Well I (luckily) wasn’t at the game and was unable to follow it, so I don’t want to comment on it without having some first hand knowledge.  All I know is that despite James Marcou and the other players calling this the most important game of the season, the end result was the same as we’ve seen in the last few weeks.  Despite it being a must-win game the Minutemen still found themselves getting dominated on the scoreboard, at one point down 5-1 to the Huskies before a couple meaningless late goals led to the final score of 6-3.

It’s sad to see a team which through two thirds of the season had surpassed expectations now give back everything they accomplished in the final weeks of the season.  The team has spent most of these last few months in the top of the Hockey East standings and holding onto a potential at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.  Now the team that was originally picked to finish 7th in Hockey East could very well wind up there.  Or worse.  Last night’s loss drops UMass into a fourth place tie with BU, who owns the tie-breaker.  Good bye home ice.  What’s even worse is that 8th place Vermont is now just three points behind the Minutemen with Lowell and Northeastern even closer.

The season was once full of promise.  Now the players seem like they can’t wait for it to end.  A few more weekends like this one and they’ll may have their wish.

Fear The Triangle Player of the Game – Mike Lecomte
It’s amazing that Lecomte was able to come back from a broken foot so quickly and it seemed early that his return could be a spark for the Minutemen when he picked up an assists.  He ended up +1 on the game but got an early gate in the third for a fighting penalty which means he’ll be out for Friday’s game at Merrimack.

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According to the Republican there was some questionable officiating last night.  Shocking.  Couldn’t have made too much of a difference however judging by the final score.

Toot says the team isn’t playing with any unity in the Gazette recap.

Here’s the USCHO game story.

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Ron Chimelis explores why students like to attend hockey games more than basketball.  I’m glad to see students coming to hockey games, especially compared to the days when I was a student and you could practically have an entire section to yourself.  That said, I would hope that more students come out and support the hoop team as well.  In the long run basketball is still the flagship sport of the university and can lead to wider exposure for the school in general.  Though still in a transition phase, alum Derek Kellogg is putting together a talented young squad which just picked up a committment from a top high school point guard.  The future looks bright for the basketball team so I think students should check out a game if they haven’t before.  Some of my best memories as a student are from sitting in the stands screaming my head off at basketball games.  It’s sad to see the program become such an afterthought on campus.