The Good, the Bad and the Fighting Irish.

Well its been over a week since UNH lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament, a 7-3 lost to Notre Dame. It was a hard lost, hence the long time before I commented on it. First I have to give all due credit to Notre Dame, they played a great game and really took to the Cats. All the hype going into the game was that ND could not score, well they proved that wrong. They came in and controlled the game and had their way the Cats. Should UNH have won this game? Yes they should have. On paper they were by far the better team, but as we know the game is not played on paper. ND has lost 9 out of their last 13, their top scorer was out and they hadn’t scored more then 2 goals in a game a in awhile. Heck the only reason they made the tournament was by losing 2 games the weekend before, its that NCAA math. But the Irish came out with a lot of heart and desire and played a great game and took advantage of UNH mistakes. UNH took some stupid penalties in the first and ND took advantage with 2 power play goals, on basically the same play. UNH did play well the first 17 minutes of the game, but then well still not sure what happened then. They were back on their heal and ND dominated the 2nd period. UNH did have a golden opportunity with a 5 on 3, but got nothing, actually ND scored just as the 2nd penalty was ending, and that was the back breaker.
So what went wrong? I have been trying to figure that out for the last 10 days, and still have no ideas. Many people are blaming coach Umile, I can not do that. He had them up all season, and playing above their heads in some games. Many are taking shots at him for the last couple of years in the NCAA, which I think is unfair. After all he got the team to the final game 5 years ago. The next year he lost a close game in the regional finals to the eventual champs Denver. Since them it has been 1 and done all 3 years. But this year was the one that hurt the most. The first one was to a 1 seed Michigan State, and they only lost 1-0 in a great game both ways that could have gone either way. Last year they lost by 1 goal to Miami, where UNH outplayed them most of the game but Miami’s goal was the difference in a 2-1 game. So I can not say it is Umile’s fault. So maybe it was the players were to confident going into the game, or maybe they just got no puck luck. What ever it was, it is over now. Up until that game it was a very successful season, with a very heartbreaking ending. I do feel bad for the seniors who had a really good year, and a good 4 years. All of them will be missed and have added a great deal to the program. Wish all the best to Regan, Radja, Fornataro, Flashins and Switzer, you have left big shoes to fill.
So now on to the 09 season to see what that will bring, we will find out soon enough the first game in Oct 11 home against Wisconsin