2 North Country Wins

So I figured I would start discussion on the performance this weekend, or just let people who weren't there in on what I saw:

(+) Bâby is truly a team leader now, Shafer shortened his bench and double shifted the captain the whole third period at Clarkson.

(+) Vesce is the best face-off man on the team, he also has more speed down the wings than ever before.

(+) Pegoraro is an excellent heads-up player, who played both sides of the puck better than any of the frosh this weekend

(+) Marr is a real goaltender, no doubt about it. He's very quick across the goal-mouth, and makes saves on the rebounds he does give up very well.

(+) Ben Wallace played very well defensively, probably the best I've ever seen him play this weekend.

(-) Doug Murray. Nuff said.

(-) Moulson needs to be more aggressive in the defensive zone and expect the puck when he's sitting along the half boards, but his acting ability is quite good for a frosh.

(-) We didn't win nearly as many pucks along the boards as we have been doing in the past, especially in our own zone, and this led to 2 of the 4 goals against this weekend when we failed to clear the zone.

All together these weren't close wins. We beat ourselves by missing passes and not doing the little things well like we normally do. Allowing just 5 total shots on goal in the third period for the weekend demonstrated that we shut the door on these two teams when we had to get it done.

Let's Go Red!

I just thought I would bury this nugget here, so that RichS can have something to salve his pain after the loss:
[hockey.ecac.org]

Thanks, bra.

Congrats to Todd. Great for the ECAC, as well as Clarkson. I'm surprised it took so long for an NHL team to really give him a full-blown shot. He was one helluva college player.

[Q](+) Marr is a real goaltender, no doubt about it. He's very quick across the goal-mouth, and makes saves on the rebounds he does give up very well. [/Q]
Marr is certainly a real goaltender, and a damn good backup, but he's still no Lenny. I'm not saying JD was saying he is, but I just want to make clear he's not. He dives/committs a bit too early, and, perhaps bigger, he just doesn't have the amazing view/comprehending of the ice that Lenny shows game in and game out.

Marr definitely made some big saves and was more than solid enough to give us the wins.

After seeing Marr play in four games, I concur with Fred. We're in good shape with Marr as a backup, but I'm a lot more comfortable having Lenny as the starter. Ironically, I think Marr's worst game was against SLU, which he won. But he certainly deserved to notch a couple of wins after the admirable job he did in Florida.

Did Coach ever say anything about what made him go with Marr over Chabot?

to paraphrase, on the pregame show for Maine he said something like,

"they've both paid their dues, but Marr has paid his dues for a couple years more, and I believe in going with the guy who has been around longer"

Shafer also said that Marr plays the puck much better than Chabot, and that was another reason for starting Marr.

I don't get it, why is Murray a negative??

Due to his continued general crappiness of play this year. Only one big hit all weekend and more mistakes/turnovers/blunders than I care to remember.

Thanks for the post...I read the story the day it was announced. Disappointed of course but a Clarkson win would have been a big upset...just have to hope for an even bigger one at Lynah later this month, am hoping to get there. The salve I really need is for the Giants meltdown on Sunday, and I don't think such a thing exists!

As for White's NHL career, he was never drafted, was given a half-hearted shot by the Blackhawks but they were desperate for immediate offense and dealt him to Philly. I knew it was only a matter of time before Bobby Clarke moved him since he likes his centers BIG...and White is about 5' 10" and 185 tops. He plays bigger than that and has big, powerful legs...watch him along the boards. He also has a tremendous work ethic as anyone who knew him and those who saw him play at Clarkson can attest.

I don't recall who Clarke got in the deal with Ottawa 2 yrs ago but it has turned out to be a steal for the Senators. Also, Todd is from Kanata so he really is playing "at home".

To top it off, he had 1g and 1A last night against "my" Rangers. Looking forward to seeing him on their next trip in next month.

Rich S wrote:

To top it off, he had 1g and 1A last night against "my" Rangers. Looking forward to seeing him on their next trip in next month.

Were you there? That game was pretty brutal.

Nope, couldn't get there last night as I had a HS team prcatice but here's an example of great defense...Rangers style...

[www.ottawasenators.com]

I'll catch Todd on his next trip in next month. Hey, the Rangers were in it for 2 periods!

Well, it's tough to play defense when all your best defensive defensemen are hurt (Lefebvre, Purinton) or traded away (Kloucek) and you're left with Lightning-reject Cory Cross killing penalties.

Tell me about it! Don't forget Leetch is out also.

However, I'm not sure you'll ever see Kloucek in the NHL again. He has never recovered from that major knee surgery two years ago and his stock has fallen.

Lintner's not bad but its tough when a guy with powerful legs like White drives around you...

Also, saw a lot of Bettman sitting with Bob Goodenow of the NHLPA at the game...is that a "Love Story" or what??

)

Age answered the Murray question pretty well, but I'll add that he's not a forward and should keep this in mind during the whole game, even when we are down one goal.

Yes Murray sucks. That's why Schafer plays him 35 minutes every night.

"You never know what you've got till it's gone." Have fun next year crying about not having a dominant presence on defense when the other teams' best players are setting up in our zone. Haven't seen a lot of that lately. Hmm, wonder why? Must just be the weather.

FWIW - I agree with Age. Murray has been more of a disappointment than anyone else on the team this year.

Can he be physical? yes.

can he skate? no.

can he score? maybe - as long as his shots stop being so damn predictable. personally i think that his slap shot has lost a lot of its edge. combine this with the fact that the opposition knows precisely what his next offensive move is 9/10 times - a quick shot from the point - and we have definite problems in this area.

does he have a lot of potential? yes. he just needs to realize that he's not likely to be an all around player and thus his time would be better spent on the areas in which he can excel. grrr.

thus far this year he has let way too many pucks slip out of the offensive zone with no one behind to get it save himself - and we all know that that is a lost cause. grrrr.

all that said - the season is only half over. he can improve - and even if he doesn't the rest of the team seems to be doing well enough!

will we miss doug's physical presence next year? hell yeah. but we won't miss it any more than we'll miss the scoring ability of Bâby and Paolini, the strong defensive play of Mark McRae, the evasive skating and smooth stick handling of Matt McRae, the come from behind efforts of Palahicky and the hustle of T-Bell in the defensive end. If I forgot a senior, my apologies.

sorry for the rant.

Murray letting pucks slide out of the offensive zone is a new development this year???

In any case, I think the problem with Doug is probably that expectations are so much higher this year--what we expect of him, what he expects of himself, and what other teams do to respond to him.

I hate to butt in on the Murray bashing, but I think the complaints about Murray's shots being predictable and his woes on the point are a bit off base.

Cornell runs an umbrella style power play, which, as far as I know, is predicated on working the puck around the perimeter to set up quick shots from the points to get rebounds and deflections, or passes to the weak side, depending on which one the PK takes away.

Does Murray take a lot of quick shots from the point, particularly on the PP? Yes, but that's what he's *supposed* to do. Oddly enough, I haven't seen him getting blocked as much as Bâby, but maybe I've just been watching the wrong games. Murray has been missing the net a lot more this year than last, but he hasn't been missing badly enough to make a deflection impossible, so I think he's been doing just fine up there.

I think most of Murray's problems holding the puck in the zone stem from him trying to do too much against a defense that keys on him every second he's on the ice. OTOH, for every time I've seen him let one by, I've seen him make at least one tremendous play to keep the puck in the zone and either create a scoring chance or break up a potential break for the other team. And I haven't seen the opposition get too many chances the other way from his few miscues. Again, maybe I've just been watching the wrong games.

I don't think Murray is the same kind of force that he was last year, but that may be for reasons that have nothing to do with him - or it may be because he's playing a slightly different role for the team this year. Maybe he's not living up to overinflated expectations, or maybe he really does just suck, but I have a feeling that Cornell hockey fans will miss Doug Murray and his contributions more than the rest of the senior class, which is saying an awful lot.

This weekend Murray seemed LOST in the defensive zone over and over again. Repeatedly he was stuck in front of the net looking for a man, and often times he would chase the puck along the boards forcing him to skate way out of the play, then deliver a weak hit on the man or get beat by a simple pass. He was caught "puck watching" way too much.

All of his offensive woes were made worse by the fact that he wasn't playing good defense.

Normally Doug does a very good job picking up a man, taking the body and winning the puck. Virtually nobody on the team did that this weekend consistantly, except maybe Ben Wallace which is why he stood out so much this weekend.

Does Doug have a heavy shot. . .Yes
Does he take a ton of slappers from the point. . .Yes
Does he actually hit the net. . .Occasionally
Should he be taking some wristers for rebounds. . .Yes
Bottom line is. . .he needs to HIT THE NET!
(Tom, let me know if you find some one who is willing to step in front of a 100 mph slap shot)

We do run an umbrella power play and in that system when the puck is up top with Bâby or Murray that means Sammy is down low in front of the net leaving Mark and Ryan to collapse on those rebounds from the wings. . .take a freakin' wrist shot! He has one of the best wristers on the team but you wouldn't know it b/c he NEVER uses it. If he shot for rebounds once and a while we might score some more goals.

As for his woes not holding the zone, he should know when there is no one to cover for him and shorten his back swing from the point. This has been the cause of his troubles on the blue line since the day I first saw him play.

just my take on things

As for letting them fly from the blue line -- if that is a current criticism -- Muray has cut way down on that. Over and over I've seen him fake the slapper in situations where he'd let it rip last year, pull it down, and work closer to the net. I've actually been frustrated by this on some occasions, thinking that sometimes he passes up his great slap shot for a weaker wrister from only 3-5 feet closer.

Hey, Murray's slapshot is only 95, so fear shouldn't be a factor. )

I agree that hitting the net is better than missing it, and if a wrister will be more effective it should be used a little bit more. Maybe the coaches, and/or Murray himself, don't think that a wrister is so effective from up high, hence the slapshots. Or maybe he feels like he hit the net plenty last year, so it's only a matter of time before he starts hitting the net this year. One thing I've noticed - it seems to take him a little longer to get the wrister off without sacrificing a LOT of velocity, and when everyone on the PK is keying on you that makes a huge difference. At any rate, I still don't think there's that much of a problem with his shot selection. I'll let Jordan and Ben fight over whether or not the wrister is better than the big drive from the point.

I'm just trying to say a wrister might be effective once and a while. Just throw it knee high at the net and look for the rebounds. If you hit his pads at about his knees there is nothing he can do but give up another shot opportunity.

Tom,
Question 1: A car is coming toward you traveling 100 mph. . .do you move?
Answer: YES!

Question :Now a car is coming at you traveling 95 mph. . .do you still move? Answer: YES!

[joking ]


Point. . .that's why we've got Sammy

Well, I would certainly move, but now you know why I'm not an elite level hockey player. Ok, that and the skating/size/ability thing.

I don't disagree that throwing in a few more wristers could be more effective, I just disagree with those railing against Murray's shot selection - IMO it's not really that bad. I guess my previous post was mostly pointing out that it might actually be harder to get a good wrister off from that position, hence the disproportionately high number of one-timers.

However, since this is a discussion group, I have to take up a fully indefensible position, back myself into a corner, and result to calling you silly names. Therefore, your opinions, regardless of how much I agree with them, are wrong. Neener neener neener.

(On that note, I think I should go to bed)