Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Originally posted by Chuck Murray View Post
    Preach.

    Success on the power play is all about creating space and seams, overloads, and making the guys on the PK move and think about what's coming at them next. The more you slow it down from an attacking standpoint, the more time you give the PK to read and react to what you're doing. I try to explain to my players that they need to work hard to get themselves and the ball into dangerous positions, and once you beat a defender, it forces that defender's teammates to react and cover space or players they weren't originally covering. That's when bigger mistakes get made, players get left alone, and more often goals are scored.

    There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a base set-up to work from, but rehearsed plays rarely come off live like they do on a whiteboard. SO many variables. The important thing is for the players to have e general understanding of roles, but have clear understandings of what they're really trying to accomplish, and to recognize when those opportunities present themselves. The easiest teams to defend are the ones who don't move the point of attack, move slowly, or move in easily predictable ways.

    Good to have you back on the boards, Greg. Hope all is well.
    Just put breaks on when coming into the zone... if no offsides then blast it wide or high off the glass. Now that would be unpredictable.

    Comment


    • Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

      Originally posted by Snively65 View Post
      JvR with a goal and an assist, but no word whether he completed a Gordie Howe hat trick the other night.
      JvR did not complete the Gordie Howe hat trick last night with a fight. Better yet, for those of you who are fans of the +/- statistic he was a +3 in the game!

      Comment


      • Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

        Originally posted by Chuck Murray View Post
        Preach.

        Success on the power play is all about creating space and seams, overloads, and making the guys on the PK move and think about what's coming at them next. The more you slow it down from an attacking standpoint, the more time you give the PK to read and react to what you're doing. I try to explain to my players that they need to work hard to get themselves and the ball into dangerous positions, and once you beat a defender, it forces that defender's teammates to react and cover space or players they weren't originally covering. That's when bigger mistakes get made, players get left alone, and more often goals are scored.

        There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a base set-up to work from, but rehearsed plays rarely come off live like they do on a whiteboard. SO many variables. The important thing is for the players to have e general understanding of roles, but have clear understandings of what they're really trying to accomplish, and to recognize when those opportunities present themselves. The easiest teams to defend are the ones who don't move the point of attack, move slowly, or move in easily predictable ways.

        Good to have you back on the boards, Greg. Hope all is well.
        Very good post on powerplays. Just to add a thing or two. Over 90% of the movement on the power play should be the puck, not the players skating around. If a team can execute three or four lateral and/or diagonal passes in a short amount of time you should be able to pull the penalty killers and goalie off balance and out of position to get a quality scoring opportunity.

        Comment


        • Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

          Originally posted by Snively65 View Post
          I think that BU Terriors are our best shot to overtake the eight HEA slot by end of regular season.
          I feel like UMASS, BC, and maybe UML are a cut above the rest right now.
          BU is BUing in very BU fashion right now.
          UCONN is probably going to drop a bit.
          NU looked like they were in terrible shape but they got a massive boost last night.
          I do not know what to make of the SMTs and Chucks' favorite Downeast team right now.
          It was nice of the Friars to let Tim Army coach the team last weekend. PC is not PC right now and Leaman has his work cut out for him - but after 2015 he has earned a lot of good will.

          "I have come up with a plan so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel. ."
          -Blackadder
          "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here. "
          -Casablanca
          "They could maybe hire another officer to catch the illegal immigrant drug dealers breast feeding at Dunkin' Donuts or whatever it is! Thank you!"
          -Somerville Speakout

          2008 POTY

          Comment


          • Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

            Originally posted by Ray Dorn View Post
            Very good post on powerplays. Just to add a thing or two. Over 90% of the movement on the power play should be the puck, not the players skating around. If a team can execute three or four lateral and/or diagonal passes in a short amount of time you should be able to pull the penalty killers and goalie off balance and out of position to get a quality scoring opportunity.
            Not quite, Ray. If the players aren't moving that much, then they won't be changing the angles on the defense, which can then anticipate where those angles and seams might be, and clog those lanes much more easily. I do agree, puck movement is the most important piece, but if the attacking players are semi-stationary, it doesn't force defenders to move, and it's when you get defenders to move that scoring chances open up.

            When I was younger, in a decidedly less high-tech world, I used to explain to players that the straight-line movement you see in one of those vintage table hockey games of our youth was exactly the way NOT to score goals. You create chances either when you can beat someone with skill and/or speed while on the puck, OR with creative movement off the puck, in doing so allowing yourself or a teammate to get a clean look at goal.

            Sometimes you get lucky and there's a friendly bounce, or you can set things up for a screen or deflection. Forcing opponents to give up possession deep in their own zone is good, too. But so long as we're talking effective PP production, movement is at the top of the list of how to make it work. And it can't all be just puck movement. Only so many permutations/combinations to be played between 5 fixed position players around 4 (or sometimes 3) defenders. And whatever you do ... don't get Snives all worked up about the approach that puts 3 attacking players below the opponent's goal line …
            Sworn Enemy of the Perpetually Offended
            Montreal Expos Forever ...

            Comment


            • Originally posted by Chuck Murray View Post
              Not quite, Ray. If the players aren't moving that much, then they won't be changing the angles on the defense, which can then anticipate where those angles and seams might be, and clog those lanes much more easily. I do agree, puck movement is the most important piece, but if the attacking players are semi-stationary, it doesn't force defenders to move, and it's when you get defenders to move that scoring chances open up.

              When I was younger, in a decidedly less high-tech world, I used to explain to players that the straight-line movement you see in one of those vintage table hockey games of our youth was exactly the way NOT to score goals. You create chances either when you can beat someone with skill and/or speed while on the puck, OR with creative movement off the puck, in doing so allowing yourself or a teammate to get a clean look at goal.

              Sometimes you get lucky and there's a friendly bounce, or you can set things up for a screen or deflection. Forcing opponents to give up possession deep in their own zone is good, too. But so long as we're talking effective PP production, movement is at the top of the list of how to make it work. And it can't all be just puck movement. Only so many permutations/combinations to be played between 5 fixed position players around 4 (or sometimes 3) defenders. And whatever you do ... don't get Snives all worked up about the approach that puts 3 attacking players below the opponent's goal line …
              You got that straight on my feelings about MS7's 5-3 PP strategy, Chuck, as uncommon as the opportunity is. And, I agree entirely that skaters need to keep their feet moving, which I hear Jack and Brick obsessing on constantly. One timers and rebounds is the key on the PP, imho. I agree with Ray, DeltaBravo, and others that time should not be wasted getting into predictable positions on the PP, which is a double whammy. How many times have I screamed "shoot the .... 'ing puck!" at the Whitt, Snively, and Batchelder Rink over the past six decades? "A bundle!" to quote a favorite POTUS of the right wingers (heh, heh) here.
              Last edited by Snively65; 02-11-2020, 09:22 PM.

              Comment


              • Originally posted by Ray Dorn View Post
                JvR did not complete the Gordie Howe hat trick last night with a fight. Better yet, for those of you who are fans of the +/- statistic he was a +3 in the game!
                Yup, I am a fan of the +/-, SOG, and FOW. Guilty as charged. :-)

                Comment


                • Originally posted by Snively65 View Post
                  Yup, I am a fan of the +/-, SOG, and FOW. Guilty as charged. :-)
                  New Hampshire knows how to count +/-, SOG, and FOW and votes!;-)
                  UNH Hockey: You can check out any time you like but you can never leave!

                  Comment


                  • Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

                    Originally posted by e.cat View Post
                    New Hampshire knows how to count +/-, SOG, and FOW and votes!;-)
                    HUGE turnout on both Monday night at Manch, and at the polls yesterday. BIGLY!!!
                    Sworn Enemy of the Perpetually Offended
                    Montreal Expos Forever ...

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by Chuck Murray View Post
                      HUGE turnout on both Monday night at Manch, and at the polls yesterday. BIGLY!!!
                      Just to stay focused on UNH hockey, I met the former Massachusetts governator, who garnered over 12,000 votes yesterday in New Hanoshire, at Conte Forum a couple of times when our Cats were playing there, as apparently he was a BC hockey fan at the time, and maybe still is?

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by Chuck Murray View Post
                        HUGE turnout on both Monday night at Manch, and at the polls yesterday. BIGLY!!!
                        I'm still not tired of the winning.Haha:-;:-)
                        UNH Hockey: You can check out any time you like but you can never leave!

                        Comment


                        • Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

                          Originally posted by e.cat View Post
                          I'm still not tired of the winning.Haha:-;:-)
                          "I'm not tired of all the winning"

                          -Dick Umile, upon retirement, reflecting on his last three years at UNH...
                          Live Free or Die!!
                          Miami University '03

                          Comment


                          • Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward

                            Speaking of winning. It is going to be a very fine line between making the Hockey East playoffs or not. Six games remaining for UNH so we are going to have to do some winning. It starts with Boston University this weekend. It appears the BU supporters are not very happy after Monday night. The word is that their goaltending has been a little shaky this season.


                            My three keys to the BU games this weekend are:

                            1. The UNH forwards must backcheck hard and defend the BU defenseman who joins their offensive attack. BU has one or two defensemen who likes to jump up in their offensive rushes.

                            2. The UNH defensemen need to exploit the fact that a BU defenseman will likely over commit to their offense so we need to counterattack quickly from defense to offense. We need to get the puck up ice 80 to 100 feet as quickly as possible to take advantage of this. We can create a few odd man rushes, mostly 2 on 1's, from a quick transition to offense.

                            3. Special teams play will be important. The BU powerplay is better than what we have seen over the last couple of weeks. Our penalty kill needs to rise to the challenge. The best way to keep BU from scoring on their powerplay is to not give them powerplay opportunities. Don't take bad penalties.


                            Other thoughts?
                            Last edited by Ray Dorn; 02-12-2020, 12:11 PM.

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by Dan View Post
                              "I'm not tired of all the winning"

                              -Dick Umile, upon retirement, reflecting on his last three years at UNH...
                              If only he had gotten over the top and won the Big One! Can't say he was a loser though with all that winning!
                              UNH Hockey: You can check out any time you like but you can never leave!

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by Ray Dorn View Post
                                Speaking of winning. It is going to be a very fine line between making the Hockey East playoffs or not. Six games remaining for UNH so we are going to have to do some winning. It starts with Boston University this weekend. It appears the BU supporters are not very happy after Monday night. The word is that their goaltending has been a little shaky this season.


                                My three keys to the BU games this weekend are:

                                1. The UNH forwards must backcheck hard and defend the BU defenseman who joins their offensive attack. BU has one or two defensemen who likes to jump up in their offensive rushes.

                                2. The UNH defensemen need to exploit the fact that a BU defenseman will likely over commit to their offense so we need to counterattack quickly from defense to offense. We need to get the puck up ice 80 to 100 feet as quickly as possible to take advantage of this. We can create a few odd man rushes, mostly 2 on 1's, from a quick transition to offense.

                                3. Special teams play will be important. The BU powerplay is better than what we have seen over the last couple of weeks. Our penalty kill needs to rise to the challenge. The best way to keep BU from scoring on their powerplay is to not give them powerplay opportunities. Don't take bad penalties.


                                Other thoughts?
                                Sure. First, BU fans were not very happy mostly because they thought they got screwed on the tripping call in the second overtime. Sure it was penalty, especially based on what was called during regulation. But in the typical fashion that officials have used in overtime ever since I started watching hockey, they swallowed their whistles in OT, letting slashes and a couple of marginal trips go, that is, until this one. Mind you, in the 50 odd years I have been watching BU play, more often than not they have been the beneficiary of these types of calls so it’s difficult to engender much sympathy for them. And, note that for PWR purposes the game ended in a tie anyway.

                                As for BU’s overall performance, they pretty much dominated the game against NU except the second period when Northeastern overwhelmed them, in part due to a few PP, including a 5-on-3 when they scored two. I know this was the Beanpot and both teams gave that extra push the entire game, but from what I’ve seen on TV this year (vs. PC, Lowell, BC) BU is way more skilled top to bottom than UNH. While their goalies (both of them) are no great shakes, UNH is going to have to play a superior defensive game on Friday to beat them. I don’t give them much of a shot at Agganis on Saturday.

                                I think UNH has no more than four or five points left in them these last three weeks. Looking back, losing two at Maine, then two more vs. UConn was a killer. You need to gain points against the teams you are really competing against to be successful and 0-4:just doesn’t cut it.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X