-- [ From: Adam Wodon * EMC.Ver #2.10P ] -- > The Big Red nearly forced overtime when Drouin clanged one > off the post late. Ooohhh, the pain. Five hours later, I was having flashbacks on this one - I can imagine what it was like for Drouin. What a draining game. I was really looking forward to a Cornell-Vermont game on Saturday. The way the two fans were getting on each other last weekend, despite not having played each other, would've made for some great moments, and it would've gotten the large Vermont contingent more into it. > * The single biggest factor in BU defeating Clarkson was > Jack Parker moving Chris O'Sullivan back to defense > (actually done last week). Big agreement here. It always seems you can have BU defensively, if you could just get out of your own zone. Other players have picked up the goal-scoring for O'Sullivan this year, so moving him back is a great move. Parker said the idea was also to allow the top 9 forwards more ice time. > contained Vermont's Eric Perrin & Martin St Louis much of > the game, which is an achievement in itself. Vermont only > had 11 shots through two periods in a 1-1 game. In a sense, this is true, but St. Louis shot high or wide 5 TIMES in the first two periods. This is a bit of an exaggeration, but it was St. Louis' worst two periods of the year, despite him having the team's only goal. When you have one goal and 6 scoring opportunities and that's considered bad, you know the guy must be damn good. 99 times out of 100, he buries at least 2 of those other chances. > Both have 83 points. It's impossible to mention one without mentioning the other in the same breath. To try is pointless. To typify this point, both players reached 83 points on the same play, which meant the pair simultaneously broke the Vermont single-season scoring record. Cool. > * I believe it was St Louis - forgive me if it was Perrin > - who showed us what we were in for right off the opening > draw when he went in on a rush, faked pass to his wing and > then kicked the puck with his skate back to his forehand > for a cannon blast that had Grahame scrambling. Truly a > jaw-dropping move. Merely par for the course <G>. But, seriously, the play Mike speaks of is a classic St. Louis-Perrin play. The fact that St. Louis missed the net was the only disappointing part of the play. I was so glad Perrin and St. Louis didn't let me down, and went on to impress the HE and CCHA fans in attendance. As possibly the biggest fan of the tandem outside the state of Vermont and Laval, Que., I don't think I have ever had more pleasure watching two players since Trottier- Bossy. It's even better when it doesn't have to be Princeton they are doing it against. > * If there is a criticism I had of the French Connection, > it was that too many times in the first two periods, they > tried to make the pretty play that would get the crowd to > ooh and aah rather than work on getting the puck on net. Mike and I talked about this already, and I agree to a point. But, I don't think they're trying to get the crowd excited. I just think these guys know they have the ability to pull off plays like that. Mike had said that against teams like LSSU, they can't always pull it off - but even if the play doesn't materialize, they don't attempt the flashy play at the expense of getting themselves caught. And, as Mike mentioned on the previous comment, those flashy type plays often bear fruit. I know the Western fans will be in an uproar, and I know it has almost no chance of happening, but I personally think Martin St. Louis is the best player in the nation and deserves the Hobey. He and Perrin are 1- 2 in points-per-game in the nation, and St. Louis is tied for tops in GWG with 9. St. Louis is also a very good defensive player and penalty killer, and you only have to look at J.C. Ruid's numbers to see how he makes linemates better. Ruid probably has a higher percentage of the line's goals than any LW ever had on the Gretzky-Kurri lines. > * Finally, with all of the accolades Perrin and St Louis > get for their offense, it was Perrin who saved the day by > diving in front of a shot by Sean Tallaire in the closing > minutes with Grahame out for an extra attacker and Thomas > out of position. Thomas said in the paper, "Eric has > always been proud of his goaltending duties." :-) That was a great quote. And this was truly a great play, and not just a case of a player happening to be standing there when the puck hit him. HE made a conscious movement to stop the puck, and looked good doing it. AW HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.