Vermont 2022-23: New Jerseys, New Attitude

[TovarishchLisa]

Win is a Win. Lemay and Spitserov back in lineup after recovery from injuries, good to have bodies. New guy Massiminno not dressed maybe today. Special teams real difference, as UVM goes 2 for 7 on PP and kills off 9 minutes of PK. Easy to overlook teams but UVM didn't do that tonight, now they can go get the sweep. Like the fact that UVM is developing a good home team advantage as our record is now 6-4 at the Gut.

Yeah, definitely nice to see Spits back. And to the easy to overlook teams point, look at some of the other teams in HEA last night...ok, Lowell got goalied, but Merrimack needed OT to dust off a terrible Dartmouth and Northeastern lost at Bentley.

Win the games you should, and hopefully it'll translate into wins against some of the bigger teams. The game this afternoon and the Yale game are very winnable, hopefully we can end 2022 and start 2023 with some momentum.

[KennyCat]

Ouch. Trying to stay optimistic but Cats should have wanted this one more than Lindenwood. I liked Zapernicks game, otherwise way too many poor passes and missed shots. When are the Minnesota recruits coming?

[TovarishchLisa]

Bump should be next season.

To be fair, this Lindenwood team is a pain (they've given fits to the likes of Minnesota, Michigan, and Denver this season), but that feels like one we should've won.

[rufus22]

I am now officially worried about this program. Less about playing on level with a startup team—comprised of NAHL players and guys who left Atlantic Hockey teams to get more playing time—than the maine series, in which they outworked every minute.

[Catfantoo]

OUCH - Too Bad. Controlled the lead and shots in the games most of the weekend. Now its about stretching's leads when you have them. As coach indicated in post game the team didn't take advantage of opportunities and bury chances. Let Lindenwood hang around, and we know what happens when that occurs. Need a big bounce back against a lower ranked Yale team.

[Catfantoo]

Not alot of dialogue lately, so will drop a few lines. Was at Yale game on Sunday. Basically two offensively challenged teams, hence the 1-1 tie. Yale goalie turned in a good game. Couple comments. UVM outshot Yale (+), UVM scored PP goal (+). Oscar Autio (+) in nets for Cats and turned in a solid game as Yale had PP opportunities and could have easily won the game. Too bad we couldn't get ahead of Yale and get a W on our side. I saw Todd's comments and he is putting a positive spin on the outcome. I feel that unfortunately we've left a few games (Lindenwood, RPI, Colgate, Yale) on the table that maybe could have boosted our record and position in the Pairwise rankings. But you are your record and hopefully we can steal some in the 2nd half of season and show continued improvement over last year.

[Catfantoo]

Interesting score yesterday as Yale beats RPI 4-1 (team we split with). Yale came in to Gut last weekend playing better than record. Yale goalie change in last 6 games has resulted in save % over .950 and 2-1-3 record. We caught them on an upswing. Having said that still think we "should" be beating teams like this - you find a way. Which leads me to tonight's opponent AIC. They are 10-9-5 and ranked 43 in pairwise and we're 49. We're playing at home, and this is our last out of conference game. AIC beat Lindenwood (twice), but lost to Holy Cross (we beat them 6-0). AIC is 0-2-1 against Hockey East teams. I can see why AIC is ranked ahead of us but this certainly isn't a David and Goliath story. I'm hoping the boys come to play and we get a solid effort and some goals and get a W. We'll see........

[TovarishchLisa]

Also a couple new commits have come in last few days. Matt Cato from Trenton in the OJHL (48pts/35gp) and Jack Malinski from Austin in the NAHL (29pts/27gp as a D) are older but are having excellent seasons. And also Jackson Krill (28pts/33gp) from Merritt in the BCHL.

[UVM Cat in Texas]

I am now officially worried about this program.

Amen brother, you are not alone. The program seems like a total cluster right now. Very depressing. Meanwhile, Barr has improved Maine significantly in only his first year.

[Catfantoo]

Well that was frustrating. In my mind I had built the game up (see previous post) and expected a certain level of push. Coaching staff (head coach on postgame comments) and assistant coach on radio both declared that AIC out worked UVM. That confirmed my eye test from my seats. Outshoot in 1st period 11/6 - score even 0-0. Then midway through 2nd period a very poor UVM PP where we mishandled the puck, had difficulty setting up and no shots. AIC player comes out of box and streaks on mini-breakaway. UVM makes the save but resulting confusion on defensive zone coverage leads to all important 1st goal. Rattled we give up a 2nd off a defenders skate 1:27 later. Game over. Late UVM push but AIC defended well and UVM only got a few sniffs. Empty net goal was right down in front of me and 1 AIC player won the puck from 3 UVM players and flung it down 170 feet into the empty goal. This summed up the game for me as AIC won races and battles. Nice road win for AIC and super disappointing game for UVM. We'll see where it goes from here as tough HE schedule upcoming.

[Cat lover]

Vermont was the much bigger team but I cant remember one big hit all night. The Gut is turning into a playground with kids running around all night up and down the aisles blocking our views of the ice.
Why was our goalie still out when the faceoff was outside the zone? Not like we had been winning alot of faceoffs and still over 3 minutes left.

[TovarishchLisa]

After the trainwreck of the last few weeks oh boyyyyyyyyyy did they need that one. I don't care if a shootout is technically a tie, that *felt* like a massive win. Gutsy as hell given the major PKs.

Also that move by Jellus in the shootout...Mitch Benson welcome to the poster lmao

[UVM Cat in Texas]

After the trainwreck of the last few weeks oh boyyyyyyyyyy did they need that one. I don't care if a shootout is technically a tie, that *felt* like a massive win. Gutsy as hell given the major PKs.

Also that move by Jellus in the shootout...Mitch Benson welcome to the poster lmao

Wow, I watched the entire game and UVM WAS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!! How did this team lose badly to AIC??? How did this team appear utterly lifeless against Maine??? I have no answers to that, but I’ve changed my mind and do think Woodcroft’s on the right track!! Great, great tie/win and Go Cats Go!

[Catfantoo]

Was at the women's "Pack the Gut" game and attendance was set at record at 2210. UVM 3-1 win in entertaining fashion. Listened to men's 2nd period on radio and caught most of the 3rd. Real impressive as everyone has mentioned. Definitely won the special teams battle with all the PK time. Gabe was immense, as well. Nice to see what they are capable of.

Speaking of Gabe and his season. He got hosed on the Mike Richter Goalie watch list. 41 nationwide goalies named to list. I'm not advocating Gabe should be a winner not would he even come into the final top 10 list once it's whittled down. My contention is 9 other Hockey East goalies named and Gabe isn't. Not going to bore you with a detailed stats review but some other teams (based on name recognition - has to be) had their goalies named. When doing side by analysis of overall stats (in league and out) Gabe is quite high (#4 in GAA). In conference he dips down but he's still ahead of others who were named. With 62 NCAA Men's Div 1 teams and to say Gabe is in bottom 1/3 (since he wasn't named one of the top 41) is horsesh&**&^%&t. Hope he goes on a tear down the stretch and proves many people wrong as he did last night.

[TovarishchLisa]

Get, and I cannot stress this enough in. Excellent weekend. Let's hope this is the start of something!