James Weliver/Collegian
Call it sour grapes if you want, but
UMass senior Alex Berry knocked Maine goaltender Scott Darling down, which allowed Cory Quirk to knock the puck into the net, giving UMass a 1-0 lead 1 minute, 15 seconds into the game.
Whitehead doesn’t have the best relationship with league officials, but Quirk’s goal gave UMass an early lead, which quickly turned into a 4-0 deficit.
‘The negative on the first goal was that if we had video replay, it would’ve been disallowed, but the positive is that it’s more evidence for the league to move in that direction,’ Whitehead said following the loss to UMass.
‘[Hockey East Commissioner] Joe Bertagna was here, so I think as a former goalie, he saw that one. That’s a real good positive. The evidence is overwhelming for it, and I know it’s a move Joe is in favor of. There’s no reason why schools can’t use it if they have the capacity.’
Most Hockey East schools could make the appropriate accommodations if the league mandated. UMass coach Don Cahoon’s only issue was a financial one.
‘Replay, I think, is a positive thing,’ Cahoon said. ‘The most important thing is to get it right. As long as we have competent people managing it, I agree with it wholeheartedly. It’s an expensive proposition; with the economy the way it is right now whether everyone is going to be able to afford to get that in. You’re looking for about $20,000 per program to get it in place.’
In 2006-07, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association experimented with replay. After a successful season, the conference’s members voted to stay with the system and have used it since. But most WCHA games are broadcast on television, so there is working video at those games anyway.
Like Cahoon said, the most important thing is getting the calls right. If the WCHA, a conference in which media and fan scrutiny is as tough as it is anywhere in the country, then every conference should follow suit.
No change at the top
With No. 4 Northeastern, the leader in Hockey East, and No. 1 Boston University, the league’s second-place team, pitted against each other in a home-and-home pair last weekend, Hockey East critics and fans alike hoped to know definitively who the league’s best team was.
No dice.
The Terriers and Huskies played to consecutive ties, maintaining the one-point differential between them. BU shut out the Huskies in November, so while the Terriers won the season series, it’s impossible to declare either team the frontrunner in the league. Of course, the Terriers did rout the Huskies in The Beanpot Championship game, 5-2, on Feb. 9.
Saturday night, the game stood scoreless until 7 minutes, 39 seconds of the third period when BU captain/the best defenseman in college hockey Matt Gilroy scored a shorthanded goal. The Terriers looked certain to assume the top spot in Hockey East, but NU freshman Steve Quailer knotted the game at one at 17:38.
‘[Saturday's] game was a terrific college hockey game,’ BU coach Jack Parker told the Boston Globe following the game. ‘Both teams played real hard with real emotion. It was a real gritty effort by us and by them. We each get two points. Probably both of us would have settled for that before it started if we’d each gotten a [win], but to get two ties is really unusual.’
With two weekends remaining before the postseason begins, neither team can afford to veer from the level of play they’ve sustained throughout the season. The Terriers head to
BC on the road
Until
The Eagles lost many solid players from last year’s team, but returned a solid core and got senior Brock Bradford back from injury.
gles 19 goals and 33 points, but they have not received much else from their established upperclassmen ‘- especially on the blue line.
Sophomore John Muse hasn’t performed to the level of last season ‘- pin that on the guys in front of him. The lone BC blue liner with a positive plus/minus rating is sophomore Nick Petrecki (plus-4). Not much of a surprise that Petrecki has maintained a great level of play ‘- along with BU’s
The Eagles are 4-7-3 in since Jan. 1, including 0-3-1 in their last four games, and have allowed three or more goals 11 times. With Nathan Gerbe patrolling the wings last season, the Eagles could erase a deficit without any qualms. That’s has not been the case this season.
The Eagles are tied with UMass for sixth place in the conference with 21 points, but own both the head-to-head and conference wins tiebreaker. With 26 points, UMass-Lowell is ahead of both teams in the standings. The River Hawks won the season series with the Eagles with two wins and a tie; if not for a game-tying goal from
Ice shavings
UMass winger James Marcou earned the Reebok Player of the Week award for his five-point weekend against
Material from personal interviews, other beat writers and league and team sources was used in this report.
Joe Meloni can be reached at managingeditor@dailycollegian.com.
