UMaine Hockey 23 - 24: The Barr Crawl to Glory!!!

[UncleRay]

Y'all keep talking about UMass sending BU best. UMass doesn't even make it, do they? There are 3 auto-bids going and UMass is 15th. Or Cornell wins tomorrow, moves further up, isn't an auto-bid, but UMass still falls out for the CCHA & AHA slugs. Or what am I missing that gets UMass in?

 

[ticapnews]

Y'all keep talking about UMass sending BU best. UMass doesn't even make it, do they? There are 3 auto-bids going and UMass is 15th. Or Cornell wins tomorrow, moves further up, isn't an auto-bid, but UMass still falls out for the CCHA & AHA slugs. Or what am I missing that gets UMass in?

UMass is 59% to make the tournament. The RPI difference between CC and UMass is absurdly miniscule. They are literally tied at .5498 if you go out the standard four places after the decimal. CC only wins the comparison for now because if you carry the math out to the hundred thousands place they are ahead. Any game result can flip the comparison.

Over on the pairwise thread, Numbers has broken it down

If St Lawrence wins, UMass qualifies only if AIC, BC and Den all win.
If St Lawrence loses, CC goes if Omaha wins, and UMass goes if Denver wins, except two cases, which are:
BC, AIC, Omaha and Michigan winning yields UMass
BU, Denver, Michigan and RIT yields CC

 

[Sparkee]

Y'all keep talking about UMass sending BU best. UMass doesn't even make it, do they? There are 3 auto-bids going and UMass is 15th. Or Cornell wins tomorrow, moves further up, isn't an auto-bid, but UMass still falls out for the CCHA & AHA slugs. Or what am I missing that gets UMass in?

No they aren’t out yet. They essentially are tied in pairwise comparisons with Colorado College. So depending on what happens tomorrow, UMass could be in or out. Here is a link where you can see how UMass and CC are just about even. Their RPI is even too. https://www.collegehockeynews.com/ratings/pairwise/

 

[ticapnews]

The crowd for Maine was great. Lots of blue and they/we were loud. I would like to know how many Maine fans vs. BU fans. Aside from one section it seemed Maine crowd far exceeded the BU fans. Like 5 to 1 or something.

It is good for the team to experience a big crowd and the atmosphere and the jitters. Hope it helps next weekend.

First sellout at the Garden for Hockey East since 2005.

 

[ticapnews]

Bronco Hockey Fan calculated all 32 potential outcomes

01. Cornell, RIT, BC, Sparty, Omaha............CC 498 > UMASS 496
02. Cornell, RIT, BC, Sparty, Denver............UMASS 497 > CC 493 - CORNELL 12th
03. Cornell, RIT, BC, Michigan, Omaha.........CC 500 > UMASS 499
04. Cornell, RIT, BC, Michigan, Denver.........UMASS 500 > CC 497
05. Cornell, RIT, BU, Sparty, Omaha............CC 498 > UMASS 494
06. Cornell, RIT, BU, Sparty, Denver.............UMASS 495 > CC 494 - CORNELL 12th
07. Cornell, RIT, BU, Michigan, Omaha.........CC 500 > UMASS 497
08. Cornell, RIT, BU, Michigan, Denver..........UMASS 498 > CC 497

09. Cornell, AIC, BC, Sparty, Omaha............CC 499 > UMASS 497
10. Cornell, AIC, BC, Sparty, Denver.............UMASS 498 > CC 495 - CORNELL 12th
11. Cornell, AIC, BC, Michigan, Omaha.........UMASS 501 = CC 501 - (tied RPI!!! Says UMass "wins")
12. Cornell, AIC, BC, Michigan, Denver..........UMASS 502 > CC 497
13. Cornell, AIC, BU, Sparty, Omaha.............CC 499 > UMASS 496 - CORNELL 13th/12th? (tied 522 w/ WMU, but says WMU "wins")
14. Cornell, AIC, BU, Sparty, Denver.............UMASS 497 > CC 495 - CORNELL 12th
15. Cornell, AIC, BU, Michigan, Omaha..........CC 501 > UMASS 500
16. Cornell, AIC, BU, Michigan, Denver..........UMASS 500 > CC 498

17. SLU, RIT, BC, Sparty, Omaha..................CC 498 > UMASS 493
18. SLU, RIT, BC, Sparty, Denver..................UMASS 494 = CC 494 - (tied RPI!!! Says UMass "wins")
19. SLU, RIT, BC, Michigan, Omaha...............CC 500 > UMASS 496
20. SLU, RIT, BC, Michigan, Denver...............CC 497 = UMASS 497 - (tied RPI!!! Says CC "wins")
21. SLU, RIT, BU, Sparty, Omaha..................CC 498 > UMASS 491
22. SLU, RIT, BU, Sparty, Denver..................CC 494 > UMASS 492
23. SLU, RIT, BU, Michigan, Omaha..............CC 500 > UMASS 494
24. SLU, RIT, BU, Michigan, Denver...............CC 497 > UMASS 495

25. SLU, AIC, BC, Sparty, Omaha.................CC 499 > UMASS 494
26. SLU, AIC, BC, Sparty, Denver..................UMASS 495 = CC 495 - (tied RPI!!! Says UMass "wins")
27. SLU, AIC, BC, Michigan, Omaha..............CC 501 > UMASS 498
28. SLU, AIC, BC, Michigan, Denver...............UMASS 499 > CC 498
29. SLU, AIC, BU, Sparty, Omaha..................CC 500 > UMASS 493
30. SLU, AIC, BU, Sparty, Denver..................CC 495 > UMASS 494
31. SLU, AIC, BU, Michigan, Omaha...............CC 501 > UMASS 497
32. SLU, AIC, BU, Michigan, Denver...............CC 498 > UMASS 497

 

[acs64]

Fun game to watch, huh? . What a battle. Caron's game, for sure. BU's big bodies packing the net front....Maine couldnt get anything through never mind get a rebound. Very happy to be a Maine fan after that one....those guys never wilt...no quit. As has been said, looking forward to the regionals.. ..maybe if lucky get another crack at BU and/or BC

 

[walrus]

There's nothing wrong with Boija.

Get your prescription checked, Grampie.

I agree but he wasn't as good as Caron. BU has tons of talent and Maine doesn't. I see it like big time BBall, Duke, Kentucky etc. get a ton of highly ranked recruits, everyone else gets one or maybe two. The trick is you have to keep them for 4 years in order to win. BC and BU will lose tons of guys this offseason and they will will reload with another batch of freshman. Just like Duke and Kentucky etc

 

[NorthMike]

First sellout at the Garden for Hockey East since 2005.

Of those in attendance 90% Mainers, very proud of the turn out. When breen scored the whole place stood up and was loud, when BU scored a few scattered people around and a couple sections they sat in got up.
Cant wait until next years!!

 

[Sparkee]

Fun game to watch, huh? . What a battle. Caron's game, for sure. BU's big bodies packing the net front....Maine couldnt get anything through never mind get a rebound. Very happy to be a Maine fan after that one....those guys never wilt...no quit. As has been said, looking forward to the regionals.. ..maybe if lucky get another crack at BU and/or BC

Lachance was a menace in front of Boija, lots of screens… one for a goal. Maine d men didn’t seems to attempt to move them expect for Lesakowski. Peterson had some good power forward moves too, he drew a penalty on Lesakowski.. dipped his should and turned up into the net front and was held.

I’ll go tonight because it is a great rivalry and because we will one day look back at this game and say wow, look how many NHL guys were in this game as youngsters.

 

[BoSox3066]

There's nothing wrong with Boija.

Get your prescription checked, Grampie.

at one point BU had a 2 goal lead on 6 shots lets not throw this kid a parade here

 

[rw1733]

The big issue was once again penalties, needless ones.

 

[amkirby10]

The big issue was once again penalties, needless ones.

I mean, they only had 6 PIM the entire game, the bigger problem was being utterly helpless on the PK.

 

[walrus]

at one point BU had a 2 goal lead on 6 shots lets not throw this kid a parade here

Kid is the key word here. PK running around is another issue.

 

[umhockey91]

It was a fun night. I was really hoping Maine could pull it out so we could see the Maine fan base on full tilt for the Championship game. Maybe Maine wins a regional game with the right match-up….they don’t want to be in BU or BC’s regions though…they are both monsters. It’s gonna take a special effort to bring them down.

 

[acs64]

Possess the puck 80% of the time and only score 20% of the goals. Does not work

 

[Sparkee]

It isn’t a knock on Boija to say the difference was goaltending. It isn’t as much of a case of Boija playing poorly, he didn’t. It is absolutely a case of Caron being an absolute stone wall. There was one play where Hanson sticker handled through a guy and got a nice wrister down low between Carons legs and it made it to his skate and it deflected just wide of the post. That is an example of how it just wasn’t Maines night, and Caron was making saves miraculously even when he seemingly was beat. He also had great rebound control I thought… which is a sign of good positioning.

 

[Drew S.]

It isn’t a knock on Boija to say the difference was goaltending. It isn’t as much of a case of Boija playing poorly, he didn’t. It is absolutely a case of Caron being an absolute stone wall. There was one play where Hanson sticker handled through a guy and got a nice wrister down low between Carons legs and it made it to his skate and it deflected just wide of the post. That is an example of how it just wasn’t Maines night, and Caron was making saves miraculously even when he seemingly was beat. He also had great rebound control I thought… which is a sign of good positioning.

I strongly disagree with this. I don’t think Boija had much of a chance on any of the goals and if Maine had tied the game I think BU would have gone down and taken the lead again. It was men against boys.

 

[9twenty]

The program is in good hands and heading in a solid direction...Barr has a plan...it's never everything at once...piece by peice...it's a process. Fun to see it going forward after the end of Whiteheads tenure and Gendrons error(era)....other teams,possible recruits are seeing what's brewing up in Orono...if you can't come away from feeling better since Barr has taken over...then really nothing they do..will sway you in a positive direction...

 

[Swediac]

Is anyone looking to get rid of any tickets tomorrow? I’m in town unexpectedly

I have 3 tickets in loge 14 row 6 but can’t go due to changed plans, if you want them.

If not and any one else wants them let me know.

I ditto comments about last nights effort, proud of the team and our great fans for filling the place. Took me back to my younger years and the program’s golden years. I’ve been a lurker on this forum to get me through the decade+ desert since then, grateful for the Barr era starting so my kids get a chance to see what Maine spirit is before they move into adulthood and carry the torch onward.

 

[BassAle]

Nice to see Maine make it back to the Garden. BC and BU are in a class of their own in Hockey East this year. Men vs Boys. Huge, almost insurmountable, difference in depth between #2 BU and #3 Maine.

Maine played hard and threw everything they had at BU. If a few bounces had gone their way they might have pulled an upset. All in all, I feel great about the future of the program. Transformative facilities improvements coming for multiple sports including hockey, and young hockey coach that has a plan to turn Maine back into a contender at the national level.

I’ll be stoked if Maine gets one win in the NCAAs, that will have exceeded my expectations for the season.