Outside of the WCHA, I can't think of a college hockey team that I dislike more than the Maine Black Bears. There's just something about the squad that rubs me the wrong way. There's an arrogance and attitude that they carry that transcends individual players and seems to be a trademark of the program. Perhaps it's the painful memory of the 2001 NCAA East Regional quarterfinal game in Worcester, MA (which JB Doubtless attended), when Adam Hauser literally handed the game to Maine in overtime. Hauser's choke led to my prediction that just as the Vikings would never win a Super Bowl with Denny Green as coach, so the Gophers would never win a NCAA title with Hauser between the pipes.
Of course, just a year later Hauser would prove me wrong by helping the Gophers win the 2002 National Championship. And as sweet as it was to end a twenty-three year championship drought, it was all the sweeter for me because the Gophers beat Maine in the title game in St. Paul. The way that some of the classless Black Bears conducted themselves after the game did little to change my opinion of the team.
Now the Gophers will get another crack at Maine in this Saturday's West Regional at Mariucci Arena. I'm not all that excited about the Gophers chancing of reaching the Frozen Four this year. Their defense is inexperienced and prone to make mistakes and they don't have enough scoring punch up front (memo to Gino Guyer: Exactly how many great chances do you need to score anyway?). Which is okay, because with Kessel and Wheeler on the way, the future looks pretty damn bright.
But if they are going to fall short, all I ask is that don't do it against Maine. Just beat Maine baby. Everything after that is gravy.
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