First off, a happy Easter and Passover to all the UMass fans out there.

Ok, here’s the deal, I need your help.  Well, at least help from most of you.  At the end of last week the Alumni Association launched the opportunity for Massachusetts residents to show their support of Your State U by driving around with this customized UMass license plate.

Now the UMAA tried a number of years ago to get a similar plate on the road but, due to a number of reasons, they were not able to get the minimum number of orders.  One of the reasons was they chose to put a banner in Section U of the Mullins Center where a bunch of jerks decided to stand in front of during every hockey game.  Anyway, I digress.  So this previous effort flopped.  That’s not going to happen this time.  Or should I say I’m not going to let that happen this time.  I want, no, need one of these license plates as I travel around New England supporting the Minutemen athletic teams.  And I plan to leverage Fear The Triangle to my full advantage to get one.  According to various website analytics sites I get about 900 regular visitors on a monthly basis from the state of Massachusetts.  Given that and adjusting for some duplicates and people who may be too young to have cars etc., I figure I should be able to guarantee the Alumni Association at least 500 plate applications from my readership.  That would go a long way toward the minimum needed for them to start production.

Listen, you’re not coming to this site, especially in the offseason, unless you’re a pretty hardcore UMass fan.  What a better way to display your pride and loyalty for the school than with this plate that ultimately helps fund scholarships for the university.  And at the same time you’ll be helping me personally, because I want one of these ASAP.  So get on it and get your application in.

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Stick tap to Jerry York and the Boston College Eagles for winning their 5th National Championship last night in Tampa.  Was I rooting for the Eagles?  No.  But I respect what they were able to accomplish and at the very least am glad the sport’s ultimate prize resides in Hockey East, thus again proving that UMass plays in the most elite hockey conference in the country.

BC captain Tommy Cross credited UMass with helping getting the Eagles get ready for their championship run.  Honestly, when you look at it UMass played BC tougher during their 19 game win streak than probably any other team.  In the end UMass went 2-3-0 against the national champions, allowing the high flying Eagle offense a meager 2.2 goals per game.

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Puck Daddy makes the case for Jon Quick winning the Vezina trophy.  Quick finished the year going 35-21-13.  He played in the 4th most games for goaltenders on the season.  His 10 shutouts led the league, he was second in goals against average with 1.95, his .929 save percentage was good for 5th, and is pretty much the only reason the Kings made the playoffs.

Andrew Merritt of the New England Hockey Journal has his take on a potential leap by UConn to Hockey East.