CU Hockey-Preseason

[Trotsky]

The road reds still aren't exactly right. They're the same as last year's where the white stripe at the bottom extends all the way down (instead of another red stripe below it). The whites are fully back to the way they were, though (including white below the bottom red stripe).

Although the current uniforms were supposedly modeled after those of the glory days, and those didn't have that bottom stripe.

Those also didn't have serifs.

Not making a point, just showing my font/uniform nerdiness.

This has been...

[BearLover]

Any observations from tonight's game?  (It's still the Preseason, so I didn't feel it was necessary to create a new thread.)  How'd the freshmen look?

[ajh258]

Any observations from tonight's game?  (It's still the Preseason, so I didn't feel it was necessary to create a new thread.)  How'd the freshmen look?

Great! Bardreau scored a goal at the end of the 1st, and Lowry (who started first line) looked fierce on the ice although he was -1 for the night. Ferlin and Dias were also freshmen I noticed who skated well.

MVP for the night would be Esposito. If he keeps this up, he'll have a great season.

[Trotsky]

Lowry seemed to attract misfortunes.  During one sequence he had a knee to knee collision and then ate some stick from a flailing Guelph player.

OTOH, maybe he's made of titanium, since neither seemed to phase him.

[ithacat]

Any observations from tonight's game?  (It's still the Preseason, so I didn't feel it was necessary to create a new thread.)  How'd the freshmen look?

Great! Bardreau scored a goal at the end of the 1st, and Lowry (who started first line) looked fierce on the ice although he was -1 for the night. Ferlin and Dias were also freshmen I noticed who skated well.

MVP for the night would be Esposito. If he keeps this up, he'll have a great season.

I thought Esposito looked pretty sharp as well.

My vote for player of the game, however, would have gone to Bardreau. He played both ends of the ice relentlessly, and he was a terror through the neutral zone. His near goal on the baseball swing in the 2nd period would have blown the old roof off the rink -- that was a nice save by Van Bommel. I was also impressed that the staff had him taking a draw in the defensive end when trying to run down the game (he actually took more draws than anyone else, winning 11/17).

I don't think any of the freshmen looked out of place.

Hudon and Cole did not play; Gotovets and Mihalek also did not play.

[Trotsky]

My vote for player of the game, however, would have gone to Bardreau. He played both ends of the ice relentlessly, and he was a terror through the neutral zone. His near goal on the baseball swing in the 2nd period would have blown the old roof off the rink -- that was a nice save by Van Bommel.

Bardreau was everywhere.  Guelph was also VERY slow, so we'll see if he can do it against a D-1 opponent.  Some other guys who have looked like Bryan Trottier in exhibition games: Jiri Kloboucek, Mark Scollan.

[Jim Hyla]

My vote for player of the game, however, would have gone to Bardreau. He played both ends of the ice relentlessly, and he was a terror through the neutral zone. His near goal on the baseball swing in the 2nd period would have blown the old roof off the rink -- that was a nice save by Van Bommel.

Bardreau was everywhere.  Guelph was also VERY slow, so we'll see if he can do it against a D-1 opponent.  Some other guys who have looked like Bryan Trottier in exhibition games: Jiri Kloboucek, Mark Scollan.

Yeah, I got a bit of an early laugh, or maybe a bit of a question, when in the radio pregame interview with the Guelph coach, he said one of the reasons he liked to play Cornell was that his team was going to have to learn to move their feet. (Terrible sentence structure::twak: When was the last time we heard that about Cornell?

In response, for the first one and a half periods we did outskate them. Whether we got tired, or what, they took it to us later. If it was fatique, tonight could be a problem. Carleton tied gate 3-3, beat SLU 5-2, and beat Guelph 6-0. Our only advantage is Lynah and they have to travel from Ottawa.

[Trotsky]

In response, for the first one and a half periods we did outskate them. Whether we got tired, or what, they took it to us later. If it was fatique, tonight could be a problem.

I thought we went into a bit of a shell after going up 3-1, but we did have a bunch of neutral ice turnovers and those could be from fatigue.  Guelph had guys who have played CHL, so conditioning is no problem for them.  They're also usually older -- we have had cases where a guy who played 4 years with Cornell has come back on the roster of an opposing Canadian University team -- IINM Stewart Smith was one.

[ithacat]

My vote for player of the game, however, would have gone to Bardreau. He played both ends of the ice relentlessly, and he was a terror through the neutral zone. His near goal on the baseball swing in the 2nd period would have blown the old roof off the rink -- that was a nice save by Van Bommel.

Bardreau was everywhere.  Guelph was also VERY slow, so we'll see if he can do it against a D-1 opponent.  Some other guys who have looked like Bryan Trottier in exhibition games: Jiri Kloboucek, Mark Scollan.

Certainly a fair point about Guelph's team speed. Bardreau looked pretty good again tonight, as did Ferlin and Lowry among the other freshmen forwards. Not that any of them have looked bad. Also really liked Ryan this weekend. Marozzi looked pretty composed during his shift as well. Can't wait to see them go at it for real.

[billhoward]

Saw Holy Cross take down BU 5-4 tonight at BU. BU led 2-1. Holy Cross led 5-2. Holy Cross had two good periods and then seemed to run out of gas. BU finally woke up in the third period. BU's two weakenesses were penalties that allowed HC to go 3x6 and some soft play by goalie Kiernan Millan. He may be BU's winningest goalie but I thought he came close to getting pulled midway through the game. This was not a #7/#8 team vs. HC so that gives Cornell some hope for Thanksgiving weekend. If Cornell has a lead after two, I hope it has enough gas in the tank to hold off BU at the end.

[BearLover]

It says in the box score that Kanji played 9 minutes and saw 0 shots--weird.

[Jim Hyla]

It says in the box score that Kanji played 9 minutes and saw 0 shots--weird.

Not really, Iles only had 2 shots in the first period. The best part of Kanji's play was seeing how excited the team was seeing him going in. They were all standing at the bench tapping their sticks against the boards. Nice.

[sah67]

A few more freshman observations:

McCarron was definitely noticeable to me as somewhat of a Mugford-like agitator. He threw some big hits and was definitely getting under the skin of both Guelph and Carleton players with his constant chirping at them. Lowry also seemed to be constantly getting in other people's faces and talking a lot of trash, but he also showed more offensive flair than McCarron.

McCarron and Lowry together with Collins seemed to be played as the checking line for both games and they were quite successful, so it will be interesting to see if Schafer keeps that line together.

Ryan is a very smooth skater and looked very comfortable quarterbacking the first PP unit with D'Agostino. He also was quite physical despite his small stature, and made some good defensive plays as well.

[Trotsky]

Ryan is a very smooth skater and looked very comfortable quarterbacking the first PP unit with D'Agostino.

He sure looked poised and patient.

[Jim Hyla]

Ryan is a very smooth skater and looked very comfortable quarterbacking the first PP unit with D'Agostino.

He sure looked poised and patient.

The freshmen seem to be an amazing group. They look like they've skated with the team for weeks, not just one week of practice. Like in past years, I think we have to credit, not only the freshmen, but also the captains. They run the preseason practices and they must be doing a good job.

Like others, I like the fact that the freshmen don't seem intimidated by the other team. They are willing to skate the puck in deep, rather than just dump it, and they'll stand up when needed. On a number of occasions I saw Ferlin jump in to protect a smaller teammate, even though the teammate was older. If this is a picture of things to come, and where our recruiting is going, I'm happy.

Oh, and by the way, where are all those naysayers that Shafer has to go, as he can't modernize. Our clutch and grab style seems to be coming along quite well.;-) I don't think people realize how much the changing of the Ivy recruiting rules on financial aid hurt us before, and how much the change in the U's position has helped.