UNH At The Starting Gate....

[Saetia22]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

As I said, only Silengo and Sorkin dressed. The others took warmups, were introduced, then went straight to the room. They got four shifts with Silengo cetering Sorkin on the left and McCarey on the right. I don't remember a single scoring chance on one of those shifts.

I believe of the four shifts, two of them they had shots on goal which lead to offensive zone faceoffs.

I can't believe he didn't play the freshmen more. Even McCarey, who deserves more Ice than he will probably get.

As it was the first game of the year, the team was kind of all over each other and didn't really spread things out to make plays. I was pretty impressed; however, with the third line. Good group of sophmores. Block looked much improved, and fast.

Interesting that Goumas didn't dress. When I think of the last two years, some of the better freshmen, Moses and Speelman haven't played in the exhibition game.

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

A lot of the guys sitting the exhibition game in recent years were for disciplinary reasons. That was not the case this year. Gotta feel for Ansel Ivens-Anderson, who's spent the last year+ working hard at practices and workouts and not even get a shift in last night's game.

[Verkligen]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Averaging 30 SOG last year and (with what I count) just 3 games with 40+ (42, 42, and 40)... I think the 44 last night is kind of interesting.

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Averaging 30 SOG last year and (with what I count) just 3 games with 40+ (42, 42, and 40)... I think the 44 last night is kind of interesting.

Their three previous scrimmages against SFX yielded SOG totals of 47, 55 and 45.

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Bobby Butler sent to Binghamton (AHL)

[C-H-C]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Bobby Butler sent to Binghamton (AHL)

Oh well - he was in the hunt. With the inevitable injuries during the long NHL season, perhaps he'll get a call-up from time to time.

[Darius]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

...I was pretty impressed; however, with the third line. Good group of sophmores. Block looked much improved, and fast...

I believe they were on the ice at the start of overtime.

[Greg Ambrose]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Those expressing surprise that the rookies didn't play more, or at all, have to keep in mind that yesterday was the second official day of practice. In no other collegiate sport that I can think of, is the pre-season training time so short. UNH is facing Miami in five short days. With no practice today, and traveling on Thursday, that gives the coaching staff three days to evaluate who are the top 18 skaters will be, and in which combination. Not exactly equivalent to football, where the coaches have the chance to evaluate in the spring and then in the month leading up to the first game. Umile, Borek and Lassonde have their work cut out for them getting the roster straight. The rooks will get their ice time as the season goes on. Don't forget, it is a five month process.

As for the goaltending, I was a bit skeptical about DiGirolamo based on what I've seen the last two years in his limited playing time (the reason, btw, why he played the whole game). After the last 4-5 years with Regan and Foster, it's going to take awhile getting used to someone who is, first, doesn't take up as much of the net, second, likes to roam around a little bit, and, third, is going to rely more on athleticism to get the job done. The X-Men were not a good test, they never put sustained pressure in the zone, so we will have to wait until this weekend to see what he's got.

[RockTheWhit]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I see your point about limited practice time, Greg, but a lot of other teams are in the situation boat and found more time for reserves. The players have been skating together for weeks now, and the coaches have had time both observing captain's practices and participating in a limited role. This is an experienced team, but the depth is not there, and the freshmen will be called upon at some point.

[Aerman]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Anybody else think Wyer could see the ice before next weekend is done?

[UNHhockey29]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Anybody else think Wyer could see the ice before next weekend is done?

I was a little surprised to not see him dressed during the exhibition.

[zoofer]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I whole heartedly agree with Greg's first paragraph....one day of practice is just plain silly in as far as evaluations go....I was psyched to see the boys back on the ice.....Grif has done a nice job in making the Whitt look like new....take a gander up at the ceiling and think about how you might get to every spot.....anyway like everyone else, I'm very anxious about Digi but he's earned the start.....he crouches and is below the crossbar, which doesn't make one feel good....plus most of the Xmen's shots were aiming for the roof, with 2 finding a home......lucky for us it's a long season to enjoy.....I just hope that the upcoming teams have their settling in periods as we will, so maybe we can take a couple of nice road wins.....last year's start hurt us with the NCAA's.

[Nifty16]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I had no problem with playing the regulars the entire game, I think after the way last season started the focus is getting out to a better start and getting the top 3 lines on regular shifts will be a key to that, so I see and agree with the approach that was taken last night. Also think it was important to get Digirolamo into routine of being the starter is a good thing.
As for what I saw out there. Digirolamo did look shaky a couple of times, hopefully with more reps as the starter in practice and games will get over that very soon. As for the defense it looked pretty good, some mistakes in passing in the neutral zone but they moved the puck out of their own end better then they did early last season so that is a very positive thing. I thought Hardowa looked like he really improved his skating over the summer, I could see him making a big jump this year. Did notice Campanle pinching up a lot more then last year, will see if that will turn into a trend. On offense the first line looked really good, don't think there was going to any doubt that line would be good. Did like what I saw out of Boriesnok looked good with the puck and had a lot more creativity in his puck handling and passing. Moses skating is still a small step ahead of his puck handling skills but has improved. Burke looked winded in the 3rd and need to work on getting to the net more if he is going to play with 2 play makers, he needs to more selfish As was noted before I really like what I saw out of Block, he could be a big surprise this year.
Going into this game I went in with no exceptions for the game and not really any for this season, in saying I had no idea what this year would bring, though hoping for the best. Of course after an exhibition game still don't know what to expect, but can see some guys who might make a big jump this year.
Now lets see what they bring to Miami next weekend, hopefully come out with some great intensity and start the season on a high note.

[GoUNH]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

It was good to see the student section jam packed. However, where was the COWBELL.

[thecomicbookguy]

Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

It was good to see the student section jam packed. However, where was the COWBELL.

Front row, to the right of the goal judge (if you're on the ice, facing the end boards), end of the row.