Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

    As inexperienced as the Chargers are this year, they will be even more so next. Assuming they will get the roster up to 26 or so, they will need around eight new recruits for next year (assuming everybody comes back). That will mean 20 out of 26 players will be freshmen or sophomores in the 2011-2012 season.
    Last edited by Back check; 01-15-2011, 10:11 AM.

    Comment


    • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

      Originally posted by gfmorris View Post
      I hope the boys bounce back with the short turn. I'm driving up this morning to watch.
      I was until I ran into car trouble. No way my truck is in shape to drive up and back, so I'm at home with one decrepit vehicle and one sick one. Alas.

      GFM
      Geof F. Morris
      UAH BSE MAE 2002
      UAHHockey.com

      Comment


      • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

        We feel shame...

        I'm sorry there's no nice way to put things after that display on Saturday. Friday we glimpsed what the team could be, at least for 35 minutes, but Saturday? I've no idea. I don't blame Bruni for wanting off that ice and away from the spotlight as quickly as possible. It was painful and depressing. We stayed, the entire game, but that can't be said for a lot of other fans. Our row emptied out by the end of the second, and it wasn't the only one. That kind of loss cannot be blamed on youth or inexperience. That label wore thin a while ago, but there certainly was a lack of cohesion on the ice. Burkie, and the other captains, along with the coaching staff have got to get the players back to being a team on the ice because what I saw on Saturday was a bunch of players, not a team. The players aren't deserving of vitriol for it, but I certainly can see some pretty solid criticisms of how that game was played. Hopefully the guys can pick themselves up once more, dust themselves off, and go surprise Colorado College.

        Comment


        • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

          Originally posted by jyoung View Post
          We feel shame...

          I'm sorry there's no nice way to put things after that display on Saturday. Friday we glimpsed what the team could be, at least for 35 minutes, but Saturday? I've no idea. I don't blame Bruni for wanting off that ice and away from the spotlight as quickly as possible. It was painful and depressing. We stayed, the entire game, but that can't be said for a lot of other fans. Our row emptied out by the end of the second, and it wasn't the only one. That kind of loss cannot be blamed on youth or inexperience. That label wore thin a while ago, but there certainly was a lack of cohesion on the ice. Burkie, and the other captains, along with the coaching staff have got to get the players back to being a team on the ice because what I saw on Saturday was a bunch of players, not a team. The players aren't deserving of vitriol for it, but I certainly can see some pretty solid criticisms of how that game was played. Hopefully the guys can pick themselves up once more, dust themselves off, and go surprise Colorado College.
          Shots were 29-8 against after two periods in 1st game - we couldn't have been playing well on Friday either.

          Comment


          • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

            Merrimack fan here. I listened Friday niight, and it sounded like Saunders was playing out of his mind. MC goalie Cannata had an off nite. Saturday, well the MC offense got it cranked up. This is probably the best team that Merrimack has ever had, much stronger than you might have seen only 2 or 3 years ago.
            Best of luck to the Chargers the rest of the way.
            Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

            Comment


            • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

              Originally posted by chargersupporter View Post
              Shots were 29-8 against after two periods in 1st game - we couldn't have been playing well on Friday either.
              Shot totals can be misleading, since I recall more than a few shots that didn't get counted because they were blocked or got redirected before reaching the net. Saunders stood on his head early to keep us in, and they slacked off a bit until late in the second as we got into an actual rhythm. Still you're right, we certainly were out shot, but being out shot doesn't mean losing. I've watched Detroit put up 50 shots in a night and get blown out by a team with half the shots.

              The energy was, for those first 35 minutes, far better than we've seen at the VBC and the shot choices were better when they took them. I'm not saying that we glimpsed greatness, just that this team could be taken far more seriously on the national stage. If we played consistently for 60 minutes and with that improved energy? We might be far closer to .500 than we are right now. We've yet to see the guys put in a 60 minute game though. Either they start late or finish early. Shortened benches don't help, but it doesn't explain it completely either.

              We certainly need to just shoot the puck more, but at least a couple times we actually fought for it around the crease. That's an improvement over what I've seen all year. Normally we just allow their goalies to cough up rebounds and then skate off with it rather than attempting banking it in. We've been bad about keeping a guy on the door step to cause havoc. We really should, but usually we have three behind the goal line, and then our D gets had by a 3-2 the other way.

              We're never going to be a high shot team with this line up and a defensive minded coach, but we need to start getting more aggressive with the shots rather than just looking for the perfect shot. As the saying goes, if you put the puck on net eventually good things happen. Too much of our time was spent passing (poorly) between the blue line and boards rather than ever taking a shot, it was just far worse in Saturday's game than Friday's. We also had more than a few fans on the puck both evenings which were good shots, and no I don't have an explanation as to why we missed those.

              Puck control was an issue both nights, as it always seems to be. We're not crisp in our passing and we're allowing them to poke check us too easily. It's not helping the number of times we allow it to slip behind the blue line when we do have pressure. We consistently don't sustain pressure because of these mental slips.

              What is the point of dumping if you're not going to chase? Not that we're fast enough to play dump and chase and win against many teams. Worse, we tend to just line change and give up the puck so we're constantly on our heels. We had a couple of times where a forward moved in with a good opportunity but without any support and it caused a turnover and another shift back in our defensive zone rather than in the offensive zone.

              (I'm on cold medicine and rambling... sorry if this wanders kind of aimlessly.)

              Comment


              • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

                Originally posted by RENCEB View Post
                Merrimack fan here. I listened Friday niight, and it sounded like Saunders was playing out of his mind. MC goalie Cannata had an off nite. Saturday, well the MC offense got it cranked up. This is probably the best team that Merrimack has ever had, much stronger than you might have seen only 2 or 3 years ago.
                Best of luck to the Chargers the rest of the way.
                I expected to lose both nights to that Merrimack team. Yes, I know you're putting a team on the ice that has a legitimate shot at playing in the post seasons and making some very established programs wince if they draw you. Kudos to your team. The problem I have is that we have enough talent to make a game of it with just about anyone. Not win necessarily, but make a game of it. We should be able to steal an occasional marquee win, and against weaker opponents we should be on par. We've not been doing that, and we really should be. There's enough here to do it with and on a good night you see glimpses of it. The problem is that it's never seemed to come together to do that.

                I really expected something akin to 5-3 or so for the scores, and it bothers me that we were so dismal that we couldn't put any pressure on your goalie on Saturday. The off-night I'll grant you, since we're not normally explosive enough to get 4 goals.

                Comment


                • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

                  I told you guys I'd keep you updated, and Brock Higgs, the player who was horribly injured during your series with RPI, will be in our lineup this weekend: http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2...mode=fullstory

                  I want to thank you guys once again for your quick actions in parallel with our trainer and pre-med player to make sure Mr. Higgs stayed alive.

                  Comment


                  • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

                    Originally posted by FlagDUDE08 View Post
                    I told you guys I'd keep you updated, and Brock Higgs, the player who was horribly injured during your series with RPI, will be in our lineup this weekend: http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2...mode=fullstory

                    I want to thank you guys once again for your quick actions in parallel with our trainer and pre-med player to make sure Mr. Higgs stayed alive.
                    This is great news, thanks!

                    Comment


                    • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

                      Originally posted by fangers View Post
                      This is great news, thanks!
                      Agreed. I have a huge smile on my face.

                      GFM
                      Geof F. Morris
                      UAH BSE MAE 2002
                      UAHHockey.com

                      Comment


                      • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

                        Andrew Creppin from Gloucester in the CHL has committed per Chris Heisenberg. 6'1" 190# center from Ottawa.

                        2010-11 (in progress): 56GP, 43-60--103, 64PIM
                        2009-10: 59GP, 31-43--74 40PIM
                        2008-09: 26-26-53 35PIM

                        Seeing good solid numbers on incoming recruits. Warde and Morgan are doing their jobs. Keep the faith, folks. This year's team is very young, but the freshmen who're playing big roles this year will have a full year of experience when they start playing next fall. [It's weird to be talking about the end of the season so soon, but such it the life of a current-day D-I independent.]

                        GFM
                        Geof F. Morris
                        UAH BSE MAE 2002
                        UAHHockey.com

                        Comment


                        • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

                          Originally posted by FlagDUDE08 View Post
                          I told you guys I'd keep you updated, and Brock Higgs, the player who was horribly injured during your series with RPI, will be in our lineup this weekend: http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2...mode=fullstory

                          I want to thank you guys once again for your quick actions in parallel with our trainer and pre-med player to make sure Mr. Higgs stayed alive.
                          Very pleased to see him back in the lineup. It was scary as I was on the bench when it happened and saw all the blood. Ugh!!!
                          Great news!!! We wish him all the best.
                          Doug
                          UAH 1974
                          Charger Hockey - Born 1979 ~ Killed 2012
                          Executioner: Malcom Portera - Chancellor, University of Alabama System
                          Reason: Hates all things not in Tuscaloosa (i.e. UAH & UAB)
                          Revived: Two Months Later - Thanks Nathan et al... Save UAH Hockey
                          Reborn: 1/17/2013 - Thanks Bob - Thanks WCHA!!!

                          Comment


                          • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

                            Originally posted by gfmorris View Post
                            Andrew Creppin from Gloucester in the CHL has committed per Chris Heisenberg. 6'1" 190# center from Ottawa.

                            2010-11 (in progress): 56GP, 43-60--103, 64PIM
                            2009-10: 59GP, 31-43--74 40PIM
                            2008-09: 26-26-53 35PIM

                            Seeing good solid numbers on incoming recruits. Warde and Morgan are doing their jobs. Keep the faith, folks. This year's team is very young, but the freshmen who're playing big roles this year will have a full year of experience when they start playing next fall. [It's weird to be talking about the end of the season so soon, but such it the life of a current-day D-I independent.]

                            GFM
                            Good to see the list of recruits growing. As was posted earlier, team is going to need eight or so to get to a roster of 26, assuming everybody comes back. Gonna be a very young team next year - two seniors and four juniors.

                            Comment


                            • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

                              Originally posted by chargersupporter View Post
                              Good to see the list of recruits growing. As was posted earlier, team is going to need eight or so to get to a roster of 26, assuming everybody comes back. Gonna be a very young team next year - two seniors and four juniors.
                              It gets tough when you get into that kind of a cycle as every four years you graduate half the team and it takes a couple of years to reload. The ideal situation, of course, is to have an even spread amonst all classes... easier said than done I know... especially when it gets out of balance like it is now. On the plus side, I like the production numbers of the recruits. We desperately need some production to help turn around all of those one-goal losses. The next big hurdle for those recruits making-the-jump to the next level (Juniors to DI) is to bring their game up with them. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen... we can only hope.

                              I can remember when we first saw the freshman line of Ross, Bushey, & Rowe. Everyone was very skeptical, especially about Jared coming straight out of high school whether he could "cut it". Well, that was answered real fast as that line "clicked" right off the bat and just a few games into the season they looked more like a seasoned sophomore or early junior line. They contributed right away and moved up the line chart quite fast. I'd love to see that happen again with our new recruits. Shucks, I'd love to see that now with a line that truly gels and gets productive. I think that would inspire other lines to step-up. We'll see...
                              Doug
                              UAH 1974
                              Charger Hockey - Born 1979 ~ Killed 2012
                              Executioner: Malcom Portera - Chancellor, University of Alabama System
                              Reason: Hates all things not in Tuscaloosa (i.e. UAH & UAB)
                              Revived: Two Months Later - Thanks Nathan et al... Save UAH Hockey
                              Reborn: 1/17/2013 - Thanks Bob - Thanks WCHA!!!

                              Comment


                              • Re: Declaring Our Independence: UAH 2010-11, Part the First

                                Originally posted by Douglas View Post
                                I can remember when we first saw the freshman line of Ross, Bushey, & Rowe. Everyone was very skeptical, especially about Jared coming straight out of high school whether he could "cut it". Well, that was answered real fast as that line "clicked" right off the bat and just a few games into the season they looked more like a seasoned sophomore or early junior line. They contributed right away and moved up the line chart quite fast. I'd love to see that happen again with our new recruits. Shucks, I'd love to see that now with a line that truly gels and gets productive. I think that would inspire other lines to step-up. We'll see...
                                I'm still mad that DRoss took Rowe off of that line. Keith had the ability to hang in down low in the slot and take the abuse, letting Jared slash and Bushey work in the corners. It frustrates me even more that it took a while to get Zirnis in there on the LW. Anyway.

                                I would be surprised to see 26 on the roster. Haven't seen that in a while. I am now interested in doing a study of roster churn in the modern D-I era.

                                GFM
                                Geof F. Morris
                                UAH BSE MAE 2002
                                UAHHockey.com

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X