Opponents News 2: Hockey's the Reason for the Season

[Give My Regards]

For whatever reason we've had trouble scoring on Q this year -- 3 goals in 2 games.  Of course we've only given up 2 ourselves in those games and won both.  

That would be a neat trick!

The scores were 2-1 and 1-0, so while we did score only three goals, Quinnipiac only scored one.

Q must have had one disallowed.  ::whistle::

[BearLover]

Just in case anybody was wondering, Tuesday night's travel partner tilt featuring Princeton at Quinnipiac will not affect our PWR position regardless of the result.

Princeton winds up winning the game in a battle of two of the conference's bottom feeders. However, that last first-round home seed is very much up for grabs. The current 8th place team is Brown since they have the tiebreaker over Princeton, but each team still has a game against each other in Providence. Only 3 points separate 8th from 11th right now.

I decided to scout some of our potential playoff opponents by going to last night's game. Quinnipiac looked horrible, especially on defense, giving up 20 SOG in the first period. Princeton was 3-for-3 on the power-play. Princeton's first line is excellent, but the rest of the team is nothing special. Even so, I'd rather play Princeton then Q if it came to that in the postseason. In any case, Pecknold was not happy after the game. The rink was half full, and the student section mostly empty except for the pep band. I overheard one fan commenting on the way out, "The hockey games aren't like they used to be."

That game vs. Princeton was atypical in that Q was outshot. On the season as a whole Q has been throwing a ton of pucks on net but just not scoring. Given how good their possession metrics are I think they're getting very unlucky and I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs.

[adamw]

That game vs. Princeton was atypical in that Q was outshot. On the season as a whole Q has been throwing a ton of pucks on net but just not scoring. Given how good their possession metrics are I think they're getting very unlucky and I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs.

Their goaltending hasn't panned out either.

[gonyr]

Guess this fits under opponent's news, even though it's not a current player ...

http://www.bbc.com/sport/ice-hockey/42893140

[Beeeej]

Guess this fits under opponent's news, even though it's not a current player ...

http://www.bbc.com/sport/ice-hockey/42893140

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

[Trotsky]

Guess this fits under opponent's news, even though it's not a current player ...

http://www.bbc.com/sport/ice-hockey/42893140

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

At least NHS covers the syphilis.

[French Rage]

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Guess this fits under opponent's news, even though it's not a current player ...

http://www.bbc.com/sport/ice-hockey/42893140

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

At least NHS covers the syphilis.

Does that make it a pre-medicated act?

[Iceberg]

Q didn't look very good on Tuesday but they were good enough to wallop Clarkson tonight apparently.

[Beeeej]

Q didn't look very good on Tuesday but they were good enough to wallop Clarkson tonight apparently.

And provided a cautionary tale on what happens when a weaker team gets the better of a team near the top of the PWR in even a single game. Clarkson's down from #4 to #7 (while Quinnipiac's rise from #37 to #34 certainly doesn't help as much as Clarkson's slip hurts).

[Tom Lento]

Q didn't look very good on Tuesday but they were good enough to wallop Clarkson tonight apparently.

Q sounds like a dangerous team. They've got terrible goaltending numbers and one of the worst shooting percentages in the NCAA to go along with it, but they're among the best on close possession metrics. I've heard really mixed reviews of their play from people on this board, so I suspect they're inconsistent. All of that adds up to upset potential for me - a couple of good decent games from their goaltender, a change in their shooting fortunes, or just their Dr. Jekyll team showing up could really ruin somebody's weekend in a league playoff series.

[Trotsky]

they're among the best on close possession metrics.

Linky?  Here or someplace else.

[Tom Lento]

they're among the best on close possession metrics.

Linky?  Here or someplace else.

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/stats/#adv

If you sort by CF% in the "close" section you'll see Q in third. Even strength is probably a little more robust but it's the same basic story as far as Q is concerned. Fenwick shows the same general ranking.

Fun fact: the ECAC has 6 of the bottom 7 teams in the NCAA in shooting percentage - RPI, Q, Colgate, Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown. Of those, Yale and Q are near the top in terms of possession - better than Cornell, although Yale's schedule strength is even worse than Cornell's.

If shooting percentage really is a regression to the mean stat in college hockey I'd expect the ECAC to be stronger next season on that basis alone. Of course, it might also just be that those teams all have shot-happy home scorekeepers.

[ugarte]

Q didn't look very good on Tuesday but they were good enough to wallop Clarkson tonight apparently.

And provided a cautionary tale on what happens when a weaker team gets the better of a team near the top of the PWR in even a single game. Clarkson's down from #4 to #7 (while Quinnipiac's rise from #37 to #34 certainly doesn't help as much as Clarkson's slip hurts).

and now there's another example

[Beeeej]

Q didn't look very good on Tuesday but they were good enough to wallop Clarkson tonight apparently.

And provided a cautionary tale on what happens when a weaker team gets the better of a team near the top of the PWR in even a single game. Clarkson's down from #4 to #7 (while Quinnipiac's rise from #37 to #34 certainly doesn't help as much as Clarkson's slip hurts).

and now there's another example

We're only down to #3, though. So far.