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Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

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Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

defkit said:
Yeah, not sure what is up with Oksanen. Seems like something switched in his head. He looked pretty darn solid in the first half. But lately, he looks like he doesn't know what to do with the puck, and therefore, doesn't go after it, seems to hope it doesn't come to him. Hopefully it's just a confidence/head thing and he can get past it. While the Kurker play was ugly, and dumb on his part, at least he didn't hesitate - he knew what he wanted to do, it was just a bad judgement on his part. O'Connor didn't help matters letting the puck slide right through his legs.
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I really like Oksanen. He has great hands, great vision, clears the zone very well and has a hard, low shot that is pretty accurate from the point. He should be terrific on the power play for four years.
On the down side, he needs to improve his skating, become more physical and consistent in his own end.
I believe the areas where he is lacking can be improved, with hard work and experience.
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

To simplify it, better BC teams than this have missed the frozen four. Honestly, UML could be the best team in the league right now.
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

Anybody else concerned about Nieto? He just doesn't look the same. Just doesn't seem to have that extra gear he used to, nor the stick handling he used to. Seemed to pull up instead of beating that last guy a few times last night (and on other occasions this year). Do we think there's an injury there? Something doesn't look right.
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

I'm more worried about Harry Cleverly's eyes than anything else. Aside from the bit about his shot, that assessment of Oksanen is a little ponderous. He maybe has shown some of those things early in the year, but right now he's an absolute puddle out there.

For that matter, the whole team looked to be playing scared for the first half of that game. Made them look like a lower tier HS team at times. They picked it up later in the second and through the third and OT, but man they were scary early.
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

Hokydad said:
Hockeyeastless frozen four, outside maybe UNH if they get lucky
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After a quick check of the standings I wouldn't count on HE being shut out of the Frozen Four just yet. Apart from Minny and the Q all of the other leagues are in the same boat as HE, full of bubble teams beating each other up every weekend. I'm not even sold on the Q right now either. If they get paired up with a veteran tourney team in the first round of the NCAA's they'd be ripe for a 1 and done.
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

Harry Cleverly said:
I really like Oksanen. He has great hands, great vision, clears the zone very well and has a hard, low shot that is pretty accurate from the point. He should be terrific on the power play for four years.
On the down side, he needs to improve his skating, become more physical and consistent in his own end.
I believe the areas where he is lacking can be improved, with hard work and experience.
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While he does have a good slap shot and is useful on the PP, his defense over the last month or two has been utterly abysmal and seems to be trending worse. Someone wrote below that he's a goal allowed waiting to happen, and it's true of late. His decision making in the defensive zone has been terrible.
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

ericredaxe said:
Why ignore that though?
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Wondering the same thing. Add in a terrible home loss to Umass while you're at it and an unimpressive home tie vs Yale. The wheels have been coming off for a few games now. Some nights Gaudreau puts the wagon on his back and wins a game.
 
brassbonanza said:
While he does have a good slap shot and is useful on the PP, his defense over the last month or two has been utterly abysmal and seems to be trending worse. Someone wrote below that he's a goal allowed waiting to happen, and it's true of late. His decision making in the defensive zone has been terrible.
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You guys watch more than I can, have they been mixing up the pairings much? They look like a bad HS. Team in the face of an aggressive forecheck.

Reminds me of the year Vick was awesome and the Giants figured out that if you blitz his blind side you turn him into a turnover machine. He has never been as effective since.

Every team watching that game made a note, pressure BU in their zone...they panic. Waiting for us to score one on our goalie, we are getting closer and closer.
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

Carmine Scarpaglia said:
Wondering the same thing. Add in a terrible home loss to Umass while you're at it and an unimpressive home tie vs Yale. The wheels have been coming off for a few games now. Some nights Gaudreau puts the wagon on his back and wins a game.
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fear not, there are some BC fans who think the team is doing just fine.

pirate: yes, but more so because they've been forced to for one reason or another. #6 was out for two games, #13 was out for two games, #5 was over in Russia, so there's been a good deal of shuffling going on beyond just deciding between #2 and #4 as the 6th Dman to play with #13 that night while the other five remain the same. Parker has been hinting at giving Ronan a shot, I wouldn't mind sitting #3 for a game and giving the kid a chance to play. If for no other reason than maybe it'll give #3 a kick in the butt that he can't continue his current level of play and expect playing time. We'll have to see.
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

Bigus Paulus said:
After a quick check of the standings I wouldn't count on HE being shut out of the Frozen Four just yet. Apart from Minny and the Q all of the other leagues are in the same boat as HE, full of bubble teams beating each other up every weekend. I'm not even sold on the Q right now either. If they get paired up with a veteran tourney team in the first round of the NCAA's they'd be ripe for a 1 and done.
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Agreed, count me in as not yet being sold on the Q... ECAC schedule and 2 of their losses to AHA teams? I think there is a tight pack of teams that could end up either in the frozen four, or out of the tournament.
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

Long term, I think Oksanen will be fine. He has some nice skills, as shown in the first half. Right now he (along with some others on the team), is having some confidence issues, which as brassbonanza and pirate have pointed out, are manifesting themselves when faced with an aggressive forecheck. The Northeastern game was the best example, but there have certainly been others. There have been other very good d-men that had some stuggles as freshmen - Phil von Stefineli comes to mind.

If Phil played in the texting era, I guess he would have been "PVS".:D
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

sterlippo1 said:
there are? :confused:
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Not "doing just fine" but more still believe the team will be be fine in the end, and if I were a BC fan so would I. Any team with their D in BC's current situation would be struggling mightily.
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

I watched Saturday night's game on the old DVR yesterday and here's what I don't like: They retreat more than Robert E Lee at Gettysburg. PC's 2nd goal was the result of Kurker gathering the puck at his own blue line and instead of looking to attack the neutral zone, he skated directly to his own goal. And we all know how that turned out. Clearly this is a coaching decision, but it can be very annoying (and costly.) Thoughts? #TalkingX'sAndO'sUsuallyNotMyThing

BU Hockey: Attack!
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

Bomber said:
I watched Saturday night's game on the old DVR yesterday and here's what I don't like: They retreat more than Robert E Lee at Gettysburg. PC's 2nd goal was the result of Kurker gathering the puck at his own blue line and instead of looking to attack the neutral zone, he skated directly to his own goal. And we all know how that turned out. Clearly this is a coaching decision, but it can be very annoying (and costly.) Thoughts? #TalkingX'sAndO'sUsuallyNotMyThing

BU Hockey: Attack!
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I missed the games this weekend, but what I have seen of this team since the break is baffling. I have never seen any team in any sport willingly retreat into their own defensive zone as often as this team. The most confusing part is that they are not even very good at defense so it's not like they're bringing the puck to a place where they are comfortable. I've seen countless instances of a defender skate towards the blue line only to turn around and head back behind the net for no apparent reason. Forwards and defensemen in the neutral zone regularly turn and skate the puck across the blue line into the d-zone rather than dumping and chasing. The defensemen are terrified of carrying the puck. It looks like they are all waiting for an opportunity to make a pass to a forward for a breakaway goal and if the forward isn't ahead of the opposing team's defense they bring it back into their zone to try again. The past few year it felt like all BU did was dump and chase, now it seems like they refuse to do it. I imagine it all comes down to a coaching strategy of maintaining possession they'd rather skate around in their own d-zone than give up possession. The problem is that they're turning it over anyway and giving up free goals.
 
Re: Boston University 2012-13 Season Thread -- Part II

Terrance said:
I missed the games this weekend, but what I have seen of this team since the break is baffling. I have never seen any team in any sport willingly retreat into their own defensive zone as often as this team. The most confusing part is that they are not even very good at defense so it's not like they're bringing the puck to a place where they are comfortable. I've seen countless instances of a defender skate towards the blue line only to turn around and head back behind the net for no apparent reason. Forwards and defensemen in the neutral zone regularly turn and skate the puck across the blue line into the d-zone rather than dumping and chasing. The defensemen are terrified of carrying the puck. It looks like they are all waiting for an opportunity to make a pass to a forward for a breakaway goal and if the forward isn't ahead of the opposing team's defense they bring it back into their zone to try again. The past few year it felt like all BU did was dump and chase, now it seems like they refuse to do it. I imagine it all comes down to a coaching strategy of maintaining possession they'd rather skate around in their own d-zone than give up possession. The problem is that they're turning it over anyway and giving up free goals.
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Absolutely. This one post sums it up as succinctly as any I have seen for the past month.
 
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