Looking back:
Wow. What can I say about this weekend's series with the Redhawks?
If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be "bizarre."
As promised, I attended Friday night's game in double collar-popped polo shirts, and as usual had some fun with my dry-erase board, which drew some amused (or was it confused?) looks from Miami forward Brandon Smith and the officiating crew.
Friday night was an intense, entertaining, and close game which came right down to the wire. Miami won 3-2, thanks in part to a fluky, fluttering game-winning goal which found its way into the BGSU net after catching a chunk of goalie Andrew Hammond's shoulder. Bowling Green nearly managed to tie it up in the closing seconds as a shot sailed over the Miami crossbar just before the buzzer. With the win, Miami clinched the CCHA regular-season title, and they celebrated accordingly. Despite the unfortunate loss, Hammond played a fantastic game and should be commended for stepping up in the wake of the injury to Nick Eno.
Personally, I can't go through this without mentioning how upset I am at one particular action from the game. Early on, Miami was called for a penalty. A Miami player (I'm told it was Captain Tommy Wingels, but I didn't see at the time) skated in to touch up and kill the play. Instead of simply touching the puck and taking his lumps, he shot the puck toward the student section glass. It cleared the panels and hit a BGSU student in the forehead, drawing a lot of blood and sending her to the hospital.
I'm sure he didn't intend to injure anyone. Hopefully he didn't even mean to put the puck into the crowd. Regardless, it was a stupid and unsportsmanlike action which was met with no punishment from the officials. Hopefully either the team or the league will take some sort of action, because it was a very dangerous action which endangered the health and safety of an innocent spectator.
Anyway, the remainder of the game was exciting and, with the exception of a few minor scrums, relatively clean.
I was unable to attend Saturday's game. As much as it pains me to miss a BG game in the Ice Arena, I'm actually glad I didn't have to see what happened.
Depending on who you ask, either Miami played like goons or BGSU played dirty. The one thing both sides seem to be able to agree on is that the officiating left a lot to be desired. Because I wasn't there, I'll split the difference on the accounts and say both teams were probably less than cordial, and of course the officials were lousy.
From what I've been able to gather, a BG player (freshman Max Grover) collided with Miami goaltender Connor Knapp (at full speed according to the Miami account I've read), which understandably led to a serious scuffle. Knapp left his crease to join the melee. What happened next, according to the BG accounts I've read, is that Grover and Miami defenseman Cameron Schilling were jawing on the way to the penalty box, and Miami's Alden Hirschfeld took a run at Grover (who was, at the time, without his helmet).
All in all, 166 penalty minutes were handed out on Saturday night, including 3 game disqualifications, 6 10-minute misconduct penalties, and the ejection of Miami's coach Enrico Blasi (who waved and gestured to the fans before bowing to the officials as he exited the ice). Miami won the game 10-2. The result was certainly disappointing for the Falcons and their fans, especially after playing such a close game the night before.
So what?
Another weekend, another crushing series. Clearly times are tough for BGSU hockey fans right now. Games like Friday show that our team has the drive and the talent to hang with the best in the conference and the country. Games like Saturday show that we don't have the horses to compete consistently at that level. It's hard to know how to feel.
Regardless of which side you're on, or how you feel about the status of BG's program, nobody wants to see more games like Saturday. Lopsided, penalty-riddled games are bad for the crowd, and for the overall perception of both teams. BG was clearly overmatched on Saturday, and Miami was coming to the end of a long, emotional week. Neither team was operating in their normal state, and hopefully neither will have another game like this for a long time.
Congratulations to the Redhawks on clinching the regular season title.
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first, you should know that no other school wants BG to retain its hockey program more than Miami. a heated rivalry, but miami wouldn't want a distinguished former program to lose it.
ReplyDeleteas to the game. BG was getting kicked around pretty badly in that game due to a disadvantage in sill, size and speed. BG lost its poise and tried to get physical and were not skilled enough to do it correctly. The Falcons then ended up with some stupid and nasty penalties and lost their tempers. Blasi was upset about BG's coach not controlling its players, was yelling at the BG coaches about that and then the refs - then he got booted. Hall was terrible as a ref and lost control of the athletes.
good luck the rest of the season.
a redhawk
I don't think it's any secret BG was outmatched in this series. Miami has a hell of a team, and they're going to be a force in the NCAA tournament at the end of the season.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time believing BG was the only team playing a rough or dirty game. Early in the first game, both teams were already taking liberties and playing rough.
If Grover did hit Knapp with the impact as has been described by Miami fans, then he deserves a hefty chunk of the blame, but if Hirschfeld did come after him from behind while he was headed to the box and not wearing a helmet, that's just as dirty, if not more. I'm not sure I could blame Coach Williams for not trying to stop his players from getting physical with the Redhawks after that. But, like I said, I'm just going by what I've read from both sides. It does no good to argue now about who started what now (unless it's the officials, that is!).
Like I said, I don't think either team has anything to be proud of as far as how dirty the series was. That's not BG's game, and I certainly hope it's not MU's game.
Thanks for the comment and the words about the program. Here's to many more years of BGSU/Miami games and no more like Saturday's.