With the "Part One" thread nearing its capacity (a little sooner than expected), I figured I'd take advantage of a relatively quiet day and set this follow-up thread afloat. Suffice to say that there were question marks added into the "Champions of December" thread for a reason, and we've pretty much spent most of the last 3 months discussing how the optimism for this year's UNH Men's Hockey team has quickly dissolved, and (as of the time of this writing) the team stands with a worse-than-mediocre 4-6-3 record after completion of most of the "easy" part of their schedule. With two of those four wins coming from twin D-1AA *powerhouses* AIC and Bentley, there's not a lot to look back and be happy about.
For spits and giggles, I've copied some of my outlook predictions and key questions from "Part One" below:
And so that brings us to that schedule thingie, and I'll say here and now that I expect UNH to win at least 10 games by the December break - and hopefully more. They should also have at least 9-10 points on the board after their first 7 HE regular season games. And that points outlook should have them postured for the top 4 - and REAL "home ice" for the HE quarterfinals, instead of "home ice" for the everyone-gets-a-medal round. And if the team can even come close to being able to approximate the strong late-season play of the last two seasons ... a return to the NCAA's SHOULD be attainable. But a fast start - like the good ol' days - is essential not only to set the foundation for a more challenging second-half league schedule, but also to build on the confidence the team developed down the stretch last season. "Champions of December" has been a taunt to the program in the past, but I'd welcome a return to that *title* in 90 days' time, so long as the team doesn't buy into any hype, and understands that even more will be required once they hit early 2016.
I'll leave it to others to discuss other issues within the team, including:
* Will Tirone continue as the everyday goalie? Will Clark get some starts, or is he en route to transferring out when Robinson arrives next season?
* Is Maller going to be able to return to form in the top two pairings? Which younger D-men will fill the other slots?
* Does the senior class of forwards have any shot at making an impact, and if not, what younger players step up?
If someone had told me two months ago that this team would be struggling to make it to HALF of 10 wins by the break, I'd have sent for the guys in the white coats to lock that *nutcase* away. But that's pretty much where things stand, and arguably the definitive "turning point" IMO was blowing a 5 goal lead to UMass Amherst. Even though there was a quick bounce-back after that dreadful loss - oops - tie, the after-effects of that fiasco seem to have seriously dented the team's confidence and carryover from the end of the previous season. And now, any momentum from last season is a mirage.
The questions for discussion - Tirone and the situation in goal (it's turned out MUCH worse than expected), the situation with Maller's injury (unfortunately still an ongoing issue), and the to-date dual failure of the seniors' "Maginot Line" and the younger players' inability to make consistently positive impacts, leaves this to be the most notably thin UNH squad I can recall in recent memory.
There are still a ton of games left to play this season, and arguably in the last game or two, we've at least begun to see some possible glimpses of the younger players breaking through and taking on bigger roles in a productive way. But the problem is that UNH's schedule gets decidedly more difficult soon enough, and even with a 1-1-3 HE record, the team sits in 9th place in the league. And while I understand part of that's because they've played so few league games to date (an undefeated Providence team sits in 7th place for the same reason), and some teams further up in the standings appear to be in false positions ... it's hard to argue against the idea that UNH may actually be in the bottom third of the league on merit. Perhaps this coming weekend's home-and-home series with rejuvenated UMaine will shed some light on this?
Anyway ... perhaps as much as we (as fans) entered this season with high hopes, perhaps so did the players, and if so, then maybe there was a little bit of complacency that slipped into the program for the early part of this season? There's no reason for that sentiment to be hanging around the locker room any further, though, and it would be nice to see the team get back up to .500 by the time they hit the break. Maybe build a little momentum and confidence, and then we'll see how things go with the HE heavy rest of the schedule. I don't think too many of us were predicting the (extremely) strong finish to the season last year, so I suppose it's possible it could happen again. But I just don't see it happening.
Revised predictions: UNH finishes under .500 both overall and in Hockey East (8th), ekes out a 2-1 series win at home in the make-believe, everyone-gets-a-medal round of the HE playoffs, then gets swept in the HE quarters on the road, doesn't get to Boston, and no NCAA's (again) Have at it, folks.
For spits and giggles, I've copied some of my outlook predictions and key questions from "Part One" below:
And so that brings us to that schedule thingie, and I'll say here and now that I expect UNH to win at least 10 games by the December break - and hopefully more. They should also have at least 9-10 points on the board after their first 7 HE regular season games. And that points outlook should have them postured for the top 4 - and REAL "home ice" for the HE quarterfinals, instead of "home ice" for the everyone-gets-a-medal round. And if the team can even come close to being able to approximate the strong late-season play of the last two seasons ... a return to the NCAA's SHOULD be attainable. But a fast start - like the good ol' days - is essential not only to set the foundation for a more challenging second-half league schedule, but also to build on the confidence the team developed down the stretch last season. "Champions of December" has been a taunt to the program in the past, but I'd welcome a return to that *title* in 90 days' time, so long as the team doesn't buy into any hype, and understands that even more will be required once they hit early 2016.
I'll leave it to others to discuss other issues within the team, including:
* Will Tirone continue as the everyday goalie? Will Clark get some starts, or is he en route to transferring out when Robinson arrives next season?
* Is Maller going to be able to return to form in the top two pairings? Which younger D-men will fill the other slots?
* Does the senior class of forwards have any shot at making an impact, and if not, what younger players step up?
If someone had told me two months ago that this team would be struggling to make it to HALF of 10 wins by the break, I'd have sent for the guys in the white coats to lock that *nutcase* away. But that's pretty much where things stand, and arguably the definitive "turning point" IMO was blowing a 5 goal lead to UMass Amherst. Even though there was a quick bounce-back after that dreadful loss - oops - tie, the after-effects of that fiasco seem to have seriously dented the team's confidence and carryover from the end of the previous season. And now, any momentum from last season is a mirage.
The questions for discussion - Tirone and the situation in goal (it's turned out MUCH worse than expected), the situation with Maller's injury (unfortunately still an ongoing issue), and the to-date dual failure of the seniors' "Maginot Line" and the younger players' inability to make consistently positive impacts, leaves this to be the most notably thin UNH squad I can recall in recent memory.
There are still a ton of games left to play this season, and arguably in the last game or two, we've at least begun to see some possible glimpses of the younger players breaking through and taking on bigger roles in a productive way. But the problem is that UNH's schedule gets decidedly more difficult soon enough, and even with a 1-1-3 HE record, the team sits in 9th place in the league. And while I understand part of that's because they've played so few league games to date (an undefeated Providence team sits in 7th place for the same reason), and some teams further up in the standings appear to be in false positions ... it's hard to argue against the idea that UNH may actually be in the bottom third of the league on merit. Perhaps this coming weekend's home-and-home series with rejuvenated UMaine will shed some light on this?
Anyway ... perhaps as much as we (as fans) entered this season with high hopes, perhaps so did the players, and if so, then maybe there was a little bit of complacency that slipped into the program for the early part of this season? There's no reason for that sentiment to be hanging around the locker room any further, though, and it would be nice to see the team get back up to .500 by the time they hit the break. Maybe build a little momentum and confidence, and then we'll see how things go with the HE heavy rest of the schedule. I don't think too many of us were predicting the (extremely) strong finish to the season last year, so I suppose it's possible it could happen again. But I just don't see it happening.
Revised predictions: UNH finishes under .500 both overall and in Hockey East (8th), ekes out a 2-1 series win at home in the make-believe, everyone-gets-a-medal round of the HE playoffs, then gets swept in the HE quarters on the road, doesn't get to Boston, and no NCAA's (again) Have at it, folks.
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