Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
{{opens 23-year old wound}} Hitting that goal post was brutal....just another inch and Durham would have worn the Titletown crown.
Very doubtful that we will ever see another UNH team like that in our lifetime.
Of the four FF losses during the Umile Era, I always thought that one was the only one where they didn't yak it up in the end. Sure, Conklin's lack of rebound control was an issue, but momentary lapses like that cost all kinds of teams in high pressure situations like that. It's not even close to comparable to the BU goalie who virtually threw the puck into his own net vs. PC.
The '98 no-show to Michigan seems to have gone under the radar in recent years, but that was a hint of what was to follow in the '02 semis collapse to UMaine in St. Paul, and then of course the '03 Finals collapse in the 3rd period that's flashing several of us back after last night's Finals outcome. The '99 team ended up without major hardware (other than the RS title) because of slow starts in the HE Finals (1-4) and in the FF Finals (0-2, almost 0-3), but they deserve credit for not folding up, forcing both of those games to OT before fate got them. At least for me, the '99 thing hurts least. JMHO.