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Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

wwjg1158 said:
it may be something we aren't expecting! Potential for major shake up to start the season. One never knows. I am headed to Omaha to see this years product!
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wwg
sounds like you may have some insider information....Dan had lots of projections in his blog about forwards but is mum on the defense....you'll have to keep the fans updated from omaha.
 
Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

5000-6000!? I am not sure whether Bentley ever has played before a crowd that large, not even at Yost the past two years. Wish that I could be there.
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That got me to wondering what the crowds were the last time Bentley was in Omaha (the only other time the two teams have ever played), which was a Friday/Sunday series.

12-8-06--attendance 4243
12-10-06--attendance 3405

It's worth mentioning that that particular season was the 2nd worst in UNO history as far as attendance is concerned. at 5,579 per game. Attendance has risen back to more normal levels since then. We had some dry years there from '04-'05 until we hired Coach Blais. The average attendance of UNO hockey games, throughout the entirety of it's history, is 7,388 fans per game. UNO has never finished worse than 11th, nationally, in attendance and has been in the top 4 ten times in the program's 16 year history.

Not to denigrate Bentley hockey in any way, but, Bentley isn't exactly a marquee opponent (in the minds of the local fanbase), at least, around here, anyway. You say "Bentley" here, and people think "apartment complex", since that is the name of a large complex that's well known for it's monthly parties here in Omaha.

I'm looking forward to this weekend, and series like this one, because its a rare opportunity to see our team play a foe we'll rarely play, besides the rarity of our playing an AHC team, in general. To date, UNO has only played 32 games, ever, against AHC teams and your conference contains two of the four D-1 teams UNO has never played in Sacred Heart and Robert Morris. The first victory in UNO program history came on the road at Air Force in our inaugural ('97-'98) season.

Good luck this weekend.
 
Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Steven Weinstein acquitted himself well in Israel for Team USA at the 19th Maccabiah Games manning the blueline with conviction, a harbinger of the coming season.
 
Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Not a clue about lines but one would expect some changes with the new group of players. I agree with your regarding D as we never really got a sense of whats to come. I will let the board know my thoughts on the games this weekend. Nothing better than seeing it live!
 
Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

beenthere77 said:
Hey Dan
You never finished up with your projections on the rest of the roster from a week ago. 48 hours to puck drop. What's the line up?
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Hey guys, a couple of points for everyone:

1) I don't know how the lineup's going to be. Coach Soderquist has been very guarded and mum about it, and we don't know what it's going to look like. What it looks like against UNO could be very different from the way it looks against Sacred Heart on Wednesday.

2) The defense will shape up as the following if I had to guess - Weinstein-Blomquist is the top pairing, Marginsky-O'brien will be the second pairing. The third pairing will be a combination of Zach Ledford and Matt Maher or a freshman. The freshmen have looked good, and word on the street is that O'Brien showed up this year with some more weight and muscle. He is going to be a candidate for most improved. Honestly, there's a lot less controversy or thought that will play into this because the defense is a) deep and b) returning everyone. Everything came together last year right up until Blomquist's knee was injured. After that, it was a struggle because there was no chemistry and flow. Reardon is the odd man out in this situation and we should expect him as a fourth line forward for this reason.

3) The rink conversation - there's a tremendous comment that was left on the article. I suggest everyone read it.

4) Heading into Omaha, I'm actually more concerned about the offense than the defense. The defense dealt with injuries last year as it was improving, so I'm not overly concerned about them coming back. I'm extremely concerned with the offense. It went from the nation's best with a Hobey Baker candidate to a flame out virtually overnight. That's a concern and the lack of consistency was a major red flag alarm. For my sake, the biggest storyline I'm watching in the first couple of weeks is how the offense jells. They finished with less goals last year than the year before despite that rocket pace. That type of collapse has to have a reason.

All that said, I am heading to Maine for first broadcast of the year. I can't make it out to Sacred Heart because it's a midweek game, and with work and all that, I can't make it out there and expect to get back here at night. Milford is also substantially further away from where I usually stay in Norwalk or Bristol. I wish that game was in Bridgeport; it would've changed the dynamic.
 
Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

As to point 4 and concern about the offense. I am not expert but what I would tell you is you need a good defensive group to create the necessary breakout opportunities. If you like to play the stretch pass, as we do, then you have to have a D that can make that pass. I don't recall all that went on in the second half but you are correct the offense fell off the face of the earth. I would suggest it might of been the injury in the D that was some of the cause as the chemistry changed making the breakout not work. It then got worse when we started moving people up and down the lines trying to find combinations that worked. Hindsight is always 20 20 but no reason to rehash all the performance issues from last year. What I take from the early conversations is we have the potential for a high powered offense. It will take three very good lines playing hard every night. If I were the "King" I wouldn't tinker too much with the lines. I would pick the lines and change only if they don't produce and I wouldn't do that too often. Anyway wish everybody all the luck this season
 
Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

wwjg1158 said:
As to point 4 and concern about the offense. I am not expert but what I would tell you is you need a good defensive group to create the necessary breakout opportunities. If you like to play the stretch pass, as we do, then you have to have a D that can make that pass. I don't recall all that went on in the second half but you are correct the offense fell off the face of the earth. I would suggest it might of been the injury in the D that was some of the cause as the chemistry changed making the breakout not work. It then got worse when we started moving people up and down the lines trying to find combinations that worked. Hindsight is always 20 20 but no reason to rehash all the performance issues from last year. What I take from the early conversations is we have the potential for a high powered offense. It will take three very good lines playing hard every night. If I were the "King" I wouldn't tinker too much with the lines. I would pick the lines and change only if they don't produce and I wouldn't do that too often. Anyway wish everybody all the luck this season
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IMHO it was a little bit more than just the D and stretch passes. Hobey Baker candidate went for 2 points in 8 game stetch BEFORE the Dman went down at Niagara. Team offense overall all but vanished But like you said it's a new season no sense in debating last years problems.
 
Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

beenthere77 said:
IMHO it was a little bit more than just the D and stretch passes. Hobey Baker candidate went for 2 points in 8 game stetch BEFORE the Dman went down at Niagara. Team offense overall all but vanished But like you said it's a new season no sense in debating last years problems.
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Humbly agree. I should've phrased it this way - I'm excited and interested to see what the offense can do to reverse their issues from last year as an entire unit. That includes the defensive zone breakouts and the lines themselves. Coach has indicated to me multiple times he's looking forward to finding concrete lines and sticking with that with minimal cycling based on who's hot and who deserves to be where. But I do have a vibe that things are going to be more concrete.

Anyone else going tonight? I know that I have a post of final thoughts coming this afternoon, but any suggestions for where to go in Omaha? I have heard a couple of good things, although I won't be there.
 
Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

eXcSports said:
Humbly agree. I should've phrased it this way - I'm excited and interested to see what the offense can do to reverse their issues from last year as an entire unit. That includes the defensive zone breakouts and the lines themselves. Coach has indicated to me multiple times he's looking forward to finding concrete lines and sticking with that with minimal cycling based on who's hot and who deserves to be where. But I do have a vibe that things are going to be more concrete.

Anyone else going tonight? I know that I have a post of final thoughts coming this afternoon, but any suggestions for where to go in Omaha? I have heard a couple of good things, although I won't be there.
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I thought the new thread was about this year so continuing to blame the hobey baker candidate seems fruitless. In the end they all did not perform as it seems to me thtat the last time I checked it was a team sport.

That being said I travel to Omaha once in a while and it certainly isn't a town you can say has a lot to offer but the rink is downtown and the Hilton is connected to the rink. I would think there are some decent restaurants to eat at and plenty of sports bars. Basically the area is smack downtown Omaha and should offer some interesting options to drink a few cold ones! For those that check I will tell you my thoughts on the game. I am not a journalist but I will try to be fair in analyizing what I see. That would include from the goalie on out......
 
Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

wwjg1158 said:
I thought the new thread was about this year so continuing to blame the hobey baker candidate seems fruitless. In the end they all did not perform as it seems to me thtat the last time I checked it was a team sport.

That being said I travel to Omaha once in a while and it certainly isn't a town you can say has a lot to offer but the rink is downtown and the Hilton is connected to the rink. I would think there are some decent restaurants to eat at and plenty of sports bars. Basically the area is smack downtown Omaha and should offer some interesting options to drink a few cold ones! For those that check I will tell you my thoughts on the game. I am not a journalist but I will try to be fair in analyizing what I see. That would include from the goalie on out......
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And now it's time for my final thought. -Jerry Springer.

http://jarpride.com/2013/10/10/bentley-vs-uno-final-thoughts-and-predictions/
 
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Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

eXcSports said:
Game prep city:

http://jarpride.com/2013/10/11/game-preps-1-and-2-nebraska-omaha/
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Read through this.

I'll be shocked if Massa doesn't at least start the game tonight in goal for UNO. Coach Blais has hinted that all three UNO goalies will see action this weekend, though.

I assume its common knowledge there that Will Suter is from Omaha and played for the Lincoln Stars? If he's introduced tonight, he should be greeted warmly, if nothing else, by the army of family and friends he's likely to have at the game. There are a lot of UNO--Omaha Lancers crossover fans in Omaha, like me. I saw quite a bit of him against the Lancers.
 
Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

As promised an update Omaha!! The team struuggled a bit in the first period but really won period 2 and 3. The new players were good and the vets played well! Komm played well and the D looked much better! I believe it was a big non conference win on the road! Overall good but a lot to build on! A win tomorrow would be great!
 
Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Huge win by the Falcons on Friday night, perhaps the biggest in program history. All about Bentley special teams tonight, with two shorties and two PPGs. Omaha native Will Suter got his first college point (assist); another frosh Max French notched a shorty and a PP goal. Hobey Gensler picked up two goals, including EN.

Interesting lines and D pairs from the other site:
Rickford-Kubiak-Breton
French-Grieve-Suter
Switzer-Gladiuk-Gensler
Fitzstephens-Bacon-Deresky
Weinstein-Blomquist
Berry-Marginsky
Ledford-Donners
Komm
 
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Re: Bentley Falcons 2013-2014: No offseason. No excuses.

Thought I would think about the game. I am not sure about the current lines. Given some time they may clique! They really need to work on face offs! Not sure French suter and grieve should be the first line! Overall the team still played well. The defensive coach was always communicating with the lines and their play looks much improved! Too many penalties in the 3rd to kill. The five on three and then one more to finish it off just took everything out of them. The boys looked engaged and fought the whole game. Penalty kill was pretty good!

Focus 1. Face offs 2. Penalties 3 forward lines and maybe I should repeat win face offs!
 
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