I had the good fortune to be able to attend the Brown, Harvard, and Dartmouth games and I have to say that I am incredibly pleased by the freshman class. Lowry looked outstanding at Brown and Ryan is incredibly solid on the D. Ferlin is a real offensive threat, skates fast, and is able to position himself to contribute offensively. D'Agostino is a real contributor and looks a like a solid upperclassmen. It seems that this team's offensive prowess is no fluke and hopefully they will keep it up.
With regards to Iles, I think he shows flashes of brilliance and has made great stops when needed. His numbers are by no means great, but he definitely gives the team a chance to win every game. There are certainly some goals he allowed that seemed soft and that I'm sure he would like back, the Brown 5th in particular.
As to areas for improvement, I would say special teams is a huge question mark right now. The penalty kill looks solid most of the time, but will suddenly have a huge mistake that will lead to goal. The power play needs to cycle a bit more. Hopefully, these are areas that time will improve, as we have typically been solid on special teams even on off-years.
The Brown game looked a solid effort and certainly looked like a win until Gotovets coughed up the puck on the breakout to a Brown player on our zone and leading to the tying goal. After that the team looked completely deflated. The guys were completely fired up for Harvard, though, and the Harvard goals came during the second period, which we spent most of the time on the penalty. That has to have been one of the most lop-sided refereed periods I had ever seen, with a lot of dubious calls for "interference." The Dartmouth game was definitely a battle and it was great to see the team hold up a one-goal lead after having lost such leads in the third period against Brown and Mercyhurst. Iles definitely came up big during the waning minutes of the Dartmouth game and made some great saves. Esposito took a huge shot on his thigh while on the penalty kill at Dartmouth and had to be helped off the ice. Hopefully, its a small injury, if any, and he can return soon.
Finally, I certainly am looking forward to see how click with some non-conference play. The BU game should be great. I have been able to see BU a bit and they seem to be very hot-cold. As I type this, they are beating BC at BC. Moreover, a win by Cornell at MSG would end the three-game series at 1-1-1.
With regards to Iles, I think he shows flashes of brilliance and has made great stops when needed. His numbers are by no means great, but he definitely gives the team a chance to win every game. There are certainly some goals he allowed that seemed soft and that I'm sure he would like back, the Brown 5th in particular.
As to areas for improvement, I would say special teams is a huge question mark right now. The penalty kill looks solid most of the time, but will suddenly have a huge mistake that will lead to goal. The power play needs to cycle a bit more. Hopefully, these are areas that time will improve, as we have typically been solid on special teams even on off-years.
The Brown game looked a solid effort and certainly looked like a win until Gotovets coughed up the puck on the breakout to a Brown player on our zone and leading to the tying goal. After that the team looked completely deflated. The guys were completely fired up for Harvard, though, and the Harvard goals came during the second period, which we spent most of the time on the penalty. That has to have been one of the most lop-sided refereed periods I had ever seen, with a lot of dubious calls for "interference." The Dartmouth game was definitely a battle and it was great to see the team hold up a one-goal lead after having lost such leads in the third period against Brown and Mercyhurst. Iles definitely came up big during the waning minutes of the Dartmouth game and made some great saves. Esposito took a huge shot on his thigh while on the penalty kill at Dartmouth and had to be helped off the ice. Hopefully, its a small injury, if any, and he can return soon.
Finally, I certainly am looking forward to see how click with some non-conference play. The BU game should be great. I have been able to see BU a bit and they seem to be very hot-cold. As I type this, they are beating BC at BC. Moreover, a win by Cornell at MSG would end the three-game series at 1-1-1.
