puck_slut

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As Hockey East is coming to a close, my friday and saturday nights are now wide open...and I was just wondering if there is life after hockey?
It is a sad, sad realization that without the Black Bears or Minutmen I have a gaping hole in my life.
What do the rest of college hockey fans do when the season ends and the wait begins?

bcoolie

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Many of us tried to flock to the blackbearhockey LJ because it was an opportunity for us to post our thoughts and chat with other fans of the hockey team.  I can say this probably hasn't gotten as much use as I would've thought, but it is what it is.

For years there has been a Maine Hockey Email List that people can subscribe to.  The list has been much more popular over time than this LJ board.  The individual who came up with the list has recently put up a message board for Maine Hockey - or any topic you might want to talk about in the world or in sports.

The forum is located at: http://blackbears.net/forum/index.php

It is open to the public.  Right now it's dominated by one or two people because of the fact that it's just now being opened up to the public.  Please swing by, take a look and register if you'd like to chat and share your thoughts.

**x-posted on bcoolie

bearcat_vamp

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This image is from Questionablecontent.net, posted 10-10-07. Jeph Jaques is the artist.

bcoolie

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http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=136171

If my season tickets are taken away from me, or if I get plopped down in another part of the arena, I will be PISSED!

I would possibly consider finding something else to do with my time and money.

**x-posted in bcoolie

bcoolie

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Derek Damon is suspended for the 1st round game against Harvard for an undisclosed violation of the student conduct code.

Let me get this right.  He's been to the title game, the pinnacle of his sport, only to lose.  So, in what is his last opportunity to win an NCAA Championship for the college in his own backyard, he thinks the following:

"You know what would be a lot of fun?  Let's go out and do something that will get me suspended for a game.  That way my team, on which I am the 4th leading scorer, will have to try to win the 1st round game without me.  If they lose, I get to live on with the thought that I probably played a large role in helping my team lose, and thus my college career is over!  SWEET!"

If we win, I hope he's benched for the 2nd round game.

Thanks for nothing (this week) Derek!

nin_veleth

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wow! this is great to see so many people posting here lately! this community has been pretty dead the entire season. i can't figure it out since we've had a fairly good year this year.


so, what do people think about maine going to albany? think we'll beat harvard? think we'll make it to the frozen four? i sure hope so. this weekend's loss was tough to bear (especially if you were there like i was!) but hopefully bishop will be less nervous this coming weekend in albany.



let's go blue!!!

bcoolie

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No big surprises in the NCAA brackets this morning.  Maine is staying East thanks to being placed in the Albany region.  Maine's 1st game is on Saturday, March 25th.  Here is the entire bracket:

Midwest Regional (Green Bay)
No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Bemidji State
No. 2 Cornell vs. No. 3 Colorado College

West Regional (Grand Forks)
No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 4 Holy Cross
No. 2 North Dakota vs. No. 3 Michigan

East Regional (Albany)
No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 4 New Hampshire
No. 2 Harvard vs. No 3. Maine

Northeast Regional (Worcester)
No. 1 Boston University vs. No. 4 Nebraska-Omaha
No. 2 Miami (OH) vs. No. 3 Boston College

Personally, I like the region we're in.  Both the West and Northeast Regions seem to be very difficult.  Albany is only about a 6 hour drive from Orono, so anyone who wants to go see it, the tickets are on sale via www.pepsiarena.com.  $82 (including service charges) gets you tickets to all 3 games (2 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday).  Hotels seem to range from $60 - $150/night.  Hopefully Maine will have a large turnout (as you can see, I was considering it myself).

GO BLUE!!

bcoolie

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A few first-hand notes on the Hockey East Championship this weekend.

First off, the bad news.  As we all know, Maine fell to BC in the Semi-Finals.  Maine played well, but made some fairly costly and consistent errors.  Brett Tyler seemed to get caught too deep in the offensive zone fairly often, allowing many BC odd-man rushes up the ice.  Maine also seemed a bit defeated after the first period.  They outplayed BC in the opening frame, but failed to score.  I think it knocked them down, and they really weren't able to recover or maintain the offensive pressure.

If there's one good thing to take from the game, it's that we have a gem in Ben Bishop.  He's a freshman, which mean he has things to work on, just like any other freshman hockey player.  But, he played very well in a HUGE game.  We'll wait and see how well he plays in the NCAA tournament (as of right now, which is 11:52pm ET, it looks like Maine will get in as either a #4 seed or a low #3 seed).  As he gains experience, I think he'll only get better.  Unfortunately, I also think this means Lundin is going to leave.  He was going to leave the program last year, but then Jimmy went pro and Lundin thought he would have the job.  Now that it appears to have been given to Ben full time, there's no reason for him to stay.

( That being said, some additional thoughts from the weekend:Collapse )

I think I've rambled on enough for now.  I'm sure many people watched the games on TV.  They were well worth it.  Although Maine didn't win, the weekend had almost anything a hockey fan could want.  Power play goals, short handed goals, empty net goals (ugh), hitting, scoring, blowouts, fans, noise, etc.  Of all the teams that were there, if Maine wasn't going to win, BU is the one I can stand the most to take the trophy for one year.  In the meantime, let's all watch ESPN2 at 11:00am on Sunday to see what happens to Maine regarding the NCAA, and then let's hope for a big splash in the national tournament.  Because, as we all know (and UNH has yet to discover), that's the only trophy that matters!

**cross posted in bcoolie**

nin_veleth

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so... this community has been pretty dead all season which surprises me because of the new members we've had since last season.

what a great series against vermont this weekend, coming back from behind both nights! friday night we came back from a 1-0 deficit, scoring 3 goals in 74 seconds, which isn't something that happens very often with vermont. saturday night, we came back from a 3-0 deficit to tie it 4-4 overall. simply amazing. i hope this keeps up, i think the guys are starting to realize how important the remaining games are.

so how do you think we're going to do overall? any predictions?


and, for those of you who were at the game last weekend... you remember the zamboni had to go off the ice after it started clearing it? well, this is why. only our very own mascot bananas :)


Bananas the Black Bear thought it would be a good idea by putting on a little strip show during the first intermission of Saturday night’s game between Maine and UNH, but there was one miscalculation. Bananas tossed his shirt aside, and it ended up getting caught in the Zamboni, delaying the start of the second period.

nin_veleth

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hope everyone had a great christmas and new years (and for my fellow college students, a great winter break so far). hope to see a lot of you at the umass lowell series this weekend, i know i'm making a special trip from south portland for the occasion.



go blue!!!

nin_veleth

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so, what's everyone's take on the losses of the last 4 out of 5 games for our guys? do you think it has anything to do with the hockey scandal? there is a lot of talk around campus about it... what do you think???

nin_veleth

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ladies and gents...


our very own jimmy howard is making his NHL debut in a wings' jersey against the l.a. kings tonight!!!



good luck, jimmy!!!



edit:

jimmy howard just got his first NHL career win agains the l.a. kings! howard made 22 saves against 24 shots AND got the 2nd star of the game!!! am i the only one foolish enough to put off studying to listen to it on the internet? i can't wait to be able to watch it!!!


congrats jimmy!!!

nikkijeanne04

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Yes, I was lucky enough to go to the game last night @ Lowell. Maine DESTROYED UMass...its was over by the end of the first period. The fights in the second and third period were impressive though. Lets hope the guys can keep this Ooomf going tonight. :)

nin_veleth

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so, how does it feel to be the fans of the #2 college hockey team in the country? i think it feels pretty damn good if you ask me.


let's keep it up boys!

nin_veleth

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for a mod i haven't been doing a great job of moderating since the season started! oh yeah, i've been busy cheering my ass off in the maine~iak section at the good ol' alfond the past two weekends.


maine swept denver last weekend (as if you guys didn't know already.) the alfond was just electric both nights, it was a GREAT way to open up the season at home. sweeping the supposed 2 time defending national champions after they robbed us of a championship couldn't have been better. revenge is a dish best served COLD... and mannino is still a SIEVE.

maine swept alabama-huntsville this weekend at home as well. ben bishop played an amazing game and matty lundin got his first career shutout!!! i'm glad that whitehead played both goalies this weekend, i'm pretty confident in both of them, i'm going to have fun watching them play.


in other news, jimmy howard was moved back to the AHL. osgood was deemed in good health, bumping jimmy back to the grand rapids gryffins. we'll see him in that red wings jersey before too long, maine is so proud of him!

maine plays BC this weekend at chestnut hill, then plays umass on saturday. can we have another sweep? i sure hope so!!! GO BLUE!!!

nin_veleth

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i figured you guys would want to see these amazing pictures that i took of the scoreboard to prove that maine is indeed the better team and should have won the national championship in 2004. it was even better when denver had the goal taken away on friday because of a crease violation... "it's called karma *clap clap clapclapclap!*"



( this way to awesomeness...Collapse )

nin_veleth

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i don't know about you guys, but i am VERY impressed with what i saw this weekend at the 'fond!!! our very own black bears swept the two time defending champions denver university in front of the BEST crowd i've seen at the alfond in a very long time. it was amazing to be back in there cheering those guys on. i'm very excited to see what the season will bring. they played very well this weekend and i am very impressed with our offense! we have it this year!!! this is going to be an awesome season, i can just feel it.


i do miss hearing jimmy yelling whenever they get in his zone, but ben bishop definitely proved himself this weekend (he's so freakin' tall!!!) i can't wait to see lundin in goal as well!

here's to a great season, guys!!!

bcoolie

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So, I've just come across the community, and I'm shocked it took me this long to find.

A bit about me. I graduated from the University in 2003. I was a devoted, regular Maine~Iak during my time there, and am now a season ticket holder. I would probably know some of you in here from my time at games and in the Hockey chat on FirstClass (which I still have access to). Although, it does appear my best friend is a member here and was holding out on me. We'll have words later. :)

Anyways, I'm not about to ruffle any feathers my first post, so I'll leave it at that. On my way back to enjoying the 2nd straight man-handling of Denver on the radio.

Later.