Bomber is right - reading up on four days worth of posts including both games is quite comical. From one extreme to another. Not saying I don't contribute to the schizophrenia...
That being said, here are my thoughts:
- We still have very little idea what we have for a team this season. There are some promising signs, but clearly some drafted guys (inducing first and second rounders) are going to need some time to adjust. That is ok - it's actually quite normal if your name isn't Jack or Macklin or Lane.
- The biggest positives are in our own zone. First, Yegorov is in excellent form. He clearly felt like he had something to prove this year and is off to a great start with a (roughly) 1.00 GAA. And related, this team is playing excellent team defense. Does anyone remember how terrible BU looked in their own end in Macklin's year for the first few games? Against Bentley, UNH, and the first Notre Dame game we were giving up breakaways and odd man rushes like nobody's business. That team figured it out shortly after that. Last year's team, perhaps with too many big egos, resulted in a lot of d-zone breakdowns. In 4 games this season, while we certainly have challenges, we are not running around in our own zone looking like we have no idea what to do.
- The d-corps is an interesting mix. No doubt Wang is the biggest surprise. He is adjusting to D-1 very well, and has the confidence to make plays. I'm still a bit more iffy than others on XV. I think he will blossom as the year goes on, and he did look better as the second game progressed. But in the first period I thought "those moves are not going to work at this level - stop trying them". I never once said that about Lane, because 90% of the time, his moves worked. Which is not to say that XV shouldn't be compared to Lane - nobody should. I think we got a good one in XV, I just think he is not as ready for this level as we might have hoped. Tretheway has been ok, no better than the end of last year. Frechette has actually looked a bit worse to me, which is not a huge deal for your extra d-man. Aidan looked great in Alaska, a little less so against UVM. Amico is definitely improved and reliable. I think he will still have his rough moments against top teams. Wismer has been fine. And I hope Barone keeps improving so that he can get into he lineup. I was hoping his numbers at LSSU meant we'd have a good offensive threat.
- The clear challenge for this team is creating chances and finishing chances. I predicted 45 points for Lawrence and I am sticking with it. I think Malhotra will get there in a few more weekends. He is essentially like Lawrence was in his first few games last season - looked solid out there, was making smart plays but wasn't getting on the scoresheet. NHL scouts get paid a lot of money and you might be able to argue that Caleb shouldn't have gone #3, but he is at worst a top-10 guy. He will develop into a stud.
- I said before the season that we needed more guys that were at best finishers to be able to turn onto creature. The list included Ritchie, Fondrk, Harvey,and Murtagh. Ritchie stepped up - are the others going to be able to? Honestly that could be the key to our season. The third/fourth liners are going to be effective (Merrill, Morello, Svobboda, Rouk). We need the skill guys to step up.
- The other freshmen forwards don't look out of place but haven't made much noise yet - again, that is fine. But again, of this team is going to challenge for hardware, Aram-Olsen and Norringer will need to start contributing.
Bottom line - I'm not too concerned about the 3-1 start because what ails this team is mostly around development, not playing as a team/attitude. If they keep their head on straight, they can make some noise. I'm excited for the potential.
