Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

[northeastern]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

ruck very suspect on rebounds tonight. one in the crease, one a mistake on his own clearing puck up the middle right to a waiting uvm player in the slot. not focused.. takes the momentum away the forwards trying to create.
God help us.

[northeastern]

4-3 UVM.. second time this season we've lost to them by a goal. Seems like we have the forwards to compete with some of the better ranked teams,just do not have the strength in goal. After the 1 goal loss/es to Providence, BC, Yale, UVM (twice)..the question mark in goaltending continue. Hopefully with Nolan coming back & just through trial by fire at this point.. can make a go of it.

[Split-N]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

)...the question mark in goaltending continue....

There is no longer a question mark in goal and hasn't been for some time. Forwards can play with anyone and defense is better than what took us to a championship last year. Goaltending has regressed and is the story of the season so far. Ruck is a nice kid and I feel bad for him but there's no way to sugarcoat his numbers.

Let the Countdown to Cayden begin.

[PPGuru]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

Highlights are up on www.hockeyeastonline.com if you're interested in seeing them.

[northeastern]

On a positive note..
big congrats to Matt Benning on his first NHL goal with the Edmonton Oilers last night..
way to go Matt!

[Richard]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

Can't believe this is the situation they are in again. Pretty much in last place when you factor in that all teams have games at hand with them. I am really disappointed in this, I was HOPFUL that with the momentum that they had picked up from last year that maybe they could start to build some consistency, instead they have continued down the same road that they usually trave making last year look like a fluke rather than something to come. I never bought the preseason #2 in HE, but 1 league win on Jan 9th. I know they have injuries, but if they truely a top 5 team in HE they should be able to win more than 1 league game. I know Ruck has been bad, and a bad goalie can be tough to overcome. but they are wasting a great season from ZAR, Sykura, and Gaudette. So frustrating.

[Split-N]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

Can't believe this is the situation they are in again...I know they have injuries, but if they truely a top 5 team in HE they should be able to win more than 1 league game. I know Ruck has been bad, and a bad goalie can be tough to overcome. but they are wasting a great season from ZAR, Sykura, and Gaudette. So frustrating.

Agree with the beginning and end of this truncated quote but I maintain the goaltending situation has been impossible--not just tough--to overcome. And you need look no further than the statistics tab on the HEA website to figure out why. For starters, Ruck is sporting a .887 save percentage with 59 goals against and a 3.16 GAA. Next lowest in save percentage is Drew Vogler (Mack) who checks at .902; next lowest in goals against and GAA is Rob McGovern (Maine) with 48/2.98. In relative terms, the gap between Ruck and the next poorest performers is statistically significant.

At the other end of the spectrum, Oettinger (BU) has a .930 save percentage with 31 goals against and a 1.94 GAA; next is Wall (UML) at .927/33/1.95. Expressed another way, NU needs to score almost 5 goals per game to have a reasonable shot at winning. Easier said than done by any HEA team.

Personally, I think the NU forwards match up well with top teams while the D is arguably better than the one that helped bring home the HEA championship last year. I wish I had a magic fix.

[northeastern]

with just 1 HE win.. some of the blame does lie with the coaching staff in that they either were not prepared to use in any gms or have not a adequate back up goaltending situation or confidence to use in place of what we have.. just seems typical barring last season. hope nolan's return and/ or ruck's improvement (if any) can salvage some, down the stretch.

[Richard]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

What we saw last season was a goa;lie who played very well, kind of hard to blame the coaches that this kid has completely fallen on his face. He played Theut against ND, whi not give him another shot?

[Agganis]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

What we saw last season was a goa;lie who played very well, kind of hard to blame the coaches that this kid has completely fallen on his face. He played Theut against ND, whi not give him another shot?

Ruck was a well below average starting goalie nationally last year, he is just much worse this year.

[northeastern]

He played Theut against ND, whi not give him another shot?

..have asked this myself. must be something they know.. cant figure this one out.

[Richard]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

Ruck was a well below average starting goalie nationally last year, he is just much worse this year.

Well below? Couldn't have been well below to win 21 out of 23.

[Gr8Sk8M8]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

There is no longer a question mark in goal

He should have been yanked after his "centering" pass...

[Gr8Sk8M8]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

Well below? Couldn't have been well below to win 21 out of 23.

Just ignore the BU Troll...

[Agganis]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2016-17 -- Great Expectations

Well below? Couldn't have been well below to win 21 out of 23.

He was very hot in January and February, which covered the majority of the winning streak (he was a top 10 goalie in that span), but for the entire season he had the 45th best save% among qualified goalies. Given that there are only 60 teams, that is well below average.