Re: 2010 Maine offseason: a lazy summer on the Stillwater
in response to a post a couple of pages ago about the goaltending situation. i talked to the player before oullette was injured as far as i know. He earned it from all indications.
I buy that. Not to just put all my eggs in one newspaper article's basket, but Sirman's lackthereof last year was more confusing than frustrating. By the I mean he entered with higher praise than several past 'tenders who became big gamers and fan favorites. That's got to tell you that on some level, with some group of know-it-alls (no offense KIA
), more than one person thought he had a pedigree to be successful at this level. Physical AND emotional conditioning go a long way!
As far as sirman being his new pet, i doubt that will be the case. whitehead knows this year and maybe next (if nyquist stays) are his shot to get another few years of leeway if the team goes in the crapper again. for that reason he will do whatever necessary to win games IMO.
Like put Matt Duffy at forward, again??
I have so much to say about the game i don't even know where to begin. For starters: liedermark and pryor are junk. as far as the first year are concerned: amestoy and swavely and o'connor were....eh. Anthoine was AWESOME. corkum played pretty well, looks like he's got a scorer's touch, that was a wicked snap shot glove side high for his goal.
OK, but can we keep in mind that this was one exhibition game, and you're jumping to quick conclusions about guys who, mostly, have barely suited up for Maine. Most freshmen are no where near their peak collegiate condition; the schemes, speed, and team chemistry are still new so they're learning on the job. Not everyone is going to dazzle you the split second they walk on the ice. Tanner House scored 1 goal as a freshman. Josh Soares scored 2. We all had big expectations for Joey Diamond last year and he found himself benched around midseason. These things take more than a day to develop. I guess I don't know what you expected to see.
And calling Pryor "junk" after the first exhibition game of the year is quite bold, seeing as you're talking about a defenseman who is playing forward despite only having played 6 career games at his
natural position and is coming back from a nasty injury. As a healthy D-man with regular reps, the Ducks don't seem to think he's junk. I would let the guy play more than a dozen shifts before putting a red X over his name.
goaltending and defense were suspect at best. wasn't impressed with sullivan at all. he was so far out of position on that goal it was embarrassing.
Eh, yea, but again....first time suiting up at this level, so for him to go 7/8 in his first appearance, knowing that he was ideally our #3 option...I'm not too stressed.
Living in Southern NH as I do, with many of my friends being UHN alums or people who cheer for the Mild ones! I can attest with great certainty that they continue to be very jealous of Maine Hockey! I know you won't believe this but many would trade the turtle neck man for one Tim W.!
