Bentley University Hockey 2016-2017: The (Max) French Revolution

[mar7967]

Re: Bentley University Hockey 2016-2017: The (Max) French Revolution

Nice 3-1 win by Bentley over #1 Army at Frozen Fenway. Good way to begin 2017!

No one in Pick'em picked Bentley, so of course they come up with the big W. Congrats.

 

[Snively65]

No one in Pick'em picked Bentley, so of course they come up with the big W. Congrats.

I was leaning about 50-50 on Bentley winning one game or the other, but had no idea which one, so I went for Army to sweep, thinking that way I might hold my place ahead of Blazer. However, given how far out of the running I am in AHC Pick 'Em, I probably should be making riskier picks.

 

[blazer777]

Re: Bentley University Hockey 2016-2017: The (Max) French Revolution

I was leaning about 50-50 on Bentley winning one game or the other, but had no idea which one, so I went for Army to sweep, thinking that way I might hold my place ahead of Blazer. However, given how far out of the running I am in AHC Pick 'Em, I probably should be making riskier picks.

Picking the Falcon's is always risky! : ) This is the week I make my move to 6th place in Pick'em but thank you for knocking off Army, feel free to do it again!

 

[blazer777]

Re: Bentley University Hockey 2016-2017: The (Max) French Revolution

Way to fight back from several down Falcons! You almost took hem again!

 

[acohen527]

Re: Bentley University Hockey 2016-2017: The (Max) French Revolution

Huge weekend to start 2017!! Let's keep it rolling Falcons!!

 

[Snively65]

Picking the Falcon's is always risky! : ) This is the week I make my move to 6th place in Pick'em but thank you for knocking off Army, feel free to do it again!

Were you the sole person to pick the tie between Bentley and Army tonight, blazer? If so, congrats!

Meanwhile, agree with 527 (you back from Florida?), great start for 2017. Those two tough games at UVM had to help, no?

 

[blazer777]

Were you the sole person to pick the tie between Bentley and Army tonight, blazer? If so, congrats!

?

Alas, that was RIT Winters. I had the falcons

 

[The Top Shelf]

Re: Bentley University Hockey 2016-2017: The (Max) French Revolution

A huge weekend for the falcons. An emotional, historic win at Frozen Fenway 2.0 and then an even more emotional (for different reasons) comeback last night.

First - Fenway. I thought the power play looked good for once, a theme that continued into Friday. We didn't look at all outmatched vs the AHA best Cadets. Shots were 27-26 Falcons and the season long dump and chase strategy was abandoned for timely possession in the offensive zone. Argue, as usual looked amazing stopping 25 of 26. The defense also did a good job of of not hanging him out to dry as they did in Vermont. When you give Jayson Argue a chance, he's probably going to make the save.

Friday night was WILD. Watched from home and was still one of the most exciting Bentley games I've ever seen. We didn't play that poorly in the first and second. Shots were even all night and so were scoring chances. Pelino honestly played pretty well. He had no chance on two of the three goals and while I like to decision to pull him, it should not be an indictment on his play going forward. He's been a bright spot in a pretty bleak first half of the season. Reminds me of a freshman Jayson Argue coming in for Doc/Antoni two years ago.

This game was the definition of a moral victory. As Dan said, the headline should read "Bentley beats Army 5-5". Down 5-2 with ten minutes left in the game, this team BATTLED back to earn the tie, and almost the win. Making it even more remarkable, they did it with TWO power play goals! Even more remarkable... they did it against one of the best goaltenders in the nation. It was a gritty, gutsy performance that gives a lot of confidence moving forward. A three point weekend against Army is exactly what this team needed.

They are clicking. They are moving the puck. They are controlling the puck. The power play is looking good. The difference between this weekend and UVM (and honestly most of the first half of the season) is night and day. This squad is talented. They are deep. They have the means to win, and when they play well they can stick with anybody. For Argue, French, Schmidt it's put up or shut up. For the freshmen, its time to show who they really are. No more stupid penalties, no more dump and chase.

Let's go Falcons!

 

[Snively65]

A huge weekend for the falcons. An emotional, historic win at Frozen Fenway 2.0 and then an even more emotional (for different reasons) comeback last night.

First - Fenway. I thought the power play looked good for once, a theme that continued into Friday. We didn't look at all outmatched vs the AHA best Cadets. Shots were 27-26 Falcons and the season long dump and chase strategy was abandoned for timely possession in the offensive zone. Argue, as usual looked amazing stopping 25 of 26. The defense also did a good job of of not hanging him out to dry as they did in Vermont. When you give Jayson Argue a chance, he's probably going to make the save.

Friday night was WILD. Watched from home and was still one of the most exciting Bentley games I've ever seen. We didn't play that poorly in the first and second. Shots were even all night and so were scoring chances. Pelino honestly played pretty well. He had no chance on two of the three goals and while I like to decision to pull him, it should not be an indictment on his play going forward. He's been a bright spot in a pretty bleak first half of the season. Reminds me of a freshman Jayson Argue coming in for Doc/Antoni two years ago.

This game was the definition of a moral victory. As Dan said, the headline should read "Bentley beats Army 5-5". Down 5-2 with ten minutes left in the game, this team BATTLED back to earn the tie, and almost the win. Making it even more remarkable, they did it with TWO power play goals! Even more remarkable... they did it against one of the best goaltenders in the nation. It was a gritty, gutsy performance that gives a lot of confidence moving forward. A three point weekend against Army is exactly what this team needed.

They are clicking. They are moving the puck. They are controlling the puck. The power play is looking good. The difference between this weekend and UVM (and honestly most of the first half of the season) is night and day. This squad is talented. They are deep. They have the means to win, and when they play well they can stick with anybody. For Argue, French, Schmidt it's put up or shut up. For the freshmen, its time to show who they really are. No more stupid penalties, no more dump and chase.

Let's go Falcons!

Thanks for summary, as I could not watch either game. Bentley PP moved from third worst to seventh worst in Div 1, to match their PK. Special teams were horrid during first half, so continued improvement in both of those needed for second half. Also, good to have some depth in net. And, yes, dump and chase is stupid and for losers, and should be abandoned except for line changes. Ditto for stupid penalties taken behind the play, especially in front of a lagging ref.

 

[eXcSports]

Re: Bentley University Hockey 2016-2017: The (Max) French Revolution

A huge weekend for the falcons. An emotional, historic win at Frozen Fenway 2.0 and then an even more emotional (for different reasons) comeback last night.

First - Fenway. I thought the power play looked good for once, a theme that continued into Friday. We didn't look at all outmatched vs the AHA best Cadets. Shots were 27-26 Falcons and the season long dump and chase strategy was abandoned for timely possession in the offensive zone. Argue, as usual looked amazing stopping 25 of 26. The defense also did a good job of of not hanging him out to dry as they did in Vermont. When you give Jayson Argue a chance, he's probably going to make the save.

Friday night was WILD. Watched from home and was still one of the most exciting Bentley games I've ever seen. We didn't play that poorly in the first and second. Shots were even all night and so were scoring chances. Pelino honestly played pretty well. He had no chance on two of the three goals and while I like to decision to pull him, it should not be an indictment on his play going forward. He's been a bright spot in a pretty bleak first half of the season. Reminds me of a freshman Jayson Argue coming in for Doc/Antoni two years ago.

This game was the definition of a moral victory. As Dan said, the headline should read "Bentley beats Army 5-5". Down 5-2 with ten minutes left in the game, this team BATTLED back to earn the tie, and almost the win. Making it even more remarkable, they did it with TWO power play goals! Even more remarkable... they did it against one of the best goaltenders in the nation. It was a gritty, gutsy performance that gives a lot of confidence moving forward. A three point weekend against Army is exactly what this team needed.

They are clicking. They are moving the puck. They are controlling the puck. The power play is looking good. The difference between this weekend and UVM (and honestly most of the first half of the season) is night and day. This squad is talented. They are deep. They have the means to win, and when they play well they can stick with anybody. For Argue, French, Schmidt it's put up or shut up. For the freshmen, its time to show who they really are. No more stupid penalties, no more dump and chase.

Let's go Falcons!

1) Thanks for tuning in and sorry for what happened with the video in the first period. We had a new wifi router and internet modem set up literally an hour before faceoff and didn't get a chance to optimize things the way we would like. Glad we got it straightened out after the first, and we'll figure it out moving forward. At least there's only one home game in the next two weekends.

2) Playing the day after Fenway was absolutely exhausting, but it's a good indication for the postseason. Remember that you'll have to win an emotional game and then come back the next day to hold your season in the playoffs, and the tie indicated that Bentley, while opening the second game understandably flat after the emotional win on Thursday, turned it into a positive late. Had that game gone longer, I have no doubt they would've won, but until that point, I can honestly say that I had trouble getting out of bed to get to work and then getting to the rink was a chore for me physically. I can only imagine what it was like for the players, who I'm sure needed a great night of sleep.

3) This is a great victory for a series but it doesn't get easier. Although Niagara is struggling this year, Bentley is going out to WNY, and that's a REALLY long road trip to play a team that I don't think is as bad as the record indicates. The schedule down the stretch is going to be very tough, and there's a long way to go. So while this is great, it's worth putting it in the rearview and moving on.

 

[acohen527]

1) Thanks for tuning in and sorry for what happened with the video in the first period. We had a new wifi router and internet modem set up literally an hour before faceoff and didn't get a chance to optimize things the way we would like. Glad we got it straightened out after the first, and we'll figure it out moving forward. At least there's only one home game in the next two weekends.

2) Playing the day after Fenway was absolutely exhausting, but it's a good indication for the postseason. Remember that you'll have to win an emotional game and then come back the next day to hold your season in the playoffs, and the tie indicated that Bentley, while opening the second game understandably flat after the emotional win on Thursday, turned it into a positive late. Had that game gone longer, I have no doubt they would've won, but until that point, I can honestly say that I had trouble getting out of bed to get to work and then getting to the rink was a chore for me physically. I can only imagine what it was like for the players, who I'm sure needed a great night of sleep.

3) This is a great victory for a series but it doesn't get easier. Although Niagara is struggling this year, Bentley is going out to WNY, and that's a REALLY long road trip to play a team that I don't think is as bad as the record indicates. The schedule down the stretch is going to be very tough, and there's a long way to go. So while this is great, it's worth putting it in the rearview and moving on.

Agree with everything here as well as what TTS said. It was tough and dissapointing for me to be in Florida whilst the boys pulled out that Frozen Fenway victory, but them winning is the most important thing. 3 points against first place Army is incredibly satisfying and makes me incredibly optimistic for the rest of the season, especially considering the comeback on Friday. Like I said before the break, I thought that the way we played in the Army series was going to dictate the rest of the season, and hopefully I'm right. I think that a bunch of PPG's is definitely helpful in that sense, and will spark the PP for the second half. I was very confused when Soder started Pelino on Friday after the performance Argue had at Fenway, makes me question whether the two could be splitting time for the rest of the season (even though Pelino was pulled after 3 GA.) I like the way the guys are moving the puck and putting it on net, and the dump and chase has been pretty limited.
Even though they pulled out a win and tie against Army, I still think they have more potential than the way they played. I wasn't boggling over how well they played watching the games (granted, I didn't have my full attention on the games) but I know I've seen better stuff from them this season. (UNH, AF) It's going to be really exciting if they can get to a point where they are consistently playing to their potential.

The long roadie to Niagara will indeed be a tough task for the Falcons, but hopefully they can pull out their first sweep of the season against the struggling purple eagles.

After that, however, the road is not easy at all. They have a home and away against a better than advertised SHU, followed by an away series vs defending league champs RIT, home against the conference leading Air Force, and back on the road to second place RMU. If they can manage to win some of these series, they can gain some serious ground in the AHA standings as well as a ton of momentum heading into the playoffs.

On another note, turns out freshman Dino Balsamo is no longer on the team, as he transferred to a D3 school near his hometown in Michigan. Sad to see, as he got off to a pretty good start to the season and looked like a very promising player.

 

[Snively65]

Agree with everything here as well as what TTS said. It was tough and dissapointing for me to be in Florida whilst the boys pulled out that Frozen Fenway victory, but them winning is the most important thing. 3 points against first place Army is incredibly satisfying and makes me incredibly optimistic for the rest of the season, especially considering the comeback on Friday. Like I said before the break, I thought that the way we played in the Army series was going to dictate the rest of the season, and hopefully I'm right. I think that a bunch of PPG's is definitely helpful in that sense, and will spark the PP for the second half. I was very confused when Soder started Pelino on Friday after the performance Argue had at Fenway, makes me question whether the two could be splitting time for the rest of the season (even though Pelino was pulled after 3 GA.) I like the way the guys are moving the puck and putting it on net, and the dump and chase has been pretty limited.
Even though they pulled out a win and tie against Army, I still think they have more potential than the way they played. I wasn't boggling over how well they played watching the games (granted, I didn't have my full attention on the games) but I know I've seen better stuff from them this season. (UNH, AF) It's going to be really exciting if they can get to a point where they are consistently playing to their potential.

The long roadie to Niagara will indeed be a tough task for the Falcons, but hopefully they can pull out their first sweep of the season against the struggling purple eagles.

After that, however, the road is not easy at all. They have a home and away against a better than advertised SHU, followed by an away series vs defending league champs RIT, home against the conference leading Air Force, and back on the road to second place RMU. If they can manage to win some of these series, they can gain some serious ground in the AHA standings as well as a ton of momentum heading into the playoffs.

On another note, turns out freshman Dino Balsamo is no longer on the team, as he transferred to a D3 school near his hometown in Michigan. Sad to see, as he got off to a pretty good start to the season and looked like a very promising player.

I guess that 2 points are better than 1 or 0, but the Falcons offense appears to have stalled tonight, although Schmidt did rack up 10 SOG. Also, French won 22 out of 31 face offs, which one would think might have created more offense. But, as you noted, it is a long tiring trip.

 

[acohen527]

Re: Bentley University Hockey 2016-2017: The (Max) French Revolution

I guess the last couple of weekends could be considered tough, splitting with the two worst teams in the conference after pretty commanding victories on the first night. The loss to Niagara hurts more than Sacred Heart, but we still outplayed both teams. The injury bug seems to be back, especially on defense. On both Friday and Saturday Kucerovy was playing defense, which would make me assume that Buchanan, Brassard and Berry are all out. McMurphy seems to be hurt as well, he did not play either game vs. SHU.

I did not watch any of Friday night's game, but the stats seem to have been in our favor and it looks like Pelino played great. Saturday night was interesting to watch. The lack of defense was definitely showing, a lot of mistakes made on the back-check from the "less talented" players. However, I thought our offense actually looked great. Passing was really good, puck control and work along the boards looked awesome. One struggle we're having on offense is getting the right shot off; we're taking a good number of shots, but a lot of them are without care and are just simply taken at the wrong time. For example, there were a number of times on the power play we entered the zone with possession and strung together a few good passes, but would shoot it straight into a defender or a big mess in front when there was a guy ready for a one timer with a more clear shot on the right wing. Other than that, we looked really good and it looked like some hard work in practice was paying off.

On the other side of the ice, Argue hasn't been as good. During the second game at Niagara last weekend, 2/3 of the goals he let in were extremely weak and stuff you'd never imagine Argue would let in. Saturday vs. Sacred Heart wasn't quite as bad, but I definitely noticed he wasn't as sharp as he usually is. Bad rebounds, careless positioning, and he just didn't look as comfortable as he usually does. His GAA is now over 3 and his SV% is quite close to falling below .900, stats that may be inflated by the injured defense but are still very poor for Argue. I'd like to see Pelino get another start this weekend, on Friday, and if he performs again, keep him in for Saturday. Regardless, better defending will lead to better goalie performances, but for right now, Pelino seems to simply be outplaying Argue and deserves the starts.

The road is tough for the next few weeks, although starting with a series vs. a struggling RIT team could be a good confidence boost heading into RMU and AF. Still yet to pick up that weekend sweep on the year, hopefully it's coming soon!

 

[blazer777]

Re: Bentley University Hockey 2016-2017: The (Max) French Revolution

The road is tough for the next few weeks, although starting with a series vs. a struggling RIT team could be a good confidence boost heading into RMU and AF. Still yet to pick up that weekend sweep on the year, hopefully it's coming soon!

Not for nothing but I prefer that your team lays down this weekend and saves their strength for RMU and AFA.

 

[Snively65]

Re: Bentley University Hockey 2016-2017: The (Max) French Revolution

Not for nothing but I prefer that your team lays down this weekend and saves their strength for RMU and AFA.

Hope that the Falcons do not lay down the next two nights, as Bentley is in ninth place a point behind the Yellow Jackets in the standings, although Bentley has three games in hand over AIC.

 

[blazer777]

Hope that the Falcons do not lay down the next two nights, as Bentley is in ninth place a point behind the Yellow Jackets in the standings, although Bentley has three games in hand over AIC.

Your hope had been granted!

 

[acohen527]

Your hope had been granted!

Miraculous that the Falcons won that game. Even as a Bentley fan, I'll happily admit that game should've been won by the Tigers. Sometimes things just go your way ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ also was kind of torn about Sieckhaus' goal, the refs really had a lot of time to look at it and if it were truly goaltender interference, they would've called it. At first glance I agreed with the RIT announcers, but after watching it a few times I was indifferent. Pelino also played great tonight, hopefully we see him in net again tomorrow.

 

[Snively65]

Miraculous that the Falcons won that game. Even as a Bentley fan, I'll happily admit that game should've been won by the Tigers. Sometimes things just go your way ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ also was kind of torn about Sieckhaus' goal, the refs really had a lot of time to look at it and if it were truly goaltender interference, they would've called it. At first glance I agreed with the RIT announcers, but after watching it a few times I was indifferent. Pelino also played great tonight, hopefully we see him in net again tomorrow.

I think that the key is me picking against the Falcons in the AHC Pick 'Em thread. If that holds true tomorrow night, we will have our first sweep of the season, and a split in the four-game regular season series with the Tigers.

Cool emoticon, 527; better than those default ones.

 

[Downstate_RIT_Fan]

I think that the key is me picking against the Falcons in the AHC Pick 'Em thread. If that holds true tomorrow night, we will have our first sweep of the season, and a split in the four-game regular season series with the Tigers.

Cool emoticon, 527; better than those default ones.

That's funny, I do the same thing with picking against RIT in the AHC Pick'em except I have been climbing in the standings! Rather it be the opposite but RIT has hit a rough stretch, hopefully we'll get some of the banged up boys back by the time the playoffs come around but even so, we will be playing on the road. Looking forward to tonight's game, I will be pulling for RIT but would not be surprised by a Falcon sweep..

And yes awesome emoticon 527, hopefully you copy and paste that because I can't even fathom where all those characters are on a standard keyboard!

 

[Snively65]

That's funny, I do the same thing with picking against RIT in the AHC Pick'em except I have been climbing in the standings! Rather it be the opposite but RIT has hit a rough stretch, hopefully we'll get some of the banged up boys back by the time the playoffs come around but even so, we will be playing on the road. Looking forward to tonight's game, I will be pulling for RIT but would not be surprised by a Falcon sweep..

And yes awesome emoticon 527, hopefully you copy and paste that because I can't even fathom where all those characters are on a standard keyboard!

Maybe if I had adopted this strategy earlier in the season, I would not be mired in 14th place, just ahead of blazer.