UNH At The Starting Gate....

[SteveF]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

they can beat anybody this year.

even michigan?

[Gibber]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

especially michigan... or something.

[Carmine Scarpaglia]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Congrats on title 5, we're all playing for 2nd place

Thanks Gib. Given BC's streak over UNH in the postseason, you certainly would be playing for 2nd place if BC was your opponent in the national title game! Boy would it shut those WCHA boyz up, though.

But let's be honest, I think we all know you guys will flame out long before the national title game.

[Gibber]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Thanks Gib. Given BC's streak over UNH in the postseason, you certainly would be playing for 2nd place if BC was your opponent in the national title game! Boy would it shut those WCHA boyz up, though.

But let's be honest, I think we all know you guys will flame out long before the national title game.

Like I said, congrats!

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Regarding the above assessment watching Borisenok last year and 3 games this year, he is a very solid 2 way player including faceoff’s. He handles the puck well and has shown some creativity. In my view he has some upside offensive potential. Moses has a “free wheeling , run around “ style, no one can really set him up. He’s kind of a opportunist that gets to pucks other don’t because of his speed. For example his goal on Saturday night, Borisenok tips way a Miami pass, Moses gets to it because of his speed and scores. That’s the Moses game.

Your assessment of Borisenok and Moses was right on the money:
"The Wildcats gained the equalizer just 1:37 into the middle stanza when junior Mike Borisenok (Watervliet, N.Y.) won the faceoff in the right circle to classmate Stevie Moses (Leominster, Mass.), who blasted a shot from the top of the circle that beat Michigan goaltender Shawn Hunwick to his left." (from UNHWildcats.com).

[Snively65]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I am sure you might be able to get some of those $75.00 "premium" seats that UNH is selling.

I could not get to Durham until about 6:30 pm, but there were still a few reserved seats available, so only had to shell out $26. Not much to add to what has already been written, although I thought that Block played great too, and the action in the corners is much more fun to watch now after the reconfiguration. After spending the first two periods behind the net at the far end (great place to watch both goalies make some fine stops), I found that my cousin had an extra seat about 10 rows up in the first section along the sidewall in the corner on the UNH side, which was perfect for watching DeSimone's beautiful feed to Thompson for the game-tying goal. My cousin thought that the UNH goal called back earlier in the game was because Hunwick lifted the post off the ice with his shoulder, AFTER the puck crossed the line. Agreed that UNH needs to get at least one shot on net with 35 seconds of 5-3 PP; just shoot it! With tickets apparently so readily available this season, I will be back for a few more games at Lake Whitt this season. Great start!

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Matt DiGirolamo named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week
Couldn't ask for a better start.

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Move over Trevor Smith. There's a new mayor in town - Nick Sorkin.
At least that's the opinion of a knowledgable father and son team who sat behind me at Matthews Arena this evening. I second the nomination. Sorkin's combination of size (6'-3") and speed impressed me in the Michigan game. Tonight, he played with Borisenok and Moses and matched them stride-for-stride. The big frame with #21 on the back won't make you forget about JvR but he could develop into a very productive player over the next four years.

Matthews was as spectator friendly as advertised. The Dog Pound was a hoot. The fans were respectful (or at least tolerant) of the visitors in UNH shirts and hats. Great site lines. And the coldest (temperature wise) arena I've ever been in.

As expected, Northeastern was a competitive bunch. They came out flying in the first period and had UNH on it's heels for the first 10 minutes or so. Eventually, UNH's more balanced talent across all offensive and defensive lines regained the momentum. NU got their chances though I think they were outshoot by a small amount. Rawlings is a quality goaltender and compensates for some defensive lapses.

By-and-large, the character of the NU squad was like their coach's - petulant and hot-headed. Whether it was slashing the boards on the way to the penalty box or taking two cheap shots at the head of DeSimone and DiGirolamo, the Huskies aren't going to win any popularity contests outside of Huntington Ave. But, give them credit - they were never out of the game.

One final note. Even on the smaller ice surface, Stevie Moses was all over the place scooping up pucks and leading rushes. Mr. Excitement. Also, DiGi seems more and more comfortable with each passing game.

[GoUNH]

Move over Trevor Smith. There's a new mayor in town - Nick Sorkin.
At least that's the opinion of a knowledgable father and son team who sat behind me at Matthews Arena this evening. I second the nomination. Sorkin's combination of size (6'-3") and speed impressed me in the Michigan game. Tonight, he played with Borisenok and Moses and matched them stride-for-stride. The big frame with #21 on the back won't make you forget about JvR but he could develop into a very productive player over the next four years.

Matthews was as spectator friendly as advertised. The Dog Pound was a hoot. The fans were respectful (or at least tolerant) of the visitors in UNH shirts and hats. Great site lines. And the coldest (temperature wise) arena I've ever been in.

As expected, Northeastern was a competitive bunch. They came out flying in the first period and had UNH on it's heels for the first 10 minutes or so. Eventually, UNH's more balanced talent across all offensive and defensive lines regained the momentum. NU got their chances though I think they were outshoot by a small amount. Rawlings is a quality goaltender and compensates for some defensive lapses.

By-and-large, the character of the NU squad was like their coach's - petulant and hot-headed. Whether it was slashing the boards on the way to the penalty box or taking two cheap shots at the head of DeSimone and DiGirolamo, the Huskies aren't going to win any popularity contests outside of Huntington Ave. But, give them credit - they were never out of the game.

One final note. Even on the smaller ice surface, Stevie Moses was all over the place scooping up pucks and leading rushes. Mr. Excitement. Also, DiGi seems more and more comfortable with each passing game.

Thanks for the update CHC! I had tix to the game but had to cancel at the last minute. How did Henrion look? I felt he played great against Michigan with his combination nifty skills and size.

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Thanks for the update CHC! I had tix to the game but had to cancel at the last minute. How did Henrion look? I felt he played great against Michigan with his combination nifty skills and size.

Given the negative buzz about Henrion - being on the "milk carton" list - I kind of watched him closely last night. For much of the game, he didn't do much. In fact, I thought he made several bad passes. In the third period, he made a nifty move taking the puck between the faceoff circles in front of Rawlings and drew a penalty. The sophomore line - Speelman-Block-Henrion - is still a work in progress. Speelman continues to impress me with his ability to control the puck.

[Ryecheers]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Move over Trevor Smith. There's a new mayor in town - Nick Sorkin.
At least that's the opinion of a knowledgable father and son team who sat behind me at Matthews Arena this evening. I second the nomination. Sorkin's combination of size (6'-3") and speed impressed me in the Michigan game. Tonight, he played with Borisenok and Moses and matched them stride-for-stride. The big frame with #21 on the back won't make you forget about JvR but he could develop into a very productive player over the next four years.

Matthews was as spectator friendly as advertised. The Dog Pound was a hoot. The fans were respectful (or at least tolerant) of the visitors in UNH shirts and hats. Great site lines. And the coldest (temperature wise) arena I've ever been in.

As expected, Northeastern was a competitive bunch. They came out flying in the first period and had UNH on it's heels for the first 10 minutes or so. Eventually, UNH's more balanced talent across all offensive and defensive lines regained the momentum. NU got their chances though I think they were outshoot by a small amount. Rawlings is a quality goaltender and compensates for some defensive lapses.

By-and-large, the character of the NU squad was like their coach's - petulant and hot-headed. Whether it was slashing the boards on the way to the penalty box or taking two cheap shots at the head of DeSimone and DiGirolamo, the Huskies aren't going to win any popularity contests outside of Huntington Ave. But, give them credit - they were never out of the game.

One final note. Even on the smaller ice surface, Stevie Moses was all over the place scooping up pucks and leading rushes. Mr. Excitement. Also, DiGi seems more and more comfortable with each passing game.

I am glad you enjoyed your visit to our humble pond. It's always fun to have UNH come for a visit with their collection of roadrunners. Incidentally the smaller ice surface is the same length as "Winnepesaukee with boards" but it is 10 feet narrower giving the Wildcats a distinct road disadvantage. In actuality, IIRC it is the largest ice surface in Boston. It is also well heated. If you were cold, you may be coming down with something.

The game was fun to watch as each team poured shots on the other team's keeper, but neither team had a lot of grade "A" opportunities. Neither goalie had to stand on his head.
None of the goals was what I would call pretty, although Mclaughlin's SH goal was the result of a great rush around your D and stuffing your goalie into the net. His second was far less photogenic.

Neither UNH goals reflected the kind of skill your forwards have. The first seems have been gloved into the net by Rawlings, while the second saw the puck thrown centered from the corner to the crease area where it deflected in off someone. I was reviewed by the refs and deemed worthy.

I'm not really impressed with your goalie. He's certainly improved from the time we last saw him as a freshman. He seems adequate at best. Your best bet is to keep the puck in the opponent's zone as much as possible. But you've already adopted that strategy. I didn't see a cheap shot to his head, but I did see a comically bad acting job on his part, as he slowly rolled over on his back and splayed his arms out. We don't usually laugh at an injured player. Quite the opposite is true, but he really looked silly. Desimone also did his best to draw a call. He was so violated that he never even left the ice. Can you spell "embellishment"?

Anotther interesting note (to me, at least) was the fact that UNH went 47+ minutes without taking a penalty - then took two in 16 seconds. Wish we could do the former. We can certainly do the latter. The truth is that NU doesn't mind being shorthanded as we have scored as many goals SH as on the PP so far this year. Pathetic PP simply has to improve. We almost ruined that stat during the two man advantage, but the ref disallowed the goal.

By local standards the game was pretty tame. UNH appeared just slightly more skilled. Our eight freshmen look terrific. Oleksiak, with his size and rapidly improving skills may turn out to be something special, ala Kessel. I hope we can fare as well on your ice.

[northeastern]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

One final note. Even on the smaller ice surface, Stevie Moses was all over the place scooping up pucks and leading rushes. Mr. Excitement..

he was amazing to watch. not a bad wristshot either .

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Oleksiak, with his size and rapidly improving skills may turn out to be something special, ala Kessel. I hope we can fare as well on your ice.

Oleksiak was very impressive. He may be further along than Kessel was at the beginning of his freshman year.

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Oleksiak is an absolute beast and nearly impossible to knock off the puck. Will have a long career in the show. He's a defensive defenseman, though, so it's hard to compare him to Kessel.

[i'zonprize]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Move over Trevor Smith. There's a new mayor in town - Nick Sorkin.
At least that's the opinion of a knowledgable father and son team who sat behind me at Matthews Arena this evening. I second the nomination. Sorkin's combination of size (6'-3") and speed impressed me in the Michigan game. Tonight, he played with Borisenok and Moses and matched them stride-for-stride. The big frame with #21 on the back won't make you forget about JvR but he could develop into a very productive player over the next four years.

Sorkin does have excellent speed and I think this may have been the second time he's been matched with Moses & Bori- IIRC, it was Burke who was on that line for game 1 @ Miami-O. He did put up impressive goal numbers while on teh Maryland U-18 squad,he's only a yr removed them- but seems to be very college ready. I see him being able to put pucks in the net after not long.

You'd might even think it would be tough to break that line up, when Burke gets healthy.. Question is - where does that put Burke?