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Colgate 2022-23

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Last night's game was frustrating, while tonight's was just plain disappointing.
I think that we are a better team than we showed today, but the bottom line is that we opened our regular season with two non-conference losses.
We certainly aren't doing ourselves, nor ECAC Hockey, any favors in PWR.
I am a believer in Carter Gylander's talents, but he didn't have a great day (nor weekend).
Our Minnesotans didn't have a great day either.
We aren't talented enough to just sling the puck across the ice in our own end without looking.
The Young brothers are fun to watch. They could be our saviors, me thinks.
Hopefully we learn from our mistakes. And we certainly have more opportunities non-conference this month to show that we have done so.
Meanwhile, I ill start packing for Thursday's flights to Phoenix and next weekend's games versus Arizona State in their brand-new on-campus arena.
 
We dominated possession for long periods tonight, never turned it into good chances. Credit to their goalie as well, made some really good saves in the 2nd when we had a chance to to go up by a couple. Maybe I'm an outlier, but thought the squad looked better than some of our recent teams. On to AZ...
 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Don Vaughan

"We had enough chances to win that game tonight. Multiple grade A opportunities that just didn't go. If people simply look at the score they might think the game was one-sided, but it was not. I loved our effort and our competitive level. These two games against a very good team will help us in the long run. We believe in our process and will keep grinding. This is a good Colgate hockey team."

Never fear fans, alums & friends. Vaughan has it all under control like he always does. This will be Colgate’s year to shine. A historic second ECAC Title is in the making as we speak. You just don’t realize it yet. Your problem is that you just need to keep the faith. Believe in the process like I do. This is a good hockey team. It doesn’t always have to be about winning, you know. Sheesh.

16-19-4, Coat? You’re getting soft. Maybe 12-24-3
 
Yes we did play fairly well at times, but we can't finish. I'm concerned about the goaltending, two big problems.
 
yes, Gylander has yet to step up after a good start in his first year...attendance for two games? something around 1300, not exactly a magnet for attracting recruits...thanks for the Young Brothers, but who else is going to step up at the forward position? This is exhausting...
 
If.....and that's a big "IF" Gylander gets a grip and the Young Bros. take charge of the rest I'm optimistic that we can achieve a 20-17-2 record. Lot of "Debbie Downers" here. I prefer to see the glass half full.
 
ColSkate65, you may be right, but scoring always seems to be an issue and Gylander has to step up...the league continues to be weak and our o-o-c schedule is not overtaxing...unfortunately, and I hope I am wrong, we did not have a quality recruiting year (especially sans Laba)...
 
Sol Diablo,
Friday, two tix…
section 118, row D, seat 9.
section 119, row E, seat 5.
Saturday, two tix…
section 112, row M, seats 7-8.
My partner in crime is Doug Strong, whose son played for Dartmouth. Since graduating, Cam has played for Birmingham, Reading and South Carolina, and this season will play for Utah. Both Doug and Cam are from Billings, Mt., but Doug has a place in Phoenix. He also raced sprint cars at Knoxville, Iowa, in the late 1980s, which is where I met him initially. Doug is also part of my Frozen Foursome, which also includes Alaska Mike and Clarkson Doug. My chance to buy Frozen Four tix is this Wednesday, which I will do, as I am eager to see Colgate in Tampa.
 
iowabasedtraveler said:
Sol Diablo,
Friday, two tix…
section 118, row D, seat 9.
section 119, row E, seat 5.
Saturday, two tix…
section 112, row M, seats 7-8.
My partner in crime is Doug Strong, whose son played for Dartmouth. Since graduating, Cam has played for Birmingham, Reading and South Carolina, and this season will play for Utah. Both Doug and Cam are from Billings, Mt., but Doug has a place in Phoenix. He also raced sprint cars at Knoxville, Iowa, in the late 1980s, which is where I met him initially. Doug is also part of my Frozen Foursome, which also includes Alaska Mike and Clarkson Doug. My chance to buy Frozen Four tix is this Wednesday, which I will do, as I am eager to see Colgate in Tampa.
Click to expand...

Nice! I'm still in northern Minnesota. Saw my Sun Devils play the Beavers at their nice arena last weekend.
 
GreenCoat, your line about Colgate's out-of-conference schedule not being overtaxing is spot-on.
I have mentioned this previously on here and it (strength of schedule) pertains to both in-conference and non-conference opponents.
This season, we will play only two teams that competed in last year's 16-team NCAA Tournament. Two.
By comparison, my second favorite team, Omaha-Nebraska, will play five teams that competed in last year's tourney. Five.
Including the national champion... Denver!!
Strength of Schedule matters (and each school has a say in its non-conference opponents).
Based on the relative strength of their respective conferences, it is more important for Colgate to schedule high-quality non-conference opponents than it is for Omaha.
We need to aim higher. It's a journey, but it starts with the first step.


2022-23 Colgate Opponents that have Competed in the 16-team NCAA Tournament:
2022 - Harvard, Quinnipiac
2021 - Quinnipiac
2020 - (none held)
2019 - Arizona State, Clarkson, Cornell, Harvard, Quinnipiac
2018 - Clarkson, Cornell, Princeton
Notes:
Those teams that competed in the NCAA Frozen Four appear in CAPITAL letters.
Those teams that won the NCAA National Championship appear in underscored CAPITAL letters.

2022-23 Nebraska - Omaha Opponents that have Competed in the 16-team NCAA Tournament:
2022 - DENVER, Minnesota - Duluth, North Dakota, Saint Cloud State, Western Michigan
2021 - Lake Superior State, MINNESOTA - DULUTH, North Dakota, SAINT CLOUD STATE
2020 - (none held)
2019 - DENVER, MINNESOTA - DULUTH, Saint Cloud State
2018 - Denver, MINNESOTA - DULUTH, Saint Cloud State
Notes:
Those teams that competed in the NCAA Frozen Four appear in CAPITAL letters.
Those teams that won the NCAA National Championship appear in underscored CAPITAL letters.
 
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iowabasedtraveler said:
Strength of Schedule matters (and each school has a say in its non-conference opponents).
Based on the relative strength of their respective conferences, it is more important for Colgate to schedule high-quality non-conference opponents than Omaha.
Click to expand...

It is most important to schedule the best teams you are capable of beating. Having the toughest strength of schedule does you no good if you lose every time.
 
Moose, you and I can agree to disagree on this one. There are 60 teams in the NCAA D-1 this year. 16 go to the Tournament. Colgate is reasonably in the next 20-24 teams (but not in the bottom 20). For long-term growth, I would much rather play the historically top Tournament teams non-conference and know that I am probably going to lose than play fellow mid-pack teams, especially those that I am probably going to beat. I can learn more from playing the top teams than I can from that against the middlings. It’s a journey.
 
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I agree with both, but, I think winning some games against mid level teams would help your PWR as opposed to losing to all top level teams.
 
iowabasedtraveler said:
Moose, you and I can agree to disagree on this one. There are 60 teams in the NCAA D-1 this year. 16 go to the Tournament. Colgate is reasonably in the next 20-24 teams (but not in the bottom 20). For long-term growth, I would much rather play the historically top Tournament teams non-conference and know that I am probably going to lose than play fellow mid-pack teams, especially those that I am probably going to beat. I can learn more from playing the top teams than I can from that against the middlings. It’s a journey.
Click to expand...

Let's see what happens with Niagara this year. They already have 2 road wins against Omaha & have remaining OOC games with St Lawrence, Colgate and Miami. If the Omaha wins weren't a fluke, those are winnable, and not against historical top teams. That also would set them up for a possible at large bid assuming a strong AHA finish.

Ultimately, what is your goal? To "learn more" about your team or to make the Tournament?
 
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Good discussion gentlemen...one more thought here...I imagine many top tier teams simply don't desire to play us, especially in Hamilton...in light of our year-in and year-out Pairwise (almost always between 35 and low 40s) a win against The Gate doesn't gather too much in the Pairwise, and a loss is not good...our home attendance figures BTW don't help either...WIH plays a diverse and challenging o-o-c schedule because they are really, really good and beating our women is great for the Pairwise...it's somewhat of a chicken-and-the-egg argument...BTW, I noticed Brett Riley and LIU have played both Northeastern (losing in overtime and Q-Pac, tying them 2-2). If only...
 
Moose, Colgate has a long way to go to consistently make the NCAA tournament. We need to be regulars at Lake Placid ECAC tourney first. So, ultimately my goal is to make the ‘big dance,’ but, in the near term, I want them to learn what top-level hockey looks and feels like (even if it means losses in non-conference games to tournament teams). We can only get better by playing better teams.
We agree that Niagara is a very interesting team to watch this season. As a former Omaha season ticket holder, I was shocked at their Baxter sweep. While not a regular yet, Omaha did make the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and the Frozen Four in 2015.
And, GreenCoat, to your point, I fully realize that just ‘cause I want Colgate to play the likes of Denver and Duluth, that doesn’t mean that they want to play ‘Gate. I think I read somewhere that North Dakota was hesitant to sign a reciprocal agreement with Cornell because of Lynah Rink. There are a lot of factors in play. And I am envious that our women got to play Minnesota in Nashville. Kudos to them.
 
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Just for the record (am I'm not making any opinion on the following)...our record over the 30 years against mid to high level o-o-c opponents - with the notable exception of the 2013-14 season - is pretty pathetic...
 
The problem with the, " let's play the best to show our guys what it looks like," is, this is college athletics. There's zero guarantee these kids will be around long enough for it to matter. Colgate was picked to battle for a first round bye. Winning OOC games & being top 4 in ECAC sets you up for a possible at large bid. Getting destroyed by, for example, NoDak, Minnesota and UMass accomplishments what, exactly? There's a difference between agreeing to disagree and me thinking you just don't get it.
 
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