Ah 'tis the off-season already. Glass half-full attitude says there are 7 NCAA ties that could have gone our way, but I lean toward some good goaltending preserving those ties.
11 - 18 - 7 => Nothing to write home about for sure. Last night's season-ender pretty much typified the season. 20 great minutes, 40 minutes that exposed MSU's talent gap. Panic in our own end, couldn't move the puck out with consistency, couldn't finish around the net.
Spartans started behind the 8-ball without Berry and Draeger the first two months, and Draeger - who should be our most talented D-man - not really accounting for much. Speaking of D-men, I wanted to see a little more from Holland, but maybe he needs one good event-free summer to reach his potential. Offensively, Darnell couldn't really get comfortable and took a step back this year.
Some nice surprises and positives though - Haag getting comfortable enough for D1 college-level hockey to show some of his savvy and talent as a freshman, Ferrantino being rewarded for his toughness and tenacity with some good production, Boyd - who, it seemed night-in and night-out was our most consistent blue-liner, albeit not a prolific offensive contributor, and Knudsen - non-scholarship player who is a sound skater and a nice, heavy shot ... could very well step in next season on a regular basis.
Berry as a senior looks poised to lead this team next season, but don't be shocked if Ferrantino gets that 'C'. The all-freshman line of Ebbing/Haag/MacEachern have huge potential and I think they'll make good on it. Cox could see some time on the top line.
Defensively, MSU should be fine. Our Achilles' Heel last season made some marked improvement this time around, and with the addition of Josh Jacobs in '14 this could really be a fine corps.
Goaltending for 2014-15 - what more to be said but "nice problem to have".
By all accounts - the incoming class is better than this season's, with D Josh Jacobs and G Edwin Minney being the big gets for Anastos. Saw a little of Jacobs' play at the World Jr. A Challenge, as well as F Marcel Godbout, and was impressed with both.
Seniors will leave a big hole. Wolfe carried his fine late-season run last year into this season, and Reimer really put it all together in his final year as a Spartan. Both Chelios' played a big role. Jake led the team with 19 assists, and Dean played well in all aspects save for lighting the lamp. Seniors should also be credited for a much improved power play over the last month of the season.
In all, State loses 32% of goal-scoring output and 38% of its total point production to graduation. On the plus-side, however, our freshman class accounted for 35% of our goals. If the Spartans get a couple of next season's seniors to play like seniors (notably Darnell and Sorenson), this team can greatly improve on its meager 78 total goals (2.2 per game).
The conventional wisdom is that Hollis is using the 2015/16 - the last year on Tom Anastos' current contract - as the make-or-break year for him as head coach. That's also when Anastos has all of his own recruits on the roster. IMHO, he can survive next season without making the NCAA's or finishing in the top-3 in B1G. But if MSU ends up next March with 11 or 12 wins to show for the year, there will be considerable pressure to make a change.
Correction: Did not get a chance to see the Ivan Hlinka tournament. Future Spartan Cody Milan participated in that one.
11 - 18 - 7 => Nothing to write home about for sure. Last night's season-ender pretty much typified the season. 20 great minutes, 40 minutes that exposed MSU's talent gap. Panic in our own end, couldn't move the puck out with consistency, couldn't finish around the net.
Spartans started behind the 8-ball without Berry and Draeger the first two months, and Draeger - who should be our most talented D-man - not really accounting for much. Speaking of D-men, I wanted to see a little more from Holland, but maybe he needs one good event-free summer to reach his potential. Offensively, Darnell couldn't really get comfortable and took a step back this year.
Some nice surprises and positives though - Haag getting comfortable enough for D1 college-level hockey to show some of his savvy and talent as a freshman, Ferrantino being rewarded for his toughness and tenacity with some good production, Boyd - who, it seemed night-in and night-out was our most consistent blue-liner, albeit not a prolific offensive contributor, and Knudsen - non-scholarship player who is a sound skater and a nice, heavy shot ... could very well step in next season on a regular basis.
Berry as a senior looks poised to lead this team next season, but don't be shocked if Ferrantino gets that 'C'. The all-freshman line of Ebbing/Haag/MacEachern have huge potential and I think they'll make good on it. Cox could see some time on the top line.
Defensively, MSU should be fine. Our Achilles' Heel last season made some marked improvement this time around, and with the addition of Josh Jacobs in '14 this could really be a fine corps.
Goaltending for 2014-15 - what more to be said but "nice problem to have".
By all accounts - the incoming class is better than this season's, with D Josh Jacobs and G Edwin Minney being the big gets for Anastos. Saw a little of Jacobs' play at the World Jr. A Challenge, as well as F Marcel Godbout, and was impressed with both.
Seniors will leave a big hole. Wolfe carried his fine late-season run last year into this season, and Reimer really put it all together in his final year as a Spartan. Both Chelios' played a big role. Jake led the team with 19 assists, and Dean played well in all aspects save for lighting the lamp. Seniors should also be credited for a much improved power play over the last month of the season.
In all, State loses 32% of goal-scoring output and 38% of its total point production to graduation. On the plus-side, however, our freshman class accounted for 35% of our goals. If the Spartans get a couple of next season's seniors to play like seniors (notably Darnell and Sorenson), this team can greatly improve on its meager 78 total goals (2.2 per game).
The conventional wisdom is that Hollis is using the 2015/16 - the last year on Tom Anastos' current contract - as the make-or-break year for him as head coach. That's also when Anastos has all of his own recruits on the roster. IMHO, he can survive next season without making the NCAA's or finishing in the top-3 in B1G. But if MSU ends up next March with 11 or 12 wins to show for the year, there will be considerable pressure to make a change.
Correction: Did not get a chance to see the Ivan Hlinka tournament. Future Spartan Cody Milan participated in that one.
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