Union College: 2015-2016

[Dutchman]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

Anyone has thoughts on the game ?

Two years ago, when we had a lead in the closing 3-5 minutes of a game, both Bodie and Ghost were on the ice. That, as we know translated into having two first string All-Americans defensemen protecting a lead. They were both capable of skating the puck out of the zone, when opponents were cheating up and crashing the net. They were especially good at "sealing the deal" with EN goals. I really like the fact that we are back to forechecking big time. We have the speed to do that.

There were several plays where we were able to send the puck into the crease, but no one was home, or if they were, they were not able to handle the puck. Ciampini was alwasy hanging around the crease picking up the garbage.

I know we are losing but I really like this team. I thing another good recruiting year and we will be back to contending for some hardware.

[ADK11]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

I think we are seeing what happens when you have a relatively talented but mostly young, inexperienced team. There have been 11-13 frosh/sophs in the lineup every night, including 3 sophs on defense. I mention this because soph d-men are often worse before they get better – its part of the natural learning process at the position. DeSimone made a couple bad decisions against UNH and Light had a brain fart in the 3rd period Friday. For the younger players it’s a matter of both mental & physical stamina later in games. The Michigan and Yale games were prime examples of this. Maier’s major penalty on Saturday seemed to cook Unions legs and the ice tilted toward Alex thereafter - the end result was really not that much of a shock. Its been a while since I’ve seen this with a Union team, but there was certainly some of it early in Leaman’s tenure. It was glossed over in more recent years because the overall talent/experience level on the team (Bodie, Ghost, Carr..) allowed the team to pull out a point or two even with a bad mistake/period or two.

However, the good side is that this team has shown it has the talent to more than compete with anybody and can dominate for stretches. The first 2 periods against Michigan were two of the best periods I’ve seen Union play in a couple years. And with the exception of a couple games, Alex has been good to very good in goal – and deserved much better this past weekend (still not sure why he didn't start against SLU two weekends ago). As for the rest of the season, really need the upperclassmen and more experienced players to step up and make big plays that give the team breathing room late in games. I would also expect some of the frosh to start to “get it” more in the second half of the season and cut down on the mistakes. Unfortunately being 10 points down in league play with series still to come against Quinny, Harvard & Cornell probably isn’t going to lead to improved results or even playoff home ice, but hopefully the team continues to improve and pull a surprise or two in the post-season.

I will also say I do have some concerns about the makeup/structure of the team as it stands – but I’ll wait until the end of the season to offer any opinions on that..

[rdf8585]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

Jeremy Welsh will make his debut with the St. Louis Blues tonight: http://bit.ly/1QpQvpr

[Vaportrail]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

Union outplayed Brown, and were competitive vs. Yale (a premier upperclassman-laden team). Union is very young - note that only two seniors play regularly (Wilkins and Gingras). Freshman and Sophomore classes are strong, and because they're getting a lot of ice time, they're gaining college experience quickly. Dutchmen will be entertaining to watch and should eventually begin winning close games this year. Future years look bright.

Union players look leg-weary at times to me (especially late in games). I know Bennett teams focus on conditioning - and I wonder if they could be overtraining during the week. I'd like to see Ken Schott ask that question of Bennett.

[LTsatch]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

Was honored to see Ghost score his first NHL goal in person just now. Congrats to him and to the Union fans!

[rdf8585]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

Was honored to see Ghost score his first NHL goal in person just now. Congrats to him and to the Union fans!

It was a beaut: http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/con...015020269-74-h

[rdf8585]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

Colin Stevens picks up pro win #1: http://bit.ly/1Sc3mte

[Dutchman]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

The Merrimack game is this Saturday at 4:00 pm. I am going. I will be decked out in all my Union regalia. Are there any organized alumni effort for this one? Any bus from the school? We had a great turnout last year at BU at Agganis. Lots of Boston area alumni. I am hoping for the same.

[Miami Ice]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

As disconcerting as Union's painful losses thus far and their ignominious status in the ECAC cellar are, it helpful to remember they knocked off BU and Michigan in two impressive victories. The personnel is there. The best coaches in the country are there. The convenient excuse of youth may or may not be valid. In any event the season has a long way to go. The Dutchmen have much to look forward to.

[Miami Ice]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

One could hear the collective sigh of relief all the way to south Fla. when the Dutchmen scored their third goal. Is the monkey off their back? Only time will tell. A convincing victory (shutout) over a highly ranked team is a big positive after the iffy start to the season.
There is no rest for the weary with Harvard up next. They are good, manhandling ND and RPI in very impressive fashion. Their first line may be the best in the country.
The ECAC looks to be more competitive than ever with even Brown making some noise and Princeton poking their heads up.
Wonder what happened to Colgate. That was a rough show on the Emerald Isle.

[rdf8585]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

Pretty impressive win by Union. The game wasn't in doubt most of the way. After two gut-wrenching losses before the exam break, and then two weeks off, I can't say I expected Union to go into Lawler and come away with a win. But perhaps getting away for a couple weeks is what this team needed to regroup. 8th-ranked Harvard will be a huge test on Friday.

[Dutchman]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

A good turnout of the faithful at Merrimack (Andover, MA) for a Thanksgiving weekend.
- Sak gets the win for us.
- Leveraged team speed. Looks like Bennett put our fastest skaters on the ice.
- Forechecking creating turnovers !!! Our speed is letting us be aggressive in forechecking.
- Upperclassmen stepping up, especially on defense. Eli, Pontarelli, Wilkins, Vecchione,
- We got all the bounces
- I would have liked to see better passing from our two junior defensemen. Passing the puck to Merrimack's forwards going the other way was not very helpful.

[Dutchman]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

8th-ranked Harvard will be a huge test on Friday.

Fridays are not our best day ....
Harvard is scoring 3.88, giving up 1.24
Union is scoring 2.54, giving up 2.54
I won't go through all the stats ... too depressing.

[rdf8585]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

Daniel Carr promoted to Montreal: https://t.co/QBasM6FYjj

[UFan]

Re: Union College: 2015-2016

Fridays are not our best day ....
Harvard is scoring 3.88, giving up 1.24
Union is scoring 2.54, giving up 2.54
I won't go through all the stats ... too depressing.

sigh...

Let's get some points in the league !!!!!! Go Union !!!!!!