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2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

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About UNB

About UNB

The University of New Brunswick (UNB) Varsity Reds are not your typical CIS team. They play in the AUS (Atlantic University Sport) conference, the most competitive of the three CIS conferences. Last year they finished first in the AUS, but lost out to Saint Mary's (SMU) in the AUS championship. Thanks to the rotating wildcard, UNB was still able to advance to Nationals, where they won the University Cup, their second national championship in three years (and two years ago the Alberta goalie stood on his head to steal the win).

Nine players are gone from last year's championship team, replaced by eight recruits -- all but one of whom come from Major Junior. Wednesday night they played the AHL's Portland Pirates in Maine. While they lost 4-2, it was tied 2-2 after two and they outshot the pros 36-22.

Even though the will be playing Vermont less than 20 hours after playing UMASS, I may be the only one on this board who believes UNB might win.

You will find UNB older, probably a bit bigger, and maybe a bit slower than Vermont. I believe experience is an asset, and the core of this team has played in three straight national championship games. They should be taking this game very seriously, as there is a lot of team pride.

Now I say all of that, and they might just crap the bed after a long road trip (they left Fredericton Wednesday morning) and you get your easy victory! :)
 
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Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

Looks like NB will be a good challenge for the cats. Im guessing Sneddon will be skating most of the young guys to see what theyve got and this could very well be a close contest. Seeing that NB out shot the pirates (that may have been their roster before sending guys back to ECHL) sounds like theyve got a respectable team. Hope UVM can come out strong and get a little confidence before facing a very strong denver team... Will be interesting to see how the freshman look...
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

Do they get to dress extra players for an exhibition game?

I see that NB was the only canadian college to pick up a win yesterday. They should give the Cats a good battle, which is what the cats need before heading out to Denver for a two game set with one of the top teams in any preseason poll.

Getting a couple of points in Denver will be important to UVM's NCAA bid over six months from now....
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

Looks like UVM dressed 2 extra defensemen. Forwards not playing today are Milo, Stacey, McCarthy, Anctil and Leonard. Radio announcer says Milo is out indefinitely due to foot injury. That hurts as it sounds like the coaching staff is really counting on his production this season. No word on the other forwards, if they are injured or not.
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

Not a bad effort from the cats, NB got two quick goals before the cats had a chance to shake off the rust. The offense really didn't get started for UVM until the second period and NB has a heck of a goaltender.

The freshman line of Stalberg, Pacan, Nilsoon-Roos looked good. They had a lot of ice time. Stalberg looked to be behind everything timing wise, couple of times had opportunities at tip ins etc, but that will come. He seemed to be in good position a lot of the time and has good instinct. Nilson-Roos is another spark for the team to replace Lenes, the kid is quick and has good skills with the puck, moreover for being one of the smaller guys he has no fear of throwing the body around. This guy impressed me the most of the freshman.

The vets looked good, but with Milo and Stacey missing there was something missing. It will be a big negative to the team if those two miss a lot of time.
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

Thanks for the game update.

Any word on Milo & Stacey? Missing those two guys will hurt us big time.

Also, is McCarthy hurt or was he a healthy scratch?
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

Umm, what is the deal with Milo and Stacey?

Missing them for long will more than "hurt us big time", it will deep six the entire season. They are likely to be two of our top 3 scorers this year. I think we'd really struggle without both of them.

Information on their status would be apprciated.
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

Wow, while UML fans fire up this thread, UVM hockey games seem to kill it.

During the autograph session, Justin Milo said he expected to be back playing in 3 or 4 weeks and Wahs said he was OK and could have played, but rest was more important.

I thought the team competed hard and just seemed to be missing play makers at certain moments. New Brunswick is a very good team and was a great opponent.

Roloff looked great, Brayden Irwin was a physical force and Dean Strong-like on face-offs. It seemed like he won them automatically.

Pacan looked very strong on the wing and his physical approach should get him playing time. It looks like Nilsson-Roos has skills and energy that can help the team. Herrington looked much more comfortable on the ice, which is a natural progression but good to see. Great of him to spot and hit Downing with that pass.

Downing looked like he might be ready to emerge as a player, aggressive, skated hard, great shot.

I will always feel comfortable with Madore in goal, but is Spillane ever going to play? Or should he just circle Merrimack and PC on the schedule?

The team's energy seemed good. The crowd was pretty into it.

I that yesterday was not a bad start to the season.
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

I would say that was the best Canadian team we have seen in a long time and can believe they beat Umass and BC last year.

Playing I think its 7th game was the big key for UNB helping them jump out to the quick lead(up 3-0 on Umass after one period as well) After the second goal Vermont seemed to get started and outplayed them for a long stretch before it evened out in the third.

The effort was there lets hope the line start clicking.
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

overall a very well played college hockey game--NBwas fast and moved the puck quite well.took awhile for uvm to get going(first game conditions)but skated well the rest of the way--i agree that the freshmen line looked good especially nillson-ross.with some seasoning, the freshmen look like they will contribute this year.alot of players seemed a little stronger and quicker and seemed to force the issue more this season and that's good news--should be some great games this year.
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

The Cats were obviously pretty horrible early in the first. But they picked it up and I thought had the better of the play for the second half of the first period and most of the second. I would call the 3rd and OT close although UVM had the better opportunities overall I thought. Bummed that we did not see a shootout.

Medvec needs to stay out of the box.

Absence of Stacey and Milo greatly noted. Bummer that Milo is out for a month or so. Hopefully Stacey skates in Denver.

In general the D looked like they should have - large, solid, and confident. also aggressive, as they will have to be this year to contribute to the offense. They will be just fine.

The offense was mostly disorganized. Marshall looked better than last year but one game is a very small sample. Roloff was the best skater on the ice, as expected. Vock was quite invisible, which concerns me. Irwin was physical, which always scares me given his propensity for bad penalties at bad times. Downing had flashes, as he always does, but then is also invisible at other times.

Atkinson, Higgins and Franklin looked similar to last year (to the extent we even saw Franklin last year), no noticeable step up yet. I think that all three of them will lose ice time to the freshmen forwards.

The freshman line looked ok with Roos being the most impressive in comparison to my limited expectation from him. He was quick and appears quite skilled. Stalburg also impressed with positioning and smart two way play - as advertised - but he is clearly smaller than his bro. Again, one game is too small to compare, but I am going to bet he has a bigger positive impact this year than his bro did as a freshman.

Pacan looked pretty solid also, he should contribute nicely.

Albertson looked ok also.

Too bad McCarthy is injured and could not play.

All in all, I think they are deeper this year than last, at least when Milo is back, and will play more as a TEAM with more offensive contribution from the D. I think they can be better but they will struggle to score until they get Milo back and the lines sorted out. The PP will be important, that must click at near 20% to help them score, and the PK must return to UVM standard levels after a vacation last year.

My expected forward lines for Denver with Milo out and (hopefully) Stacey and McCarthy able to go:

Marshall, Roloff, Vock
Irwin, Stacey, Downing
Pacan, Roos, Stalburg
McCarthy, Higgins, Atkinson

although Albertson may sneek in for Atkinson or Higgins if he can play center

When Milo comes back he puts Higgins or Atkinson on the bench.

We get the same D as last year.

I think, if the freshmen are reasonably solid, that this is a DEEPER lineup than last year with three lines that can truly threaten to score and a fourth that is a bit more dangerous than last year. Yes they will miss Vik and Lenes and Strong on both sides of the puck, but I still like where the program is going.

Get healthy J. Milo
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

snwbrdr said:
The Cats were obviously pretty horrible early in the first. They were playing their 1st game against a team that was playing its 7th

Medvec needs to stay out of the box. Agreed, his history is not one to be in the box. Cullity stayed out of the box, maybe that is a good sign

Absence of Stacey and Milo greatly noted. Stacey hurts big time as he most likely is on a powerplay unit and has shown the ability to find the open player for a one timer. Same can be said for Milo. Absence of both hurt PP more than anything

In general the D looked like they should have - large, solid, and confident. also aggressive, as they will have to be this year to contribute to the offense. They will be just fine. Agressive play on both ends will be key for this team, especially in the early going

Roloff was the best skater on the ice, as expected. Vock was quite invisible, which concerns me. Glad someone else saw that too. Everyone is entitled to be a bit off and hopefully this was only game Vock will appear to off

The freshman line looked ok with Roos being the most impressive in comparison to my limited expectation from him. Watching the You Tube clip on the UVM website, the cycling and centering pass by Pacan appears to be at a higher level than one would expect from freshmen. I will take it

Too bad McCarthy is injured and could not play. See my comment below

All in all, I think they are deeper this year than last, at least when Milo is back, and will play more as a TEAM with more offensive contribution from the D. With no real "go to" guy, this will be a fun TEAM to watch. Really got tired of watching Lenes not pass the puck last year and wondering if Stalberg was going to check in or check out for any given game

When Milo comes back he puts Higgins or Atkinson on the bench. Or any of the freshmen forwards might also put some veteran on the bench. It is a nice problem to have
Click to expand...

Regarding McCarthy, found this in the archives of the USHR website from the June 2009 News. This might explain why he did not play on Sunday. Perhaps he is not fully recovered from shoulder surgery?

"While in Ann Arbor, McCarthy was moved from his best position, center, and placed on the wing. In addition, he injured himself early in the season and played with a torn labrum that required six screws in his shoulder. On top of everything else, McCarthy was in his fifth school in five years. His father says he missed playing at the Berkshire School, where his role was more clearly defined."
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

With regards to the D :

The D looked pretty good, but to me there are some issues with Medvec, he didn't seem to be aggressive at all, took a bad penalty, made a few really weak passes, and I'm not sure he even had a shot on goal? I think the D need to shoot the puck, this team needs to get pucks to the net and look for rebounds and weak passes from the point down low aren't going to cut it. It seems as though Lawson and Miller are the only two that dare to take a shot. The D need to be more active and involved with the puck. At times its almost like their only job is to keep the puck in the zone. Hopefully Sneddon gets them more active in whats going on.

I though Higgins looked much better then last year, seemed to be much more on the puck and more aggressive.

I think both Higgins and Atkinson are going to play about every game. Atkinson especially as he has gotten better every year and he is also a huge spark for the team. Lenes was a puck hog, but he was flat out every second he was on the ice, and he generated energy for the team. Atkinson does that as well and that is going to be needed. Nilsoon_Roos has that as well.

I wasn't terribly impressed with Pacan or Albertson. They have good size, but they are both slow slow slow. I would say they would be effective at getting in front of the net and getting some rebounds but thats not the way UVM plays, and Albertson I don't think is fast enough to ever keep up with the play.

I don't see Atkinson getting bumped by Albertson or Pacan.


The big question I think with regards to lineups is whether or not Sneddon keeps the 3 freshman together? It would be nice to have them develop together on the same line, but 3 freshman on a single line going into Denver is a recipe for disaster. JMO.
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

I did not think that Pacan was particularly slow. He showed up more later in the game than earlier. I thought Stalburg, Pacan and Roos all looked better than Higgins or Atkinson. I like Atkinson and what he has been through with his injury but he's not going to score more than a couple of goals, same with Higgins. I think Sneddon goes with whomever he thinks is going to get the job done and my money is on those three freshman and likely McCarthy having ice before Higgins or Atkinson, although it is a moot point until Milo, Stacey, and McCarthy lace them up.

Borrows is very active offensively - which I like - and will compete with Lawson and possibly Miller for the most points from the D this year. Hopefully Mackenzie develops into a threat as well.

Team should be leaving for DU on Wednesday I presume
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

Stalberg is believed to have suffered a concussion Tuesday night
taking a first period hit from Ottawa's Anton Volchenkov.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9_fb5dSuGI

"He got his bell rung and I don't expect him to be in the lineup on
Saturday," said Wilson. "That might be too early to make a prognosis
on him. We'll see how he feels."
 
Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread

Tonights lineup....

Vock Roloff Marshall
Downing Irwin Stacey
Nillson-Roos Stalberg Pacan
Atkinson Higgins Franklin


Cullity Burrows
Medvec Miller
Mackenzie Lawson

Madore
Vazzano
 
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