UMass Hockey And Their Writers Need To Move On

Hey UMass fans, writers and coaches: Boston College beat UMass 2-0. Now it's time for you all to move on.

I am tired of reading articles and blog posts whining and complaining about how UMass was screwed by the refs this weekend against the #1 Boston College Eagles. Coach Toots started this all by taking the low road and whined to the press:

"I’ve never been more frustrated in all my life," Cahoon said. "I have 28 kids in that locker room right now who are devastated and don’t feel they lost the series. We should still be playing out there, right now. If you get a chance to look at that third goal . . . it’s absolutely disgraceful."

Have you seen that "Sportsmanship" commercial where the kid admits the ball went off him, even with the game on the line? The point of this ad is to teach our next generation how important sportsmanship is, even more than winning. Well Coach Toots reaction to Saturday's loss is the complete opposite of that.

And of course the internet and papers are quick to jump in and breathe life into this pile of poop:

Frankly, I’m not a fan of whining about officials, but after you’ve watched this game for 49 years as I have, you kind of make the call in your head even before the referee does. My internal first reaction was - why wasn’t that icing? Julie Robenhymer, a reporter for Hockey Buzz.com, immediately turned to me, and said - "That was icing."

Or as Cahoon declared in his emotional speech after the game, if it wasn’t icing, it was hitting from behind, and if it wasn’t hitting from behind than it was embellishment on Syner’s part.

On the missed icing, UMass hockey color man Brock Hines immediately screamed out on his call – "They blew it."

I have a few points that UMass fans, and all these writers need to realize. One, if you want to win games, score goals. If you look at Saturday's game you have to understand that UMass was completely shut out in the third period. You are not going to win games if you can't score against one of the most prolific offenses in college hockey. UMass outshot the Eagles 33-22, but that doesn't matter, they scored 0 goals in the third period. You don't win many games win you are held scoreless in a tie game.

Secondly, quit whining about the penalties or the lack thereof. Both sides have an equal beef here, I was at the game, and it was chippy on both sides and there were a lot of plays as an Eagles fan I was upset about. Nearly the entire last two minutes of the game, I watched as UMass players were holding BC players down and there were quite a few after play skirmishes that UMass players got away with. In no way did I think UMass got the better of the refs calls, but even if the Eagles' lost I wouldn't be crying about the calls.

It's real easy to blame the ref, but it's lazy and doesn't paint a complete picture of the entire game. In the span of a game there are plenty of questionable calls that fans question, it's part of the game. But the fact of the matter is Parker Milner won that game for the Eagles, and he won the series for BC. If you want to win games, score more goals. It doesn't matter if you get more shots, or control the puck, score more and you win. Plain and simple. And in the end a shot from Brian Dumolin was the difference maker

UMass fans need to stop complaining about the losses and be proud their team played hard in two games against the top team in the country. Move on, and get ready for next season. But stop the whining and complaining, it's tired and pointless.