Vermont 2023/24: Stuck in the Wieds

[j24vt]

Yes. Eli Barnett. He was on the ice quite a bit and didn't look out of place. In general the defense looked a little nervous at the start of the game with a couple of bad d zone turnovers. But the settled in and played ok for the rest of the game

[TovarishchLisa]

That will do quite nicely, I think. Bummer the shutout got broken late on that major.

[UVM Cat in Texas]

I thought they played really well. Their superior speed was evident throughout the game. Tougher test tonight.

[TovarishchLisa]

Even with the L tonight I'm definitely more optimistic on this team than I was two weeks ago

[Jim F.]

Lol! It doesn't make a lot of sense, but UVM is #6 in the pairwise tops in Hockey East!

I like what I've been seeing on the ice so far. Especially forwards displaying talent with well placed shots instead of squandering opportunities with shots into the goalie's belly.

[NYCatamount89]

NHL released it's first central scouting ratings. Caeden Herrington is a rated a 6th/7th round pick. Looks like it could be a big year for Vermonters. Herrington(Manchester), Elliott Groenwald(Bellow Falls), Jake Boulanger(Barre), Gio DiGiulian(South Burlington) are all rated. The problem is Groenwald and DiGiulian who look like really good prospects are both committed to other schools already.

I know the days of cleaning up on recruits in your backyard are kinda over. All of these guys are scouted by coaches from across the country as soon as they reach Bantams, but it does seem like Woodcroft missed the boat on a couple of these players when he was here. DiGiulian played at South Burlington High and his dad was an assistant coach under Mike Gilligan. It goes for transfers as well. Nicholas Niemo(Middlebury) had a good freshman year at Bentley then entered the transfer portal and end up at...Maine

It's a different sport, but we've seen the impact that local players have had on the basketball program. Players that other D1's had no interest in, can become impact/all league players for them. Hoping that Weidler starts to prioritize this, because it's not like we're winning a ton of battles for players from elsewhere.

Sorry for more downer content. I was really impressed by opening weekend!

[j24vt]

Seems to me that the forwards are driving to the net and taking shots more than in the past. The opposing defense no longer has to just stand there until the rush breaks itself up with a bad pass.

[SoucyWasNoSieve]

Providence was obviously the better team last night, but after watching periods 2 and 3 last night, the officiating was decidedly one-sided (not talking about the major, and I didn't think there was intent plus slo-mo always makes it look worse). The two late power plays came as the game was practically with the score already 4-1. The PK was stellar though.

[Jim F.]

I agree. Zapernick had a very long conversation with the referees at the end of the second period. I was particularly annoyed late in the second, when one ref ignores the clear trip behind the Providence goal line and then the other called Tornquist for a less obvious interference at the other end 5 seconds later. Penalty killing was fantastic. Few shots allowed during that 5 minute major. Haven't watched the espn replay yet. I didn't have a good view of the major. Carriere was great, especially at getting to where he needed to be in dangerous situations.
Score and shots were lopsided. It didn't seem like a lopsided game. Wiedler took blame for the team "not playing to their identity for the majority of the game". But, hey, Providence is #7 in the country and red hot right now. Will be interesting to see what changes tonight.

[Go Cats]

Does anyone know where to find the line ups for each game? UVM men's hockey used to post them before each game on twitter, but I have noticed they no longer do.

I was also at the game last night, disappointed in how easily PVD took the puck from our guys, we lost all the little battles. We did have a lot of offensive zone time but very few shots to show for it, 14 SOG won't win many games!!

[VTALUM]

Did we/they just tie Providence at Providence?

[TovarishchLisa]

Much, MUCH better tonight, probably should've had it in regulation but Svedeback was excellent for them.

[VTALUM]

The eternal optimist in me wants to believe this program has bumbled and stumbled its way into the coach it has needed all along. We shall see, but excellent showing tonight.

[KennyCat]

Fantastic win / tie against #7 in nation. Nice to see that shots were even… and we didn’t need Carriere to steal one.

[Cat lover]

Was at both games and I can't tell which team had the bigger transformation from night 1 to 2. Would like to get excited after Sat but stiil remember how ugly Friday was.

I Can't figure how these schools (Prov, NE) get good players to come play in an empty rink. About 1/3 full Fri and 1/4 Sat. and this is a top 10 team here.

Agree with Soucy as I have been saying this for years when the other team gets powerplays to build the lead and when the game is already over Vermont gets a couple token PP's when they are down 2 or 3 goals late in the game just to make the box score look better.