UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

[RL3AO]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

Why was Thompson starting last night? Injury or coaches decision?

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

They aren't the worst in the NCAA, and sorry, if the players quit because of who is in net, that's on them, not Blais.

Yeah, they are. The goalie with the next lowest save percentage in the country is BSU's Micheal Bitzer at .894 and the next goalie up the list with the highest goals against is ASU's Ryland Pashovitz at 2.78.

Who do you think has numbers worse than Thompson's?

And, I know Thompson isn't related to Coach Blais, but I can sure remember a season when I was in little league and the coaches son pitched for our team, who pitched more games and innings than anybody on our team, and was the worst player on the team. Besides being the worst pitcher, he was a terrible hitter. Every time we took the mound we knew we weren't going to win. The differences between Thompson and Weninger have been so stark that there is absolutely now way the players don't know this.

Dean Blais is old school, and, it is my personal belief that Thompson is getting this time because he's an upperclassman and Weninger is a freshman. This, despite Weninger having sterling juniors credentials and Thompson having "Why did we even offer this guy?" juniors credentials. FWIW, Thompson has not improved an iota of his 3 seasons at UNO. Look at his seasonal career stats. This guy is not a D-1 goalie. I'd rather have North Dakota's walk-on goalie out there than him. By a mile.

His career totals, through last night:

.890 save percentage, 2.95 goals against average, and a 13-12-2 record. Only 4 of those wins have come in conference and one of those set a program record for the most goals allowed in a win in team history (ironically, this was against SCSU). His winning percentage is a function of his being on good offensive teams, not because he is a good goalie. UNO has indeed been fortunate to be able to score more goals than our resident sieve has allowed in his 13 wins.

A recurring theme in post game press accounts of UNO games where he has been in goal in games that UNO has lost has been "Kirk gave up a couple bad goals", or, "There were a couple I wish I had back".

Every time Coach Blais sends him out there he is playing with fire. Simple as that.

[hockeykrazy]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

As far as homer announcers, that is expected. If you don't like it, turn down/off the volume.

That's what I do when I watch other teams home announcers. Most try do a good job.
But some announcers like to throw that stuff/daggers out there because they love the feedback. Some of them have said as much, especially in big rivalries.

As far as Red Cows comments I don't know how you throw your coach and goaltender under the bus like that. Great program, great hockey and he goes off on a tirade.
I thought Thompson played pretty well. All four goals would have been outstanding saves, I didn't see any soft goals out there. Maybe Blais wants to develop his team. What if Weniger gets injured? Does that excuse the team for not playing to their potential? Maybe Blais wants to see competition throughout for that spot so they peak at the right time- playoffs. There are a multitude of reasons why a coach does what they do. But to full out say your goaltender is the worst in the NCAA...

UNO had a bunch of chances, especially by the Ortega, Guentzel, Randolph, Parizek, Cooper but they just didn't go. Last night's game was one of the most fun games to watch in a long time. Spectacular play on both ends by both teams.
I know SCSU has improved a ton since the beginning of the season so far.

[hockeykrazy]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

Agree with gomavs--Joey Benik bumped Guentzel into Lindgren. And from where I was sitting, Peterson and the Maverick both went into the boards--scary play, but certainly did not look like any type of penalty was warranted. Agree, too, that the Huskies were flying and took advantage of some D breakdowns on Omaha's side. This was a high-end race by both squads and the Huskies were the better team on this night. I think Benik alone hit four pipes and missed a couple of other chances that he makes 90% of the time. Even though he was frustrated offensively on this night, his overall play, hustle and effort was something to watch. My goodness, he could have had about 6 goals!

PS Dean Blais historically doesn't trust or understand goalies. Who knows why he went with the junior when the freshman has been lights out. Guentzel played very well, and Ortega was neutralized last night. Great win for the Huskies.

I looked at slow mo on both of the plays too. Benik skates into Guentzel and hits him low at the waist(Benik put on the brakes too late) and their skates tangle after Guentzel's shot which causes Guentzel to collide with Lindgren. Same with Peterson, the UNO D did a nice poke check but if you look at the left skate it rides up inside on Peterson's left skate and causes him to lose the edge (kind of like a slough foot) when he goes into the boards. Not intentional and it wasn't a cheap shot just something that happens in hockey all the time- skate edges touch causing one to toe pick - especially when you come up from behind too fast. Unfortunate he was carrying so much speed behind the net.

[The Boomer]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

And the commentators on the broadcast were some of the biggest homers I've heard. Lindgren went down because a SCSU player KNOCKED Guentzel INTO him after Guentzel scored his shorty. Play-by-play guy stated Guentzel might have been tapped from behind. Right. Two unfortunate plays against SCSU players that had NOTHING to do with the UNO player injuring them.

UNO had no chance to win that, regardless of who was in net. SCSU outplayed the Mavs in every facet. Our defense decided not to do much of anything and it's hard to win when that happens. Well played game by SCSU. Hopefully the Mavs can bounce back tonight.

Agree with gomavs--Joey Benik bumped Guentzel into Lindgren. And from where I was sitting, Peterson and the Maverick both went into the boards--scary play, but certainly did not look like any type of penalty was warranted. Agree, too, that the Huskies were flying and took advantage of some D breakdowns on Omaha's side. This was a high-end race by both squads and the Huskies were the better team on this night. I think Benik alone hit four pipes and missed a couple of other chances that he makes 90% of the time. Even though he was frustrated offensively on this night, his overall play, hustle and effort was something to watch. My goodness, he could have had about 6 goals!

PS Dean Blais historically doesn't trust or understand goalies. Who knows why he went with the junior when the freshman has been lights out. Guentzel played very well, and Ortega was neutralized last night. Great win for the Huskies.

[gomavs#1]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

Peterson knocked out by Maverick who got away with cheap shot.

Give me a freaking break. Dude went down on his own. Can you whine a little more?

And the commentators on the broadcast were some of the biggest homers I've heard. Lindgren went down because a SCSU player KNOCKED Guentzel INTO him after Guentzel scored his shorty. Play-by-play guy stated Guentzel might have been tapped from behind. Right. Two unfortunate plays against SCSU players that had NOTHING to do with the UNO player injuring them.

UNO had no chance to win that, regardless of who was in net. SCSU outplayed the Mavs in every facet. Our defense decided not to do much of anything and it's hard to win when that happens. Well played game by SCSU. Hopefully the Mavs can bounce back tonight.

[First Time, Long Time]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

They aren't the worst in the NCAA, and sorry, if the players quit because of who is in net, that's on them, not Blais.

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

Wenninger starts and they still lose. Massa start and they lose. Faulkner starts and they still lose. I dont think UNO has a goalie in their team's history that changes that outcome

Here are two stat lines:

An .890 save percentage, a 2.95 goals against average, and a 3-3-2 record.

And..........

A .948 save percentage, a 1.91 goals against average and a 8-1-0 record.

The first stat line is the worst in all of college hockey (save, the won-loss record).

The second set of stats is better than that of Ryan Massa last season, when he broke every goalie record in the books at UNO.

Anybody that thinks the the question of who was in goal tonight is insignificant isn't being realistic. Those are monumental, gigantic, enormous, insert you own adjective here differences between two goalies.

This loss tonight is almost entirely on Dean Blais and somebody ought to be asking him why he was playing/starting the worst goalie in college hockey (I don't say so, the numbers do) over a guy that is performing, so far, at what is pretty much an elite level. And, in what was, so far, without question, the most important game of the season.

Think the players don't know these numbers? What kind of message do you send to your team when you run a complete and total zero like Thompson out there in a game of this import?

And, you do it the very next day after you complain, publicly, that teams that play on Olympic ice (SCSU being one of them, obviously) have an advantage over teams that don't when actually playing on Olympic ice?

Wow, great job stoking your team to play an important conference game there, "Coach".

Good coaches create a winning atmosphere and mindset. Coach Blais cut the head off of and sh*t down the neck of that mantra in the past 24 hours. I mean, why did we even bother to show up to play?

[First Time, Long Time]

Yeah, Judd went really hard into the boards. Hopefully not a broken collarbone or separated shoulder.

I think it is a separation.

[SCSU Euro]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

Wenninger starts and they still lose. Massa start and they lose. Faulkner starts and they still lose. I dont think UNO has a goalie in their team's history that changes that outcome

[St. Clown]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

Funny response, but I disagree. Sounds like it became a pretty chippy game as it progressed. Peterson knocked out by Maverick who got away with cheap shot.

St. Cloud has to stop ringing the pipes around Omaha's goalie and bury this team tomorrow night.

Think I'll take my wife to the game tomorrow at the Herb Brooks Center.

Peterson wasn't the victim of a cheap shot. The UNO guy barely touched him, but Judd's skate caught a groove or he toe-picked at the same time, and that launched him into the boards at a bad angle. They showed the replay on the broadcast, and it was just an unfortunate and scary play.

[RL3AO]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

Yeah, Judd went really hard into the boards. Hopefully not a broken collarbone or separated shoulder.

[First Time, Long Time]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

Sounds like Peterson out till after the break.
Bury the chances again tomorrow.
IMO would have been the same with Wenninger in net.

[RL3AO]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

Third period got chippy. Glad to see Charlie rebound after taking a big hit in goal. Everyone at the top keeps winning. Lets get the sweep tomorrow.

[Husckey Domi Nation]

Re: UNO @ SCSU: Unleash the Murray! Dec 4 and 5

One guy, his name's Dean Blais.

Funny response, but I disagree. Sounds like it became a pretty chippy game as it progressed. Peterson knocked out by Maverick who got away with cheap shot.

St. Cloud has to stop ringing the pipes around Omaha's goalie and bury this team tomorrow night.

Think I'll take my wife to the game tomorrow at the Herb Brooks Center.