On Wed, 3 Jul 1996, Paul Gentile wrote: > A little over two months before BU's Terriers face off against Minn. > Looks like Minnesota will be 0-1 going into their big series with CC. I wonder if anyone else feels this way. This should be quite a game, for several reasons: 1) Last meetings The last several times these two teams have met, it has been in pretty important circumstances. The last meeting was a 7-3 BU win in the 1995 NCAA final four, propelling BU into the final and on the way to their national championship. If anyone remembers the game, it was tied 3-3 going into the third period, before BU, the better team, pulled away. The time before that was in the same season, in the championship game of the Mariucci Classic, Minnesota's tournament. The game was a 4-3 loss for Minnesota, in OT, in a tightly contested game. The previous meeting was a BU win, 4-1, in the NCAA final four the year before that, which sent BU on to face, and get killed by, LSSU. The two teams did not meet last year, thanks to Mike Legg and his pals. It is clear there is a lot of bad blood between these teams, with BU coming out on the top in recent years. To suppose it will be a cake walk for BU seems illogical. But will Minnesota be able to get the monkey off their back? 2) What they lost Both Minnesota and BU should have reduced squads, after losing some outstanding seniors. These two teams lost arguably the best two seniors from last year in Minnesota's Brian Bonin, Hobey Baker award winner, and BU's Jay Pandolfo, Hobey Baker runner-up. How they respond to these and other losses will be interesting to see. Of course, it is also a matter of what they gain. BU's flashy new recruit is a defenseman, Tom Poti, which symbolizes, I think, a switch from the high powered offense to a more defensive minded squad. Conversely, Minnesota's top rookie is a pure sniper by the name of Dave Spehar, one of the highest touted offensive players to come out of the Minnesota state high school system. This, as well as the graduation of a number of key defensemen, should signal a change from defense to offense. This game could be a lot different than people expect. 3) 1st game of the season Typically, BU is a team that starts slow (last year's 5-1 record excepted). Minnesota has also started off slow in recent years (the 6-0 start two years ago notwithstanding). Both could be the result of tough schedules, but they could also be a sign of teams that are still trying to shake off the rust from a long summer. Which team shows up to play could have quite an impact on the outcome. The Hall of Fame Game kicks off a couple of long seasons for these squads. For Minnesota in particular, it means the 34 game NCAA limit, two Alaska exemptions, and this Hall of Fame Game, and we have 37 games during the regular season, as well as at least two post-season games guaranteed (1st round WCHA), meaning Minnesota has 39 games that they will play *other* than any other post-season contests they make it to (a maximum of 6 more games -- 2 WCHA and 4 NCAA). As for the web page detailing NHL hockey depths, I wouldn't put too much stock in it. Just perusing the list I saw a number of errors, including misspellings of players names (i.e. Minnesota's Jay Moser listed as John Moser), unannounced plyer moves (i.e. Minnesota's Crowley's rights going from Philadelphia to Anaheim, the release of Minnesota's Dan Trebil by New Jersey and subsequent pick up by Anaheim, the drafting of Minnesota's Erik Rasmussen for Buffalo) and incorrect labeling of player's teams (i.e. Ferris State's John Hillman listed as being with Minnesota, his former team). Interesting to look at, but not very scientific. The college players, by the way, seem to be listed alphabetically at the bottom of each pro team's prospects. -Lee-nerd [log in to unmask] "It is not written in the stars that I will always understand what is going on - a truism that I often find damnably annoying." -Robert Heinlein HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.