Colgate 2014-15

[Kepler]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

Later on maybe in second period, scrum in front of goalie with many players involved pushing and shoving, Spink or Lidgett(think Lidgett) gets grabbed and just thrown down to the ice, everyone in the rink saw it, no call. (coincidentals issued).

If it's the play I'm thinking of, it was Spink, and he threw a perfect rabbit punch to earn the takedown. Seemed like the refs had had enough at that point, hence the coincidentals. (The Spinks are definitely agitators out there, but when the Ferguson brothers were leading the nation in scoring in the 60s they were also leading in PIM, so, hey, it's one way to play.)

If you want to be annoyed by a non-call, about 2 minutes later we messed up a change and had 7 or 8 guys on the ice for at least 5 seconds as the puck came right through the herd and was redirected. That was an obvious Too Many Men against us, and the refs simply blew it.

Cornell has been Jekyll and Hyde on Friday/Saturdays, so I have no idea what to expect tonight -- anything from a nail-biter to 'Gate blowing us out.

[red133883]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

Complete opposite of last night we started slow and then finished the game. Would have liked to pull out the win, but going down 2-1 in the 3rd at lynah is tough to come back from. Kudos to the guys for pulling out the point. Doesn't help much in the pairwise but a loss and we would have probably had to win the tournament to get a bid. As we sit here right now we are tied with SLU at 20 ( on the wrong side of the RPI) but that should change if St. Cloud can hold on against CC. Almost got a bump with Wisconsin but letting up a goal with 2 seconds left is probably why they are 55 in the PWR.

Correct me if I am wrong but for the beanpot we want a harvard/northeastern final...

[Gate83]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

Complete opposite of last night we started slow and then finished the game. Would have liked to pull out the win, but going down 2-1 in the 3rd at lynah is tough to come back from. Kudos to the guys for pulling out the point. Doesn't help much in the pairwise but a tie and we would have probably had to win the tournament to get a bid. As we sit here right now we are tied with SLU at 20 ( on the wrong side of the RPI) but that should change if St. Cloud can hold on against CC. Almost got a bump with Wisconsin but letting up a goal with 2 seconds left is probably why they are 55 in the PWR.

Correct me if I am wrong but for the beanpot we want a harvard/northeastern final...

Dunno, can't worry about anybody but us. Until we get a few goals what happens elsewhere isn't a concern... hopefully that changes next weekend!

[Rainman]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

Another year, another tie at Lynah. Barring a 1st or 2nd round playoff meeting, this year's seniors will have never lost there

In other news, we've now slipped to 7th in the league standings, and a tie for 20th in the PWR. No more of this "games in hand" crap. If we can earn 3 points against Princeton/Qpac and Union/RPI and split our last two road weekends, we'll finish with 25 pts, historically enough for a bye. However, an even bigger concern is our now-sudden lack of offense. In our last 8 league games, we've scored only 16 goals (exactly 2 per game), with 5 of them coming in one game (at Union). I wonder if the loss of Borkowski back in November is finally coming back to bite us? Also, we had a power play opportunity in overtime last night to win the game. Had Spiro been healthy, perhaps that would have also helped?

Correct me if I am wrong but for the beanpot we want a harvard/northeastern final...

It's never happened in the history of the Beanpot, but yes, that would help us as far as the PWR goes. However, our own success is even more vital.

[TchrBill]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

Every year we play them it feels like David vs. Goliath. The most consistent thing about hockey is that it's inconsistent. Our Fri/Sat seemed like polar opposites. It comes down to smart play, which we must control but have not. Sitting in the box with our poor PK is a recipe for failure. The promising news is that we held Cornell scoreless 5x5. You would think that would be enough to win, but we handed it to them every time we went into the box. We will never learn.

Other than the tie to Dartmouth, of our 8 games left, we have only beaten 2 opponents - Princeton & Brown (OT). That, to me, is very telling. There is no reason to think we'll fare any better this time around, even at home.

There must be something good in the water up there in Canton. There is some solace knowing we swept the Saints this year.

[Kepler]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

Those games were emotionally exhausting, and could easily have resulted in any of the point permutations. We're very happy to get out with 3.

The best thing about this traveling pair is how different the two styles of play are, making it difficult for opponents to adequately prepare for both. Good luck for the rest of the RS, and may we see a mutually rising tide from here on out.

[sshablak]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

We played a much better game last night, finishing strong outplaying Cornell the third period and OT. Far from what I expected, I was really worried we'd be physically beat up and worn down with the size advantage. Just the opposite and I give a lot of kudos to the boys to get a point being behind in the third, we didn't give up.

We are 3-4-1 vs our remaining eight, and 5-3-2 since the Xmas tourney with a great win at Union. Feels worse because we're 0-2-2 in our last four, if we won Friday night 1-1-2 would have made us ok.

We are currently tied for fifth place, one point out of a tie for fourth, two from fourth all by ourselves, and three from a tie for third.


We are right in the thick of things, just need to get it done, everyone is still playing each other and it's far from over, no negativity.

[red133883]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

I agree with everyone else that we need to take care of business on our end, but instead of waiting til the playoffs to scoreboard watch, when we aren't playing, why not see what is best for us.

There is nothing colgate can do until Friday. And we can't take Princeton lightly, that game could knock us out of a realistic chance of at large bid so I think it is the most important game of the weekend. Yes, a win against QU would be huge for us but a lost won't knock us down far.

[ColSkate65]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

Only heard the last half of last night's game, but glad to see us come back in the 3rd period.....difficult to do at Lynah as posters have stated.

Not to be negative but I see Princeton as a possible trap game with QU coming in on Saturday. Despite their record the Tigers will be up for the game with two former 'Gate coaches - and alums - on the P'ton bench and "coming home" to Starr. On any given night any ECAC team can hold their own against another. We need to get some goals on the scoreboard early and put the Tigers in a hole. Can't afford to look ahead to QU. Hopefully the guys came away from Ithaca healthy and we didn't get too dinged up. Haven't looked at the numbers but would guess out PK % is falling fast; we need to stay out of the box....(gee...did any other posters mention that

[TchrBill]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

Another week, another poll...clinging to #20. It is impressive that we have been nationally ranked since the first week of the season. It is not as impressive that we continue to move in the wrong direction! I would like to see Hamilton start in goal vs. Princeton.
Good luck to men's lax which starts its season Sat. @ Bryant. We are picked middle-of-the-pack this year.

[DaveH]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

Let's see - we're 1 point out of a tie for 4th - and 1 point from being out of the top 8! Gate can still finish well, but we'd better win 6 of the last 8 if we want to see a home playoff series. I don't remember the league being this tight this late in the season. It sure does make every game critical.

Thought both goalies played well last weekend - we need Finn to be really sharp from here on out.

I saw Spiro downtown one day last week - he was limping around, almost dragging one foot. Wish him well - hope he can get back.

Stay out of the box - get a goal now and then on the power play and play good D in front of Finn and we might just be OK.

[Rainman]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

Prognosticating the PWR
February 5, 2015

Colgate is still hanging in there, but back-to-back 1-point weekends is a cause for concern. We've now slipped to 20th in the PWR, and while a good run to end the regular season should put us back on the right side of the PWR Mason-Dixon line, it won't be easy. First and foremost, tomorrow night's game vs. Princeton is a "trap game". No looking ahead to Quinnipiac. We need to get 4 pts this weekend in order to stay afloat, both in the Pairwise AND the ECAC standings. Other results that we want to see (again, this only helps us if we do our job and win) include:

-Mercyhurst sweeping AIC
-Robert Morris sweeping Canisius
-Sacred Heart sweeping Air Force
-Northeastern over UMass (Friday)
-BU over UMass-Lowell (Friday)
-Providence over UConn (Saturday)
-Western Michigan over Miami (Saturday)

and of course, in the Beanpot final, we want Northeastern to defeat BU. Unfortunately, St. Cloud has a bye this weekend (weird), so they can't help us out right now. Other results we also want to see (outside of OOC opponent success) include:

-BC over Merrimack (Friday)
-Minnesota loses at least once to Ohio State
-Yale loses at least one game (they host Harvard and Dartmouth)
-Vermont loses at least once to New Hampshire
-St. Lawrence wins at least one game (they host RPI and Union)
-Quinnipiac over Cornell (Friday)

St. Lawrence is a double-edged sword to us right now. Their continued success would put them in the top 20 of the RPI, giving us an RPI bonus since we beat them twice. But then we would be unable to catch them in the ECAC standings. If SLU slides, we can pass them for a coveted top-4 spot in the ECAC tournament, but it would hurt our RPI. So we want them to split this weekend while we hopefully sweep. Again, it won't be easy, but if we focus one game and one shift at a time, we can be successful.

[red133883]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

Wouldn't we want Cornell to win or tie QU on Friday. They are right ahead of us in the PWR and obviously out there in the ECAC standings

[sshablak]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

It's like this every year, nothing set in stone till last game last Saturday night of ECAC season. Every weekend more important than last. If we start winning PWR takes care of itself, we need a top four finish in the league.

[red133883]

Re: Colgate 2014-15

There are a number of games like this each year but this is a no win game for gate. Win and you don't get much PWR benefit, lose and get killed in the PWR. Especially after the intense emotion that goes into the Cornell games. I think the guys will come out strong, but it is going to be tough. As has been said before tonight is a trap game, but also a great opportunity to get back on the left side of the ledger.

Four points this weekend and we could be in a bye position! Has it been the run away season we all hoped for, no, but if we play well the last four weeks we can be in the tournament and then who knows.