Re: Brown Hockey 2012-2013:Climbing the ECAC Ladder
Some quick thoughts:
-Brown by no means played 100% tonight, but still managed to win. Sometimes, you gotta win ugly in the playoffs.
-Greg Lewis looked like a freshman tonight. Lorito's goal was one he should have had, and he left pucks bouncing around in front of his crease all night. Brown just wasn't in the right places to cash in. He seemed visibly rattled by a group of guys who stood above the net and heckled him all game (strange, considering he's played in far more daunting venues than a mostly-empty Meehan).
-What a pitiful turnout. This is the opposite of what Whittet wanted. There was a big basketball game next door, but this is the PLAYOFFS! That should usurp a meaningless game against a former league power in which neither team is in the running for the Ivy League title, shouldn't it? There were probably a hundred or so students and half the band (the other half was at the Pizz), which is pathetic considering Brown was GIVING AWAY 200 free tickets to students. The storm probably kept the locals away (you know Rhode Islanders: if the ground is wet, they hole up and watch TV), but there is no excuse for the poor student attendance.
-The defense, as a unit, played its best game of the season. Clarkson only had a couple of truly good chances, and when he needed to, Borelli bailed out his defenders. The Knights took 31 shots, sure, but most of them were low-percentage or low quality.
-Both teams seemed content to play a mind-numbing, conservative, low-risk type of game. Brown began playing the neutral zone trap as soon as we scored, and Clarkson took its sweet time trying to move the puck up the ice. Boring, but evidently effective from our perspective.
-Who would have guessed these were two of the worst power plays in the league? Brown scored a PP goal in the first, and both teams had some great chances on power plays in the second period (not so much in the third), including a shot by Pfeil (I think) that trickled between Lewis's legs and was cleared by a defenseman before a Brown stick got to it.
Unfortunately, I'll be in New York for a conference until Tuesday, so I won't be able to make the next game (or two, depending on tomorrow's result). But I'll hopefully be watching from my hotel room. Someone needs to yell at Joe McDonald (who was incredibly bad tonight- always in the way, never made the right call, ugh) in my stead. That Roy guy was probably even worse.
. I was hoping we would draw Union. I t looks like RPI will get a very dangerous Cornell squad and Union gets SLU. The way RPI has been playing I thought it would be in the finals but it may not get past Cornell. If I can't make it to New Haven, a good fall back will be the RPI game.