2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

[Cat lover]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Its not to commmon for a team to lose 2 top scorers and actually increase its scoring. The Cats have got 14 goals in the last 3 games doing it with balanced scoring from all of the lines.

What I have seen in the last 3 games is a team with one goal when they get the puck "Get to the net". Almost every goal in the last 3 games are on rebounds, wraparounds or a close in shot. When someone carries the puck up and hits the blue line the other guys on the rush are making a beeline to the net to either get a pass or rebound. We are even seeing d-men taking the puck on rushes and trying to get the the net, Medvec put a great move on that BU player last night.

Burrows has successfully filled Staceys spot scoring and penalty killing and several players have stepped up thier play.

It seems to me now that all of the "Leadership talk" we heard last month had less to do with leadership during the games but more about a single player problem off the ice. The change in this teams attitute since the Merrimack weekdn is night and day.

 

[Cat lover]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Sneddon seems to know what he's doing by dismissing Milo. Granted UVM only got one point last weekend, they took it to UNH and then d*ck stomped BU last night... It's looking like a battle between UVM and UMass for the last playoff spot... should be an interesting last 3 games of the season.

I know that team isnt looking at 8th place, 6 teams are seperated by only 2 points with 3 games(2 for UMass & BC)to go. The Cats are only 2 points out of 4th and can make a big run if they continue to play well.

A look at next weeks schedule

UNH vs BC - No effect on VT here as far as playoffs go

Merrimack vs Prov - You would guess Merrimack gets 3-4 points here which could actually get them home ice if they win today as well.

Umass at Maine - Umass is in freefall losing 6 in a row by a score of 24-6 so I cant see them getting any points at Maine. So Vt should be safe for top 8.

NE vs BU - A split would help Vermont move up if we keep winning while a sweep by either would help us more if we struggle.

VT at UML - The Cats control thier fate here to pass UML.

If Maine,UNH and Providence can give us some help tonight it would be a big boost for VT going into the last weekend.

 

[sterlippo1]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

you have a very tough final weekend, those guys are tough..........i just can't understand why they have underachieved so much

 

[WildShawn]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

they took it to UNH and then d*ck stomped BU last night

D*ck stomped? Really? I... don't even know what to say about that...

 

[observer85]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Three games since the Milo situation and three solidly played, hard fought games by the cats. Maybe there wasn't much more to it.

Who knows, maybe Milo and his attitude were a cancer on the team and, now that he's gone, they can focus on playing hockey. They've certainly played with a lot more focus and energy with him gone.

Sneddon seems to know what he's doing by dismissing Milo.

Its not to commmon for a team to lose 2 top scorers and actually increase its scoring. The Cats have got 14 goals in the last 3 games doing it with balanced scoring from all of the lines.

Burrows has successfully filled Staceys spot scoring and penalty killing and several players have stepped up thier play.

Lot of focus on the dismissal of a player from the team. Even Ted Ryan gets into the theory with his blog post today.

The Milo cause-and-effect: Is it real?
February 27, 2010 by Ted Ryan
The play of the University of Vermont men’s hockey team in its last three games certainly begs the question of whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship regarding the recent dismissal of forward Justin Milo from the team.

Maybe it is as simple as the seniors (the ones that are still playing - Roloff, Irwin, Vock and Higgins) finally woke up...realized for many of them that their hockey careers were pretty close to be finished...and decided to play with a little bit of passion versus just going through the motions...

I really thought the coaching staff would put the freshman line of Stalberg, McCarthy and Pacan back together. But they did not and it is working for now. As of now they are only together on the PP unit with Lawson and Medvec.

Any idea why the defense was playing with a 5 player rotation? Did Franzon get hurt? If so and he can't play, does Burrows go back to D (I hope not as he has some serious energy playing forward) or Herrington get inserted into the lineup?

 

[snwbrdr]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

I like all the optimism but lets be honest about the situation. We are still in 9th -outside looking in. UMASS has the tiebreaker. We have to play BU once (and they are going to be angry) and UML twice at their house.

I think we are still in a very tough spot here. UMASS could right their ship next weekend. Maine has been up and down lately. I think Maine and UMASS likely split - meaning that UVM has to take a minimum of three of the final six available points, and possibly four, in order to get in.

I love the way the Cats are playing right now (except for Madore who was completely out of position on the Warsofski goal on Friday and was thoroughly outplayed by Foster in Durham the prior Friday).

There may be some truth to the team coming together minus Milo, or it may that they play better with their backs against the wall, or it may be that other teams are taking them more lightly. We don't know for sure, but we do know that they need to keep it up and get POINTS in these final three RS games......

Cats play at the same time as the Gold medal game on Sunday. CRAP. That will cut down on attendance. I will be there and DVR the US/CA game, but I hope the PA does not announce the olympic game score.....

Stowe was fantastic near the summit today and slushy at the base, crust under the fresh snow in the woods made it less desireable but still nice to get out. Mud season is here early...

Go Cats.

 

[hockeymascot]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Great dominating win! Despite all their troubles this year, they're still 13th in the Pairwise rankings and, in my opinion, playing about as well as they have all season. Who knows, maybe Milo and his attitude was a cancer on the team [/B]and, now that he's gone, they can focus on playing hockey. They've certainly played with a lot more focus and energy with him gone. Gotta keep it going Sunday--Go Cats, Go!

Brilliant...you have hit the nail on the head!!!

 

[UVM Cat in Texas]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Brilliant...you have hit the nail on the head!!!

Thanks

 

[Ogilthorpe]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

I know that team isnt looking at 8th place, 6 teams are seperated by only 2 points with 3 games(2 for UMass & BC)to go. The Cats are only 2 points out of 4th and can make a big run if they continue to play well.

A look at next weeks schedule

UNH vs BC - No effect on VT here as far as playoffs go

Merrimack vs Prov - You would guess Merrimack gets 3-4 points here which could actually get them home ice if they win today as well.

Umass at Maine - Umass is in freefall losing 6 in a row by a score of 24-6 so I cant see them getting any points at Maine. So Vt should be safe for top 8.

NE vs BU - A split would help Vermont move up if we keep winning while a sweep by either would help us more if we struggle.

VT at UML - The Cats control thier fate here to pass UML.

If Maine,UNH and Providence can give us some help tonight it would be a big boost for VT going into the last weekend.

Got that help tonight. Couldn't be a bigger two points on the line tomorrow.

Agree with boarder, hope they don't announce anything about the gold medal game, I'm sure many people will be recording.

Also agree with sterlippo1, UML is as tough a team as you could ask for to try to get into the playoffs against.

Don't think Franzon was hurt, think Sneddon was a little frustrated with his first period penalty and was just limiting his playing time in these all important games. No way Burrows is coming off wing. Even if they had to go to Herrington at some point they would just use a five man rotation, definitely managable at this level.

 

[Cat lover]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Got that help tonight. Couldn't be a bigger two points on the line tomorrow.

Vermont can go from a tie for 8th to 5th place with one win Sunday. The standings would look like this...

4. UML - 25pts
5. VT - 24
BU - 24
NE - 24
8. Merr - 23
9. Umass -22

But Vermont would have tiebreaker on BU and NE so they would be in 5th place with a huge series vs UML the next weekend.

 

[UVM Cat in Texas]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Agree with boarder, hope they don't announce anything about the gold medal game, I'm sure many people will be recording.

Even if they don't announce it, you guys will likely have a tough time avoiding the score. For example, just a fellow fan saying "Yeah, I just heard the US went up 2-1" or something like that.

I trying to decide which game to watch in real-time and which to DVR. I'd like to watch UVM and DVR the Olympics, but it's gonna have to be the other way around. The chances are nil of inadvertently hearing a UVM score on the Olympic telecast, but I suspect there'll be a very good chance of hearing the Olympic score on the UVM telecast.

 

[GreenCat]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Clutch win on Saturday. Didn't dominate like on Friday but played a solid game to get the 4 points.

It is just fitting that the UML series is huge considering the recent history....at least message board history.

Anybody know the ticket situation at UML?

 

[GreenCat]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

UML uses TicketMaster who puts a $5.25 screwing fee on a $14 ticket. What a joke.

 

[Catamount93]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Talk about an important weekend of hockey. There are endless scenarios, but as far as I can tell the two most likely are:

(1) Play well against Lowell, make the HE playoffs and likely get an NCAA invite regardless of performance in HE playoffs (I think we'd likely make it even if we get eliminated in the first round of HE play, as long as we don't have upset tourney winners in major conference tournies that give autobids)
(2) Play poorly against Lowell, miss the HE playoffs and miss the NCAAs

I'm sure there are ways we can miss the playoffs and still squeak in to NCAAs as the last at large, and I guess there is a chance we make the HE playoffs, lose in the first round and miss the NCAAs, but I think there is a very high probability the outcome is one of the two above. (As unlikely as it is, I'm assuming there's no rule that if you miss the conference playoffs that you can't get an NCAA bid if you are like 14th in pairwise?)

In summary.....go get'em boys...to be safe we've gotta bring home 3 or 4 points...which will be very tough against a good Lowell team.

 

[GuttCheck]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Talk about an important weekend of hockey. There are endless scenarios, but as far as I can tell the two most likely are:

(1) Play well against Lowell, make the HE playoffs and likely get an NCAA invite regardless of performance in HE playoffs (I think we'd likely make it even if we get eliminated in the first round of HE play, as long as we don't have upset tourney winners in major conference tournies that give autobids)
(2) Play poorly against Lowell, miss the HE playoffs and miss the NCAAs

I'm sure there are ways we can miss the playoffs and still squeak in to NCAAs as the last at large, and I guess there is a chance we make the HE playoffs, lose in the first round and miss the NCAAs, but I think there is a very high probability the outcome is one of the two above. (As unlikely as it is, I'm assuming there's no rule that if you miss the conference playoffs that you can't get an NCAA bid if you are like 14th in pairwise?)

In summary.....go get'em boys...to be safe we've gotta bring home 3 or 4 points...which will be very tough against a good Lowell team.

UVM is in a precarious position in the PWR standings. NU and BU, who UVM has good records against are currently TUCs, but very close to falling out. Merrimack and UMASS are just on the other side of the line, UVM has poor records against both. So, for UVM the PWR ratings are going to be very volatile. I think they need to get to the garden to get an NCAA bid. That or get really lucky and hope the right teams win (NU, BU) and lose (MC, UMASS).

 

[snwbrdr]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Nice clutch win on sunday. The opposite of the mc series. Its all about peaking at the right time

How fitting that the uml series is so critical on all fronts for everyone

 

[Catamount93]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Good points, Gutt, I had not realized that potential issue with the TUCs.

However, I'm pretty sure UMASS is going in the wrong direction, so I don't imagine they'll work their way back into the top 25 pairwise (but you never know).

Merrimac is another story.

Even with all that, if we take 3-4 points I would imagine we'd stay at 12th pairwise or move up to 11th. Then we're in round one of the playoffs...I'd be surprised if a first round exit would move us below 14 at that point given we'll be playing a legit opponent. My guess is it would be extremely close as to whether we got in or not, we either just make it or just miss.

But hopefully we just play well both this weekend and in the HE playoffs and all this speculation is academic.

Lowell is tough, though. As much as their fan base is annoying on this site, I'm not at all thrilled about facing them in a must win weekend on the road. Realisticaly, I'm expecting we'll play well and get a split. That will be precarious.

 

[Ogilthorpe]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Joe Fallon was traded this afternoon from the Blackhawks organization to the St. Louis Blues organization.

I predicted before the season and even late last season that UML would be the top team in HE and be the favorite to win in Boston. Still think they are that caliber of a team, strong in all positions. Their D I remember as being quite talented at both ends and is physical. UVM's D are going to have to also play physical while walking the fine line of staying out of the box. These teams could very well be playing back to back weekends too which would make for even more bad blood and intense hockey. Can't wait til' the weekend, might try to make at least one game...hope they're still servin' up cold one's at Tsongas.

 

[observer85]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Even with all that, if we take 3-4 points I would imagine we'd stay at 12th pairwise or move up to 11th. Then we're in round one of the playoffs...I'd be surprised if a first round exit would move us below 14 at that point given we'll be playing a legit opponent.

last year they were in 12th or 13th when they lost the 3 game series to UML at the Gut. Then they got to get rested for a weekend and still made the tourney. I think they need to again make it to the quarterfinal weekend and then will be okay, pairwise.

My guess is it would be extremely close as to whether we got in or not, we either just make it or just miss.

and if they just miss, the seniors can look in the mirror and place the blame squarely on their shoulders. It wasn't until the UNH weekend that this group decided to play. Like I said in an earlier post, maybe they finally realized that for most of them, after this season is over, their hockey careers are over too...

 

[uvmtenfan]

Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel

Even with all that, if we take 3-4 points I would imagine we'd stay at 12th pairwise or move up to 11th. Then we're in round one of the playoffs...I'd be surprised if a first round exit would move us below 14 at that point given we'll be playing a legit opponent. My guess is it would be extremely close as to whether we got in or not, we either just make it or just miss.

Oddly enough, in the RPI, holding all other teams constant, we would jump to ~10th from 16th with 4 points this weekend! In alot of our comparisons, we are losing solely based on RPI and this would likely pick up a few spots! Still very bubblicious though!

Go cats go this weekend!!!!