Maine v. Harvard

[atb9]

Harvard just missed a wrap around that went right across the goal line...a fight breaks out with 13:30 left in the third.  Matching penalties--Dom Moore takes a seat in the box.  Good job by Maine, I suppose, as the game is getting even more exciting.

[atb9]

Maine wins 4-2 after Harvard hits the post a bunch of times in the final few minutes.  Another fight breaks out, this time between Lawson and Welch with 8 seconds left in the game.  Only roughing penalties...

Howard finished with 30+ saves and leaves for Nationals.  A lot of saves but he was beaten on many occasions only to be bailed out by the iron.

Well, Maine is now unbeaten in 14 straight.  Should be a good one between Maine and Cornell!

[DeltaOne81]

So Maine beat Hahvahd 4-2, and we beat Hahvahd 5-2... so that means we'll beat Maine by 1, right?:-D

[chag]

Chris and I just got home from the game.  It was actually closer than the 4-2 score would indicate. Maine scored that quick goal within the first minute that shook up the Hahvahd boys a little I think. The refs were definitely home town boys, though, as the first couple power plays Maine had were on pretty lame calls. I think if it had not been so lopsided in that regard Hahvahd could have stayed a little more in the game.

They (H) came out in the 2nd period really playing hard and floor checking and getting some more opportunities, and as you all have mentioned.....the SOG were pretty even from then through the end of the game. It was not that Howard was impenetrable, however. Hahvahd shot right at him most of the time.  Dov made a few good saves when he wasn't on his ass. It got pretty hairy when Maine was already playing  5 on 3 and then one Hahvahd player loses his stick, then Dov G-M loses HIS....what are the chances Maine wouldn't score then ?  

Maine had a scare when they played IONA the other night and didn't exactly beat them soundly. The Maine coach said after that game that they would "not be able to play that way against Harvard". The sold-out (8,700) crowd was of course primarily for UMaine and the poor excuse Hahvahd fans could barely cheer even when they scored.

Listening to the Maine Pep band and watching Bananas, the Black Bear mascot do his strip tease between periods was painful, but I endured it to be able to bring you this report.   I almost had to leave when they played the Chicken Dance , though.  Following on the heels of the Beer Barrel Polka I thought I was at a Polish Wedding.

BUT, Maine definitely doesn't capitalize all that well on all their opportunities. They choked a few times on breakaways, and they got their long telegraphed cross-ice passes picked off at least twice.  

Kariya  (the youngest and LAST of them, I think?) skates in little lightning fast steps . Colin Shields scored 2 of their goals, including the first quick one, and the one when they were up 5 on 3. He assisted on another, I believe. Kariya got the second and Francis Nault the last.  

Hahvahd looked the best when there were matching penalties and it was 4 v. 4. The open ice worked to their advantage. Maine does a good job getting the puck across in front of the net and there always seems to be someone there and ready. The refs let them camp out in the crease a couple times, which was probably pissing off Dov just a tad. It was pissing us off, anyway.

Well, that's about it. If you would like a more testosterone filled  and less girl-y report maybe Chris will have time to write later. Ask away and he can answer your questions in the proper hockey lingo.

[Jordan 04]

[q]I almost had to leave when they played the Chicken Dance , though.[/q]

The Ran-gers Suck! :-D

[Al DeFlorio]

Maybe Chris can tell us more about "floor checking?";-)

[chag]

DeFLOORio, DeFORio.....almost the same.  :-P

[cmoberg]

From my point of view, all floor checking aside.... I dont know if it was a Hockey East bias, or a Maine home ice bias, but there was sure a bias in the officiating.  Harvard was called time and time again for things that Maine was allowed to commit and go free on.  The third period was called much more evenly.

I feel Maine was the faster team.  They were able to control the Harvard breakouts and that cut the Harvard speed advantage.  Also of note, was when Maine played a man down they sent both forwards into the Harvard zone to harass that breakout.  That was pretty effective, Harvard was not able to generate consistent power play pressure.  They also played man on man aggresive defense whereas Harvard played more of a box zone.  Maine seemed to be everywhere.

Neither team played a bruising style.  The Cornell fore check should be effective on Maine.  Maine has a pretty breakout where they send a wing steaking down the ice and do a blue line to blue line cross ice pass.  They did this 2 or 3 times.  This was more effective early on when it caught Harvard by surprise. So Cornell should watch for it early.

I do not feel that Maine dominated Harvard, and the score does not show the closeness of the game.  Had the first garbage goal not gone in and the weak point shot (that last goal).  Harvards goals were both strong and well executed as were the other two Maine goals. Dov played well in streaks but not well throughtout the entire game.  I dont know what the book on Howard is but Havard shot their first 20 shots low.  He made seemingly easy stick and kick saves.  The post did save Howard a number of times.

Not a cakewalk for Maine, so  Hahvahd and the ECAC can feel good about the performance. (imho, of course)

[Josh '99]

Chris Moberg wrote:

Neither team played a bruising style.  The Cornell fore check should be effective on Maine.  Maine has a pretty breakout where they send a wing steaking down the ice and do a blue line to blue line cross ice pass.  They did this 2 or 3 times.  This was more effective early on when it caught Harvard by surprise. So Cornell should watch for it early.

Western Michigan ran some plays like this (if I'm visualizing what you're saying correctly) fairly effectively, though as far as I can recall no WMU goals directly resulted.  If Maine does it more effectively than WMU and Cornell isn't on the lookout for it, we could see some breakaways generated, with a Maine wing getting in behind the CU defense.

[littleredfan]

And in other action, Princeton loses 5-2 to Nottingham of England. I hope Coach Quesnelle rights that ship quickly.  Being the doormat of the ECAC/Ivy this year is one thing; being the doormat of the world is another  ::uhoh::

[Al DeFlorio]

Musta been jet lag.:-/

[Will]

Princeton this year is an embarrassment to American college hockey.  The Brits probably think they can have their way with us now.  Bloody hell.

[Josh '99]

One of the guys who got revenge on Volonnino wrote:

Princeton this year is an embarrassment to American college hockey...

And American college hockey su...  wait, no, that's not right.   ::nut::

[littleredfan]

Princeton goes on to lose ALL of their games on the England tour. You know, it sure would've been nice for them to at least rack up some kind of wins (even if only exhibition ones) to make them optimistic as they look to salvage the season.  Losing to a foreign country not in North America nor on the mainland of Europe just stinks.

But they WILL make the ECAC playoffs! Wouldn't it be just great if they somehow went on a tear and won the whole thing  ::nut::

[DeltaOne81]

Um, no :-P