Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

[mwade]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Fliers all over campus the past couple of days promoting a Bentley watch cap, a round trip bus ride, and game ticket for game at Harvard on Saturday night, all for $15.

Was wondering if they did buses again. Bentley fan turnout was great.

[Snively65]

Was wondering if they did buses again. Bentley fan turnout was great.

Presumably, as that is what was advertised in the fliers, although I could not be there to confirm. So, short of an on-campus rink, Bentley is doing what it can to support its Div 1 hockey program.

However, the program gets very little support from its faculty; the number of individual faculty who have attended a Bentley hockey game the past decade probably could be counted on two hands, if not one hand.

[wwjg1158]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Dan, I watched the game last night and listen to your broadcast. I have just one comment regarding your recap. I agree you should point out some of your concerns but I couldn't really understand how you wanted to somehow project out the full season based on the start of the year. I agree the 1 an 5 record doesn't look great but realistically I am not sure we expected to beat many of the non conference teams. Granted we should of beat Sacred Heart but we didn't. I guess what I would say is last year we started out scoring at will and then we fell apart. I would rather start slow and peak at the end of the season. I think we found out that the team that did exactly that went on to play in the NCAA tournament. Not suggesting that will happen but I believe getting things worked out now is better than falling apart at the end of the year. Last night the top line had 12 shots so they are starting to produce chances, chances usually start turning into goals.....defense looks much better but still must improve, Komm looks good he just needs to stand on his head one of these times to get a big win. Overall I think their play really has been better than last year. I know it isn't producing wins yet but that should come. All that matters is the AHA results. Certainly we will find out soon!

[eXcSports]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Dan, I watched the game last night and listen to your broadcast. I have just one comment regarding your recap. I agree you should point out some of your concerns but I couldn't really understand how you wanted to somehow project out the full season based on the start of the year. I agree the 1 an 5 record doesn't look great but realistically I am not sure we expected to beat many of the non conference teams. Granted we should of beat Sacred Heart but we didn't. I guess what I would say is last year we started out scoring at will and then we fell apart. I would rather start slow and peak at the end of the season. I think we found out that the team that did exactly that went on to play in the NCAA tournament. Not suggesting that will happen but I believe getting things worked out now is better than falling apart at the end of the year. Last night the top line had 12 shots so they are starting to produce chances, chances usually start turning into goals.....defense looks much better but still must improve, Komm looks good he just needs to stand on his head one of these times to get a big win. Overall I think their play really has been better than last year. I know it isn't producing wins yet but that should come. All that matters is the AHA results. Certainly we will find out soon!

I agree! I said in the broadcast that ultimately the entire league has completely struggled with non-conference wins, so in the end, they're only 0-1 where it matters. My biggest issue is that the talent is there to compete with these teams, but the wins aren't there. My biggest takeaway (and what I'm putting into the postgame storylines) is that while tihs team is 1-5, nobody from the AHA is winning OOCs. That means that there's a level playing field this year arguably heading into conference play. I'm most interested to see how things play out on Saturday, when Bentley heads to a rink they play well in against an Army team they historically had problems with. I think the entire league is desperate for OOC wins at this point. They won 25 last year. So far, they've only won 6 with dwindling chances from here.

I have the full recap coming tomorrow. I didn't think Bentley was outplayed again, and I think top to bottom they looked good. They were beaten by a SOLID goalie effort. On any other night, Bentley would've scored 4. instead, they ran into Girard and scored 0. They flat out got beaten by a better goalie.

A lot of prep work this week with Merrimack and the "extended" break. Mike McMahon has been gracious enough to sit down and answer some q's so we'll have plenty of stuff this week.

Thanks again for tuning in. Hopefully the call of the game was as exciting as it was to watch. At the end, it was supremely disappoitning to not get a goal against Girard! This team has played too well to be 1-5!

[beenthere77]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Just a FYI Harvard dressed 7 freshman for their 1st college game and 5 returning starters sat.

[Snively65]

Just a FYI Harvard dressed 7 freshman for their 1st college game and 5 returning starters sat.

Perhaps a strong recruiting class by Teddy?

So, next year we lose 1-0, and following year we win 1-0, according to the charts?

[eXcSports]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Perhaps a strong recruiting class by Teddy?

So, next year we lose 1-0, and following year we win 1-0, according to the charts?

Harvard's recruiting class last year and this year were among the best in the ECAC; Donato also cut a couple of upperclassmen. The only remaining upperclassman that plays substantially is Girard........ and he was a buzzsaw stone wall on Saturday.

Storylines:

http://jarpride.com/2013/10/29/storylines-harvard/

[beenthere77]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Harvard's recruiting class last year and this year were among the best in the ECAC; Donato also cut a couple of upperclassmen. The only remaining upperclassman that plays substantially is Girard........ and he was a buzzsaw stone wall on Saturday.

Storylines:

http://jarpride.com/2013/10/29/storylines-harvard/

"The only remaining upperclassman that plays sub......" 4 drafts picks, 2 F's and 2 D's who will play regulary were in the stands. Some didn't play last year since they had to leave school doesn't mean they wont be playing and one of the forwards had injury....

[eXcSports]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Interesting take to get you ready for MACK on Friday.

http://jarpride.com/2013/10/30/merri...ger-than-this/

[Snively65]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Tough choice between Lawler and Tsongas this Friday night, as friend from NH favors Tsongas; could be a game time decision.

[beenthere77]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Worse to First, 1year.
A coach who played to Team strenghts and not to individual talents made all the difference for the Sox.

[MCgrad07]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Excited to play you guys tomorrow night. This will be my first time seeing a Bentley team play and think it should be a well played game. Merrimack plays a very defense orientated game and goaltending has been the strength of the program for some time. Offensively the team goes as Collins goes with some secondary scoring sprinkled in. What should I know about the Falcons.

[Snively65]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Excited to play you guys tomorrow night. This will be my first time seeing a Bentley team play and think it should be a well played game. Merrimack plays a very defense orientated game and goaltending has been the strength of the program for some time. Offensively the team goes as Collins goes with some secondary scoring sprinkled in. What should I know about the Falcons.

Won our first game of season in upset at Omaha, but have lost some tough games since, including against Omaha, Maine, Harvard, and Quinnipiac. Only the loss to the Sacred Heart was unexpected by many of us. Lots of talent, but have not been able to put it together for many wins since last December. The Falcons are an enigma, in every sense of the word.

[eXcSports]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Won our first game of season in upset at Omaha, but have lost some tough games since, including against Omaha, Maine, Harvard, and Quinnipiac. Only the loss to the Sacred Heart was unexpected by many of us. Lots of talent, but have not been able to put it together for many wins since last December. The Falcons are an enigma, in every sense of the word.

It's a high-octane offense and physical defense. They give up a lot of shots, but the quality of shots can be tempered from the outside. Good, if not great, goaltending. The 1-5 record is not indicative of how good (or bad) they've played at times. Outplayed Harvard, got 45 shots on goal, ran into a stonewall goalie, lost 3-0. Got killed by Quinnipiac, only lost by 1. Very much an enigma!

For those of you who need it, some final thoughts and game prep!

http://jarpride.com/2013/11/01/merri...inal-thoughts/

http://jarpride.com/2013/11/01/game-...imack-college/

I will be there tonight on the call. Very much looking forward to Lawler and the Warrior fans.

[CollegeHockeyRinkReport]

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/2013...ortheastern-bc

The bottom of the conference preview has specific Bentley-Merrimack material. Some interesting historical notes and such.