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UMaine 25-26: Marques My Word: Back to the Big Time

If I could give this ten thumbs up, I would. Summarizes my thoughts perfectly. I was literally thinking of those three exact guys, plus Lynden Breen. I've already mentioned Taylor Makar by name a few times this year as it relates to the team missing his leadership (and size), and I have to imagine I will continue to do so.
Makar was the best at battling in front and cleaning up the rebounds.

Freel has to be that guy. Lipinski has to be that guy. Fowler has to be that guy.

Another element at play is the better players are freshman. Freshman are inconsistent. So Maine is going back and forth with consistency due to the bulk of the talent being freshmen. They will only get consistent when we get more impact from upperclassmen.

Maine’s top two scorers are freshman. Maine’s top two centers are new players, a transfer and a freshman. Maine’s 2nd and 3rd best defensemen are freshman. And one of those two defensemen is out with concussion. We’ve got a goalie that got the start tonight in net and worked himself into a rotation it seems.

So this issue isn’t that Maine isn’t getting talent. It’s that their upperclassmen are the ones not having as big of an impact as what you’ll normally get, so there is instability when your high impact players are all new.
 
The CHL guys have changed the team culture equation….and I don’t like it.
So you think we should bench the top two scorers on the team and see how well Maine will do?

Makes little sense blaming freshman for the shortcomings on the team.

The top 3 scoring forwards are newcomers(Poirier, Marques, Scott) and all of returning upperclassmen forwards are below them(Nadeau, Freel, Russell, Fowler, Scholle). Yet some fans want to place blame on newcomers.

I got news for you, if Maine didn’t have these newcomers and had ones from the BCHL, NAHL, etc… like we got in the past Maine would be at the bottom of hockey east right now.

And being at the bottom of hockey east is the worst kind of culture you can have. We know well enough, we endured an assload of it under Gendron(Drew’s favorite Maine teams).
 
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Hands, passing, reactions, positioning, decision-making; looked like a different team tonight. No idea what that was. How is every other team so good at locking down the middle and getting bodies in the way of shots EXCEPT Maine?? The forecheck was weird. They sucked at cycling the puck. Not only did they take too many touches, they moved in weird ways and almost always made the wrong pass. I absolutely lost track of the amount of times there was someone moving their feet into good position, and they threw the puck to someone else at perimeter, to take one too many touches and take a bad shot from a terrible position. UNH looked fine. Big and strong. I was actually really impressed with the defensive play/decision-making/positioning of them. UNH definitely did their homework.

This Maine team HAS found their identity and this is not close to it. It looked like they all had the flu or a concussion or hadn’t slept in two days. Just heads and shoulders away from a skills perspective from where they usually are, and I just do not understand how decision making and positioning can vary so greatly. Are they learning new systems weekly? Because 40%+ of the time they play they look confused and make the wrong decisions. Even the guys w great innate hockey sense. I am frustrated and dismayed for the first time this year
 
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Also NPI is a joke and I hope it’s a one and done. Harvard, Augustana, Lindenwood in; Michigan State bubble after their loss tonight. Six teams with LOSING records ranked in front of Maine? Totally asinine. Also it’s like the boys aren’t aware of NPI consequences?

Anyone know what’s more beneficial though? A split against NPI 35 UNH, or a sweep against NPI 51 UNH?
 
If the world is predictable maine wins tomorrow seeing that unh and maine like to split weekends.

This team just isnt that good, not as good as they think they are or what the fans want them to be. I dont see them righting the ship anytime soon. No leadership. Barr just yells at them alot. Players trying to do much. The veterans are just flat. All this just adds up to nothing good.
 
Also NPI is a joke and I hope it’s a one and done. Harvard, Augustana, Lindenwood in; Michigan State bubble after their loss tonight. Six teams with LOSING records ranked in front of Maine? Totally asinine. Also it’s like the boys aren’t aware of NPI consequences?

Anyone know what’s more beneficial though? A split against NPI 35 UNH, or a sweep against NPI 51 UNH?
Regarding NPI, I've seen some say that it will stabilize in a big way once the full schedule has gone thru, more than the PW ever did. I don't know enough to say if that's true or not, but I hope it is, because as of now I agree with you that it's pretty ludicrious with how it looks.
 
I don’t see this as a Barr issue at all. There is only so much he can do.

I could not disagree more re: Barr. How is a team of extremely well conditioned, skilled guys coming out flat not a coaching issue? There’s a team full of academic all-conference guys, with innate hockey sense, who look completely lost and flat.

His teams suck in early December, suck in January, and suck down the stretch. They’re obviously the most embarrassed. I just don’t get what’s going on
 
Josh and Charlie had some wheels but no support. Owen sometimes too. Holt was fine. Sully was ok. I think I am getting a little tired of Peterson. Literally no one did anything tonight. Poirier was straight up bad. No other freshman were anywhere to be found. Josh was trying to do it all himself again. Man I’m in a bad mood right now
 
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Josh and Charlie had some wheels but no support. Owen sometimes too. Holt was fine. Sully was ok. I think I am getting a little tired of Peterson. Literally no one did anything tonight. Poirier was straight up bad. No other freshman were anywhere to be found. Josh was trying to do it all himself again. Man I’m in a bad mood right now
It is a good thing we are in a bad mood after a loss. The alternative is we become apathetic due to many years of substandard play. At least we feel something again, even heartburn after a tough loss.
 
At what point does Lipinski watch a game from the stands? He and Scott are the only two I'm comfortable with taking faceoffs, but other than that the only other time I notice him is taking penalties. I think only 2 assists since Colgate?
 
Bad news for you guys: Chauvette is now on a 120 minute-plus scoreless streak in goal.
Good news for you guys: Chauvette (who will undoubtedly start) is routinely wretched on the back end of a weekend series.

Suspect tonight's game will be a comfortable win for the home team. Heard too much hooting from the UNH guys on their way back to the room at the end of the game, which is somewhat understandable, sure ... but despite the "playing with house money" outlook, they'll be fat and happy, and get steamrolled early and often.
 
when you continue to loose at home to scrub teams i would say this team is lacking in the talent department bigtime,so sick of hearing how they played pretty good but still lost..its because this team SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lets think about this a little......UHN a scrub team? Their goalies hot and they've beaten Michigan State and UConn, two pretty decent teams, and they just got their leader back on the ice. Maybe they're not quite the scrub team you describe, eh ?
 
Listen that was a frustrating third period but it aint over and everybody seems a little too doom n gloom

They’ve given themselves less margin for error in terms of the ncaas, but with so many young/new guys, in theory, they should be playing their best hockey in February anyway
 
when you continue to loose at home to scrub teams i would say this team is lacking in the talent department bigtime,so sick of hearing how they played pretty good but still lost..its because this team SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then go read somewhere else. Please, go be a fan of another team. You will be missed, our loss their gain. In fact, maybe some other fan base will find you such a valuable and contributing member to their fan base. They will rejoice. Go for the top, Michigan is calling your name.
 
Let’s think about this a little......UHN a scrub team? Their goalies hot and they've beaten Michigan State and UConn, two pretty decent teams, and they just got their leader back on the ice. Maybe they're not quite the scrub team you describe, eh ?
Please don’t use logic and reasoning on Tony Potter or Drew S… it isn’t their strong suit.

To play their game you need to reform yourself to qualify. You need to be one part negativity, two parts village idiot, and 1 part obnoxious.
 
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