2020-21 Penn State Nittany Lions

[ZedLeppelin]

Penn State finally moved up to #7 in this week's USCHO poll: https://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-i-womens-poll/

[Reddington]

There are no locks in the CHA playoffs.

[Lindsay]

Hurst is going to be pretty motivated to win the tourney what with hosting Frozen Four. On RMU is Raygan Kirk hurt or was their a drastic shuffling in the depth chart? I don’t pick winners in one game tourneys. Penn State is favored, I respect em but they are not a lock to win it.

[Reddington]

15 is the problem on power play, her Percentage over three years is abysmal, maybe try her down low. Try Zanon away from 15 and joila. Can't be that hard to figure out that the pp was better last year. Yes, Rankin is missing to win that face off, but 15 missed 2/3 of the year. It can't be Heising as she has missed last 4 games and pp still is not producing. 15 belongs on the pk and not on 4-4 and 3-3.

As far as D, 13 powered PSU to 2-0 lead in game one and led team in blocks again over the weekend. 24 had a nice game two. 27 is solid and is way down on penalties this year.

Mercyhurst can confuse you with your different looks.

As far as Syracuse, the teams played so long ago, I think you throw out the results. I'm still picking PSU, coming off a comeback loss in ot. Make no mistake that Syracuse is dangerous.

[ZedLeppelin]

If PSU can play a North/South game and take pucks on the move with speed, they will be a tough team to beat with the amount of team speed they have. If they play East/West and allow teams to trap and bottle up the neutral zone, they are beatable as Mercyhurst showed.

1. The back end which has been strong all year went to sleep about halfway through the second period in game one. They backed in on top of goalie. When you skate as well as they do you should be stepping up at the blue line and skating with the entry forcing to the outside and forcing dump ins.
2. When the D are breaking out of the zone when they are really good they are moving the puck simply with short quick breakout passes. They are not getting fancy which for some reason they were doing most of the weekend against MH. 26 and 15 were the biggest offenders. 15 being an Olympian should know better.

These are the points that really stood out for me, too, in the weekend series at Mercyhurst. For some reason, the defense went into East/West/Fancy mode that took extra time, rather than the quick North/South play that worked so well for them all season. That led to a cluttered neutral zone and gave Mercyhurst time to make a mess of any potential play Penn State could have had. On defense, #26 Mallory Uihlein was confusing - so many times she would start backpedaling when she could have (and should have) stepped up and gotten the puck, like she was afraid of getting burned on the play. And you mention #15 Jessica Adolfsson (who I love on defense)...her puck handling was so off it was hard to watch - but when she would shoot it would be her trademark rocket. She just couldn't manage to pass the puck, especially in the defensive zone. I think the best defender of the weekend was Lyndie Lobdell - very effective defensively when needed, but offensive when the opportunity was there, too, and not afraid to pinch and step into a play rather than away from it.

I saw players trying some whoop-de-doo passes behind the back and things like that, things they didn't do all season, and I wondered what they were thinking, because it didn't work. Hopefully, with Natalie Heising back in the mix and the lines back to where they were all season, Penn State will stick with the game that got them a regular season title. I do think they will learn from the weekend at Mercyhurst.

Here is video of the goals from this weekend: https://twitter.com/PennStateWHKY/st...98333250633734

[zambonidriver]

After just watching the video of PSU vs Mercyhurst, I'll reiterate what I've said in the past. If PSU can play a North/South game and take pucks on the move with speed, they will be a tough team to beat with the amount of team speed they have. If they play East/West and allow teams to trap and bottle up the neutral zone, they are beatable as Mercyhurst showed. The line of 7/21/3 did not look good in the defensive zone, so they will need to put pucks in the net to offset their d zone play. It will be interesting to see the lines if #20 is back. PSU should spend their practice time leading up to the tournament working on their powerplay because it simply stinks.

Syracuse appears to be be peaking at the right time, and I have to wonder if RMU playing Sacred Heart last weekend was a mistake as they didn't look sharp this weekend.

My prediction is that it will be PSU vs MH on Saturday evening in the CHA championship game, but as you said....predictions in this league are tough!

Some great points.

here are my takeaways.

!. The back end which has been strong all year went to sleep about halfway through the second period in game one. They backed in on top of goalie. When you skate as well as they do you should be stepping up at the blue line and skating with the entry forcing to the outside and forcing dump ins.
2. When the D are breaking out of the zone when they are really good they are moving the puck simply with short quick breakout passes. They are not getting fancy which for some reason they were doing most of the weekend against MH. 26 and 15 were the biggest offenders. 15 being an Olympian should know better.
3. When they are playing well they are relentless pressuring the puck didn't happen On Saturday and there was no traffic in front of the net.
4. The pp is what it is and it is horrible again no et front presence. That being said this team is very resilient and they have been extremely successful when the pressure is on including Saturday when they battled back to tie up the game. Bad Line changes happen even in the NHL. Wild game last Saturday night.
5. Last thing better to lose a game that means nothing to you at the end of the season then in the playoffs like BC and Vermont yesterday. Mercyhurst had something to play for which was 2nd place.

Penn State will win the CHA tournament

[EMPTYNETTER]

Being the CHA, predictions are never a good idea, but it's tournament time. With Natalie Heising back in the lineup, and the lines restored to where they were during the season, how do you see the CHA tournament playing out for Penn State?

The first round is Robert Morris vs RIT, and Syracuse vs Lindenwood. I don't think anyone is predicting RIT to beat Robert Morris in the first round, so that leaves Syracuse vs Lindenwood as the only real question mark. Who wins that one? That's still probably another pretty easy pick, and Syracuse should win.

That would mean the semifinals are Penn State vs Syracuse, and Mercyhurst vs Robert Morris. Robert Morris went 2-1-1 against Mercyhurst in the regular season, but all the games were close, and these two are perennial tournament powerhouses, so a one-and-done between them is too close to call. It's almost a shame that one or the other won't see the CHA finals. Penn State vs Syracuse seems like a tournament match that happens every year, and doesn't usually end well for Penn State. Penn State went 2-1-1 against Syracuse in the regular season, so if they can take this one from Syracuse they should hit the CHA finals in good shape. You know they're going to want to avenge the regular season loss to Syracuse.

There, that's my crystal ball - how do you see the CHA ending up?

After just watching the video of PSU vs Mercyhurst, I'll reiterate what I've said in the past. If PSU can play a North/South game and take pucks on the move with speed, they will be a tough team to beat with the amount of team speed they have. If they play East/West and allow teams to trap and bottle up the neutral zone, they are beatable as Mercyhurst showed. The line of 7/21/3 did not look good in the defensive zone, so they will need to put pucks in the net to offset their d zone play. It will be interesting to see the lines if #20 is back. PSU should spend their practice time leading up to the tournament working on their powerplay because it simply stinks.

Syracuse appears to be be peaking at the right time, and I have to wonder if RMU playing Sacred Heart last weekend was a mistake as they didn't look sharp this weekend.

My prediction is that it will be PSU vs MH on Saturday evening in the CHA championship game, but as you said....predictions in this league are tough!

[ZedLeppelin]

Heising has been sick. She was cleared for practice late last week and will be back for this weekend.

Being the CHA, predictions are never a good idea, but it's tournament time. With Natalie Heising back in the lineup, and the lines restored to where they were during the season, how do you see the CHA tournament playing out for Penn State?

The first round is Robert Morris vs RIT, and Syracuse vs Lindenwood. I don't think anyone is predicting RIT to beat Robert Morris in the first round, so that leaves Syracuse vs Lindenwood as the only real question mark. Who wins that one? That's still probably another pretty easy pick, and Syracuse should win.

That would mean the semifinals are Penn State vs Syracuse, and Mercyhurst vs Robert Morris. Robert Morris went 2-1-1 against Mercyhurst in the regular season, but all the games were close, and these two are perennial tournament powerhouses, so a one-and-done between them is too close to call. It's almost a shame that one or the other won't see the CHA finals. Penn State vs Syracuse seems like a tournament match that happens every year, and doesn't usually end well for Penn State. Penn State went 2-1-1 against Syracuse in the regular season, so if they can take this one from Syracuse they should hit the CHA finals in good shape. You know they're going to want to avenge the regular season loss to Syracuse.

There, that's my crystal ball - how do you see the CHA ending up?

[zambonidriver]

Heising has been sick. She was cleared for practice late last week and will be back for this weekend.

[ZedLeppelin]

And the Mercyhurst game recap: https://hurstathletics.com/news/2021...round-bye.aspx

[ZedLeppelin]

I see that Natalie Heising is a healthy scratch for the 3rd consecutive game. She going to be back on the ice anytime soon?

That's an important question, because her being out of the lineup shuffles all the lines. Whatever injury she got, I hope it heals up in time for the tournament next weekend. I would think even if she was borderline ready to go, she was probably kept back after Penn State clinched the regular season title so she's sure to be good for the CHA tournament. Any good team can cover for a single player being out, but that top line of Heising, Zanon, and Gough is a great combination.

[ZedLeppelin]

Penn State game recap: https://gopsusports.com/news/2021/2/...-overtime.aspx

[ZedLeppelin]

Daily Collegian game recap: https://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports...1a3e1a474.html

[ZedLeppelin]

Thanks for the updates Zed. I didn’t watch today, sounds like an entertaining game.

I wish I'd seen the first period, but I'm guessing the early Mercyhurst goal (and the Mercyhurst pace) had Penn State on their heels for the whole period. They sure looked good today, and I think Mercyhurst's record is more about their very late start to the season than it is any kind of call on their skill, because they sure looked like the usual Mercyhurst team today. They're definitely ready for the tournament.

[Lindsay]

Thanks for the updates Zed. I didn’t watch today, sounds like an entertaining game.