Shhhhhhh....be very, very quiet.....there’s a hockey game going on.....hahahahahaha..
Ok, so I’m not good at channelling Elmer Fudd as he stalks Bugs Bunny. But how you else do you explain the lack of atmosphere and excitement in Messa Rink Friday night?
There was no enthusiasm for the Union-Colgate team. The 1,342 that showed up to watch the game decided it was better to keep their hands to themselves and not clap, or get excited and scream at the top of their lungs.
That lack of enthusiasm carried over to the ice, where the Dutchmen played lackadaisical at times. It was very noticeable the number of times they mishandled the puck, especially when they were trying to clear the puck out of their zone.
This may have been the most uninspiring game I have watched in my 19 years of going to Messa Rink to cover the Dutchmen. Despite that, Union managed to pull out a 3-1 victory over Colgate.
The win extended the Dutchmen’s unbeaten streak to seven games (4-0-3). The win, coupled with Quinnipiac’s 7-4 loss to Yale, makes Union the only unbeaten team in ECAC Hockey at 3-0-2.
But that wasn’t enough to make Dutchmen coach Nate Leaman happy. Sure, he was pleased with the win. But the way the Dutchmen won it didn’t make him that happy.
"We didn't have enough energy tonight," Leaman said. "We were pretty fortunate to win a hockey game. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy we got the two points. I'm happy with the way [goalie] Keith Kinkaid played.”
How asleep was the crowd? When musical director Mike Caruso played Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” late in the second intermission, there was little response when the fans were supposed to go “Whoa, oh oh.” I even booed the fans.
"Our building didn't have any energy,” Leaman said. “I'm a little down on that right now. Our bench didn't have any energy. Something was going on because we had a lot more energy against RPI."
The Dutchmen better show up with more passion Saturday against seventh-ranked Cornell, 2-1 winners over RPI on Friday. And their fans, too. Cornell is going to have its usual contingent of fans, and their annoying band. The Dutchmen fans NEED to match their enthusiasm.
"We have to play with a heck of a lot more passion tomorrow night," Leaman said. "We need our building to have a lot more passion."
Stephane Boileau, who put in the rebound of a Jason Walters' shot from the top of the slot that hit the crossbar at 2:23 of the second to give the Dutchmen a 2-1 lead, blamed the lack of energy in overconfidence.
"We've been winning for the last three weeks, and I think we were overconfident," Boileau said. "That's why we didn't show up today. We were lucky to win that game."
That was an honest answer. That took a lot of energy to say that.
Penalty shot
The Dutchmen were awarded a penalty shot midway through the second period when Kelly Zajac was hooked by Kevin McNamara on a breakaway.
Instead of letting Zajac take the penalty shot, Leaman chose Mario Valery-Trabucco. He scored the only goal of the shootout in last Friday’s Rensselaer Holiday Tournament first-round game against Lake Superior State.
This time, Valery-Trabucco was stopped by goalie Alex Evin.
“It surprised me,” Leaman said. “I thought he would do a little something different there. I have complete confidence in Mario. If we had missed that shot and I would have left Mario on the bench, I would have been second guessing myself all night.”
Evin hurt
Evin left the game early in the third period. Colgate coach Don Vaughan believes Evin suffered a groin injury.
Three stars
My three stars of the game:
1) Keith Kinkaid, Union — Made 31 saves, including 15 in the second period.
2) Jason Walters, Union — Had two assists.
3) Stephane Boileau, Union — Scored game-winner.
That is all for tonight. I’m signing off from the office, because I was needed to help out. That is why the blog is a little late.
Until Saturday night against Cornell...Good Night! Good Hockey!
