Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

[Dutchman]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

On November 9th, 2013, we were 3-3-2 and had just lost to Colgate 5-3. We were not ranked in any poll and got no votes. RPI was ranked 10th in the USCHO and was 6-2-2. There is just no telling how things will turn out this early in the season.

[Nottme]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

On November 9th, 2013, we were 3-3-2 and had just lost to Colgate 5-3. We were not ranked in any poll and got no votes. RPI was ranked 10th in the USCHO and was 6-2-2. There is just no telling how things will turn out this early in the season.

This is a different team however your point is well taken, but I don't think U will have just 3 losses after November 8 either.

[Union93]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

Kinkaid call up to NJD

http://theahl.com/stats/transactions.php

[Dutchman]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

"Playing what we call Union College Hockey .... being really aggressive .... finishing hits .... and being really hard to play against." Quote last year from Daniel Carr. Win, lose or draw ... this is what I would like to see this weekend ...

[rdf8585]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

Vecchione was named ECAC Hockey Player of the Month today.

[UFan]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

"Playing what we call Union College Hockey .... being really aggressive .... finishing hits .... and being really hard to play against." Quote last year from Daniel Carr. Win, lose or draw ... this is what I would like to see this weekend ...

ditto

[UnionFan4Life]

"Playing what we call Union College Hockey .... being really aggressive .... finishing hits .... and being really hard to play against." Quote last year from Daniel Carr. Win, lose or draw ... this is what I would like to see this weekend ...

It feels like a must win weekend, against two tough opponents.

[Dutchman]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

How many draft picks does Harvard have? 7? 8?

Harvard has 11

http://collegehockeyinc.com/pages/nh...college-hockey

Sean Malone Harvard BUF 2013 6 159
Patrick McNally Harvard VAN 2010 4 115
Wiley Sherman Harvard BOS 2013 5 150
Merrick Madsen Harvard PHI 2013 6 162
Jimmy Vesey Harvard NSH 2012 3 66
Brian Hart Harvard TB 2012 2 53
Petr Placek Harvard PHI 2011 6 176
Alexander Kerfoot Harvard NJ 2012 5 150
Max Everson Harvard TOR 2011 7 203
Steve Michalek Harvard MIN 2011 6 161
Colin Blackwell Harvard SJ 2011 7 194

We are about the same average age. 21.2 vs 21.3

They are big, top 5 in height and top 8 in weight, have good experienced upperclassmen. No extraneous issues ... top new AHC.

I see them as being very strong in the second half of the season. This team is going to be much improved over last year. Interesting that Harvard President was on ice and at first game ..... administrative visibility.

Our advantage is that we have 8 games under our belt playing against some tough teams and will be playing at home. We may be in better physical shape. Our freshmen have already seen a lot of action. We have Colin Stevens. We should expect, as with everyone we play this year, to see them at their best at this time of year.

[Dutchman]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

Dartmouth:
- 8 Seniors and 10 Juniors - all vet team not dependent on freshmen. Lots of upperclassmen leadership
- Average age 21y/10m We are 21y/3m
- Big as are many IVY's
- 8 - 9 NE Prep School Kids
- No NHL Draft Picks
- They (their announcers) think their top line is the best in all of College Hockey. (Not very humble .... )
- Have never won an ECAC crown (Whitelaw Cup). If they are going to do it ... its going to be with this team.

Dartmouth returns largely intact their team from last year. Their top two lines appear to be very good. Lots of leadership

They have given up 12 goals in two EX and one regular season game. Their new goalie(s) is/are untested. Our freshmen are coming along nicely. We have some solid game experience. This is another case where I see us having advantage because its early in the season and because of our goaltending. Dartmouth should be much tougher later in the year. We may also have more scoring depth and be in better shape this early in the season. We have Colin Stevens which gives us a big advantage.

[UnionFan4Life]

Dartmouth:
- 8 Seniors and 10 Juniors - all vet team not dependent on freshmen. Lots of upperclassmen leadership
- Average age 21y/10m We are 21y/3m
- Big as are many IVY's
- 8 - 9 NE Prep School Kids
- No NHL Draft Picks
- They (their announcers) think their top line is the best in all of College Hockey. (Not very humble .... )
- Have never won an ECAC crown (Whitelaw Cup). If they are going to do it ... its going to be with this team.

Dartmouth returns largely intact their team from last year. Their top two lines appear to be very good. Lots of leadership

They have given up 12 goals in two EX and one regular season game. Their new goalie(s) is/are untested. Our freshmen are coming along nicely. We have some solid game experience. This is another case where I see us having advantage because its early in the season and because of our goaltending. Dartmouth should be much tougher later in the year. We may also have more scoring depth and be in better shape this early in the season. We have Colin Stevens which gives us a big advantage.

Historically, I think we play better against the slower, bigger teams. I know it's a different team than years past, but there's a lot of the same type of players as Carr, Hatch, Sullivan, Ghost, Bodie, etc. They just aren't playing at their level yet. (Keyword yet)

[Dutchman]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

Great Quote from the current Maine (Former Yale) Coach

“We take it one game at a time,” Gendron says. “And truth be told, there was a time in college hockey where there were certain teams that were always going to win, and there were certain other teams that weren't. From year to year there were basically the same results. Occasionally, there were a few teams that got up a little higher than they should and a couple teams that got down a little lower than you’d expect. “It’s not like that in college hockey anymore. It’s parity. Everybody’s good. It’s hard to win. I don’t care who you are, it’s hard to win. “For us, we’re going to take ‘em one at a time. We respect all; we fear none.”

Read more: http://www.uscho.com/2014/11/06/work...#ixzz3IJKPIHyo

[UnionFan4Life]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

Three key areas of improvement I'd like to see this weekend:

1. Power-Play Unit
2. Limiting the "dump n chase" into the offensive zone
3. Eliminating critical defensive mistakes (ie turnovers in the slot and passing the puck in front of our net)

Who remembers Ghost losing the puck into our empty net last year? I'd consider that a critical mistake, but it didn't matter because that team was loaded with talent and we could make up for it. This year is a different story so far, where it's going to take a team effort to produce wins.

[Dutchman]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

..... but it didn't matter because that team was loaded with talent and we could make up for it. This year is a different story so far, where it's going to take a team effort to produce wins.

Agreed but there was something else too ..... Last year it seemed like there were players on the team that decided on their own that losing was an unacceptable outcome. They seemed to have the ability of stepping up at critical junctures during the game. While we graduated some of those players, there are still many others who are still on this team. We were a "working class" team, business like in our demeanor. We played "Union College Hockey" and losing was NOT an option, not an acceptable outcome. The upperclassmen carried the team and were able to help transition the Freshmen at the same time. We were a "no-excuses" team, and a band of brothers. Someone always stepped up ......

Colin Stevens was that upperclassmen who has stepped up for five of our wins thus far ..... we just got to get the rest of the gang to do the same. Who is going to step up this weekend? Win, lose or draw, lets continue to get back to playing Union College Hockey.

[Dutchman]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

Dartmouth Coach - Yesterday
http://www.dartmouthsports.com/media...bml?id=3517036

The Dartmouth (today)
http://thedartmouth.com/2014/11/07/s...d-this-weekend
Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, Neiley expressed optimism about his team’s prospects.
“We have a really strong team. Obviously with the experience that we have, [we feel] this is our year,” Neiley said. “For the seniors, this is our last chance to put a banner up in the rink.”

[ADK11]

Re: Union College Hockey 2014-2015 "ReUnion 2015? Why "Nott"?

Three key areas of improvement I'd like to see this weekend:

1. Power-Play Unit
2. Limiting the "dump n chase" into the offensive zone
3. Eliminating critical defensive mistakes (ie turnovers in the slot and passing the puck in front of our net)

Who remembers Ghost losing the puck into our empty net last year? I'd consider that a critical mistake, but it didn't matter because that team was loaded with talent and we could make up for it. This year is a different story so far, where it's going to take a team effort to produce wins.

While last weekend has similarities to last year's Lake State series (terrible first game, better effort 2nd game but still bad result), it would be a mistake IMO to say that the team can regroup & make to LP & beyond. Both #1 & #3 above could be difficult to correct this season. The PP lost big shots from outside in Bodie, Ghost & Carr and teams PKs are just collapsing around the slot and making U shoot from outside. U got almost nothing in close against RPI all weekend and that is troubling. Coaching can improve things a bit with more puck movement, finding ways to get the puck to the net & establishing position, but I'm not sure I'm seeing a big shooter who can get the PK spread out. As for the defensive mistakes, the D-men are young and all the coaching in the world isn't going to prevent more mistakes this season. Was also troubling to see Taylor struggle so much this past weekend. As bad as the giveaway on Saturday was, his bad pinch leading to a 3 on 1 on RPI's first goal Friday was just as bad and gave RPI life & momentum that they never lost. I think Taylor will be an outstanding defenseman and he already is one now about 90% of the time, but there is much more pressure on him to make things happen this season and he is going to make some miscues.

Tonight's game will be a very stern test and is close to being a must win, as giving another 2 points in league play could be killer. Both Dartmouth & Harvard should pose similar challenges as RPI did - may be a little better offensively, maybe not as good defensively. A big weekend..