Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

[Split-N]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

I held off offering any comments on last night's debacle until I had time to cool off and clear my head. Actually I didn't get to watch the game but was forced to listen to the audio because, for the second week in a row, the vid stream was totally messed up (at least for me). In retrospect, I'm glad I wasn't able to watch because it sounded all too similar to the vomit that was the last weekend of the 2013-14 regular season.

Others who actually witnessed the thing have already contributed their takes so there's no point in rehashing what has already been said. I'm just left to wonder if, considering the way last season ended and the way this season has apparently started, if there isn't something systemically wrong inside of the program.

I did find myself somewhat surprised to note that Brendan Collier and Jake Schechter were both healthy (apparently) scratches.

Other than those things, life is just peachy.

BTW: Kudos to Mr. Huskies01, whose oft-maligned analyses of the NU defense appear to have been spot-on. At least through Game One.

[PPGuru]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

Newton and Bitetto ran the PP as freshmen. I don't mind it if you don't have someone better. That said, Benning and Sauce should be better...
.

Believing Sauce should be better is you latching onto his better moments and fervently wishing that they would become more than just moments. Unfortunately, the defense situation is somewhat similiar to the situation we endured when Rawlings returned for his senior season: there is nothing you can do but look to the future and hope it is better. Trying not to be too negative but this GROUP of Dmen is just not up to the job at hand. They are neither stalwart in protection of their own end nor capable of freeing the forwards to concentrate on Offense. It may be two seasons before that changes, (hopefully).

[roma]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

Newton and Bitetto ran the PP as freshmen. I don't mind it if you don't have someone better. That said, Benning and Sauce should be better...
.

Jake Newton left NU after his frosh year, but Anthony Bitetto Played his soph season with an even better Player, Jamie Oleksiak; Jamie NHL first round pick is now playing with the Dallas stars, and Anthony should be playing in the NHL this year.

[Huskies01]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

JM finally has "his" players, at least on D. Cro made it work with Stevie Birnstill, Jimmy Driscoll, Dennis Chisholm etc. On paper the blue-line we have now should be way more talented than those groups. Of course, Cro knew how to coach em up while as many have said, Madigan looks lost. The easiest apples-to-apples comparison: look at Bitetto and Eibler in year 1 under Cronin, and look at them in year 2 under Madigan. Night and day.

Um, these current guys on defense are not as talented as the guys Cro had to work. At least Birnstill, Driscoll, Chisholm could SKATE! The #1 dman on this team, Gunn, can barely go backwards. Dax cannot.

Look its 1 game against a pretty good Vermont team. But I will go back to the same example I used last year, the Toronto MapleLeafs. They made the playoffs 2 years ago after basically getting dominated in every game, but got good goaltending and lots of luck. What happened to them last season? They fell off, fired everybody but the coach, (including Cronin), and have gotten off to a bad start this year.

Our team was basically dominated in a majority of the games they won last year, and this year, things will probably not be different. They cannot control play, they cannot keep the puck in the other teams zone, and the defense is a huge weak link. They basically scored goals last year when the other goalies fell asleep after the play was in our zone forever. And it seemed after February Witt's fairy dust ran out and he went back to looking like the Witt who could not knock Rawlings out of the net, no matter how bad he played. Last year they should have lost all 3 games to UVM, but did not. They should have lost all the games to PC, and somehow did not. They got smoked by a pathetic bu team, and then UNH basically scored at will against us in the playoffs. If this team had made the Garden, they would have gotten blown out by whatever team they met there. The refs did them a favor.

There is some decent talent up front which will keep this team in most games where they all "show up". They could be around .500 again if they find some luck. But I would not expect anything better then that.

And Rossi - Madigan didn't coach the game on Saturday, he was suspended for it. Blame it on Keefe who I would assume was running the bench. I am still wondering what Keefe does well? Does anybody else know?

You wanna win games? you really want to win games? You get dmen who beat the other forwards to the puck, and then get it up ice to our forwards. Do we have that? No.

[TheRevengeance]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

Um, these current guys on defense are not as talented as the guys Cro had to work. At least Birnstill, Driscoll, Chisholm could SKATE! The #1 dman on this team, Gunn, can barely go backwards. Dax cannot.

Look its 1 game against a pretty good Vermont team. But I will go back to the same example I used last year, the Toronto MapleLeafs. They made the playoffs 2 years ago after basically getting dominated in every game, but got good goaltending and lots of luck. What happened to them last season? They fell off, fired everybody but the coach, (including Cronin), and have gotten off to a bad start this year.

Our team was basically dominated in a majority of the games they won last year, and this year, things will probably not be different. They cannot control play, they cannot keep the puck in the other teams zone, and the defense is a huge weak link. They basically scored goals last year when the other goalies fell asleep after the play was in our zone forever. And it seemed after February Witt's fairy dust ran out and he went back to looking like the Witt who could not knock Rawlings out of the net, no matter how bad he played. Last year they should have lost all 3 games to UVM, but did not. They should have lost all the games to PC, and somehow did not. They got smoked by a pathetic bu team, and then UNH basically scored at will against us in the playoffs. If this team had made the Garden, they would have gotten blown out by whatever team they met there. The refs did them a favor.

There is some decent talent up front which will keep this team in most games where they all "show up". They could be around .500 again if they find some luck. But I would not expect anything better then that.

And Rossi - Madigan didn't coach the game on Saturday, he was suspended for it. Blame it on Keefe who I would assume was running the bench. I am still wondering what Keefe does well? Does anybody else know?

You wanna win games? you really want to win games? You get dmen who beat the other forwards to the puck, and then get it up ice to our forwards. Do we have that? No.

I'm not sure about all that now, particularly the Providence/UVM December games. They led Providence 3-0 in the third before pulling a Northeastern and salvaging a tie, and beat Vermont by the same score. If any pure luck games come to mind, they're the game in Providence that was a loss going into the last few seconds and the game at Lowell where they squeaked out a win after Lowell beat Witt no less than 10 times and rang the pipes like a wind chime. There was also a game against UNH that was 1-0 that nobody remembers because of the scoring onslaught that followed.

Regardless, it doesn't help that the defense sucks. Either Saturday was a particularly off day and they're going to be passable, or it's going to be a reversal of our projection vs. reality from last year.

[Thiessen'sBetter]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

Believing Sauce should be better is you latching onto his better moments and fervently wishing that they would become more than just moments.

I honestly don't think he's terrible on the PP. He's a turnover machine and I don't trust him at all in his own end, but in a settled PP situation, he's not bad.

[Thiessen'sBetter]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

Um, these current guys on defense are not as talented as the guys Cro had to work. At least Birnstill, Driscoll, Chisholm could SKATE! The #1 dman on this team, Gunn, can barely go backwards. Dax cannot.

I disagree with this, but I can certainly see the argument you make. My bigger point was Madigan can't coach defense, be it individual or team. Do you think this team, with the same personnel, would be better defensively with Cronin? Obviously a subjective answer, but I think yes it would.

[PPGuru]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

I don't think any Coach could "coach" these guys up to the level we'd like. Cro may have had some more talented individuals to work with, but he also emphasized a breakout system heavy on "JUST BANG IT OFF THE GLASS AND GET IT OUT!". This group might be better off trying that.

[Huskies01]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

I disagree with this, but I can certainly see the argument you make. My bigger point was Madigan can't coach defense, be it individual or team. Do you think this team, with the same personnel, would be better defensively with Cronin? Obviously a subjective answer, but I think yes it would.

Well, even Cronin could not make lemonade out of lemons like Jacques Perreault. Would Cronin be able to drill these guys better to at least make sure they know what they are doing out there? Yes, that I agree with. Plus, Cronin realized early on he had nothing back there and worked like the dickens to make sure he did not have to play those guys any longer then he needed to. The fact that it looks like we are going to have to play DD, Dax, and Fennel this year, while it makes the coaches look loyal, it means they either failed to realize that the defense is an issue, or could not land anybody who wanted to play for them. Really, I am not asking for BC caliber players back there, just guys who can compete at this level.

Yes, we are 4 years in and we have to have any kind of identity with this team. Outside of Adam Reid, its all Madigan guys now. Like I said before, its just 1 game. But typically the first game of the year is not the one where team comes out flat and gets railroaded. Even in "bad" years, they show up for that first one and manage to pull an upset out of the behinds. Maybe this year will be an opposite year. Bad October, followed by a great February?

[NU_Husky]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

The fact that it looks like we are going to have to play DD, Dax, and Fennel this year, while it makes the coaches look loyal, it means they either failed to realize that the defense is an issue, or could not land anybody who wanted to play for them. Really, I am not asking for BC caliber players back there, just guys who can compete at this level.

Yes, we are 4 years in and we have to have any kind of identity with this team. Outside of Adam Reid, its all Madigan guys now. Like I said before, its just 1 game. But typically the first game of the year is not the one where team comes out flat and gets railroaded. Even in "bad" years, they show up for that first one and manage to pull an upset out of the behinds. Maybe this year will be an opposite year. Bad October, followed by a great February?

At least DD was out of the lineup, so that's addition by subtraction. IMO, if the defense is going to be porous, I'd rather see someone who can move the puck in the lineup, a la Jake Schechter, over Fennell. Fennell has never impressed me in any aspect of the game ever since he arrived here. Shecks can at least skate and pass. Small potatoes, I know. But at this point I'd take any positive. I was also surprised Collier was not dressed. I thought McMurtry was our worst forward in both the exhibition and vs UVM. Scratch MM, but Collier in, and have some more offensive skill in the lineup.

Went back and painfully rewatched the game. All I could think of was Kurt Russell's line in Miracle: "You think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don't have enough talent to win on talent alone." Too much coasting in our own zone, too much cute and fancy in the neutral zone, not enough pressure in the o-zone. I hope JM grilled them after the game, they'll need a complete overhaul in attitude if they want to avoid a sweep by Colgate.

[Huskies01]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

In the end, it does not matter who is in there between Shecks (I have never seen people fall over themselves so quickly for a guy who only talent seems to be able to make a dman to dman across the ice pass), DD, and Fennell. The 5th and 6th man on our third pairing are not good enough for this level. That we knew 2 years ago, and really had confirmed last year. Unless they want to move some forwards back there, and hope they can pick it up quicker, the third pairing is a lost cause.

The problem becomes the first two pairings really are not that hot either. Gunn is decent, Dax tries hard but this league moves to quick for him, Benning is average, and the new kid I have yet to see so no comment.

Someone mentioned that Cronin's system was hit it off the glass and out. The problem with that system, or really any system here is that the dmen CAN NOT GET TO OR SEPERATE THE OTHER TEAM FROM THE PUCK!!!!

Our system is let the goalie make a save, cover, and hope we can win the faceoff and break out.

[Split-N]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

I'd rather see someone who can move the puck in the lineup, a la Jake Schechter...I was also surprised Collier was not dressed.

Ditto on both counts.

[NU_Husky]

In the end, it does not matter who is in there between Shecks (I have never seen people fall over themselves so quickly for a guy who only talent seems to be able to make a dman to dman across the ice pass), DD, and Fennell. The 5th and 6th man on our third pairing are not good enough for this level. That we knew 2 years ago, and really had confirmed last year. Unless they want to move some forwards back there, and hope they can pick it up quicker, the third pairing is a lost cause.

If nothing else, the allure for Schechter comes from his ability to add something different to the D corps. We have big plodders in Dax, Gunn, DD, it'd be nice to sprinkle in some speed from someone who I trust to make passes stick to stick. He doesn't have to play at the level of MMatheson at BC or Gryzzzzlick at bu, but he does offer a different skill set than we had playing on Saturday.

[Huskies01]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

If nothing else, the allure for Schechter comes from his ability to add something different to the D corps. We have big plodders in Dax, Gunn, DD, it'd be nice to sprinkle in some speed from someone who I trust to make passes stick to stick. He doesn't have to play at the level of MMatheson at BC or Gryzzzzlick at bu, but he does offer a different skill set than we had playing on Saturday.

I don't expect him to play as an All-American. But the few times he was in the lineup, lost in our own end. The coaches also tried to help him it seemed by putting him out there when the faceoff was in the offensive end. That says something...

Maybe he should be a forward like was suggested by HHound.

Again though, its 1 game in October. This was a pretty good road team last year up until the last 2-3 weeks. So if they go up and put up a good fight this weekend, the sky will stop falling for a bit.

But it may help if someone find Witt his magic fairy dust.

[NU_Husky]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014-15: Release the Hounds!

Again though, its 1 game in October. This was a pretty good road team last year up until the last 2-3 weeks. So if they go up and put up a good fight this weekend, the sky will stop falling for a bit.

Definitely do need to keep this in mind. A friend at QU mentioned to me that the QU team that went to the NCAA tournament last year lost their first game of the season, but rebounded. Not saying that will happen to NU (though I'd be loving life if it did), but it is possible for a team to rebound from one game.