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2021-22 UVM Catamounts: Cats Gone Global

We knew this thing was gonna take a decent amount of time to fix, and the fact we're still living in COVID world hasn't made things any easier. I do believe there's light at the end of the tunnel eventually, but it will take some time to actually see it.

Woodcroft's regime has basically *torn down* the old recruiting, which is a good thing. That was the big knock on the previous regime especially once Wallack got jettisoned.
 
UVM Cat in Texas said:
Agreed, that was brutal!

Overall, in regard to not posting, while I'm still a fan of course, my level of interest has honestly dropped a bit after years of losing. Hopefully Woodcroft can turn things around.
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Same this year….What you said combined Covid has really sapped my interest….no rivalries anymore. Boring.
 
My view is that this year is pretty much a long preseason. Watched almost all the games either live or on TV. The team is entertaining to watch but is still finding ways to lose. Young team, blah, blah, blah. Knew it is going to be a multi-year project to restore the program and that is what we are watching. I'm a little concerned about defense for next year and wish UVM could have kept Jeff Hill. Last night was the coldest night at Gutterson that I remember in a long time.
 
I don’t buy this years to rebuild. You only have a player for four years so, yes 2-3, but you need to work with what you have. I still go to every game and watch whenever I can. I hear the coach talk about not having natural goal scorers. I can tell you that you won’t score unless you shoot. A lot of a teams goals are not perfect goals but opportunities after the initial shot or the odd bounce. Look at Alaska’s second goal last night. If you bring the puck in on a power play you don’t always have to set up the play if you have an opportunity. The rest of the team is right behind to take advantage of any bouncing pucks. And don’t always skate behind the net, but out it in the slot and it might even bounce off a defender. And Alaska was getting close to stealing the drop pass. We need to think about doing that.

it always looks easier from the stands but you need to shoot to score. I did like them hustling to the puck a lot of the time. Each shift should be treated likes it’s your last shift. This team has enough talent to win, they just need to believe that themselves.
 
Vermont Ref said:
I don’t buy this years to rebuild. You only have a player for four years so, yes 2-3, but you need to work with what you have. I still go to every game and watch whenever I can. I hear the coach talk about not having natural goal scorers. I can tell you that you won’t score unless you shoot. A lot of a teams goals are not perfect goals but opportunities after the initial shot or the odd bounce. Look at Alaska’s second goal last night. If you bring the puck in on a power play you don’t always have to set up the play if you have an opportunity. The rest of the team is right behind to take advantage of any bouncing pucks. And don’t always skate behind the net, but out it in the slot and it might even bounce off a defender. And Alaska was getting close to stealing the drop pass. We need to think about doing that.

it always looks easier from the stands but you need to shoot to score. I did like them hustling to the puck a lot of the time. Each shift should be treated likes it’s your last shift. This team has enough talent to win, they just need to believe that themselves.
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UVM admittedly isn't bad at getting shots off. In terms of shot attempts UVM actually is slightly in the black, 1128 for, 1114 against. That rate is similar to UMass. What's killing them is that UVM is dead last in the country in shooting percentage and is only midpack in save percentage.

I know college doesn't have the stuff required for expected goal models, but I'm curious to see how it lines up for UVM, if it's just bad luck/lack of confidence or we're not creating grade-A chances.
 
Great game tonight!! A few lapses were the difference in the game. Much better game than the BU game they actually won. Good passing, puck possession and overall good game. One negative. They used to try to hit too much under Sneddon and take themselves out of plays trying to make the hit. Tonight there were a few times they could have unloaded and did not. It’s a fine line in the game but felt there were a few times they could have been a little more physical.
 
Vermont looked great. Schooled northeastern all first period with great passing and puck work. Unfortunate for them they didn’t get more then. Hopefully they keep it up. Great to see them and Merrimack stepping it up
 
In that team somewhere, there is a solid group, we've seen flashes. Up to the coaching staff to find it and fish it onto the ice consistently.
 
They looked so good for a lot of the game. It was good to see them get some goals. It felt like the were shooting sooner rather than the perfect set up. It’s often the second chance/rebound that goes in.

They’ve lost about half of their losses by one goal. I’m not sure what that means. They are good enough to win; but something is missing, maybe it’s just the feeling of what it feels like to win. If we could crack that nut, who knows where’d we be.
 
Nice to see some post activity over the last few weeks. I'll start out by saying that I believe the direction laid out by coaching staff is a good one. I keep telling my friends - "we're better than we were the last few years". In terms of inconsistent play and 1 goal losses, some of that is attributed to youth and inexperience of the team. HOWEVER we still need a skill level upgrade in particular to the forward ranks. After 24 games played and our goal score leader is at 7 (only 2 players at 5 goals or better) and we only have 5 players in double digit points that tells you something. I heard in one of the post games recently the coach talking about 10-12 different players being utilized on the 2 power play units. Again this implies to me they are searching for combinations that aren't readily there. If the team truly had 4-6 high level skill forwards then we'd see them on PP units being successful. Again I hope the positive recruiting continues and some of that high level skill will come in and help this out. Goal-tending has been good enough. Gabe currently ranks #5 in save % for in conference. This is more than acceptable and hopefully he continues his progression as an upperclassmen.

I was extremely impressed with Andrei Buyalsky in the few games I saw him play. He has NHL skating ability (didn't say he would make it, but if you can't skate at that level you are extremely limited). I felt he was the best looking freshman this year and was anxious to see him be part of the solution. I understand it was mentioned he was injured. He's still on the roster but I have not heard anything regarding his status. Is he in school? What is the extent of his injury? Hope he hasn't left the program.
 
I believe we batted it then it hit/deflected off one of our players then a PC player. The replay wasn’t that clear. I did see the linesman “apologize” to Woodcroft that it was his fault for presumably not calling it as it occurred.

GreenCat said:
So why was that a hand pass if a Providence player played the puck next or did they say he missed the puck?
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I agree about Buyalsky being good and have also been wondering why he isn't playing. Assumed he is one of the players in the stands on crutches.

My general impressions about the record are the team is not playing consistently for the full 60 minutes and they need to take the shot if it is there instead of passing.
 
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j24vt said:
I agree about Buyalsky being good and have also been wondering why he isn't playing. Assumed he is one of the players in the stands on crutches.
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Feel like this is the type of moment where we're really really missing Ted Ryan these days...

Side note, but The Athletic just published a piece about Devon Levi at NU. He was a UVM commit originally, the article says he flipped (this was in early 2020) largely because NU wanted him in for 2020-21 while UVM wanted him to push back a year. One last woof from the old regime (and one of many reasons I am urging patience, this program was NOT in a good place and it'll take time to fix)
 
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