Re: All Things Denver-The Real XXXIV
Am curious as whether or not DU fans think this year's team is the real deal? Am quite surprised that the team has fared so well considering all the players you lost from last year's squad, but noticed that you haven't really played any of the top teams yet, though St Cloud and CC are certainly decent. So could this be a title contender or are they a bit overrated at this point due to an easier schedule?
The term overrated suggests that the ratings mean something, which they don't.
The teams' performance is surprising, there is no question. However, they are not necessarily OVER-performing on every front. I don't believe that the defense has really performed up to expectations. True, the team has only outscored opponents by 2.3 goals per game on average, but I believe that once the defense really gets clicking, the goals allowed per game may very well drop below 2 (as opposed to 2.2 right now), even against the power schools. Meanwhile, it's hard to believe that playing different schools is going to drop the average goals scored from 4.5 per game all the way down to 2. That said, the scoring output has been a VERY pleasant surprise, by all accounts.
Only time will tell whether they are the real deal, but right now, I see no reason to worry too much. What I think is important is that in the two games where the team played badly, they came back the next night and turned up the intensity. If they keep that up, if the defense improves the way I expect it to as the season progresses, and if we can avoid the dreaded i-word, I see no reason why DU shouldn't be at the National Tournament.
Now, something I'm curious about: the fact that you bring up the word overrated suggests to me that you believe this to be the case. So I ask, who is it that you believe is significantly better than DU right now? BC, who lost to Northeastern and had to come back from a 3-0 deficit against Merrimack? New Hampshire, who tied Northeastern and lost to UMass? Perhaps Minnesota, who has lost to both Tech and Mankato, while tying Anchorage and an apparently weaker-than-usual Wisconsin squad?
I am willing to concede that perhaps I read too much into the question. So, having already given my long answer, here is the short one: Yes, the team has surprised, both in the higher than expected quality of offense and the lower-than hoped-for quality of defense. I neither know nor care whether they are overrated, because the only rating system that means anything has too few data points right now to concern myself with.
