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UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
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Originally posted by Snively65 View PostRecruit more Swedes, please. :-)
Win over NU right up there with win over BC this season.I'm just here for the hockey...
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Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
Originally posted by HockeyRef View PostSunday morning musings....I see we are in a tie for 7th place in the HE standings with the win over NU last night. I know there is a ton of hockey left; anything can happen. Every point counts. Hope the MC loss early on doesn't come back to bite us. That all said...anyone got a read on how many games in hand do we have on teams like Maine, UConn? I'd say it's neck and neck but am too lazy to do the work.
The HE standings are actually incredibly tight, with the exception of UVM, which is looking like it's experiencing their "Sayonra to Sneddon" season at long last - hard to believe it's been 17 seasons of sustained mediocrity up there. Say what you will about our previous HC's "Long Goodbye Tour", but KS hasn't scraped even close to the level of DU's success, and he's still there. I'd check to see if there are any rumblings about his imminent departure … but I can't be bothered. Truth be told, that program hasn't been the same since the infamous "elephant walk" hazing incident about 20 years ago now, prior to Sneddon's hiring. If the best thing you can say about your 17 year tenure is that you've avoided having a season cancelled midway through, it's a low bar up there.
Getting back to my point about the HE standings … UNH plays Providence next weekend, home and away. PC currently leads HE with 16 points, but UNH has 3 games in hand on them as well (UNH actually has games in hand on everyone, except BC and UVM) so in a make-believe world where UNH sweeps next weekend over the Friars, UNH climbs to within 2 points of PC, still with the 3 games in hand. OR if they split, and UNH wins all 3 games in hand over PC, they're even-steven. And it's wins over the likes of NU, BC and UMass this season that at least holds out hope that further wins in some of these games against top-level teams are within reach. Quite a different vibe from the one we've experienced in recent seasons. And that's a good thing.
Next two weekends … home-and-homes with PC and UMass will again shed light on just what kind of team UNH has this season, and if post-season success is a realistic hope or just another pipe dream. Breaking even or close, keeps hope alive. Getting swept probably sheds some of those hopes as premature and unrealistic. Posting a winning record over this stretch … well then, now we might have something going on here.
The two weekends after that, there's a chance to really get something going, with weekend series against cupcake-light UConn and dead-straight cupcake UVM hopefully posing a realistic likelihood of at least 6 points out of 8. Then there is the stretch run, which is a gauntlet of post-Beanpot BU (actually great timing for UNH), UMass Lowell and BC leading into the conference tourney. UNH should be playing against teams with strong post-season histories down the stretch, and I like the way this all sets up for the 'Cats.
I think I was the one who predicted a 4th place RS finish for UNH, and that's still alive (if a slight stretch), but more than anything I'd like to see UNH advance to compete in the HE Semis in Boston. It's something we were fortunate to almost take for granted for the better part of two decades … and like they say, sometimes you don't know how much you miss something until it's gone.
Plenty of reason to not want to get out over our skis with optimism … but MS7 looks to have drawn a clear line under the last three years of the Umile Era at the very least, and realistically that may be the most important thing he and his program have been able to accomplish over the last 12+ months. It's interesting again. Next, we need for it to be compelling again. Make it happen, MS7.Sworn Enemy of the Perpetually Offended
Montreal Expos Forever ...
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Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
Originally posted by Thiessen'sBetter View PostIf it makes you feel any better, (BvB has) been far and away the worst player who's regularly in the line-up for NU this year. The collegiate Brett Ritchie.
Any chance Madigan would consign the overprivileged brat to the stands for the Beanpot?!?Sworn Enemy of the Perpetually Offended
Montreal Expos Forever ...
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Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
Originally posted by Dan View PostUNH Defenseman since Thanksgiving...
He's a +3 dating back to the Army game.Shrink-The-Rink, Win a Title
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Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
Originally posted by Chuck Murray View PostFair point, and one I've admitted to in the past. Sitting him doesn't make sense, and I didn't see tonight's game, but I did see the Yale game last weekend, and he looked bored out there. And it's not just the "he's so talented he makes it look easy" thing, I get that. There are times he's trying to make difficult plays that didn't appear the least bit necessary (watch the Yale tape, he cuts out in front of Taylor from behind his own goal twice, when easier exit options were there), so I'm guessing Norbert may have seen similar stuff out there tonight.
The kid clearly has huge talent, and has had it since Day One. But it's possibly also instructive to remember that Wisconsin let him decommit a few years ago when they were faced with a glut of other defensemen in the pipeline. Maybe they got that wrong … or maybe there's just something in his DNA that they ID'ed and decided to take a pass on, and *possibly* some of that shows itself once in awhile when this immensely talented kid makes totally avoidable errors, or looks less invested in the game sometimes?
Maybe it's just a rough spot, and who knows what might be going on elsewhere in his life. Heck, today we all learned that Baby van Bandwagon wasn't exactly all-in at UNH last season …
″(Transferring) was a little bit on my mind during the (season) last year,” van Riemsdyk said. “I wasn’t necessarily happy with the way things were going.
I'm confident Gildon will rediscover his top form (and focus?) over the coming weeks, but I'm equally confident he'll be playing pro hockey somewhere before his older teammates graduate. C'est la vie.
Fact of life prob every team has those players who put up big PM's. That being said, the fewer the better. UNH is making moves (with the recent add on for next season of Luke Reid) to shore up the Dline that they know will be depleted with the most likely departure of Gildon, and for sure, Wyse. I hope Maass is planning on being a 4 year guy (what a GREAT game he had last night). Thought Kalle Ericksson played his best game of the season. Lots of big hits. lest (I) we forget these are student-athletes....
Thanks for doing the grunt work on the HE situation Mr. Murray. Mucho appreciated! Go 'Cats!!!I'm just here for the hockey...
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Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
Originally posted by Chuck Murray View PostThen there is the stretch run, which is a gauntlet of post-Beanpot BU (actually great timing for UNH), UMass Lowell and BC leading into the conference tourney.
Obligatory hockey content: As Dan has already mentioned, the 'Cats now have 5, count em, *5* overtime victories this season, which (according to HockeyEastOnline) ties (heh, heh) a program record from the 1972-73 season (when I believe, IIRC, ot rules were different; weren't ot periods 10 minutes long back in the College Hockey Dark Ages? Someone help jog my memory). The 'Cats certainly seem to jump into another gear once bonus skating begins; they outshot N'eastern 3-0 in winning last night, and in their other 4 ot victories they cumulatively outshot their opponents 5-2. In 3 of those wins, they took only a single ot shot - but made it count! :-) So many of these games were losses last season, when, as Chuck mentions, they were seemingly playing - unsuccessfully as it frequently turned out - not to lose, so I'm happy to see a new team mindset. "Fortune favors the bold," as the saying goes, and UNH exemplifies that in spades ...
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Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
Originally posted by Snively65 View PostRecruit more Swedes, please. :-)
Win over NU right up there with win over BC this season.I will not be out cheered in my own building.
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Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
Originally posted by jeteye1717 View PostWARNING - pedantic pet peeve alert ... UNH's upcoming stretch run is NOT a "gauntlet" of difficult teams, but a "gantlet" that they hopefully take on and emerge from with as many points as possible. A gauntlet was literally the armored glove of a well-equipped medieval knight errant, who would theatrically throw it at the feet of a rival to initiate a challenge, hence the phrase "to throw down the gauntlet" ... To "run the gantlet" is to maneuver/pass through a difficult set of obstacles (derived from railroad usage), which is what I'm sure was Chuck's meaning here. The distinction has sadly been lost in much of popular prose (along with "could care less" vs. "could NOT care less," the grammatically correct term), but I remain hopeful that with a little gentle urging we can resist the coarsened herds :-) And now back to your regularly scheduled program ...
Obligatory hockey content: As Dan has already mentioned, the 'Cats now have 5, count em, *5* overtime victories this season, which (according to HockeyEastOnline) ties (heh, heh) a program record from the 1972-73 season (when I believe, IIRC, ot rules were different; weren't ot periods 10 minutes long back in the College Hockey Dark Ages? Someone help jog my memory). The 'Cats certainly seem to jump into another gear once bonus skating begins; they outshot N'eastern 3-0 in winning last night, and in their other 4 ot victories they cumulatively outshot their opponents 5-2. In 3 of those wins, they took only a single ot shot - but made it count! :-) So many of these games were losses last season, when, as Chuck mentions, they were seemingly playing - unsuccessfully as it frequently turned out - not to lose, so I'm happy to see a new team mindset. "Fortune favors the bold," as the saying goes, and UNH exemplifies that in spades ...I'm just here for the hockey...
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Originally posted by jeteye1717 View PostWARNING - pedantic pet peeve alert ... UNH's upcoming stretch run is NOT a "gauntlet" of difficult teams, but a "gantlet" that they hopefully take on and emerge from with as many points as possible. A gauntlet was literally the armored glove of a well-equipped medieval knight errant, who would theatrically throw it at the feet of a rival to initiate a challenge, hence the phrase "to throw down the gauntlet" ... To "run the gantlet" is to maneuver/pass through a difficult set of obstacles (derived from railroad usage), which is what I'm sure was Chuck's meaning here. The distinction has sadly been lost in much of popular prose (along with "could care less" vs. "could NOT care less," the grammatically correct term), but I remain hopeful that with a little gentle urging we can resist the coarsened herds :-) And now back to your regularly scheduled program ...
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Originally posted by bakchk20 View PostReally? Well if I recall, Army scored on two of his penaties. I get it, that's not part of the overhyped +/- tally...but it IS the more "complete" story. Agreed, comical...
You’re post noting the penalties and wishing for better is entirely reasonable, IMO. Expecting better production stats and fewer penalties is fair game.
That said when discussing flukey occurrences (and not entirely reliable stats) - it’s just that when the UNH PK kills all three non-Gildon penalties and surrenders goals on both of his.
And any night with two PPG against should focus much of that blame to the PK. UNH’s PK has hurt them all season. They rank 54th nationally in killing penalties. And how about this stat - UNH has had fewer PK opportunities than all but 14 teams this season, yet has given up more PPG than all but five...
For all the talk about goaltending of late both are between .910 and .915 at even strength when UNH has allowed just 1.5 GA/PG five on five. They’ve given up about another full goal on the PK every night. Certainly the goalies are part of that, but it speaks volumes about team 5x5 defense against PK defending. No matter who is in the box...
You are right that +\- doesn’t tell the whole story and in his case it severely undervalues Gildon. Gildon Is currently a plus-4 on the season, despite getting no credit for SIXTEEN power-play points. Meanwhile your other top two defenseman are the stalwarts on the aforementioned PK and get no negative for that units performance. Additionally, recent struggles aside, the UNH PP still rates thirteenth best in the country...
Gildon had a better +\- than both Wyse and Maass in each of the last two seasons (and again, got no credit for seven more PPG and who knows how many PPA).
He’s a defenseman playing huge minutes and he’s on the ice for FAR more goals for than against. Period. What more should we want?
I can review and crunch the numbers on his breakout/turnover performances over the last few games - it wasn’t popular last time I did, but I’d bet this stretch tells the same story. Which is he still handles far more breakouts than anyone else and succeeds at a notably higher rate. It’s been the case since his FR year despite a few gaffes and being held to the highest of standards. And that’s before we even get into splitting hairs between Gildon turning it over on a pass or a deke while others turn it over every bit as dangerously when they simply fire pucks up the wall or the slot. Or simply rack up failed clears because they can’t skate pucks out nearly as effectively. Turnovers happen to everyone in hockey it’s the nature of the game...
I personally take heart in the fact that while he’s not playing up to his own lofty standard the rest of the team is playing very well for the most part. Fair enough considering how often he has carried an extreme measure of the load...
I don’t care for any argument that tries to play armchair psychologist into what Gildon may be thinking about his pro future. We have zero insight into that possibility. We blamed Poturalski for the same thing (and argued he should be benched) when all he did for the team was score 20% of their goals and figure in half...
It was ridiculous then and it’s ridiculous now. Maybe, just maybe, he has lulls in his production because he still can’t purchase a legal beer (And won’t be able too until the end of this season no matter how far they advance). Maass is a true freshman classmate, but he’s nearly eight months older than Gildon. Wyse was Gildon’s current age almost as soon as he stepped foot on campus. That shouldn’t be forgotten...
Also don’t forget that it took Watcher pointing it out a number of weeks into the season for anyone to even acknowledge that Gildon was (at the time) playing like someone who could skate right into an NHL line-up. Playing at an elite level was just taken for granted...
There are areas in which he needs to improve on how he has played if late. I wish that could just be stated with specifics instead of venting rants, but that’s my problem I suppose...Last edited by Dan; 01-12-2020, 02:36 PM.Live Free or Die!!
Miami University '03
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Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
Originally posted by Dan View PostUNH’s PK has hurt them all season. They rank 54th nationally in killing penalties. And how about this stat - UNH has had fewer PK opportunities than all but 14 teams this season, yet has given up more PPG than all but five ...
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Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
FWIIW department, I think that 'gantlet' is an archaic spelling for 'gauntlet,' and does not even appear in some of my more modern dictionaries. Second definition for 'gauntlet' in all of my dictionaries is 'a challenge,' so tally ho, Chuck. :-)
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Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
Originally posted by scoreboard View PostWill Chuck “throw down the gauntlet” against Professor Jeteye? 😀Originally posted by jeteye1717 View PostWARNING - pedantic pet peeve alert ... UNH's upcoming stretch run is NOT a "gauntlet" of difficult teams, but a "gantlet" that they hopefully take on and emerge from with as many points as possible. A gauntlet was literally the armored glove of a well-equipped medieval knight errant, who would theatrically throw it at the feet of a rival to initiate a challenge, hence the phrase "to throw down the gauntlet" ... To "run the gantlet" is to maneuver/pass through a difficult set of obstacles (derived from railroad usage), which is what I'm sure was Chuck's meaning here. The distinction has sadly been lost in much of popular prose (along with "could care less" vs. "could NOT care less," the grammatically correct term), but I remain hopeful that with a little gentle urging we can resist the coarsened herds :-)
Still trying to determine what's been most surprising over the last 48 hours - having BvB confirm his spoiled brat status, or seeing Al Pike out there practicing real old-school journalism.
Keep up the good work, Al!!Sworn Enemy of the Perpetually Offended
Montreal Expos Forever ...
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Re: UNH Hockey: Treading Water or Trending Upward
Just a couple of observations. First, Gildon is a physically gifted player but it disappoints me no end that, in his third year at UNH,,he is still taking shifts off and, worse, making the wrong play on the PP. Second point. I know Mr. Jeteye and would not doubt his linguistic skills. Third, I am glad someone mentioned Brett Ritchie. Whatever Don Sweeney chose to pay him was way too much. As for UNH’s fortunes down the stretch, they have five two game sets left. Three against the iron- UMass, BU, Lowell - and two against the bottom feeders - a home & home with UConn and two home games vs. UVM. Can we realistically expect a 5-5 or even 6-4 record in those games? I’d like to think so, take the four against the teams below us and steal a couple of home games against, I don’t know, maybe Lowell and BU. Tell me if that is too much to ask.
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