Cornell @ Aints

[flyersgolf]

Horrendous call for 5 minute boarding against McDonald.  It was a hard hit.

[Al DeFlorio]

Horrendous call for 5 minute boarding against McDonald.  It was a hard hit.

We're either getting more than our fair share of "horrendous calls"... or maybe they aren't all so "horrendous."

[flyersgolf]

McDonald crushed the kid, maybe too hard.

[BearLover]

please just let this season be over...

[Trotsky]

The team should be embarrassed by tonight's third period.  That was just complete dog crap, through and through, by every guy.  JFC, 2007 is too kind -- at least that team cared.  We look like 1993.

[flyersgolf]

Good start in the first, ho hum second, implode in the 3rd.  Trots you are right on.  As with all of our sports today technology has improved the ability of coaching staffs to scout and come up with a game plan.  I have noticed that opposing defensemen are sometimes moving to a spot before our players have moved in that direction.  
We have guys who can only go their left or right, much like when some players drive in basketball.  It has been driving me crazy that these players are not developing the ability to pass or shoot on the backhand.  As the league figures these nuances out some players become less effective because they are predictable, they need to develop and become more creative.  I also do not understand why the reigns have not come off Joakim Ryan.  This guy can fly and lead the rush, he is in my opinion the best skater on the team.  It seems Joakim jumped up into the play more as a Freshman, I could be wrong, I have not seen all the games.

[Trotsky]

There are 4 sophs who have off the charts abilities.  Ferlin hasn't looked the same since the injury, though that also happens to be roughly on the schedule of him adapting into the team -- one thing, he didn't appear to make his linemates better at the beginning, and then that changed during his run of solid play in the middle part of this year.  As you alluded to, Ryan has all but disappeared into the system, but that may be a good thing for the team overall, especially when you have D'Ags freewheeling from the blue line too.  Bardreau we all know about: we'll see where he is next year.  Lowry was following the trajectory of Ryan, but then something happened and he started showing flash and creativity again. Now, maybe that's good, but he may also have his own agenda and decided he's going to do it His Way, regardless of what the coaching staff thinks.  Or it may be a little of both, but sometimes he seems to be off the reservation.

Mowrey is the other guy who seems to really have ups and downs -- but then again he always has.  It may not be attitudinal at all -- he may just be one of those guys who can knock the socks off some defenses, but others have no trouble tying him up.

The collapse tonight wouldn't have been nearly as galling if SLU had really taken the play to us, but frankly SLU looked like crap for most of the night, too.  Insofar as you can ever say we should have won a North Country game, we should have won that North Country game.

Oh, and just to add to the worry, Andy looked awful, and that's the one thing we really can't afford.  Good goalies have bad nights, but let's hope he's not trending downwards -- Omar is not walking through that door.

[TimV]

We're either getting more than our fair share of "horrendous calls"... or maybe they aren't all so "horrendous."

I agree with you.  

We don't want to start sounding like RPI fans on USCHO that tend toward 50 page threads that are mostly decrying their persecution by the officials.  They would be laughing behind their hands at  us, since they are convinced, in spite of any measurable indicators (like team rank PIM) that you show them, that we always get a favorable whistle.::rolleyes::

[Al DeFlorio]

We're either getting more than our fair share of "horrendous calls"... or maybe they aren't all so "horrendous."

I agree with you.  

We don't want to start sounding like RPI fans on USCHO that tend toward 50 page threads that are mostly decrying their persecution by the officials.

Or like SLU's Got 6 Want More.::cry::

[Jim Hyla]

Good start in the first, ho hum second, implode in the 3rd.  Trots you are right on.  As with all of our sports today technology has improved the ability of coaching staffs to scout and come up with a game plan.  I have noticed that opposing defensemen are sometimes moving to a spot before our players have moved in that direction.  
We have guys who can only go their left or right, much like when some players drive in basketball.  It has been driving me crazy that these players are not developing the ability to pass or shoot on the backhand.  As the league figures these nuances out some players become less effective because they are predictable, they need to develop and become more creative.  I also do not understand why the reigns have not come off Joakim Ryan.  This guy can fly and lead the rush, he is in my opinion the best skater on the team.  It seems Joakim jumped up into the play more as a Freshman, I could be wrong, I have not seen all the games.

Almost everything you've said they did in much of the first 2 periods. Coach said in the pregame that he wanted the D to move into the offense and they did. Many times they went in deep, that includes Ryan, Wilcox, MacDonald as well as D'Agostino and Gotovets. I didn't recogonize Birch doing it as much, but maybe that was my blinders of thinking of him as a pure defensive defenseman. It happened enough so that we were caught on odd man rushes. Andy was good on those. For all people complain about the offense, it looked a lot different last night, including the PP. Our problem was not the offense, rather the defense. As, I think, Arthur Mintz pointed out on chat last night, you don't protect a lead by getting out shot 7-1 to start the third period. overall we were outshot 17-11 in the third. Put that together with an awful 5 min penalty, and you have a recipe to lose.

We didn't lose because of our offense, nor because of Andy. Maybe he didn't have his best game, but he did come up big at times, and he played good enough for us to win. Much like some of last year, we can't seem to protect a lead. You can't allow the opposition to get half their shots, 17/35, in the third period. The only good thing is that, seeing how much more creative they became on offense, you can hope they can learn to drop back and protect a lead.

[Scersk '97]

As you alluded to, Ryan has all but disappeared into the system, but that may be a good thing for the team overall, especially when you have D'Ags freewheeling from the blue line too.

Whether or not Ryan gets the green light seems to have a lot to do with the game situation.  When we get up (rarely), he goes to town.  Hence how we have been able to pull away from some teams.  The guy I'm most concerned with disappearing into the system is Gotovets.  Speedy, sneaky, and pretty creative—at least, he used to be.  I think playing with MacDonald is killing him.  For whatever reason, he's turned into the stay-at-home in that pairing.  I would reverse it.

And, well, if anyone on the team could use a good sit, it would be D'Agostino.  He needs to remember that he's paired with a freshman, however stay-at-home that freshman might be.  So, be Murray, not McRae.  Gotta be ready to bomb it and then retreat.  And no idiotic passing (a la Dailey/Whitney) or other funny stuff.

We seem to be "blessed" with too many offensive defensemen right now, and I think they're getting in each other's ways.  Too bad Stoick has not developed as fast as one might have hoped.  Too bad we don't have two Braden Birches.

[ursusminor]

We're either getting more than our fair share of "horrendous calls"... or maybe they aren't all so "horrendous."

I agree with you.  

We don't want to start sounding like RPI fans on USCHO that tend toward 50 page threads that are mostly decrying their persecution by the officials.  They would be laughing behind their hands at  us, since they are convinced, in spite of any measurable indicators (like team rank PIM) that you show them, that we always get a favorable whistle.::rolleyes::

::whistle::

[css228]

As you alluded to, Ryan has all but disappeared into the system, but that may be a good thing for the team overall, especially when you have D'Ags freewheeling from the blue line too.

Whether or not Ryan gets the green light seems to have a lot to do with the game situation.  When we get up (rarely), he goes to town.  Hence how we have been able to pull away from some teams.  The guy I'm most concerned with disappearing into the system is Gotovets.  Speedy, sneaky, and pretty creative—at least, he used to be.  I think playing with MacDonald is killing him.  For whatever reason, he's turned into the stay-at-home in that pairing.  I would reverse it.

And, well, if anyone on the team could use a good sit, it would be D'Agostino.  He needs to remember that he's paired with a freshman, however stay-at-home that freshman might be.  So, be Murray, not McRae.  Gotta be ready to bomb it and then retreat.  And no idiotic passing (a la Dailey/Whitney) or other funny stuff.

We seem to be "blessed" with too many offensive defensemen right now, and I think they're getting in each other's ways.  Too bad Stoick has not developed as fast as one might have hoped.  Too bad we don't have two Braden Birches.

Our biggest problem is that most of our defense is strong on one side of the ice or the other, but most pairs have an obvious guy who is going to pinch and an obvious guy who won't. We need  more Justin Schultz types (and yes I understand we'll never have one as good as Schultz) who can either jump into the play or stay at home equally well. IF you could combine Ryan with Birch (by far the two best defensemen on the team in my opinion) you would have a legitimate top D guy. Our roster, despite all of the NHL draft picks seems to consist of 3s, 4s, 5s, and 6s at the college level, with no really dangerous offensive pair or true shutdown pair.

[Trotsky]

We're either getting more than our fair share of "horrendous calls"... or maybe they aren't all so "horrendous."

I agree with you.  

We don't want to start sounding like RPI fans on USCHO that tend toward 50 page threads that are mostly decrying their persecution by the officials.  They would be laughing behind their hands at  us, since they are convinced, in spite of any measurable indicators (like team rank PIM) that you show them, that we always get a favorable whistle.::rolleyes::

::whistle::

Yeah, I don't associate this behavior with RPI fans either.

SLU are the paragon of "just remember, you can't hammer the last nail in yourself," but after listening to their announcers over the years I know why.  There is no worse whining, mewling, self-martyred homerism on the air waves, and that's including Boston.  If SLU fans have had that drivel poured into their ears for decades it's no wonder they are so laughable in their victimhood.

[Dafatone]

We're either getting more than our fair share of "horrendous calls"... or maybe they aren't all so "horrendous."

I agree with you.  

We don't want to start sounding like RPI fans on USCHO that tend toward 50 page threads that are mostly decrying their persecution by the officials.  They would be laughing behind their hands at  us, since they are convinced, in spite of any measurable indicators (like team rank PIM) that you show them, that we always get a favorable whistle.::rolleyes::

::whistle::

Yeah, I don't associate this behavior with RPI fans either.

SLU are the paragon of "just remember, you can't hammer the last nail in yourself," but after listening to their announcers over the years I know why.  There is no worse whining, mewling, self-martyred homerism on the air waves, and that's including Boston.  If SLU fans have had that drivel poured into their ears for decades it's no wonder they are so laughable in their victimhood.

I didn't listen to them last night, but I remember from past years that the SLU announcers are the worst possible things.