Colgate 2009-2010

[Colgate2014]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

Tonight the perfect storm would be a Colgate W a Harvard W and a Union W.

[allnightwong]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

For any of those not making the trip to Hamden, the CBS College Sports telecast is first rate. I'm watching a replay of the Cornell game from yesterday and while the on ice action makes me weep the display and camera angles that they use are top notch. Try and catch the game tonight if you're not heading down to CT or up from NJ.

[ColSkate65]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

I'm feeling a split also, but a "W" at P'ton and -- unfortunately -- a "L" at Q-Pac. The Bobcats have just gone too long without a win and I can't see them extending that streak past Saturday.....

This guy got it right about last nite; must be a genius..

Sure hope he's a dumba#s about tonight's game...

Keep it rolling boys!

[TheValleyRaider]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

Happy about last night's win. Road wins are always a plus, and they continued to push in the 3rd, not letting the dangerous Tigers carry the play. I know P'ton was dealing with some injuries last night, but it's good to go out and beat a team you're supposed to. 2 PPGs are always a plus (even if one was Mac's ENG)

Sadly, I don't get CBS-CS, so I won't be able to witness the contest. Not that I could anyway, as I'll be at the Stars game tonight

Look good for the cameras 'Gate

[Rainman]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

Sure hope he's a dumba#s about tonight's game...

I sure hope so. Quinny was averaging a shot on goal every 2 min. last night; they just ran into Scrivens. We can't let the Bobcats do the same to Evin.

Sadly, I don't get CBS-CS, so I won't be able to witness the contest. Not that I could anyway, as I'll be at the Stars game tonight

Look good for the cameras 'Gate

I don't get CBS College Sports either; that's why I'm going to the game in person! (Also because Qpac is within 2 hours of my residence).

Okay it's time to head out the door for CT Here's to a good showing on National TV!

[ColSkate65]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

Don't get TV of any kind here.... Looking forward to your report tomorrow Rainman.

[Magoo]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

Terrible performance tonight. No other way to say it. Evin was tremendous, Larkin was pretty good, McIntyre was OK, but everyone else mailed it in. It was like "Well, we won last night, so we don't need this game. We got our split". That's too bad, because we do have some talented players. But they don't show up every game. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if we beat Yale on Friday.

We're a 500 hockey team - no more, no less. Maybe we'll upset someone in the 2nd round.

[TheValleyRaider]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

So, I did manage to catch the 3rd period. Uninspired performance, to say the least. No sustained pressure on the Q-pac net, especially later in the 3rd when the clock would dictate some more desperation. Refereeing was inconsistent, as usual, though at least one of the late penalties was deserved. Evin was good, including a great point-blank glove save. After last night's win, just very disappointing. Inconsistency is usually a hallmark of youth, but it's scary when the more veteran forwards are the inconsistent ones...

Rather than being a .500 hockey team (though we are), we're pretty much what I was expecting at the beginning of the year: a home ice team, but not a first round bye team

[Rainman]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

Looking forward to your report tomorrow Rainman.

Here's my report in a nutshell: ColSkate65, you may as well predict every remaining game for us. You nailed it on the head for this weekend.

It sucks to lose a game. It sucks even more when you lose on national television. It sucks even more when you lose to a team that hasn't won in almost 2 months.

And it sucks when your team lays a goose egg on the scoreboard.
And it sucks even more when you're at the game in person and all of the above happen.

That said, we looked sloppy in the 1st period. We didn't really seem to get anything going right from the start, and was letting Quinnipiac dictate the play. Then a bad turnover results in a mini-breakaway with Evin being hung out to dry. And the Q-pac player dekes him to score.

Then we started to turn up the intensity. We started shooting the puck more, and was generating chances on the 1st power play. But alas, it was not meant to be and we were down 1-0 after one. Little did I know that the score would stand the rest of the game.

2nd period: A rather even period, but we couldn't score on the power-play??? No wonder we lost the game. Talk about bad puck luck. I thought we were suffering from that. 3rd period: Same, until about 3:30 left in regulation. We take a penalty, then another one to give Quinnipac a 5x3 for OVER A MINUTE. As a result, they score after keeping it in our defensive zone the ENTIRE time without us clearing. That simply deflated us. I started heading for the exit after that. I'm lucky I was sane enough to make the 130 mile drive home.

That said, the defense was playing great, especially Poplawski and Larkin (I believe they were paired together). Evin was great too, stopping 34 of 36 shots. He did NOT deserve to get the loss. That said, I'm hoping he gets the start again next Friday. Otherwise, the coaching staff still does not have the confidence in him (or any one goaltender) to be the starter. Evin has shown that he can definitely (and wants to) be the starter. It's tough to see him play so well only for our offense to lay a goose egg.

That said, the ECAC standings are still a jumbled mess. At least we got a road split, but not in the way we wanted too. Funny that us, Cornell, Quinnipiac and Princeton all earned 2 pts this weekend off each other. We're still 3 pts out of 4th place and that 1st-round bye spot PLUS a game in hand. But we're only 5 points ahead of 10th place (and no home ice), where we finished last season. It'll be a wild race to the finish.

We have THREE home games in the next 10 days. Here's to a great crowd for each of those games (and the pep band showing up for ALL 3 games too)

[TchrBill]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

So the roller coaster ride continues. Someone had to lose to Q eventually and it figured to be us. No surprise there. I'm sure the tv coverage of that game has left recruits scratching their heads and fans covering their eyes in disbelief.

It's just more of the same, so there's no real shock value. Two points on the road is good. Two points at home with the way we play is good, too. We don't deserve a first-round bye and with teams now playing leap frog over us, even 5-8 is tenuous.

I see we saved our best play for the 3rd period again and learned a lot from that SLU game: outshot 2:1, two penalties to close out the game and a score. More of the same - no discipline. And all of those goose eggs - next time I'll bring a basket.

OK, done venting. Inspiring play by Evin but no time to wallow - we've got to regroup. Hoping for a W vs. Brown but dreading Yale and Cornell. Our record against the Big Red is awful and they'll feel right at home with the fans (and band?) that they bring to Starr...not to mention how we completely self-destructed last year against the Bulldogs in a game that will live in infamy.

[sshablak]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

Yes, we had a bad game last night. But..We got our split and we're still right there. Biggest 5 day stretch of the year coming up. We need at least to win two I think if we want a first round bye.

We have the big game in hand...If we could win that it would be very large. Also..We have five games home and two away !!

[Marmot]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

Did anyone watching the game see the play late in the first period which was ruled no goal after review? It was really strange. I was actually right in that end of the rink and don't seem to recall anything close to going in. But then there was a long delay, which I initially thought was a TV timeout. However, I noticed that the referee was in the penalty box on the phone. He came out, went over to the Colgate bench and did the washout sign. All I know is that Brisebois sure seemed to think the puck was in because before the resumption of play he went to the corner of the net and pointed to where he must have thought it went in. He did the same thing at the end of the period, going over to the official to continue making his point. Of course, I could have imagined all of this because the Q-Pac PA announcer did not say anything regarding a goal review.

Anyway, my viewpoint on the game proper:

The Good
*Evin was VERY solid. And I'm not saying that simply based on the final numbers. He seemed completely composed--showing economy of movement, always being squared to the shot and allowing essentially no rebounds. If he can continue to play like that, we'll have a chance every night.
*In general, I thought the defense was excellent. Through the first two periods, irrespective of the shot total, Q-Pac had exactly one quality scoring chance(which unfortunately was a blown coverage on a home-run pass play that they use all the time). We surrendered more shots in the third period but that was largely a result of having to take more chances to try to generate a goal and the 2-man disadvantage. I have partial season tickets to Q-Pac and my buddy is a Q-Pac Law alum; his quote early in the third period to me was, "you know, we really haven't threatened you all night."

The Bad
*Our offense looks dismal. Utter disarray. For whatever reason, there seems to be a distinct aversion to shooting the puck. With seven minutes to go in the first last night, we had generated exactly one shot. From my vantage point it didn't seem to be lack of effort, just lack of direction.
*Relatedly, the power play looked even worse. Most of the time, we had difficulty in even getting it into their zone(or sometimes even getting it of OUR zone!). Once the puck was in the offensive zone there was a distinct failure to create any good scoring chances. In fact, before our last power play, Q-Pac had more quality chances on their PK than 'gate did on the PP. Not good.
*On the one Grade A chance delivered all night on the PP, Smith got open down low but was unable to get good wood on the redirect. Also, on a PP, Q-Pac made an egregious turnover in their end which would have sent Smith in alone on the goalie; unfortunately, the puck was about five feet too far for that to happen. I'm taking Smith in that one on one every time. Which I guess is a positive in that I think Smith looked speedy all night(Brisebois, I thought, too).

Anyway, it is what it is--another .500 weekend. I guess we'll see what happens the rest of the way. . .

[ColSkate65]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

My bad. Sorry I sort of thought last night would turn out as it did. I'll refrain from making any more predictions the rest of the season..

No new thoughts from those of other posters this morning. Evin didn't deserve the loss. Played well, and stoned one certain goal with a flash of his stick - amazing.

As GR reported, neither team played a good game - 'Gate particularly. QU was able to negate any offense we tried - not that we put up much -- and we couldn't solve Clark, who appeared to be another Scivens in the nets. Maybe both teams were suffering from "Friday Night Fever."

O-fer 5 on the PP killed us again.

We gotta be sure to take care of business vs. Brown, Harvard and Dartmouth down the road so they don't leapfrog us as other teams have. Cornell and Yale will be no picnic, but I like our chances for 3 pts between them. Ops!...sorry about the prediction...

[Rainman]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

Did anyone watching the game see the play late in the first period which was ruled no goal after review?

I was in Section 115, facing our offensive zone for the 1st and 3rd periods. Had we scored, I would have clearly seen the puck enter the net. From my vantage point, it didn't. It's too bad since there were a handful of Colgate supporters at that game (and in that section) who were ready to cheer for the team ... and it never happened. Maybe it was because I was the only one that tried to be vocal.

Still, we have FIVE of the next SEVEN at home. Plus that big 1 game in hand. I found this what-if calculator if anyone feels desired to try a few scenarios. We can get a bye if we win almost all our remaining games, and we appear to be a lock for home ice (5-8) should we go .500 the rest of the way. But anything can happen in this conference...

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: Colgate 2009-2010

I was in Section 115, facing our offensive zone for the 1st and 3rd periods. Had we scored, I would have clearly seen the puck enter the net. From my vantage point, it didn't.

Rumor last night was that 'Gate felt the puck went through the net right at the far post (and that's what the 'Gate player seemed to indicate after the call). I remember the puck seeming to change direction as if it hit the post. During the intermission my buddy heard that someone down near the net claims the twine moved. The goal light never came on and it appeared nobody on the ice (players or officials) thought it was a goal, while the crowd ooh'd and ahh'd but didn't seem to react like it was in either.

I've been watching the game on the DVR and it appears that late in the first with 4:46 remaining is when the shot was taken. However, the camera wasn't quick enough to clearly see the puck at the precise moment it was at the net. There were no other replays shown on the broadcast so I don't know if the refs had any other angles. Play continued on for another 2:45 before the next whistle at 2:01 to go (when QU took the too many men penalty). The commentators weren't really sure what was going on at the time either.