Apologies for the lateness of the material. However the 15 inches of snow and power blackout in Albany partially justifies my tardiness. The following is a collection of observations about the weekend in Milwaukee, in descending order from most hockey relevant to least. All in all my first real road trip was a terrific experience, and hockey in Wisconsin, to say the least, is an engaging exercise. Hockey at Bradley First of all, the Bradley Arena is the best hockey venue I have visited. My seats ("obstructed view") in the first row in the corner were superb. The entire ice surface stretched out below me and I could see things behind the goal which are usually very difficult to observe. I can't imagine what the view must have been like from the seats on the red line. Of course, that doesn't spell complete satisfaction with the Milwaukee tourney. 1. The BU defense lost their intensity in the pivotal second period of the championship game. Their play, so physical and positionally sound against Michigan, suddenly became careless and sluggish. Defensive gaffes would represent the margin of difference as they cough up the puck twice resulting in the two goal margin of victory. 2. In the first period it appeared BU was sending their defense in deep, i.e. Poti, and rotating the forwards to cover up at the top of the point. The result was the two assists from Poti, who had an outstanding two games. But in the second BU stopped doing this, perhaps as a result of the cautious "don't lose" strategy Parker employed during the first intermission. 3. However I heartily agree with Dave Hendrickson's comments: this was one of if not the best coaching jobs Parker has done during his successful tenure. On paper this BU team had no right to be playing in the final game. But after taking outMichiganwith what has been characterized by some as a neutral zone trap (it didn't look thesame as the NJ Devils version though) his team is labelled the favorite inthe final game by the Wisconsin press. The Michigan game is also notable in the confidence Parker places in his freshman as three of them become the stars of the game instead of the expected Hobey runner up or his senior linemate, so hot through the Hockey East playoffs and East Regionals. It takes a lot of guts to put your game in the hands of two freshman defenseman, (albeit the top defensive picks in the East) and an inexperienced and virtually unknown Finnish forward. 4. What is going on in college hockey? The national champion is a very small, quick and young team from the WCHA playing a physical and experienced Eastern team. I constantly remarked how small North Dakota was, a team which would be dwarfed by the much bigger current iteration of the ECAC. 5. The Shegos crew (that is "the good Shegos") was outstanding. I fully understand the affection from the CCHA crowd for him. Shegos didn't call any of the ticky tacky stuff, but didn't pull a swallow-the-whistle-act either. Even though play had gone on unimpeded for most of the third period, Shegos raised his hand for the obvious elbowing/interference call on the boards in the BU end, almost simultaneously with my screams from the sidelines. Several times I thought the linesman made erroneous off-sides calls, but it probably was a result of the angle I was sitting in. 6. Why was the ECAC shut-out from the officiating pool (not that they didn't deserve it.)? Is the fact that the top two refs are now Gallagher and Emmian (where did you go Rob Hearn) have any influence on the NC$$ assignments? 7. Minor b*tch with the All-Tourney selections: I would have picked Brendan Morrison over Chris Drury for the team. While Morrison only had one point, his goal was absolute top quality, in a crucial part of the game. Morrison endured game-long banging from the BU forwards, and still found a way to make his way to the front of the net when everyone assumed he would be the #1 priority for the BU defense. Also, I don't think Schweitzer deserved the goalie selection--Larocque was better. Two of the ND goals were the direct result of defensive mistakes, and none of the other goals were of the shaky variety. His play through the Michigan game, and particularly the first period of the championship game, was top notch. But when the other team scores 6 goals on you, the spoils go to the winner. 8. Choke of the tourney award goes to the replay screen on the scoreboard. After the ESPN2 feed showed the stick-to-the-face from the Michigan player (Morrison?) eliciting major groans from the audience, the management discontinued all replays on penalties and controversial plays, through the championship game. 9. RPI made the #1 and #3 spots on the "most bizarre goals" list (can you say freshman goaltending?). RPI's third place showing on the best hits list had an unmentioned outcome: after Eric Healy checked the Cornell(?) skater into the box he was soon rewarded with a two minute interference call. So much for clean hits by the ECAC zebras. 10. Heard from Tony the ogre Biscardi after Period One on Saturday: "I'm very worried that BU is depending on their goaltender to keep them in the game." Heard from B. Morris and M. Machnik: "North Dakota is in big trouble." 11. Heard from J. Haussleur during the CC/UND game: "I'm very worried about tonight's game." 12. Why didn't Red Berenson show up for the All-Time Tournament Team? Also, where was Ken Dryden? It would have been wonderful to have seen him (he's still alive, right?) 13. (Warm up the flamethrowers) UND fans in my section were not the most erudite hockey fans I have encountered. During the Michigan game during a BU power play--"why didn't they call icing?" On a delayed penalty against UND in third period, "they're pulling their goalie this early?" 14. Wisconsin fans were easy prey for "let's go Red!" cheers in all three games. 15. Thursday night you were either FROM Michigan or AGAINST them. Non-Hockey Observations 16. Milwaukee is a nice host city, but no better than Providence. Milwaukee is a gritty blue collar town with a nice waterfront and decent German restaurants, but my Eastern bias still prefers the savoir faire of my home region. 17. Madison is a great town, one of the gems in college hockey, and everything else. UW's Kohl Arena will be the premier college hockey arena in the country (although I haven't seen Mariucci) seating 17,000 when the upper deck is opened. It looks beautiful from the outside. According to my local source Wisconsin will only open the lower deck for regular season games, resulting in a capacity of 11,000 for Badger hockey games. I would love to see Kohl someday host a Frozen Four. Not only would the fan get to see the games in a top-rate facility, he would also have all the entertainment opportunities that Madison offers. 18. When it comes to beer, Wisconsin is in another league. Where else does your corner tavern offer German Maibocks on tap? The Essen House in Madison sports 2,000 mugs hanging from the ceiling, owned by each of the patrons who join with their $20 membership fees. The major issue left to be resolved during the Kohl Center construction is where the location of the beer garden will be. 19. The Hockey-l dinner was good fun, as usual. Nice to make the reacquaintance with Jim Love and Greg Ambrose, and of course, Carol "your cruise director" White. Also, Charlie Shub's Johnstown Chiefs hockey jersey should earn the award for best dressed. 20. Even the airplane ride was fun. Got to talk to Bob Norton in the airport on Sunday before he boarded his Midwest Express flight to Boston. Quoth Nawton: "they should hold this tourney at the Bradley every year." On the flight out from Pittsburgh, nearly 100% full of Frozen Four attendees, made the misstep of proclaiming "Michigan will crush BU". To which a voice several rows in front responded "Want to make a wager?" (Thanks for the use of the bandwidth). Can't wait to beat BU at the Fieldhouse after their Icebreaker Tournament win next October! :-) *************************************************************************** Brian Morris RPI Engineers--the future's bright [log in to unmask] HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.