Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

[UVM Cat in Texas]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

As for this weekend...

I'm going to predict:

Cats come away with a win against the Dogs... 3-2 UVM.
Hoffman starts in net
Shaw, Puskarich, and Reynolds score the goals


Anyone else want to take a stab?

First time posting in a while. Pretty fired up for tonight's opener, but maybe not as convinced as some of you that Cats can match last season's success, what with the departure of McCarthy, who was a man among boys for much of last season. With some nice recruiting though, I'd have to describe my outlook as cautiously optimistic. As for tonight, I'll go with the Cats winning by a 4-2 score, and goals scored by Bradley, Fallon, Reynolds, and Paliotta, not necessarily in that order. Agree that Hoffman will be in net. Go Cats Go!

[Cat lover]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

Maybe Turk was wasted as a 4th liner....just needed to play with a higher level of skill? Time will tell
but wow never saw that coming.

Great start for the Cats cant find much to complain about...besides the fact I couldnt get the dam
feed to work....would have been a great game to see.

[funnnnn]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

Was a good showing by the Cats at Matthews this evening. Well layer all around, solid defense, timely offense, and decent goal rtending. Glad I made the effort to be there. They were not intimidated going I to the dog house, or whatever they call it! Survived a brief scare at. The start of the third period,. All in all, well played and has me feeling like an optimist for the season. Can't get too high after one good win (much like you can't get too low after one bad loss)

[jcarter7669]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

Wow, hopefully there will be more games like that. We all knew going in that goaltending would be strong and the defense should be good. Offense was a worry, especially replacing McCarthy. Turk would not have been on my mind to replace him, but it makes sense, he digs for the pucks, high energy... alot of things McCarthy did and obviously he is fitting in well with his linemates. Kudos for Sneddon for recognizing he could fill the role, and nice job by the Cats.

Nice to see Reynolds name back on the score sheet... and Paliotta with 4 points on the night... a very welcome surprise against a talented NU squad

[UVM Cat in Texas]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

Great start for the Cats. I watched the 2nd and 3rd period on the NU stream, which was excellent by the way. Much better than UVM's in that they show a lot of replays, and the pic quality seemed better also. Anyway, even though Witt was brutal in net for NU, the Cats did apply A LOT of offensive pressure and converted their chances. The thing that impressed me most though was that the Cats didn't sit on their lead and kept coming offensively. Even the NU commentators said it seemed like a different mindset from previous UVM teams. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised and things will hopefully be even better with the addition of Phillips.

[snwbrdr]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

Did not get to see the game but like the result. I would not suddenly anoint Turk as second coming of McCarthy though, surely an amazing start but doubtful he will be in the top 3 in scoring at the end of the season. I do think that Paliotta is going to be a monster this year, I see him in the NHL in two years. I also think that Alex P. is a huge get for this team, he has mad skills and is going to help up the offense from the D line. As I have been suggesting, the return of Reynolds goes a long way in replacing McCarthy offense, glad to see him produce early. Cats would have been 15 goals better last year with Reynolds, his absence was costly....

Encouraging start, I hope they can build on it. Excited to see Phillips in December also, he will only help the offense that much more. Go Cats

[Kdaddy1968]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

I only caught part of it as well but they looked pretty good (or NU looked terrible I couldn't tell. The Clarkson series should be a good test.

[Mule617]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

I couldn't agree more. Paliotta is going to be great this year. You could almost see the confidence exuding from him. I can't tell you how pleased I was to see him carry the puck to the red line, pass it off, and then they broke into the zone without having to dump and chase. So refreshing. I don't want to get too excited, because NU just plain stunk. But I think with Paliotta setting the tone for this team, they might turn some heads.

[Go Cats]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

I was also at the game, I must admit, I thought with a lot of new freshman coming in and Northeastern ranked 16, at home, the students can be pretty loud there, they might have a rough night. It was great to see the confidence they played with! I thought Alexx Privitera had himself a nice game! Great to see them breaking the puck out with such confidence, the offence looked a little more three dimensional. I hope it was not just Northeastern looking bad because they did not look good at all! Nice win last night!

Was a good showing by the Cats at Matthews this evening. Well layer all around, solid defense, timely offense, and decent goal rtending. Glad I made the effort to be there. They were not intimidated going I to the dog house, or whatever they call it! Survived a brief scare at. The start of the third period,. All in all, well played and has me feeling like an optimist for the season. Can't get too high after one good win (much like you can't get too low after one bad loss)

[NU_Husky]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

Was very impressed with Vermont last night. Came into a hostile environment, and straight up took it to us. NU definitely did not show up, zero life from the Huskies until the third. But that doesn't take away from the Cats, their forecheck was as good as ever, they converted chances (Knew Puskarich would get his, Turk stepping up will be huge for y'all), had good breakouts, and Hoffman impressed me with his control over the crease. Paliotta and Priviterra will be a load to deal with from the blue line as well. Any chance you coulda left one of those offensive defensemen in Matthews for us to borrow . Looking forward to the rematches in January.

[VermontfaninNY]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

I was dosing of at work today, and thought to myself: Imagine what this team would have been last year if Girgenson hadn't de-committed and Reynolds hadn't gotten hurt. Or for that matter, imagine anyone in Hockey East trying to stop a line of Paliotta and Priviterra, with Puskarich and Bradly/Fallon/Reynolds being centered by Girgenson?

Then I woke up again and had to figure out what the employees had done wrong.

[Jayden_Stoff]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

I was dosing of at work today, and thought to myself: Imagine what this team would have been last year if Girgenson hadn't de-committed and Reynolds hadn't gotten hurt. Or for that matter, imagine anyone in Hockey East trying to stop a line of Paliotta and Priviterra, with Puskarich and Bradly/Fallon/Reynolds being centered by Girgenson?

Then I woke up again and had to figure out what the employees had done wrong.

Reynolds is a great hockey player but could he have single handedly swayed the outcome of last year that much? Skeptical. Girgenson, yeah, now we're going to a really hypothetical place but it would have been nice to have seen him on the team for at least a year.

I'm optimistic the team is in a good place and I'm eager to see what happens next. As good as a added a player or two can be there's no substitute for chemistry. I haven't studied the Nortre Dame roster too closely but wouldn't it suggest they would be 2-0-0 right now?

[Jayden_Stoff]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

I was dosing of at work today, and thought to myself: Imagine what this team would have been last year if Girgenson hadn't de-committed and Reynolds hadn't gotten hurt. Or for that matter, imagine anyone in Hockey East trying to stop a line of Paliotta and Priviterra, with Puskarich and Bradly/Fallon/Reynolds being centered by Girgenson?

Then I woke up again and had to figure out what the employees had done wrong.

Norte Dame has 10 NHL drafted players, 2 in the 2nd round, and so far have lost to RPI and Minn Duluth. Mean while UVM is tied for 1st place in Hockey East and has the leading goal scorer. Heck yeah!

[Hoser]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

Twitter indicates that another former BU defenceman, reputed to have a ton of talent and even more grit is coming to UVM second semester? Any truth to that? Nothing on the UVM website.

[VTinNY]

Re: Vermont 2014 Offseason : Another Step Forward

Twitter indicates that another former BU defenceman, reputed to have a ton of talent and even more grit is coming to UVM second semester? Any truth to that? Nothing on the UVM website.

I'm assuming you're talking about Abramson, who never actually played for the Terriers but was a verbal recruit after walking out on Providence. Hadn't heard anything official but Over The Boards had the following back in September, more or less around the time Walls left.

-SNAFU’s in the Preseason: Terrier recruit Ori Abramson will be headed to Vermont, not Boston University, and not until January. The Catamounts are getting a big, strong, experienced defenseman who most recently held it down on the back-end for the Hitmen. BU had a nice look in picking up Abramson for the revamp of their defensive group, but that will be Vermont’s gain after all.

-Abramson and current NJ Hitmen Premier forward Conor O’Neil will now end up teammates at Vermont by 2015-16, adding some crucial experience to a roster that will also now include former BU player/recruit brothers Alexx and Jarrid Privitera. Abramson has a number of ties to Hockey East past BU, he had in the past been a Providence recruit and even enrolled on the Friars campus for a brief time not too long ago.