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2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

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Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

Hard to say what is truely happening to this team this year.
One thing is we don't play 60 minutes of unh hockey a game. Not even 45.
I thought we played with if not slightly above UML last night for the first two periods. It was a total break down in the third.
I think there are some bright spots in a gloomy defense. Beck a +1? Hardowa only a -1? When you think of how bad we have had out scored lately, Albeit many on the penalty kill, it isn't that awful to be a -1. Yes there are people approaching double digits in the minuses, but im looking at bright spots. Kostolansky makes some freshman errors, but otherwise can be quite solid and he seems to have a good head for the game.
I also will stick up for DeSimone. While he can try and be too flashy at times he still can handle the puck, and he made some interesting/almost assist passes last night.
I think Burke (kid tries hard) but he needs to be on the fourth line. I am sure I am alone on this. He has been playing 2 or 3rd all year and I don't see any chemistry with anybody he's played with. Henrion should get some more ice as well. Put him with Moses and Borisenok.

As for goaltending, its hard. We'll see what happens.

The team as a whole seems to pass when they should shoot, and shoot when they could probably make a pass and get the goalie moving crossways.
 
Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

huesie said:
Just wondering out loud here why is that every other teams defenseman can get off consistent shots on goal and UNH shots are blocked 90% of the time. Most of UNH shots from the point that do get through wouldn't break a pane of single glass!
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I've been saying it for years - the defense takes far too long to take shots. The only player I saw take a true one-timer last year was Kessel (shockingly, he scored on it - who'da thunk it?). They get the puck and hold it, giving the other team's D far too much time to either get in a lane or dive to block the shot. I would say that's part of the strategy - get the D to commit to the dive, then either wait for them to slide past the lane or stick handle around them for a better shot - but more often then not, the UNH player merely shoots the puck into the defenseman.

With all the long goals given up by foster this year is the defense that poor or does he need glasses? Perhaps he can't see the puck that far away?
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I think one of the reasons we were all so high on Foster is because he exhibited impeccable positioning in the few games we saw him in his first two years in Durham. He may not have had the quickness/reflexes of some of the goalies we'd seen in the past decade, but he didn't need to react as quickly, because he was in position.

I had a great view of BC's 1st goal Friday night - shot from the blueline, Foster was screened, never saw it. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think BC did anything fancy, just passed around the perimeter, looking for an opening. Foster didn't follow the play well, and, as a result, was out of position when the shot came.

I think this has been a problem a lot this year. He looks slower than in past years, less focused.

Saetia22 said:
I think there are some bright spots in a gloomy defense. Beck a +1? Hardowa only a -1? When you think of how bad we have had out scored lately, Albeit many on the penalty kill, it isn't that awful to be a -1. Yes there are people approaching double digits in the minuses, but im looking at bright spots.
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Not sure how many of the PK goals Beck and Hardowa were on the ice for, but you have to remember that +/- doesn't factor in PK goals allowed.
 
Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

RockTheWhit said:
Wait, what?
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Out of conference record/strength of schedule is a big factor in determining at large NCAA bids.

Krates will be back. We will improve, but maybe not enough to overcome a bad start.
 
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Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

thecomicbookguy said:
Not sure how many of the PK goals Beck and Hardowa were on the ice for, but you have to remember that +/- doesn't factor in PK goals allowed.
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I'm not sure either. But I mentioned the fact UNH has been poorly outscored lately... even though many of the goals have come on the PK, which doesn't effect +/-, -1 isn't a bad number. Because I knew if I just said, "we've been outscored almost doubled lately" then someone would say, "yeah but our PK sucks and those dont count against the +/-." Maybe I'm not making sense right now, I just woke up. 5 on 5 a -1, +1, 0 from our three least experienced defensemen, isn't bad.
 
Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

thecomicbookguy said:
I had a great view of BC's 1st goal Friday night - shot from the blueline, Foster was screened, never saw it. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think BC did anything fancy, just passed around the perimeter, looking for an opening. Foster didn't follow the play well, and, as a result, was out of position when the shot came.
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The first 2 goals were like that BC moved a big body to the front of the net to set up a screen and moved the puck D to D to get Foster moving and he wasn't quick enough to get over and was beat pretty easy. Seems to be a trend on the PP. Seems to be UNH is playing to far away from the net and chasing the puck handler and not trying to move the bodies in front. As we all know that is not working, time to change up the strategy. The old strategy of putting out the fast guys to try to set up something short handed is not working. Might be time to put out some of the bigger defensive guys who can knock some bodies around in front and clear the path for Foster, maybe time to see Thompson and Burke and maybe Harodwa out there. At this point how much can that hurt, we know it can't get much worst.
Have to say my 16 years of watching my Blue Jays "rebuild" has prepared me very well for this year.
 
Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

Darius said:
Out of conference record/strength of schedule is a big factor in determining at large NCAA bids.
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I realize this, but there's still a lot of hockey to be played, and a lot more factors than Cornell/Dartmouth's schedule to be weighed. Obviously, UNH needs to change something soon and in a big way, but I'm not ruling out the possibility of them making a run at it.
 
Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

thecomicbookguy said:
I've been saying it for years - the defense takes far too long to take shots. The only player I saw take a true one-timer last year was Kessel (shockingly, he scored on it - who'da thunk it?). They get the puck and hold it, giving the other team's D far too much time to either get in a lane or dive to block the shot. I would say that's part of the strategy - get the D to commit to the dive, then either wait for them to slide past the lane or stick handle around them for a better shot - but more often then not, the UNH player merely shoots the puck into the defenseman.
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I was thinking that UNH was indeed rapid firing at the net well until about midway through the second, sometimes even simply throwing the puck from the corners in front of Hutton, which kept the Lowell D really busy, but then went back to the razzle dazzle attempts at fancy passing way out on the perimeter for the remainder of the game, which never seems to work for them. Their shots on net seem to bear this out, as they were up 21 to 11 early in the second, before everything collapsed.

thecomicbookguy said:
Not sure how many of the PK goals Beck and Hardowa were on the ice for, but you have to remember that +/- doesn't factor in PK goals allowed.
Click to expand...

Good thing, otherwise UNH +/- across the roster would be abominable.
 
Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

Just back from the Mullins Center of Horrors.
A very discouraging loss - a repeat of last year's game with UMass tying the game with a few seconds left. Kessel made an uncharacteristic mistake and it cost them dearly.

If UMass is the top team in Hockey East, I'm not impressed. UNH outplayed them in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Top to bottom, I think UNH is a better team. Beyond Marcou and the annoying Ortiz, they're unremarkable. Tonight, Dainton saved UMass's bacon.

Sadly, it appears the only chance UNH has of making the NCAA tournament is by winning the Hockey East Playoffs. They're not earning enough points and their interleague play is not going to help this year. It's too bad - I really like this team. They play hard, the Captains are leading by example, the young kids are steadily improving, and new stars like Moses and Kessel are emerging.

Some positives from this evening:
(1) The forwards sacrificed their bodies by blocking shots so the practice drills this week paid off.

(2) The penalty kill looked much better.

(3) Burke looked real good on the first line. I hope his shoulder injury, which occurred with about 10 minutes left in regulation, isn't serious.

(4) Kostolonsky seems to be gaining confidence.

(5) McCarey looked good on the Borisenok-Moses line although it was awkward for a right hander to be playing left wing.

(6) With the exception of two costly turnovers by Kipp and Kessel, the defense played well.

Oh well, let's hope for a split tomorrow night.
 
Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

Moses is a great little player you got up there. didnt notice him much last year
 
Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

So who gets the start in net tonight for the Cats???
 
Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

UNH09 said:
So who gets the start in net tonight for the Cats???
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And to expand the question: Unlike past seasons, I have only been to a couple games this year, and from what I have seen, Foster is letting in goals that he probably ought to have stopped. I realize the D is young, but is Foster not performing as expected?

And if he isn't, is it better to keep him in there to find his groove, or make him compete for playing time? (My answer is the latter, but you gotta figure Umile sees DiG in practice, and opts for Foster.)

Lastly, ere we look too far ahead to playing Merrimack (who have shown the opposition's folly of making an automatic 2 point deposit in their standings account), I suspect Parker will have vented his wrath upon the Puppies after recent unexpected losses, and BU will be playing a much more edgy yet composed game.

But let's start with a win on the road tonight to give the Cats a bit of their confidence back.
 
Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

goblue said:
And to expand the question: Unlike past seasons, I have only been to a couple games this year, and from what I have seen, Foster is letting in goals that he probably ought to have stopped. I realize the D is young, but is Foster not performing as expected?
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I don't know how many expected a whole lot out of him this year. He hasn't been that great the last two years and really hasn't shown the ability to steal games. He's serviceable but unless they outscore teams regularly I'm not sure there will be a lot of W's this year.

And how about next year's situation in net?!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
Re: 2009-2010 UNH Wildcats Season

My son and I sat three rows behind Foster during the 1st and 3rd period last night. Major disclaimer: I've never played goalie and I don't know anymore than the average fan about the science/art of goaltending.
Overall, I thought Brian played a solid game last night. For example, midway through the third period he made a fantastic glove save while moving laterally on a shot that was labeled for the lower left side of the goal.

There seemed to be improvement in an area of the game that his teammates had been letting him down. Specifically, in prior games I've seen, he had been screened in front on long to mid-range shots on goal. Also, the guys weren't blocking the long range shots. Last night, I think Foster got a much clearer view of shots from the blue line and tops of the circles and he handled them very well. I guess these shots play to Foster's strength because he plays the angles so well.

Where he seemed to have trouble last night was the close in action when two or more minutemen were buzzing around the front of the goal. He doesn't play the quick, sprawling, acrobatic style like Tim Thomas, Kevin Regan or UMass's Dainton. He doesn't quickly skate to the action and take control of the puck, he is more of a reactor. That said, the tying goal with 10 seconds left in regulation was a total fluke. A UMass forward had the puck 8 to 10 feet in front of Foster. Foster was in good position to handle a shot. Oddly, the guy semi-whiffed on a shot, the puck laid their in front of him and the guy dove face-down on the puck. As a UNH defender went after the puck, it squirted to the right of Foster where an unsuspecting UMass forward was parked. Foster had no chance of making the save.

I don't think Foster needs time off to regain his competitiveness - I think he's trying his best. The primary challenge is that his defensive core are young and are just gaining experience. It is telling that the best defenseman, Kessel, is a sophomore and he makes his share of mistakes. I think the team is missing the steadiness of a veteran like Krates. Remember, last season, they could count on Kapstad and Fritsch to play solid and reliable defense.

It probably wouldn't hurt to give Foster a night off now and again but I wouldn't expect much of a difference in outcome with DiG in goal.
 
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