Midnight Mania-- Part III

defkit's take on Midnight Mania on the players and the on-ice doings.

I reached WBA with the countdown at 30 seconds (I'd been on the ice in Marlboro at 11:05!)...timing is everything. I have to say that as I walked in off the street and could hear the roar of the crowd, it got my blood pumping in a way that HAA unfortunately will never be able to. But that's okay, we need HAA, and it is a phenomenal arena. But just for a night, it was great to be back in the old barn. You just can't compare the way the fans are right on top of the action. I was impressed with the size of the crowd. I was saying to myself that as the freshmen are skating onto the ice in this environment, they are saying to themselves..."this is why I chose BU, and I'm glad I did."
- Glad to hear only a slight hint of booing during Parkers remarks, and also glad to hear the cheering when he was done discussing the swearing.
- Bennett definitely is a crowd pleaser, pumping the arms, and diving for the finish line in the fastest goalie competition to try to make up ground on KG.
- I know it's just goofing around, but dang, the players on this team sure can dangle the puck around. The sophomore line on the 3-0 drills was sick.
- Higgins looks like he put on some muscle...a very good sign. (And still won the speedskating competition)
- I still can't believe what Lawrence did on the breakaway drills. First he did the Mike Legg scoop up and spin around throwing the puck at the net. Nice, but I've seen many guys do it. However, on his last breakaway, he took it to a whole new level. Once he has the puck scooped up, he lifted his stick so it was straight up in the air and flicked the stick back and forth (picture a lacrosse player flicking his stick, spinning it side to side) about 4 times before he finally lost control of the puck. Obviously, it wouldn't be legal in a game, but it was sick. Of course, that has nothing to do with how he'll be as a player, but it was pretty cool to watch.
- I watched Strait quite a bit, and thought he looked very good. Just a solid mix of skating, stickhandling, and passing.- Gryba looked like he can get that big frame moving.