UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

[MAVFANJEFF]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

I really didn't expect to see our other goalies until Huntsville comes to town. Watched the game on B1G again. Video was choppy but my wife was playing facebook games on the other computer. Still not a bad deal 2 games for $10. We'll see how good our team really in when the Bulldogs come to town.

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

I really didn't expect to see our other goalies until Huntsville comes to town. Watched the game on B1G again. Video was choppy but my wife was playing facebook games on the other computer. Still not a bad deal 2 games for $10. We'll see how good our team really in when the Bulldogs come to town.

I figured there had to be a reason Massa didn't play last night:

http://www.omaha.com/uno/thompson-ma...8db84227b.html

.............he hurt his hand during practice on Saturday morning and could not go.

We only have two non-conference series left, both at home, against Alabama-Huntsville (6th trip to Omaha) and New Hampshire (3rd trip here, but, the first for a 2 game weekend set--one trip was for the Stampede in '05 and the other was a one-off game New Year's Eve in '97).

I know Pairwise is essentially meaningless this early on, but, I'd sure rather be where we are (4th) than in, say, the hole like Wisconsin has dug for themselves (last).

I hope Massa's hand injury isn't anything serious.

My guess is that UNO moves up in the meaningless polls tomorrow to, say, the 15, 16, or 17 range, perhaps? Other than Minnesota State, our non-conference opponents have not played very well at all and the only conference foe we've played so far, Western Michigan, has been pretty so-so.

Now, we sit for two weeks and wait for UMD to come to town while they have a home and away (actually, an away and a home, I guess) with the Gophers next weekend.

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

My guess is that UNO moves up in the meaningless polls tomorrow to, say, the 15, 16, or 17 range, perhaps? Other than Minnesota State, our non-conference opponents have not played very well at all and the only conference foe we've played so far, Western Michigan, has been pretty so-so.

Well, I was wrong, 14th.

I wonder just how carefully voters have looked at who we have played. It ain't real impressive outside of the Purple Cows and we split with them--at home.

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

Here's what passes for insight and intellect about all things UNO hockey around here (UNO talk commences at about the 4:30 mark):

http://studio.omaha.com/Tony-Boone--...h#.VGeSz2cYHf2

I am, frankly, a tad embarrassed to post this, but I thought others might find it interesting that, to a very large degree, how much more any real UNO fan knows about college hockey, this team, and this program than just about any member of the local news media here. (Disclaimer: I am not trying to pass myself off as any sort of expert, either, in making this statement. I am just trying to point out how shockingly little the media knows here). The school (and, the hockey team) even in the middle of building their new edifice in Aksarben Village, are barely on the radar screen of the local sports scene thanks to a UNO "Marketing Department" that could not properly market ice cream on a hot summer day. And, UNO has to compete with no pro sports teams, either.

The Cornhusker and Bluejay shadows are quite long around here.

I find this quite ironic since it has been my prediction, and, has been since Dean Blais was hired, that UNO wins a National Championship in hockey before the Huskers do it in football (and will NEVER happen with Pelini at the helm) or the Bluejays do in basketball (this is NEVER happening, period).

To each his own, I guess.

[MAVFANJEFF]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

the local news media started to take notice the last time UNO went to the NCAA tournament. as soon as that happens again they will sit up and take notice again. And once they do they will once again pretend to know something about hockey. Bo's temper tantrums could quite easily distract them though. Just be glad we don't have an AHL team here anymore. All the sports reporters here show signs of attention deficit disorder. Too many things going on and they can't concentrate. They will pretend to care about hockey if the huskers start a div 1 team and they will have most husker hockey fans looking embarrassingly ignorant about the sport when they all go jumping on the husker hockey band wagon claiming to know and love the sport. Myself, I didn't know diddly about the game until one night I took a radio and headphones to a game and watched while listening to Greg Harrington do the play by play. I miss him.

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

More of what passes for "insight" in this place that I live that people get promoted and sent away from and not to:

http://www.omaha.com/uno/who-s-the-p...d27b2f076.html

Thanks for the insulting-to-UNO-fans-and-college-hockey-fans-everywhere Pairwise tutorial.

What's next? A "Sun rises in the East primer"? A "Fire is hot" lecture"? A "Don't eat yellow snow" warning?

Thanks, "I'm new at the World Herald and am Captain-I-don't-know-anything-about-college-hockey-and-I-am-going-to-showcase-that-by-insulting-our-fans" newbie.

Go away. Please.

[MAVFANJEFF]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

Just curious, Can we sign Arizona st to a 2 year deal for an exhibition home and home series? And ditch the game with NAIT or who ever we have scheduled?

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

In no particular order:

UNO is 2nd in Pairwise although it is really a month or so too early to be looking at it and 11th in the meaningless USCHO poll.

The Mavs have wins against two different teams that both swept what was then the #1 ranked team in the country.

UNO has won the NCHC's "Rookie of the Week Award" 2 out of the last 3 weeks (Avery Peterson & Tyler Vesel). With 11 freshmen (seven of which are getting significant ice time) they ought to be in at least contention for this award on almost a weekly basis.

Ryan Massa didn't get his 3rd NCHC "Goalie of the Week Award" ("other nominees") even though he clearly deserved it over Miami goaltender Jay Williams. Massa played a substantially superior foe (UMD), as opposed to Miami, that played hapless Western Michigan. Plus, 2 of the 4 goals he allowed this past weekend were friendly fire, deflecting in off UNO players sticks.

Massa is now 5th in the NCAA in goals against average and 2nd in the NCAA in save percentage. If he can even remotely begin to sustain this level of performance, he is on his way to what would easily be the greatest season in goal by a UNO netminder in school history. To give you an idea, the all time UNO record for a single season for goals against average is by Jared Kaufmann in '08-'09 at 2.13, and, save percentage by Dan Ellis in '01-'02 at .919. Massa is clipping along at 1.49 and .953, respectively. He could fall off some and still threaten both these marks. And, Ellis is a player that ended up in the NHL.

This team is also currently 11th, nationally, in team defense, something that, besides goaltending, has not heretofore been hallmarks of any team Coach Blais has had here.

The scoring has been quite balanced, as well, with 12 different players having scored in UNO's 10 games, including 5 different freshmen.

And, in the plus/minus department, every single freshman except one is plus on the season except for one player, Grant Gallo. You know things are going well on the freshman side of things when one of the "stars" of your incoming freshman class, Jake Montgomery, is having a hard time getting much ice time, even.

Our power play could use some work but we sure aren't having any problem killing the other team's. And, for such a young team, we sure haven't taken a whole lot of penalties, either.

This weekend in Grand Forks provides an even further litmus test for this team. While UNO has historically played well there (they are, all-time, .500 at the Ralph) I will be happy to walk out of there with a split on Saturday night. If they can do that I will become an even bigger believer in this team than I have already started to become. The one nagging thing, though, is the overall season opponent's record of the teams we have played, 28-27-2. However, UNO is an unbeaten 5-0-1 on the road so far this season and that is pretty significant in my book, no matter the opponent(s).

Bring on the team whose nonconformist fans apparently didn't get the message and throw out all their Fighting Sioux gear, like the NCAA told them to.

[MplsSioux]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

In no particular order:

UNO is 2nd in Pairwise although it is really a month or so too early to be looking at it and 11th in the meaningless USCHO poll.

The Mavs have wins against two different teams that both swept what was then the #1 ranked team in the country.

UNO has won the NCHC's "Rookie of the Week Award" 2 out of the last 3 weeks (Avery Peterson & Tyler Vesel). With 11 freshmen (seven of which are getting significant ice time) they ought to be in at least contention for this award on almost a weekly basis.

Ryan Massa didn't get his 3rd NCHC "Goalie of the Week Award" ("other nominees") even though he clearly deserved it over Miami goaltender Jay Williams. Massa played a substantially superior foe (UMD), as opposed to Miami, that played hapless Western Michigan. Plus, 2 of the 4 goals he allowed this past weekend were friendly fire, deflecting in off UNO players sticks.

Massa is now 5th in the NCAA in goals against average and 2nd in the NCAA in save percentage. If he can even remotely begin to sustain this level of performance, he is on his way to what would easily be the greatest season in goal by a UNO netminder in school history. To give you an idea, the all time UNO record for a single season for goals against average is by Jared Kaufmann in '08-'09 at 2.13, and, save percentage by Dan Ellis in '01-'02 at .919. Massa is clipping along at 1.49 and .953, respectively. He could fall off some and still threaten both these marks. And, Ellis is a player that ended up in the NHL.

This team is also currently 11th, nationally, in team defense, something that, besides goaltending, has not heretofore been hallmarks of any team Coach Blais has had here.

The scoring has been quite balanced, as well, with 12 different players having scored in UNO's 10 games, including 5 different freshmen.

And, in the plus/minus department, every single freshman except one is plus on the season except for one player, Grant Gallo. You know things are going well on the freshman side of things when one of the "stars" of your incoming freshman class, Jake Montgomery, is having a hard time getting much ice time, even.

Our power play could use some work but we sure aren't having any problem killing the other team's. And, for such a young team, we sure haven't taken a whole lot of penalties, either.

This weekend in Grand Forks provides an even further litmus test for this team. While UNO has historically played well there (they are, all-time, .500 at the Ralph) I will be happy to walk out of there with a split on Saturday night. If they can do that I will become an even bigger believer in this team than I have already started to become. The one nagging thing, though, is the overall season opponent's record of the teams we have played, 28-27-2. However, UNO is an unbeaten 5-0-1 on the road so far this season and that is pretty significant in my book, no matter the opponent(s).

Bring on the team whose nonconformist fans apparently didn't get the message and throw out all their Fighting Sioux gear, like the NCAA told them to.

We're rebels like that

But I am very excited for this series this weekend. Similarly to UNO, this will also be a litmus test for UND who has had trouble getting out to a good start in a home game this year. They've seemed too comfortable starting games, so UNO's 5-0-1 road record worries me a bit. The low energy level could be a result of us only stuffing 12K into the arena. Maybe time to look at expansion of REA

[BigAl]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

Weekly recap of the polls. UNO/UND is my game of the week: http://q30television.com/2014/11/25/...y-poll-112414/

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

UNO continues its history of playing well at the Ralph.

I wonder how many teams can say they have a winning record, all time, at both the Ralph and at Mariucci Arena? (Granted, you'd have to take some license there and count tonight's shootout as a "win" to get UNO over the .500 hump at the Ralph).

Ryan Massa is rapidly becoming the story of this season at UNO. I don't know what's come over him but he is playing at an elite level in goal right now. He is among the national leaders in all goaltending stats except shut-outs.

In tonight's shoot out against team nameless, they got nada, zero, zip, zilch, past him.

He has been phenomenal, to say the least, and if he can keep this up UNO is headed for a special season.

We are showing an astounding level of poise for such a young team so far. IMHO, I think our freshmen have been able to step up and play so well because, by and large, most of them came from successful situations in juniors and/or in high school and they are used to winning and expect to. Throw a bunch of talented guys, with backgrounds like that together, and.........................

Oh, and the Mavs are still unbeaten on the road so far this season.

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

Wait. What?

We beat the new #1 team in the country this past Friday night (O.K., it was a shootout win) in THEIR building and then lose another close, hotly contested game the next night 3-2 (that was on national television) and we fall a spot in the USCHO poll?

O.K., I know the polls are steaming pile of dog dung, anyway, but, that ain't right.

In the "poll" that does matter, though--Pairwise--which is getting more relevant each weekend, now, UNO did move up from # 4 to #3 this week.

I saw both these games and I bet even North Dakota fans don't think they are 11 spots in the poll better than UNO has been so far. I sure don't. I think they were glad to see us get on the bus and leave.

I see where Buccigross has UNO at 7 (and UND at 3) and I think that a tad more representative:

https://twitter.com/Buccigross/statu...10910814289920

[MAVFANJEFF]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

not to worry, we've had a couple of bye weeks. That tie against UND is going to be more important than down the road than what the polls say right now.

Wait. What?

We beat the new #1 team in the country this past Friday night (O.K., it was a shootout win) in THEIR building and then lose another close, hotly contested game the next night 3-2 (that was on national television) and we fall a spot in the USCHO poll?

O.K., I know the polls are steaming pile of dog dung, anyway, but, that ain't right.

In the "poll" that does matter, though--Pairwise--which is getting more relevant each weekend, now, UNO did move up from # 4 to #3 this week.

I saw both these games and I bet even North Dakota fans don't think they are 11 spots in the poll better than UNO has been so far. I sure don't. I think they were glad to see us get on the bus and leave.

I see where Buccigross has UNO at 7 (and UND at 3) and I think that a tad more representative:

https://twitter.com/Buccigross/statu...10910814289920

[BigAl]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

Wait. What?

We beat the new #1 team in the country this past Friday night (O.K., it was a shootout win) in THEIR building and then lose another close, hotly contested game the next night 3-2 (that was on national television) and we fall a spot in the USCHO poll?

O.K., I know the polls are steaming pile of dog dung, anyway, but, that ain't right.

In the "poll" that does matter, though--Pairwise--which is getting more relevant each weekend, now, UNO did move up from # 4 to #3 this week.

I saw both these games and I bet even North Dakota fans don't think they are 11 spots in the poll better than UNO has been so far. I sure don't. I think they were glad to see us get on the bus and leave.

I see where Buccigross has UNO at 7 (and UND at 3) and I think that a tad more representative:

https://twitter.com/Buccigross/statu...10910814289920

I think you guys will continue to climb with a good showing this weekend against Miami: http://q30television.com/2014/12/01/...ey-poll-12114/

[MAVFANJEFF]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

Good to see UNO BB on Fox sports against K St.