Re: 2011-2012 UNH Wildcats
A few notes from my seat on the far bleacher last night.
1) It's great to see the team finally clicking. There have been losses this season where I've been angry with the team afterward; this was not one of them. This weekend's matchup between a strong defensively minded team (Merrimack) and what is rapidly becoming a defensively minded team (UNH) made for a really exciting and well played 6 period game on both sides. I still regret not heading down the highway Friday night.
2) Does anyone have any clue as to why that goal was waived off? There's speculation of a whistle or a UNH stick in the net, but most of us within 10 seats of the goal judge observed neither (goal judge included). There was a skirmish at the net, and the puck was nudged past the red line by the back of Cannata's leg. After that happened, the ref had finally caught up with the play and stood over the good goal waiving it off.
3) There was a skirmish at DeSmith's net with about 30 seconds left. What the refs and the goal judge missed was a shot that did get past the pipes... and out underneath the back bar. It's the first time I've seen that, and hopefully the last.
4) DeSmith has been fun to watch, and I think the swap has done a lot for team confidence. That being said, I think his talent is resonating with the defensive presence of the rest of the team, and it should be. He has a tendency to line up his glove saves as though he spent more of his summer catching baseball than golfing; I think I like this. He kick saves at times when it seems like he could do something else to better control the puck, but then I'm reminded of the caliber of the team's board play as of late and say keep the play active and direct it to the boards.
5) I don't see OT working out well for the team until DeSmith gets another 10-15 games at least in him. 4 on 4 becomes much more of an offense vs. goalie rather than offense vs. defense. In a DeSmith-Cannata matchup, last night's outcome was the most predictable. I'm not in the least upset about this, as the UNH defense made sure that 'mack every bit of earned that win.
In short, it was a great series. I'm glad that we were able to split the points. If they find a way to creep up into 4/5 for the HE tournament, that's ideal for me. If we continue to see games played as well as they have been over the last 4, I will be more than happy.
It was a good series, great is going too far I think. To be honest, I wasn't overly impressed with Merrimack. Cannata is an outstanding goalie, he has a big presence in the net and most of the stuff that comes his way he is either going to hold on to or steer very clear. The times he got beat this weekend (except for the Downing goal) there was quick puck movement right in front of him. That being said, I really didn't see much from Merrimack that would lead me to believe that they are seventh in the country. They have some speed, they have some size, but they don't have anywhere near the offensive talent of either BU or BC. Last night I saw two teams giving maximum effort, skating up and down the ice but not getting a lot done in the offensive zone. There really wasn't really anything that separated the two teams, even goaltending wise. The game winner was just a good shot that DeSmith I guess wasn't ready for.
As far as the waived off goal, my guess is it was not a good goal because Goumas was called for a penalty first. Once UNH touched the puck, any further action was going to be waived off. The refs weren't even going to look at the replay but I think they did at Umile's request just to make sure that the penalty came before the goal. Really can't argue with the call.
As far as UNH's fortunes the rest of the way, I really can't see them getting higher than sixth. BU, BC and Merrimack are the top three, Maine is fourth, just ahead of Lowell but Maine has played 18 games already while Lowell has played only 14. I can see Lowell fourth, Maine fifth and, of course, Vermont dead last. So the battle will come down between UNH, Providence, UMass and Northeastern for 6,7,8. Handicapping this a little - Providence is fading, after losing 1-0 to UNH, this weekend they got hammered by BU. UMass is great at home, not so great on the road so the two games UNH plays out in Amherst next month might be very big. Then you've got Northeastern which has been a real enigma. They have OOC wins vs. Notre Dame (2 in fact), Michigan and Minnesota but here they are in 9th place, 3 points behind UNH. UNH has improved since the first of the year with both losses coming in overtime (if this was the NHL they would have 8 of a possible 10 points). They are playing with more confidence in front of DeSmith, especially defensively, but the problem still is scoring, or lack of it. They still aren't terribly great on breakouts and have problems creating consistent pressure in the zone. Now I guess that the other three teams I think they are competing with have many of the same problems so I can see this coming down to the wire. I just hope that our fortunes don't rest on how we do in the last game of the season up in Orono.
