UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

[sterlippo1]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

We would have video of it if the idiots from BC would share it.

if we are idiots, where does that leave you?

It is a Catholic school...

well done

I love it! (That is, the comment, not the school.)

no comments from the peanut gallery please


P.S. ecat, total misplay/lack of concentration and he's had more than a couple shot past the blue line beat him this year.

[the geese]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

Great come back Potsie...or are you Malf? I'm rubber and you're glue! Say 3 Hail Mary's and promise you'll never...

[e.cat]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

It is a Catholic school...

Not necessary and in poor taste!

if we are idiots, where does that leave you?



well done



no comments from the peanut gallery please


P.S. ecat, total misplay/lack of concentration and he's had more than a couple shot past the blue line beat him this year.

sometimes those shots handcuff an otherwise very solid goalie!

We would have video of it if the idiots from BC would share it. They only show positive things that shine the lite on BC. I guess that if you don't acknowledge something then it doesn't exist. Puck was on the redline when it took off. Hard enough to make it thru Milners armpit. It wasn't a Texas leaguer.

Knodel has a pretty good slappah. I've seen him score some sweet goals this year.

[J.D.]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

Great come back Potsie...or are you Malf? I'm rubber and you're glue! Say 3 Hail Mary's and promise you'll never...

"the geese"...i'm confused

i thought you only posted about chuck murray?

[Rhett]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

UNH's DC Alumni Association is having a gamewatch Friday night at The Laughing Man Tavern near Metro Center. New location, and a strong turnout is expected. The local planning committee is having a pre-game meeting to talk about other events in the area at 6PM if anyone is interested. All are welcome.

[New Hampshire 'Cats Fan]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

UNH's DC Alumni Association is having a gamewatch Friday night at The Laughing Man Tavern near Metro Center. New location, and a strong turnout is expected. The local planning committee is having a pre-game meeting to talk about other events in the area at 6PM if anyone is interested. All are welcome.

Glad to hear you guys are continuing with the watching parties at a different bar! Hope it's a blast!

[Rhett]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

Glad to hear you guys are continuing with the watching parties at a different bar! Hope it's a blast!

Thanks! I think it will be a better venue anyways. Several other schools hold events there (I ran into a Duke-UNC hoops event there last week) to good reviews. During NFL season they're actually a Buffalo Bills bar, but we'll forgive them if tomorrow is a hit.

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

Hard to believe that after a couple of months of decidedly mediocre and inconsistent hockey, UNH has found themselves in an enviable position looking at this closing stretch of games. I give them a ton of credit for earning the tie last weekend at BC (BTW - speaking of "decidedly mediocre and inconsistent", what's up with them?), and they may not have been at their best last night either, but they still found a way to grind out a road victory against a UVM squad that's been playing well as they battle for one of the final two playoff seedings. If they can double up and get another win today, they'd be no worse than tied for first at the end of this weekend (albeit with BC and Merrimack still having a game in hand), and they'd be looking at finishing up the regular season with four home games.

Perhaps even more importantly, the first two of those games are against UMass-Amherst, who right now is the team with the worst form in the league (besides Northeastern), and could be riding a six-game losing streak by this time tomorrow. The biggest concern of these last six games would/should be with UMaine, and by the time UNH faces them in the final weekend, they (UMaine) could be locked into 7th place, as they have three games between now and then with UMass-Amherst (tonight), and two home games next weekend against Northeastern. So UMaine may have very little to play for on that final regular season weekend.

I'm far from sold on UNH's postseason chances, but I do think they have overachieved so far this season. Even in the games they've dropped - except for that January home game against Providence and the first BC road game - they have been competitive, and they have not backed off. In retrospect, some of those losses have been against some pretty strong opposition (thinking Merrimack and the far-too-underrated Providence). I have no doubt at this point UNH will take one of the home-ice seeds, but with the way some of the teams in the chasing pack currently in the middle of the HE standings are playing, it's important to get at least one of the top two seeds. And while a regular season title isn't even close to a post-season title, it would be a nice bounce-back for a team from which little was realistically expected title-wise this season. The regular season title is all there for the taking, and the HE Tourney looks like it's going to be the most wide-open tourney I can remember for a long, long time, where realistically any one of 5-6 teams could walk away winners. Should be a fun next few weeks!!

[New Hampshire 'Cats Fan]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

I thought the team looked pretty good last night controlling most of the play. However, DeSmith seemed to struggle a bit last night giving up 3 goals on only 14 shots. If DeSmith makes the saves he's capable of making, then UVM never really gets any momentum and it would have been more of a dominate win by UNH. Either way, I'm happy with the win. Hoping DeSmith pulls out a stellar performance tonight and we come away with another victory!

[UNH09]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

Thanks! I think it will be a better venue anyways. Several other schools hold events there (I ran into a Duke-UNC hoops event there last week) to good reviews. During NFL season they're actually a Buffalo Bills bar, but we'll forgive them if tomorrow is a hit.

Excellent venue to watch the game last night! Hopefully we will get a great crew together to celebrate the downfall of UMaine hockey in two weeks!

[freak]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

During NFL season they're actually a Buffalo Bills bar, but we'll forgive them if tomorrow is a hit.

Assuming that you're a Pats fan, when I was stationed in DC (1998-2001), Murphy's in Old Town, Alexandria was a Pats bar (upstairs).

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

OK - so I realize a three point weekend on the road at this stage of the season is nothing to sneeze at. That's the "glass half full" argument, and today's tie isn't the end of the world by any stretch. But if there is going to be any realistic hope of this year's postseason being a productive one, this UNH squad needs to be finding ways to WIN games like this one. Find a killer instinct, win their battles consistently, and take it to the opposition. None of that was on display today, and frankly there was no reason for it NOT to be on display AND in spades. It's because of performances like this one that tempers my enthusiasm for the postseason.

As expected, DeSmith was back on his game, and thank goodness for that, because if he wasn't then UVM would (and arguably should) have taken two points. Based on performances like this one, the only way I see UNH having any realistic shot at postseason success this Spring will be if DeSmith puts the team on his back and carries them there himself, a la Chris Terreri circa 1985. It shouldn't have to be this way, but right now I don't see how it happens otherwise.

Realistically, after last season, I'm not sure it's "fair" (yes, that 4-letter F word ) to expect UNH to be poised for post-season success this year. But after a rare year out of the tourney, you want to see them back in it so it remains a baseline expectation for the program, and to ensure that your players get that postseason experience under their belts, as early AND as often in their careers as possible. Let's face it, with last year's post-season "whiff", roughly half of this year's team has no practical experience with real postseason play (not counting the HE first round stuff). And when you see the way they played this afternoon, you can see exactly how that relative lack of experience in contentious, end-of-season games can trip them up when the importance of the games goes up yet another level.

Three point weekends in the "first semester" are great. Three point weekends from January on all depends on who you are playing and where. *Maybe* it's OK on the road against a UVM squad battling to earn a playoffs berth. All I know is it is NOT going to be OK next weekend, with two home games against UMass Amherst and anything short of 4 points tells me that regardless of what happens these next two weekends, this team simply does not have the ability to impose their will, and win when they have to. That stuff just does not emerge out of nowhere when the really important games finally do arrive. Maybe if you're BC, and you have tons of past experience, you have an outside shot at "turning on the switch" against a run of poor form, but in the case of this UNH team, they first need to show us they even know where that "switch" is. I did not see that today (besides from DeSmith) and that's all I really wanted to see. I'm disappointed. JMHO.

[scoreboard]

OK - so I realize a three point weekend on the road at this stage of the season is nothing to sneeze at. That's the "glass half full" argument, and today's tie isn't the end of the world by any stretch. But if there is going to be any realistic hope of this year's postseason being a productive one, this UNH squad needs to be finding ways to WIN games like this one. Find a killer instinct, win their battles consistently, and take it to the opposition. None of that was on display today, and frankly there was no reason for it NOT to be on display AND in spades. It's because of performances like this one that tempers my enthusiasm for the postseason.

As expected, DeSmith was back on his game, and thank goodness for that, because if he wasn't then UVM would (and arguably should) have taken two points. Based on performances like this one, the only way I see UNH having any realistic shot at postseason success this Spring will be if DeSmith puts the team on his back and carries them there himself, a la Chris Terreri circa 1985. It shouldn't have to be this way, but right now I don't see how it happens otherwise.

Realistically, after last season, I'm not sure it's "fair" (yes, that 4-letter F word ) to expect UNH to be poised for post-season success this year. But after a rare year out of the tourney, you want to see them back in it so it remains a baseline expectation for the program, and to ensure that your players get that postseason experience under their belts, as early AND as often in their careers as possible. Let's face it, with last year's post-season "whiff", roughly half of this year's team has no practical experience with real postseason play (not counting the HE first round stuff). And when you see the way they played this afternoon, you can see exactly how that relative lack of experience in contentious, end-of-season games can trip them up when the importance of the games goes up yet another level.

Three point weekends in the "first semester" are great. Three point weekends from January on all depends on who you are playing and where. *Maybe* it's OK on the road against a UVM squad battling to earn a playoffs berth. All I know is it is NOT going to be OK next weekend, with two home games against UMass Amherst and anything short of 4 points tells me that regardless of what happens these next two weekends, this team simply does not have the ability to impose their will, and win when they have to. That stuff just does not emerge out of nowhere when the really important games finally do arrive. Maybe if you're BC, and you have tons of past experience, you have an outside shot at "turning on the switch" against a run of poor form, but in the case of this UNH team, they first need to show us they even know where that "switch" is. I did not see that today (besides from DeSmith) and that's all I really wanted to see. I'm disappointed. JMHO.

A quick summary of what you said:
UNH did not look like a top #20 team let alone a #1 tourney seed.
DeSmith saved the game for them. UVM controlled the game.
Couldn't agree with you more.

[goblue]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

OK - so I realize a three point weekend on the road at this stage of the season is nothing to sneeze at. That's the "glass half full" argument, and today's tie isn't the end of the world by any stretch. But if there is going to be any realistic hope of this year's postseason being a productive one, this UNH squad needs to be finding ways to WIN games like this one. Find a killer instinct, win their battles consistently, and take it to the opposition. None of that was on display today, and frankly there was no reason for it NOT to be on display AND in spades. It's because of performances like this one that tempers my enthusiasm for the postseason.

As expected, DeSmith was back on his game, and thank goodness for that, because if he wasn't then UVM would (and arguably should) have taken two points. Based on performances like this one, the only way I see UNH having any realistic shot at postseason success this Spring will be if DeSmith puts the team on his back and carries them there himself, a la Chris Terreri circa 1985. It shouldn't have to be this way, but right now I don't see how it happens otherwise.

Realistically, after last season, I'm not sure it's "fair" (yes, that 4-letter F word ) to expect UNH to be poised for post-season success this year. But after a rare year out of the tourney, you want to see them back in it so it remains a baseline expectation for the program, and to ensure that your players get that postseason experience under their belts, as early AND as often in their careers as possible. Let's face it, with last year's post-season "whiff", roughly half of this year's team has no practical experience with real postseason play (not counting the HE first round stuff). And when you see the way they played this afternoon, you can see exactly how that relative lack of experience in contentious, end-of-season games can trip them up when the importance of the games goes up yet another level.

Three point weekends in the "first semester" are great. Three point weekends from January on all depends on who you are playing and where. *Maybe* it's OK on the road against a UVM squad battling to earn a playoffs berth. All I know is it is NOT going to be OK next weekend, with two home games against UMass Amherst and anything short of 4 points tells me that regardless of what happens these next two weekends, this team simply does not have the ability to impose their will, and win when they have to. That stuff just does not emerge out of nowhere when the really important games finally do arrive. Maybe if you're BC, and you have tons of past experience, you have an outside shot at "turning on the switch" against a run of poor form, but in the case of this UNH team, they first need to show us they even know where that "switch" is. I did not see that today (besides from DeSmith) and that's all I really wanted to see. I'm disappointed. JMHO.

Hard to disagree with your opinion. What's scary is that UNH could easily have ended up with *0* points -- -- this weekend, as we outscored UVM by a total of 1 goal in 2 games. I'm a longtime UNH hockey fan -- I attended my first game as a freshman in (gulp) 1973. It's taken me a long time to realize this, but I have come to believe that a team is only as good as showed in its last game; that "past performance is no guarantee of future success" (or failure, I suppose.)

A team has to be either lucky or hot (preferably both) in the post-season to achieve success. A USCHO signature I have used in the past is a Chinese proverb which sums it all up rather well, in my opinion: Unless we change direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying this season far more than last year.

[Felger]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2012-2013 Season Thread

What's scary is that UNH could easily have ended up with *0* points -- -- this weekend, as we outscored UVM by a total of 1 goal in 2 games.

And were outscored by UVM 4-1 at even strength