'd consider BU the favorite against any other team in the East; I consider a potential BU-LSSU matchup as even. So BU once again got unlucky as the number one seed. OTOH, however, if BU can exorcise its demons and beat the Lakers, this will make them a stronger team for the Final Four. It'll be a great matchup for college hockey and may the bull with the biggest cojones win. * Although I disagreed with almost all the gripes about the officiating in the BU-PC game, the worst has to be regarding Prendergast's injury. The plain fact is that "he certainly sprang right up after the play was whistled dead" as the griper put it and *skated right into the locker room*. You can maybe accuse a player of faking it if he goes right to the bench with a smile on his face and is out the next shift. But if he goes directly into the locker room, he's clearly not faking it and you can avoid future *face a la egg* if you pay attention to that. * Regarding sportsmanship, "Sieve" chants are so widespread that even the neophyte UMass-Lowell fans have adopted one. Even something like RPI does during the opening player announcements is ok IMO, though it does push the envelope. The do some clapping thing and then yell, "You suck!" after each opposing player is announced. At the regionals last year I thought it was amusing, my ten-year old son thought it was hilarious. (And no, he can't use that word.) Some may be offended by the use of the word, but the chant seems to be good-natured. The only example of poor sportsmanship (beyond the occasional lone drunken or just plain stupid fan) that comes to mind came this weekend from a small section of, sad to say, BU fans at the end of the game against Providence. As the players were lined up for the post-game ceremonies, a section of BU fans did a chant of "Hey Kramer [the PC captain], you suck!" Now THAT was offensive, coming from victorious fans during the postgame. Even my son Ryan (who liked the RPI chant) looked up and me and said, "That's not good." Coming at this time, it seemed mean-spirited and totally devoid of sportsmanship. The postgame is the time to congratulate the team which pushed you to your limits. To their credit, a couple BU fans nearby looked disgusted and I am CERTAIN that the BU fans I know from this list did not participate in this inappropriate chant. However, fans should realize that others may be quicker to generalize behavior to the entire fan population. * I'm for instant replay to decide goals or no goals. It keeps its use to a minimum so it doesn't interfere and does its best to get the calls right. Although 100% of the games won't be televised, it seems advisable to me to get the calls right in as many of the games as is possible. * Someone wrote that "it seemed to me that Lowell is missing leadership, especially in the form of Dwayne Roloson." I think they are missing Roloson's goaltending more than his leadership. IMO they went from the best goaltending in Hockey East last year to the worst in HE this year. Lindsey may yet come around, but the jury is still out. As to leadership, Lowell graduated a *ton* of talent last year and had a very young team this year. This was exemplified by the fact that their captain this year was not a senior, but was junior Jeff Daw. They are graduating only three seniors this year: defensive forward Eric Brown, and defensemen Aaron Kriss and Paul "The Human Penalty Minute" Botto. (Botto's nickname courtesy of Steve Weisfeldt. I'd nicknamed him "PMS" earlier in the year.) So if no one turns pro, they'll have a much more mature squad. Campbell and Bullock would seem to be the only serious threats to leave early. I suspect Campbell will stay for one more year and then exit with the rest of next year's seniors. Personally, I think Bullock is gone. His self-immolation during the HE consos had all the look of someone who knew that contracts were waiting for him and didn't care that he was ticking off the coach. Crowder has benched Bullock before for stupid penalties and yet he still hasn't gotten the picture. This, combined with his virtual no-shows for so many regular season games has me convinced that he's leaving. BTW, I'm not a Lady Byng type myself. My favorite player is Christian Sbrocca who has been known to pick up some time in the box himself. But he comes to play every game, a trait that could not always be ascribed to Bullock this year. ***************************************************** ,-******-, * Dave Hendrickson "Robo" [log in to unmask] * *' ## '* * A Hockey Polygamist and Get-A-Lifer * *## ___##___ ##* * GO BROONS!!! Go Red Wings!! Go Leafs! * * ##| ___ \## * * GO UMASS-LOWELL!!! Go Maine!! Go BU! * * | |___) | * * --------------------------------------------------* *######| ___ <######* * Although I can't remember ever having an original * * | |___) | * * thought, and am certainly parroting someone who * * ##|________/## * * actually has a brain, these opinions are mine, * *## ## ##* * not Hewlett-Packard's. * *, ## ,* ***************************************************** '-*******-'