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Bulldogs 09-10 Season

Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

I'm not playing basketball on Thursday nights anymore (ankle injury and our league was ended after 12 seasons).. but this first chalk talk comes on the section final for girls soccer night so I continue my stellar record of never making it to a chalk talk!

I read the Jenny Harss profile and Googled Kaesspatzen.. her favorite food.. which translates to Cheese-spaetzle casserole according to Google.. seems there's yet another food to make a person want to head to Germany some day.
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

Went to the Chalk Talk last night . . . good time. Really nice to meet many of the new players and a few parents. Also, just good to make reaquaintance with all of the returning players.

Shannon is really happy with how the team has progressed so far and as you'd expect exudes confidence that come the 2nd half UMD will be right there in the mix.

It sounds like they've been puting in a lot of time on the PP. Intensity was the key word there. She expects for it to become more productive - and less risky than what we saw at Ridder.

There's only one more Chalk Talk planned . . . for mid February or so. It's always fun . . so . . . I'm pretty sure it's the Thursday before the Bemidji series.

Remember keep an eye on Harss & Rass for the weekend. I'll be back on Monday to add my 1.5 cents.

Go Dogs!!!

U-M-D!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

For once I am inclined to acknowledge that the two officials at the UMD vs. North Dakota game--Elam and Blair--actually did an ok job. Someone would have gotten killed had others been wearing the stripes. A few North Dakota players could not seem to finish a play without some type of fist to head contact. They have the potential to be a lot better if they would just play hockey.

UMD's power play seems to be coming along, but they still turned the puck over for break-aways a few too many times. Tomorrow will be interesting.
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

The funny thing tonight.. when the Sioux player (Alex Williams) got the 5 and game for slashing some Sioux fans in section 15 were screaming 'way to be classy UMD!' It was actually Williams second slashing penalty of the game but much more blatant as she had to literally swing her stick high to earn the 5/game. Overall, North Dakota played with a lot of stick-work, that was

UMD scored 3 powerplay goals..but still looked out of sync really bad on most of the 12 powerplays they had. They need to get Wong off the blue line on powerplays and sit her in front of the net, she didn't hold the puck in any better than the actual defensemen.

Tough night for Laura Fridfinnson as she got 3 assists.. but also 3 penalties and got roughed up a bit trying to play in the corners. She's not strong enough to be in the corners but keeps trying!

Emmanuelle Blais got a hat trick and one of Binny's players to watch.. Jamie Rasmussen had three assists. The other, Jenny Harss played decent with the traffic and congestion in front of her and probably benefited from her size because pucks she didn't seem to see still hit her.
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

I have finally posted some of my photos from last Friday's game against the Goofers. I also have some up from yesterday's North Dakota game...more to come later today. Use the link below to get to my Webshots site.
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

Tonight was.. interesting.. referee Erin Blair (they don't have first names on either night's box score for whatever reason but I believe this to be her, she's worked IIHF and I think ARM has mentioned Erin Blair before) seemed to have some kind of grudge against North Dakota and then her and Elam seemed to be in disagreement most of the night as well (at one point Elam looked at the Sioux coaches and shrugged after a Sioux penalty was called.) The worst thing though is when they don't agree on stuff.. take it to the locker room.. don't show it to everyone in the building!

For all of the powerplays (13 each day) UMD could have won by 5+ goals each night and probably should have. Instead they went 5/26 which is still better than they've been.

Emmanuelle Blais strengthened her chances at player of the week with another goal and an assist to go with her hat trick on Friday. Jamie Rasmussen also will get nods towards defensive POW with a goal and assist to go with 3 assists Friday. Jenny Harss will even get nominated probably for rookie of the week with 2 goals allowed on 57 shots.

The last two periods today.. the third/fourth line of Gina Dodge/Justine Fisher centering Kacy Ambroz and Vanessa Thibault (or Libby Guzzo/Stephanie Lenz at times) did well to keep the puck in the North Dakota zone and even generate a few shots at the net. They were on the ice for the early North Dakota goal but picked up their game in the shifts they got after that. Neither line is really set with them all playing at times but they all seemed to play well.

Since Binny's players to watch had big weekends, I wonder who she'd pick to watch next week, though they're out east at Mercyhurst, cause they'll need SOME kind of special boost to have a shot of winning 1 game at Mercyhurst.
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

dhmn said:
... cause they'll need SOME kind of special boost to have a shot of winning 1 game at Mercyhurst.
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Well, it would surely help the cause of UMD and the WCHA in general if the Bulldogs could take <i>something</i> in the way of points out of Erie. Assuming that UMD's goal is to host an NCAA quarter (and maybe Coach Miller doesn't place as a high a priority on this given the Bulldogs have won their last two NCAA road contests), I think they need more than an 0-fer vs MC.

The split with RMU won't help them in the PWR. They still have BC out of conference, but I'd say the jury is still out on what sort of selection criteria boost the Eagles will offer. If you get swept by the Lakers, then UMD is no better than a .500 nonconference team against a schedule with one very strong team, one most likely bottom half team, and one great, big, eastern-biased maroon & gold mystery.

Some years, that might be enough, if the rest of the league picks you up. BSU is already 0-4. UW has returned to scheduling down and has nothing ranked higher than PC on their schedule, plus they have shown a propensity for splitting series. SCSU doesn't look so good right now. According to you, UND doesn't either. MSU is 2-0 out of conference, but that's over Maine, and if you don't think you can beat Mercyhurst, then it is optimistic to think that the Mavs will on neutral ice. OSU might have the best WCHA nonconference result with a couple ties at BU, but if the Terriers fade like they did last year, that might not mean much. OSU still has RMU and SLU -- .500 is most likely a good result. That leaves Minnesota, who hosts Clarkson for 2 and plays a series at Harvard.

Somebody has to lift the stock of the league, and next weekend, Bulldogs, that somebody is you!;)
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

dhmn said:
Yeah, let's not put any pressure on the 8 UMD freshmen! :eek:
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Quit babying them.:p Our freshmen played a huge role in kicking your defending champs around their rink in week #2 last year. If some of your frosh aren't ready for a challenge by week #5 this year, then I'm very surprised. That Wilson kid looks like she'd be up for it. If Posa is going to play in the Olympics in a few months, then she shouldn't be too scared of any college team. But yeah, you'll need your Touminen line, Rasmussen, Gray, and Murray to play like warriors (no, not Wayne St. Warriors.)

Do you have your Finns for the whole series? If not, then it'll probably be tough.
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

Some of us were talking about 4 Nations during pre-game and nobody knew if Tuominen/Posa were going to be around or gone....

The UMDBulldogs.com game recap mentions the officiating.. in the nicest way possible...

After Friday night’s infraction-filled contest, both teams were saddled with proactive officiating that saw the Sioux nabbed for 13 penalties for 26 minutes and UMD sent to the box seven times for 14 minutes. UMD ended up 2-of-13 on their power-play, while North Dakota was held without a point with an extra skater in seven attempts.
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Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

I didn't realize during the game but Fridfinnson didn't play the whole game, after the bumps she took on Friday night she has some sort of shoulder injury that hopefully is nothing serious, just a way to get her off the ice with the game going UMD's way... especially if the 4 Nations Cup takes away Tuominen/Posa
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

Game 2 photos added... Mostly just spent time on shots this weekend of some players I hadn't gotten much of since they won't be back at the DECC for 4 weeks! Probably going to St. Cloud for that series but wanted to try and get home jersey shots.
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

dhmn said:
Some of us were talking about 4 Nations during pre-game and nobody knew if Tuominen/Posa were going to be around or gone....
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My understanding is that next weekend our Finns will be available on Friday but not on Sunday. What that means for your Saturday game, I can't say.
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

Saturday at Mercyhurst is an early game (2 pm CST).. hopefully that means they're around and going afterwards if they are going.
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

Ok so...weekend series is over.....i felt Harss played well, but they definetly need to clear out those rebounds quickly to help her out....50 shots total over the weekend and she allowed only 2 goals......lets hope she plays confident and comes up big this weekend!!
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

Grim Reaper said:
Ok so...weekend series is over.....i felt Harss played well, but they definetly need to clear out those rebounds quickly to help her out....50 shots total over the weekend and she allowed only 2 goals......lets hope she plays confident and comes up big this weekend!!
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Sadly, I missed the Friday night game. Needed to do an emergency pick up at the airport in Mpls! Very glad UMD got the two conference wins and did a little better on PP.

Harss - Her play has definitely continued to improve. She seems much more comfortable in the goal area. ND did all they could to disrupt her play by trying to get into her head. I noticed on Sat. at least one play where she came way out of the net to her right to intervene on a ND player scrambling for the puck. This is the first time I've seen her intentially go out of the blue area while the puck was in front of her. It was a great play. Also, she made a couple of quick gloved saves - one that certainly pulled down what looked like a for sure ND goal. It's great to see her continue to improve. One thing I'd like to see more improvement on is getting to the bench quicker on the delayed penalty. I suppose we've been spoiled by Santa's incredible speed, but it's one are she can make a real conscious effort to improve.

Rasmussen - One of the better offensive series in her career! (1G, 3A). She and Murray are the confident defenders on the UMD squad right now. That Ras has been adding some O punch is really helping the team out. There was one UMD power play in the 3rd where she was back at the blue line screaming for help - as she was the only Bulldog back. I think Wong was supposed to be back there with her but UMD had 4 in the corner fighting for control of the puck. She was obviously trying to be a leader out there. She seemed to be covering her assignments . . . and showing leadership in that respect as well.

I think it was also good that everyone got to play . . . and I agree that in the 3rd especially, Lenz, Fisher, Guzzo, Ambroz, played gutsy in both zones all. Great for them to get a lot of ice time. That can only help.

Oh - one more thing - Tuominen said at the Thursday chalk talk that she and Posa will gone after the MH series for a week.

Edit: Friddy did play the first period only on Saturday. Was obviously limited so it didn't make sense to keep her in. Hopefully she'll be ready to go for Mercyhurst.
 
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Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

Harss glove hand is really fast.. I've gotten a few shots of arm/glove saves that you would expect to be in the net... her lateral movement has improved in the 4 weekends of hockey.. the one thing she really struggles with are rebounds, and yes part of that is on the defense to clear them but she doesn't make them easy to save sometimes.

In the three home series so far.. teams continue to shoot high on Harss, like they've the international players have seen something in the past and word has gotten around..I haven't seen one of those shots go in yet (not being at Ridder, maybe a couple did?) Must be something about big goaltenders in the butterfly that makes players want to shoot over them rather than going around them which seems like the more logical choice.
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

The Mercyhurst/4 Nations Cup info is the most important info of the past week. UMD couldn't afford to go into that series with 2 less players, especially a defenseman.
 
Re: Bulldogs 09-10 Season

dhmn said:
... teams continue to shoot high on Harss, like they've the international players have seen something in the past and word has gotten around..I haven't seen one of those shots go in yet (not being at Ridder, maybe a couple did?)
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Of the Gophers 6 goals in that series, 4 were definitely low. West beat her upstairs, but that was on a breakaway, and Erickson went over her on a rebound.
 
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