UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

[ScottK]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

Back up 1 spot to #7 in the poll this week: http://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-i-mens-poll/

Pat - check your e-mail.

[Patman]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

I don't suppose bob would be willing to provide a version in laptop screen sizes? (1680x1050 or so).

I don't know if I've lost this but at one time I was using a photo of uml/mc center ice w bunyon dropping the puck... McGrane days.

[UMLFan]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

Congratulations to UML Men's Basketball for making the DII Tournament.

[UMLFan]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

Wow- that is amazing! How does he talk and shoot at the same time?

Multi-talented!

Wow, I just can't get over the fact of where this team is right now. Amazing.

[leswp1]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

Wow- that is amazing! How does he talk and shoot at the same time?

[ScottK]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

I thought I'd share one of the pictures that Bob Ellis took on Saturday. This is one of his better shots:
*****https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-BUn31c7UGrg/T1TMIcIcjHI/AAAAAAAAQ00/Acza7tsBJ6Q/s912/Ferreira%2520Goal%25203-1%2520%25201a.jpg******

[boblav1]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

The event after the game for the Srs was very nice. I am a bit confused by why it was done that way- Maybe because they aren't done and it kept the focus on the game and not on that? I don't know. I would love if they opened up the end of the yr thing to the fans and pushed it. The last few yrs the end of the yr thing was dismal. With the fan support they have now it would be kind of cool to have a way for people to show their appreciation when it wouldn't distract from the game.

I'm glad to hear the event for the Seniors was nice. I'm sure there's a reason why Norm handled it the way he did but I know a few of the parents were disappointed.

[leswp1]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

The event after the game for the Srs was very nice. I am a bit confused by why it was done that way- Maybe because they aren't done and it kept the focus on the game and not on that? I don't know. I would love if they opened up the end of the yr thing to the fans and pushed it. The last few yrs the end of the yr thing was dismal. With the fan support they have now it would be kind of cool to have a way for people to show their appreciation when it wouldn't distract from the game.

[Patman]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

This team creates goals... period... you can tell in their demeanor and they earn it on their forecheck.

---

I don't know what Val's future looks like... but i'm going to miss that effort and the way he makes opponents look silly... doing it since freshman year and I hope he's able to continue for quite awhile longer.

edit: its funny... I said earlier in the year that I'd rather play open and win on occasion and lose a few games giving up 10 goals than to play defensively an uninspiring and give up 5 and lose every time. If we only knew, huh?

[John_Fuller]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

Bucky, a really really good post.

Thanks, Monty.

A few more team stats from Hockey East comparing last year to this year. Hopefully, we won't have to see this dramatic change from season to season in a long time.

Wins: +13
Losses: -12
HE Point Diff: +25
Goals For: +30 (90 vs 60)
Goals Against: -34 (68 vs 102)
GFPG: 3.33 (+1.11 goal improvement from 2010-2011)
GAPG: 2.58 (-1.26 goal improvement from 2010-2011)
Diff. + 2.37 (That's going to win you a few more hockey games )

[UMLFan]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

A little over a score of young men, a coaching staff, and 5310 people found out what happens when you take care of business and taking eight out of nine possible tiebreakers...you can finish in second place

Bucky, a really really good post.

I just looked this up, the UML seniors have a chance to actually leave about .500, which after last year is extremely impressive.

08/09: 14-11-2 HE, 20-16-2 overall
09/10: 12-11-4, 19-16-4
10/11: 4-21-2, 5-25-4
11/12: 17-9-1, 22-10-1 (ongoing)
Overall: 47-52-9, 66-67-11

Have to figure that Wilson has won the HE ROTY, and Bazin the HE Coach of the Year.

Quick look at the HE stats shows Wilson finished tied for 6th in total points (28), Wetmore was tied for 8th (27) and Arnold tied for 11th (26), while Ferreira and Pendenza tied for 19th with 22 points. Arnold finished tied for fourth in goals in league play with 14, and Wilson finished tied for 8th with 12. Wetmore finished tied for 6th in assists. Arnold was tied for the most game winning goals, with 4. Ruhwedel was tied for fifth in points by a d-man (18), while Wilson was easily the highest point scorer as a freshman (6 more than BC's Gaudreau), and Wallin was 5th in that category (18). Pendanza was second in +/- with a +17. On the goaltending side, Carr wound up second in GAA with a 2.17 (behind 1.85 for BC's Milner). His 92.7% save rate puts him at fourth in the conference (UNH's Casey DeSmith finished with a 92.8%), and he also was second in goalie win %, only behind Milner.

[John_Fuller]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

A little over a score of young men, a coaching staff, and 5310 people found out what happens when you take care of business and eight out of nine possible tiebreakers...you can finish in second place

Four of those young men, Budd, Corcoran, Ferreira, and Vallorani, especially deserved the result and reception of last night. This weekend for our senior class (arguably one of the most tumultuous in Lowell history) was a fitting end to their final regular-season game in the Tsongas Center. After driving home last night, I stopped to reflect on what their seniors had to deal with in the course of their careers. Ferreira had a brain injury that almost ended his career even before he even took the ice and was in fact delayed by a year. All four of them were dealing with the aftermath of the near-cancellation of our program as recruits just one year prior. Thankfully, once they got on the ice, they took part of a wonderful freshmen season only mired by a "failed audio component" and a hockey analyst claiming that the team "got jobbed" in the HE Championship Game. They came back for their sophomore seasons with the team getting off to a quick start. After an unfortunate sweep by Providence and Maine during Thanksgiving week, they saw a season of expectations slowly start to slip away. The team was just five hockey minutes from the Garden in the 2010 Game 3 QF thriller in Maine, only to see their season end unceremoniously in overtime which officially knock them out of the NCAA tournament.

After the deflating loss only one year removed from the HE championship game, murmurs about the head coach's future were at a simmer immediately following that Maine game. Many pundits and Lowell fans alike were predicting a complete collapse, including several blogs that said Lowell would be lucky to win five games in 2010-2011. These men were tasked with cleaning up the mess of 2010 coupled with shepherding a new flock of freshmen numbering in the double-digits. To add insult to this daunting task, they had their captain (and best player) go down with for all purposes was a season-ending injury. It was too much for the team to handle as the season fell into a bottomless abyss. The team was virtually eliminated from the HE playoffs even before the first semester ended. I heard long time supporters start to become unglued, heck, we were yapping at each other on the boards after I started my "Is It Time for a Change at UML" post. When the five win season was confirmed, it all too surreal and this team was really in a bad place.

Sure enough, a lot of people (myself included) got their wish when our head coach resigned after one of the worse years in Lowell history. A "new" coach arrived but really wasn't "new" to the Lowell family. There were quite a few skeptics to say the least; a lot of people has Lowell as a #7/#8 seed in the playoffs; others (including the HE Coaches) had Lowell out of the playoffs #9. A few even called for a repeat of the tenth-place finish from the prior campaign.

The season got off to a tremendous start in Mankato with a freshmen goalie in net and a win. The win was turned into an unexpected sweep of Manakto, even against a team expected to be in the bottom tier of college hockey. However, over the next three games, the team came back to earth, losing a bad game to UConn and getting swept by a BC team that looked like it was going to run away with the season at that point. Fifteen seconds into the next home game vs. BU, the red light was on for the bad guys and at that point, I (and probably everyone in the stands at that instant) wrote off the season.

Matt Ferreira didn't and after that goal, help the River Hawks to score the next seven off of three assists on his own, including the first two goals. Including this game, the River Hawks went 20-7-1, swept Maine in Orono for the first time since the 80s, swept the UNH Wildcats and beat BC at home in front of huge crowds. After each of the seven losses for the remainder of the season, they came back with statement games to quell frequent calls that their joyride was over. As a group while these seniors may not collectively have as much talent as some of their younger counterparts, be rest assured that their leadership over the past year has been nothing short of exemplary and share with the coaches in the tremendous turnaround of this team, possibly the biggest in New England collegiate sports history. This was the class that when a big goal or play was needed, they provided the support to allow that to happen, but unlike so many of the prior senior classes, they were the first class to execute it in over a decade and a half.

The last four seasons been quite the roller-coaster ride. There is a cliche that says: "Life is like a roller-coaster, with plenty of ups and downs". The good news is as it's likely to be a "banner year" unless some really wacky stuff happens in the playoffs, we don't have to say good-bye to the senior class just yet.

PS: We did get fortunate with the results of last night but speaks volumes of the difference between 2010 and 2012. We didn't take care of business in 2010 and we saw the aforementioned result. We did take care of business this weekend and wound up in second place giving BU a much tougher match-up against UNH (I'm sure will be the NESN and possibly NBCSN game). In any case, I take great pride and pleasure in two questions being asked on Commonwealth Avenue this morning by the BU faithful...

"Who's this Vinny Saponari? And why can't we get players like that?"

[UMLFan]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

UML now tied for second in the PWR. Also, big time credit to Boulanger for finally gaining his first win at the college level. I wonder if this was his last game playing for UML.

[UMLFan]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

I was a little surprised there was no on ice introduction/celebration for the seniors last night.

I'm going to be sending an email to the school about that tomorrow. That was so disappointing, really ruined a wonderful evening.

I know they had a private event for them in the Talon Room, which is all well and good, but it's completely not fair to the fans/alumni not to be able to say thanks. For all the amazing work this program has done, this just leaves a terrible taste in my mouth.

Yes, this really upset me.

[ScottK]

Re: UML 2011-2012 Thread: Part II

ScottK, how did that woman make out who got hit with the puck last night?

She got drilled right on the back of the hand with it. She came back down for the 2nd period with it covered in ice packs and left after the 2nd period ended.