HAMILTON: Swinging Low

[nasa69]

Lowest goals scored in all NCAA (D1,2,3). Half the number of goals scored of any NESCAC. Lowest PP% in DIII and 4th worst PK in NESCAC. And that's the easy half of the season.

[canadianhockeyguy]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

Lowest goals scored in all NCAA (D1,2,3). Half the number of goals scored of any NESCAC. Lowest PP% in DIII and 4th worst PK in NESCAC. And that's the easy half of the season.

On the brightside: 4 of their 5 losses have been by a goal; their best player has yet to score a goal (that can't last all season); and 8 of their 12 remaining NESCAC games are at home.

I'd be surprised if things didn't get better in the second half.

[sshablak]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

Don't go to the Village Tavern !!

[nasa69]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

On the brightside: 4 of their 5 losses have been by a goal; their best player has yet to score a goal (that can't last all season); and 8 of their 12 remaining NESCAC games are at home.

I'd be surprised if things didn't get better in the second half.

I love optimism...if they do twice as well in the second half they will finish with 3 wins for the season. I'm not sure venue will be an advantage. They play a system that relies on 80' passes, no organized zone entry, no puck support, no regroup and no specialty team direction. There should be improvement from year to year: things look worse.

[icehockey]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

One of their top players has been playing the whole season with a hand injury. His stats are way down. My guess your son is on the team and either does not play much or does, and you're not happy with how the season is progressing. Either way, it is early and you never know. Have some faith in your team. Maybe they will surprise you.

[SCACfan]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

don't be surprised if they beat Bowdoin 1/5, they have played them tough there for the past 3 seasons. then what will the nay sayers say?

[nasa69]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

Nice shut out win in front of the youth crowd at Clinton Arena. Always like the atmosphere, viewing and crowd in town. Puck support lead to a nice goal and the smaller sheet seemed an advantage for the Continentals.

[Ozz]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

Hamilton with a six goal outburst tonight!

[nasa69]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

Good group of players. Played great first two weeks of the year. However, no accountability for their play. Their game has reverted to pickup hockey... skate with the puck as long as you can then lose it. The same errors committed time and time again with no correction from coaching staff. In a 1:1 game against the #1 team do you intentionally roll your fourth line out against your opponents #1 on a faceoff in your own zone? Either Camp Haberbusch doesn't know that turnovers at the blueline, not making the open pass, the same players always ending up in the box, and plays resulting in shorthanded opportunities are bad, or they just don't know how to correct it.

[nasa69]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

3 point weekend against CC n Tufts. But specialty teams need to produce. 0-10 against weak pk teams.

[nasa69]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

Not sure if the Cortland Announcer, Bobby Comstock was so on point last night. First he said Quattrocchi was in net but it was Gibbars first start. Then he dissed Hamilton several times stating players over carried the puck, the PP was awful and looked no better than 6:6. He got a little ahead of himself with 10 left and Hamilton on a 5 minute PP stating there was no way they could score and the game was in the bag. oops.

[nasa69]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

How utterly pathetic. Oswego so dominated that they started rotating defenseman on wing. What is really going on here? With 9 games remaining is there a realistic chance of 3 more wins? That would give us a healthy 7 win season... one win less than the first Haberbush season.

The system produces no sustained offense. The team is now at less than 1.9 goals for per game. PP is the worst in the country and PK is 10% worse than their opponents. The entire game is played in the defensive zone. Last nights game was a joke in what looked like a continuous Oswego PP. Hamilton beat Oswego just 2 years ago.

One has to ask: what is the plan? Clearly what is being "taught" "practiced", does not work at this level. Running the same system that continuously fails is either the result of one not knowing how to do anything else, or one not understanding their circumstances. Prior to leaving Hamilton, Grady suffered 4 losing seasons in a row. In his worst losing season (his last) the team scored 59 goals. This team is on track to score 47. Bazin came in and with no recruits, increased wins and scoring. In Bazin's second season with one year of recruiting the team went on to 14 wins and put up 94 goals. Last year the team produced 30 goals less than Bazin's last and this year will be worse.

[icehockey]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

In Bazins last season 48 of the 94 goals were scored by 4 players. Three are no longer on the team and one has been playing injured all year. Take those goals away and look at all the games Bazin would not have won.

[OLD GUY '61]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

same thing can be said for Middlebury -- looked great before the Christmas break, came back and have been steadily deteriorating. They look so over-coached that they have virtually no creativity of their own with the puck. Without that, it's just slap at the puck pond hockey.

[nasa69]

Re: HAMILTON: Swinging Low

3 games, 1 for 16 on the powerplay (5 min penalty) and two 5 min powerplays with no goals. As the old saying goes, it is not practice that makes perfect: Perfect Practice makes Perfect.

Personel, injuries etc cannot be an excuse for the worst PP (0.094) in college hockey. Its execution. If you practice specific execution and accept nothing less, the players will execute. I once saw then new Flyers coach Laviolette demand that Pronger play the PP a particular way. Imagine, an allstar being told by a new coach how it had to be done.

The purpose of powerplay is to out man the opponent, force him to move side to side or high to low to allow for an advantageous shot. It doesn't work if the opponent can simply set up and doesn't have to move.

There are really only 3 basic options teams execute: Umbrella, 1:3:1, and the overload. The umbrella takes advantage of a big shooter at the point, 2 strong low men who can crash the net, deflect shots and hit in rebounds, and half board players who can control the puck. The purpose of the umbrella is to move the puck quickly force the defenders low that enables a big shot from the point (a one-timer is ideal).

The 1:3:1 requires a strong man who cant be moved in front, a good shooter in the slot, 2 good shooters on the sides and quarterback at the top. The setup shrinks the Dbox and opens shots from the sides.

The overload requires good skating puck handlers who can change position and make good sharp passes in response to either passive or aggressive defense. Skaters have to move the puck quickly to open seams for skaters. The overload can't work if players just pass the puck around the perimeter and stand still. The D will not have to move.

Not each system is ideal for every team. You have to pick the right system for your personel. I have never seen the first and second PP play the exact same system. Why would they, they have different strengths. Running the same PP regardless of personel is like trying to make a triple chocolate cake using fruits and nuts as your ingredients. Doesn't taste good and Julia Childs would not approve.