Dennis Cesana is leading the team's defense in points ... how good is he on defense? skating? is he NHL-material maybe?
He came in with a rep as an offensive dman. His defense has improved and he is a very good two way dman. At 5’9” his NHL prospectives probably aren’t likely unless he puts up double digit goal numbers like Krug did when he played at state.
I believe the sales slogan is "Be the Tradition", but yeah, Powers is selling an attractive story. A lot more attractive than other remote D1 hockey outposts like the Alaskas and UAH. I didn't realize Powers was a former goalie, but it's evident that he and his staff have evaluated well in that regard (NHL draftee Daccord and now DeBrouwer). Finally, in addition to the allure of the sunny SWUS for 18 year olds, Powers is also having some success with older transfers. Impressive!
That is the official public slogan. In private, based on what other ASU coaches are saying in other sports its likely along the lines of we are going to get you into the ...... (NHL) by becoming a legend here. Its part of a new - to ASU - sports business model being pursued by the athletic director. But just my opinion.
Ended up listening to part of the game. Tough to let this one get away. Per the CHN Pairwise modifier, holding onto the lead and getting a W would've moved us all the way up to 11th in the Pairwise. Even a tie would've moved up to 16th. A loss wasn't a killer, just down to 19th, but with the way the Big Ten is there are only six quality games left unless Minnesota keeps moving up.
Gotta get a win tomorrow. Ferris is not good and Michigan is down two guys at World Juniors.
Go Green! Go White! Go State!
1966, 1986, 2007 Go Tigers, Go Packers, Go Red Wings, Go Pistons
Good bounce back game. Ferris has provided the only two wins for MSU in the last six tournaments.
Geez, really? I know it’s been rough for the last several years but that’s bad.
We’re keeping our head above water in regards to record and PWR but not much more than that. A sweep would be huge. The Gophers at Munn in a couple weeks might provide a good opportunity.
Depending on your definition, the second half of the season starts this week with conference play or it started last week with the GLI. Either way, MSU currently sits 17th in the Pairwise.
Winning out the regular season, independent of everyone else, puts us at 4th. Of course, there would still be a couple playoff games after that.
Going .500 the rest of the way, again independent of everyone else, puts us at 18th.
If there's a game that's going to keep us out of the tournament, it's looks like it's going to be the Tech game. Even with a .500 finish the simulator is still showing that game to be worth 4 spots (not worth any if we win out). Of course, everything is different in a vacuum. The results of other teams have bounced us from 16th to 20th since the GLI, so there's still a lot of variability.
Go Green! Go White! Go State!
1966, 1986, 2007 Go Tigers, Go Packers, Go Red Wings, Go Pistons
Saw posted elsewhere that Kyle Haskins signed his NLI. Have found no official confirmation, but if true no surprise as he is the top unsigned forward committed to MSU. That would bring us to 1G 2D 2F to replace 2G 4D 3F. I would expect at least 1 more D and a walk-on G.
Dennis Cesana has 14 pts in 20 games. how's the rest of his game? what about his defense?
Right from the HC's mouth:
Coach Danton Cole says sophomore defenseman Dennis Cesana is becoming "more of a complete player" and smarter in his decision making in leading the rush or following the rush.
He's the Spartans' best offensive defenseman, and with his skill as a puck-handler and passer, he's been anchoring the top power play since arriving as a freshman last year.
Cesana, 21, a 5-foot-9, 195-pounder from Providence, has also developed into a solid defender and is used in all situations – to help get the big goal or prevent the late goal.
"He continued to improve from the first half of last year to the second half,'' Cole said. "I thought his defensive game has improved, his angles and his closes have come a long way, and he continues to improve on that.''
In Tuesday's 5-2 win over Ferris State in the GLI third place game Cesana had a goal and two assists and three shots on goal. He also had three shots on net in Monday's semifinal against Michigan Tech.
"He's more confident with the puck, and the other thing I like is when he gets too far ahead of the rush sometimes, and works so hard to get back, he's starting to realize that there's a right time and right place to do that,'' Cole said.
"He's smart in that sense and he's starting to realize you can be a lot more effective and get a lot more done offensively and not work quite as hard. That's a hard thing to get a young man to understand. That's a tricky mindset to have.''
Cesana is MSU's third-leading scorer with four goals and 10 assists for 14 points, one point behind Mitchell Lewandowski (6-9-15).
Gophers with another :facepalm: effort. Credit to MSU goalie, he played outstanding and ours (combined with the D) were pretty below average. Also the fact that it took MSU taking however many penalties in the third and playing poorly to even up the shot total says a lot about how the gophers played the first two periods, ugh.
Gophers with another :facepalm: effort. Credit to MSU goalie, he played outstanding and ours (combined with the D) were pretty below average. Also the fact that it took MSU taking however many penalties in the third and playing poorly to even up the shot total says a lot about how the gophers played the first two periods, ugh.
The Gophers were astonishingly punchless last night. I don’t believe that was a typical performance from the Gophers, but MSU has proven to be pretty rock solid by now. 7 shots on goal through 40 minutes for the Gophers might be the lowest I have ever seen for any team.
As for the Spartans, a sweep would be huge. Some tough weekends ahead and we need to keep up with PSU and OSU.
Comment