UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

Regardless of how the weekend went you have to give a ton of credit to the PK given the fact we were on it for a ton of minutes all weekend. And of course Mikey stood on his head.

Listened to the post game presser some disappointment about not getting the win but the fact that they didnt repeat the PC weekend is huge...very proud of our team!! Is it Friday yet?!?! Go 'Cats!!!

When you're on a roll, Friday (or whenever the next game is) can never get here fast enough.

Nice feeling … one we probably haven't enjoyed for WAY too long. Let's hope it continues.

[e.cat]

Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

14th in the Pairwise. Not too shabby:-)

[JB]

Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

So I was wondering what to make of the jam packed standings, the top 9 team are with in 6 points of each other. With 6 weekends left and the potential to swing 4 points in a weekend things are tight. Then consider the uneven number of games played, which closed some this past weekend with Providence and Northeastern both off. Looks like an interesting ride to the end of the year. Ultimately I am just happy UNH is doing well enough that I care this year. It has been some time since the standings seemed to matter in late January, so this may not be unusual.

First I put together a strength of schedule remaining. My expectation is with the league so even nobody has a huge advantage. I did notice there are some big swings in home vs road records with 8 of the teams having at least a .100 swing and Maine a whopping .514 swing even after a road sweep of BC last weekend. So I did a SOS based on opponents win % and location, sticking with that Maine example they are a weak .375 if you are hosting them and a "Bear" at .889 if you get to go to Alfond...

So just for a feel of what the remaining schedule looks like for each team:

UML 0.581
MC 0.566
UC 0.554
UVM 0.547
UMA 0.545
UNH 0.508
NU 0.499
BU 0.493
BC 0.480
PRO 0.450
UMO 0.446 (a steady diet of MC, UConn & UVM at Alfond)

I then noticed a couple of curious items:

1) Maine has 9 games left... 8 at home, keep an eye out that object in the mirror maybe closer than it appears
2) Providence, UConn and Merrimack are all on the other end of that each with 9 games left only 3 at home

Who makes a schedule like this?

3) Lucky (?) for Providence they are .236 better on the road (odd)
4) the other 7 teams have even schedules or with in one game of even home and road

UNH strong at home has 6 of 10 in Durham with a split of 3 series with teams above (BC, BU, UML) and 2 with teams below (UConn & UVM).

[Nifty16]

Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

Playing with some number today that found interesting last year the Cats played 13 OT games winning 2 for 15% this year they have played 9 winning 5 for 56% in one goal games last year won 7 out of 12 for 58% this year have won 8 out of 11 for 73%. Not sure what gets credit for that but will take the improvement

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

Close but no cigar...still not ranked but 81 first place votes...beats our 42 previously. What's it gonna take? That said...hats off to our very own Mike Robinson named HE's Player of the Week for his stellar weekend, allowing only 2 goals in the UMass series. Congrats Mikey very well deserved...

[e.cat]

Close but no cigar...still not ranked but 81 first place votes...beats our 42 previously. What's it gonna take? That said...hats off to our very own Mike Robinson named HE's Player of the Week for his stellar weekend, allowing only 2 goals in the UMass series. Congrats Mikey very well deserved...

Who are these voters and what did they know and when did they know it? It's a conspiracy I tell ya!

[d.gerry]

Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

Close but no cigar...still not ranked but 81 first place votes...beats our 42 previously. What's it gonna take?

That's ok, at this point I'd rather be flying under the radar. Also, if the guys feel a bit disrespected may provide some added motivation.
I wish 81 first place votes!

[HockeyRef]

That's ok, at this point I'd rather be flying under the radar. Also, if the guys feel a bit disrespected may provide some added motivation.
I wish 81 first place votes!

Oh its total votes duh thanks for the clarification!! Agree it keeps 'em hungry. This is another big weekend I know Chuck would disagree as per the abilities of the UConn Huskies...(Although expecting a sweep is not out of the question)

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

Oh its total votes duh thanks for the clarification!! Agree it keeps 'em hungry. This is another big weekend I know Chuck would disagree as per the abilities of the UConn Huskies...(Although expecting a sweep is not out of the question)

Rest assured, nothing would make me happier than UNH sweeping Luce and Co. this weekend.

Who knows, it could deal a blow to UConn, helping them miss the HE Tourney a 2nd straight March.

[Snively65]

Who are these voters and what did they know and when did they know it? It's a conspiracy I tell ya!

Pay no attention to the Poles. PWR rules now. :-)

I predicted sweeps the past two weekends, and will do so again against Luce's Yukon. And, a sweep this weekend means that I lose the pre-season over/under 14.5 wins contest. I would be ok with that. :-)

[e.cat]

Pay no attention to the Poles. PWR rules now. :-)

I predicted sweeps the past two weekends, and will do so again against Luce's Yukon. And, a sweep this weekend means that I lose the pre-season over/under 14.5 wins contest. I would be ok with that. :-)

I'm all in with PWR:-)

With 10 games left, 2 with UCONN, UVM, BU, UML and BC, what's the over under on a 20 win regular season? I'm thinking we go 6-2-2 for 19 wins!

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

I'm all in with PWR:-)

With 10 games left, 2 with UCONN, UVM, BU, UML and BC, what's the over under on a 20 win regular season? I'm thinking we go 6-2-2 for 19 wins!

20 is attainable, but a stretch, and (like you) I wouldn't bet the house on it. I'd set the over/under at 17.5 RS wins for UNH. So 19 (and definitely 20) wins would be over, and comfortably so. You gotta think there will be another tie or two down the stretch to make getting to 20 in the RS more difficult. I'm going to predict 18 RS wins, with a 5-4-1 record. Not bad at all, actually.

I'll take it one step further, and say UNH gets to the magic 20 by winning the quarterfinals, sticking with my 4th place RS finish, so they would be home games, and then the boys make it to Boston for the HE semis. Playing it out even further … that semis game could hold the key on an at-large bid to the national tourney.

So … for the first time in quite awhile, we get to this time of the season, and everything is still in play.

First things first … let's kick Luce and his stagnating program to the curb, where they belong …

[e.cat]

20 is attainable, but a stretch, and (like you) I wouldn't bet the house on it. I'd set the over/under at 17.5 RS wins for UNH. So 19 (and definitely 20) wins would be over, and comfortably so. You gotta think there will be another tie or two down the stretch to make getting to 20 in the RS more difficult. I'm going to predict 18 RS wins, with a 5-4-1 record. Not bad at all, actually.

I'll take it one step further, and say UNH gets to the magic 20 by winning the quarterfinals, sticking with my 4th place RS finish, so they would be home games, and then the boys make it to Boston for the HE semis. Playing it out even further … that semis game could hold the key on an at-large bid to the national tourney.

So … for the first time in quite awhile, we get to this time of the season, and everything is still in play.

First things first … let's kick Luce and his stagnating program to the curb, where they belong …

I like how you think Chuck:-) If it plays out the way you say I would be elated. It will be very interesting to see how this all plays out. Lots of drama ahead for sure.

[d.gerry]

Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

Heading down to the XL Center Saturday afternoon. Looking forward to what should be a much more enjoyable ride, as compared to the recent Friday night trip to Providence. However the results at PC more than offset the long and slow trek. Really hoping the easy ride on Saturday is not offset by a disappointment! It's weekends like this that really let you know where a team stands, IMO this is a big one. Bought my tickets online for the PC game and glad I did as Schneider sold out, no such worries at the XL this time!

[HockeyRef]

Heading down to the XL Center Saturday afternoon. Looking forward to what should be a much more enjoyable ride, as compared to the recent Friday night trip to Providence. However the results at PC more than offset the long and slow trek. Really hoping the easy ride on Saturday is not offset by a disappointment! It's weekends like this that really let you know where a team stands, IMO this is a big one. Bought my tickets online for the PC game and glad I did as Schneider sold out, no such worries at the XL this time!

HR and her twin sis will be in the house as well! I've never seen the 'Cats win there so here's hoping...Agree...we'll take nothing less! Go 'Cats!!