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Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

It’s Game Day as The Tigers stroll into town. Let’s not mince words as the potent Princeton offense pounded the BG last year, virtually men vs boys. However that was last year and if the boys have any cahunas they will have filed that in their collective memory banks and change that outcome or at the very least be much more competitive and show some bite back tendencies. Princeton is high octane offense from the D’s to the F’s of which they are talented. Despite all that, they did not show will in the tourney getting bounced one and done.

Keys to success:
stay out of penalty box
Goalie must be very good in making the routine saves and timely saves
5 man team D with proper structure and discipline
2 man D with proper gaps and play recognition
Catch them on counters and transitions
Tree Line must own their O zone with long zone time followed by points
Finally remember last year but live in the moment and have fun
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

Keys to success:
stay out of penalty box--Nope
Goalie must be very good in making the routine saves and timely saves--Nope
5 man team D with proper structure and discipline--Nope
2 man D with proper gaps and play recognition--Sometimes, but not often enough.
Catch them on counters and transitions--Nope. Had no odd man rushes all night I don't think. Had a hard time getting up ice.
Tree Line must own their O zone with long zone time followed by points--Nope.
Finally remember last year but live in the moment and have fun--I can't speak for the team but I'll go out on a limb and say nope here, too.

Bad night at the office all around. As BB would say, "On to Quinnipiac".
 
GreenBear said:
Keys to success:
stay out of penalty box--Nope
Goalie must be very good in making the routine saves and timely saves--Nope
5 man team D with proper structure and discipline--Nope
2 man D with proper gaps and play recognition--Sometimes, but not often enough.
Catch them on counters and transitions--Nope. Had no odd man rushes all night I don't think. Had a hard time getting up ice.
Tree Line must own their O zone with long zone time followed by points--Nope.
Finally remember last year but live in the moment and have fun--I can't speak for the team but I'll go out on a limb and say nope here, too.

Bad night at the office all around. As BB would say, "On to Quinnipiac".
Click to expand...

Very good quick synopsis of last quick game as I do not blame you for the hint of terseness and also the “the calls”
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

Wow...what a great game for the first the period as that would serve as a great marketing tool for NCAA hockey. The play was awesome up and and down hockey with quality chances at a very good pace. The Tigers made good on a late breaking 3 v 2 with the 3F banging in the goal, great looking play. I believe the BG actually outplayed The Tigers just a tad in the first due to better quality chances stoned by their goalie although down one.

Then the “call” which led to another the “call”! Those who know my postings know I do not blame the refs but on these two “calls” it completely changed the tenor and outcome of the game. What was a great 5v5 very paced game turned into a slow methodical 1/3 of the ice game as in O zone for the Tigers. So this is how I see it, Demler steps up in the neutral zone and open ice and hits a Tigers player with his back as to not totally clock him out. This was clearly a interference penalty. Then the ref converse for about 5 minutes and turns it into a 5 minute major citing “intent for significant injury” while the Princeton player gets up right way and is part of the EA on going play. Then after doing well and killing the first minute or so of the major Kilistoff gets sent off for a trip. This happened right in front of me. The Tiger player actually skates into Kilistoff and they clip legs/sticks and is called for a trip. As I cannot read the refs mind, I believe he saw the play late and saw the Tiger player go down without seeing that said player veering towards Kilistoff. Now this refs calls a trip , the same one that Gaudet was barking at for an explanation of the major. Was it by coincidence? I don’t know? Regardless you cannot call that minor having just called a very marginal at best minor timed into major. At worst, this phantom tripping call should have been either no one gets sent off or Kilistoff and Tiger player ( embellishment or roughing for coincidental minors). So after all that, the Tigers scores two PP goals to control the game and take the great and lively crowd out of it Mind you , BG just let up 5 PP goals last week and also now two of the better PK’ers’ were in the box.

Then BG gets on the PP and for awhile accomplishes nothing until Yau hits a streaking Baker in the neutral zone and he puts wicked wrister through the 7 hole of the goalie and now the traditional raining of tennis balls hits the ice; there were tons of tennis balls along with squid, octopus, and so on. Now that’s college hockey!!! However that excitement was short lived as after a 15 minute break to clear the tennis balls the BG allows a goal on the very first shift back, that’s clearly on them.

The rest of the game the Tigers were on cruise control as the air was taking out of the crowd and a couple of “bad” goals allowed just contributed to it. In the end, quite a disappointment at the outcome as in my opinion the refs clearly dictated the outcome after as I stated a great opening period of hockey. Let’s be crystal clear the refs did not lose the game for BG as there was still half of the left but given the lack of quick strike and high potent offense talent, it would have been very difficult to come back against a very talented and fun to watch Tiger team. Although I obviously root for the BG, I consider myself very objective in just wanting to see great hockey which I did, unfortunately for only the first period.

As Bob Seegers says, “Turn to Page”. BG, let’s put this in the rear view mirror and channel that edge and terseness to Q tonight and focused on the positives such as your play in the first period against the Tigers.
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

BIG Green said:
Very good quick synopsis of last quick game as I do not blame you for the hint of terseness and also the “the calls”
Click to expand...

The officiating was strange last night. The Markell interference major I'd need to see again. But as you mention, Kilistoff going off for tripping during that 5 min PP was ridiculous. And that 5x3 PPG changed the nature of the game. (EDIT: Watched it again. It wasn't interference. And it didn't look like a head shot. Demler got 5 minutes for hitting too hard. And the Kilistoff call was a JOKE.)

Also--I like the tennis balls. It's a great tradition. But for the 2nd year in a row, we could have used the momentum of a big goal to either extend an early lead (last year) or get back into the game (this year), and the clean-up delay seemed to snuff it out. In any case, PU came back to score almost immediately in both cases. Classic case of a double-edged sword: great college hockey tradition but a potential momentum killer as well.

I think things will be better tonight. I expect to see Clark back in goal--Ferguson wasn't awful or anything, but didn't make timely saves and didn't play well enough to get a 2nd start IMO. Wonder if we see any skater changes. I would really like to see Cam Strong inserted; who I'd want him to replace is the question. It's not like anyone jumps out at me as needing to be sat, but we'll see what Coach Gaudet has in mind.
 
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Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

Things sure were a heck of a lot better last night. It's excellent to have more than one line that is counted on to score a disproportionate amount of goals. Having a power play that actually uses the entire zone and can burn you from either the point or a well-executed one-timer from in-close is something we haven't had in a long time. I expect to see THAT Dartmouth team far more than the one we saw in Periods 2 and 3 on Friday.
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

GreenBear said:
Things sure were a heck of a lot better last night. It's excellent to have more than one line that is counted on to score a disproportionate amount of goals. Having a power play that actually uses the entire zone and can burn you from either the point or a well-executed one-timer from in-close is something we haven't had in a long time. I expect to see THAT Dartmouth team far more than the one we saw in Periods 2 and 3 on Friday.
Click to expand...

100% agreed! Great bounce back W against a supposedly good Q team. While this did not have nearly the pace compared to the first period of last night, understandable given the back to back nights, the outcome was certainly needed.

Things we we found out:

Contributions from freshmen O'Connor , Losurdo, and Markell have been noticeable
Roles appear to be more defined such as Grind Line as checking line, Tree Line O zone FO's, Hesler's line balanced O/D traits
Yau is playing some of best hockey thus far and if the other D's can play simple, especially in D zone, they are decididely better
Still too early to tell on the goalie situation
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

Nice weekend of hockey put by forth the BG although the end result was a split. However, as stated previously, positives can be and should be extracted from the Princeton loss. On paper, it appears to be a lop-sided blow-out but for the first period the play is as good as it gets in college hockey with clean up and down play where BG actually slightly outplayed Princeton by creating and getting better Grade A scoring chances while down 1-0. Then the wheels fell off after letting up a couple of PK goals and the BG never recovered. It would have been nicer to see a little sense of urgency and bite but the calls took the entire crowd out of the game and unfortunately it transcended down to the coaches and players on the ice.

BUT the BG certainly righted the ship which with a nice bounce back W. After a slow and uneventful first period, the BG took control over the game vs Q with timely scoring and more importantly controlling their D zone, not giving up much if anything. This was a total team win from from coaches on down to the 3 units (5v5, PP, and PK). GOOOO BIG Green!
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

It's Game Day/Weekend for the BG as they hit hit the road for the first time; this can be a good thing as they bond and build on that chemistry on and off the ice. BG plays Brown tonight which probably promises to be a tight scoring game. If they play like the 1 period before the penalties against Princeton and the whole game vs Q, they should be alright. This team is deep for the first time in awhile and now they have to prove across all 4 lines scoring and defending and 3 pairs defending and supporting the F's. Goaltending needs to be more consistent! Go BIG GREEN!
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

BIG Green said:
It's Game Day/Weekend for the BG as they hit hit the road for the first time; this can be a good thing as they bond and build on that chemistry on and off the ice. BG plays Brown tonight which probably promises to be a tight scoring game. If they play like the 1 period before the penalties against Princeton and the whole game vs Q, they should be alright. This team is deep for the first time in awhile and now they have to prove across all 4 lines scoring and defending and 3 pairs defending and supporting the F's. Goaltending needs to be more consistent! Go BIG GREEN!
Click to expand...

I couldn't watch so I listened to the game for a while on radio and watched the highlights afterwards. My completely "didn't see the game so I'm filling in the blanks" feeling is that it was the opposite of what you posted. The goaltending seemed consistent, and on the highlights the only "woulda coulda shoulda" goal seems to be the 3rd one. I just have the feeling that the Green were outworked and outskated--they didn't seem to have that many chances, even on the power play which had been so good. Maybe it's the building; heard a stat that said that the Graber goal was first in something like 90 mins there. Crema got the last one so it has to have been a while.

Team seems to do nicely bouncing back so we'll see about tonight. I didn't look at the box score yet to see the lineup; I think I heard Sam Hesler mentioned but I may not have been paying close attention and didn't. (EDIT: Sam Hesler did play; my boy Cam Strong who I mentioned last weekend I had hoped to see was out of the lineup again.)
 
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GreenBear said:
I couldn't watch so I listened to the game for a while on radio and watched the highlights afterwards. My completely "didn't see the game so I'm filling in the blanks" feeling is that it was the opposite of what you posted. The goaltending seemed consistent, and on the highlights the only "woulda coulda shoulda" goal seems to be the 3rd one. I just have the feeling that the Green were outworked and outskated--they didn't seem to have that many chances, even on the power play which had been so good. Maybe it's the building; heard a stat that said that the Graber goal was first in something like 90 mins there. Crema got the last one so it has to have been a while.

Team seems to do nicely bouncing back so we'll see about tonight. I didn't look at the box score yet to see the lineup; I think I heard Sam Hesler mentioned but I may not have been paying close attention and didn't.
Click to expand...

Brown fan chiming in – seemed to me like Dartmouth was the victim of playing a hot goaltender more than anything else. Nieto made a handful of really spectacular saves to keep us ahead in the game, and he saved our bacon three times VERY early in the first. If one of those goes in, it’s a totally different game.

Overall, I thought the teams were pretty evenly matched (the shot ratio tells the same story). Dartmouth wasn’t able to capitalize on six power plays, which was surprising to me. Brown had a lot of zone time but often couldn’t penetrate the Dartmouth defense to get quality scoring chances. If this is last year’s Brown team and the game plays out the same way, I think Dartmouth wins it by two or three. But we seem to be a rejuvenated defensive team and have been bailed out by great goaltending.
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

GreenBear said:
I couldn't watch so I listened to the game for a while on radio and watched the highlights afterwards. My completely "didn't see the game so I'm filling in the blanks" feeling is that it was the opposite of what you posted. The goaltending seemed consistent, and on the highlights the only "woulda coulda shoulda" goal seems to be the 3rd one. I just have the feeling that the Green were outworked and outskated--they didn't seem to have that many chances, even on the power play which had been so good. Maybe it's the building; heard a stat that said that the Graber goal was first in something like 90 mins there. Crema got the last one so it has to have been a while.

Team seems to do nicely bouncing back so we'll see about tonight. I didn't look at the box score yet to see the lineup; I think I heard Sam Hesler mentioned but I may not have been paying close attention and didn't.
Click to expand...

BG laid an egg... no sense of urgency or inspiration and that's clearly on them! Were they looking past Brown, I hope NOT as Brown has always played them well and tight.

Things to work and improve on:

Consistent goaltending as Clark let in two from the blue line (those are labeled are deflaters), not sure of screen or not
Calling all lines 2-4 to support Tree Line, especially C Hesler's line and Baker and Rutherford
Not faulting Michalowski (untrained D) but is he better than Han at D; either way need Less back in the worse way
Lost coverage in D zone especially in the "house area"; too many Brown players wide open; too much chasing and cheating by the D's
For some reason PP was brutal last night, starting with the entries; I would rather have Graber on the right half boards

Very interesting line up changes and yes Sam Hesler was in and acquitted himself well although he was knocked off the puck a couple of times in board battles (only a freshman with a freshman body); he almost scored a 2 on 1 , even maybe a 3 on 1 with a late trailer and to compound that Blankemeir could not bang home the rebound in the open net.

Let's regroup and be razor sharp and focused from the opening puck drop (actually pre-game) to the team line handshakes! Like last week, bounce back for the BG!
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

A very big call late in the game and this is my take. Clearly Sellar and Nieto were tangled up and this led to Nieto not getting enough time to "fully" set up on the would be shot/goal. Also the ref was in great position to signal NO GOAL right away having watched the tangle. No one is disputing that but here is where it gets fuzzy for me. Sellar was cross-checked into Nieto by two Brown players into Nieto from which his stick gets lodged up in Nieto's goalie jersey. Sellar did not put in there on purpose, matter of fact, he tried to extricate his stick not knowing where the on-going play was. Once dislodged, Nieto sets quickly and does the butterfly to no avail as Rutherford goes blocker side to score. To the refs credit, they did review and confer with each other. This would have tied the game with momentum on the BG side. THIS DID NOT COST THE BG THE GAME; they were their own worst enemy for the first 50 minutes.

Also after this, BG has a chance to tie the game again in the last minute with Yau making a backhand pass to Foreman point blank to have Nieto save that and the game. Finally and immediately right afterwards, a D man backhand cleared puck slow as molasses goes into the empty net 200 ft down.
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

Sometimes things just do not workout the way they were planned as BG salvages a split by being Yale last night after losing to Brown the night before. Both of these games very very evenly matched and featured great goaltending. BG was able to capitalize on a Yale turnover at their blueline with O'Connor staying wide and feeding Hesler going hard to the net for a nice deflection goal. For the first half of the game, the Yale D were coughing up beyond juicy turnovers in their own zone but thanks to Tucker it could have been a 3-0 game after two periods as Tucker featured a great glove. Why BG keeps shooting there is beyond me as they should learn in game, student of the game. It was not like the shooter were pressured because most of these came with odd man advantages such as 2 on 1, 3 on 2, and 3 on 1 but no finish. Then Yale came on and had more of the play in the second half of the game, featuring nice saves by Clark, post puck luck, and nice sticks by the D.

The GOOD:

BG held onto to 1-0 lead for about 55 minutes which will bode well for the future
Clark was staunch in net
Hesler's line created and made plays
Graber can beat most 1 on 1 and still finish and/or create
Better and cleaner coverage in D zone compared to night before

Key Learnings to Improve:

Better job clearing puck out of zone from both D and F's
Easy turnovers when protecting lead like Losurdo's
Half wall board battles needs to be better especially in this type of game
Recognition and usage of 3F in odd man breaks like 3 on 2's or 3 on 1's
Michalowski needs to go back to being s forward (maybe placeholder until Less gets back); either way does not bode well for Han
MIA Warpecha, Blankemeir, Jasiek
Freshman's forward O'Connor cannot skate through 2-3 D's waiting for you at the blueline leading to turnovers
Freshman's forward Losurdo very uneven play, needs to more consistent and so wildly up and down

Overall, nice weekend split and bounce back after terrible loss to Brown! Goooo BG!
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

Well, I believe it is study time as the BG traditionally has this time frame off as they prepare for finals! That said, nothing better relieves stress and a good study break than getting on the ice and practicing. So while there are not games to be played, let's hope the BG is using this practice time wisely to work to improve and/or tweak certain issues:

Work on PK although getting lid up by Harvard had a lot to do with Fox as QB
Work on entries on the PP; would also like to see some slot action shots in addition to net front presence and potential tip in
Have a feeling the bottom 6 rotation will be on going; let's hope guys are ready to seize an opportunity
Hopefully D man Less is getting better because he would absolutely solidify back end; also he is coveted righty especially on PK
Clark...carpe diem enough said in goal
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

A BIG GREEN congrats to ECAC teams on the nice results from last night's game as I sit on the bench!

Since there is time to kill, let's have some fun of it in projecting lines/ based on performance thus far in the young season:

Tree Line of Sellar/Graber/Forman; Graber has been good, Sellar uneven, and Forman produces on the score sheet
O'Connor/Hesler/Losurdo; O'Connor can get up and down with good skills, Hesler is Hesler although could be better at the dot, and Losurdo up/down
Rutherford/Kilistoff/Baker; Rutherford and Baker has much more to offer than shown this far while you know what you are going to get from Kilistoff
Jasiek/Ernsting/Michalowski; Jasiek needs to get his skill game together, Ernsting needs more TOI to make things happen, and Mich. back to forward
Warpecha, Blankemeir, and Strong needs to show more; S Hesler limited viewing and so is LeSueur

Probably tomorrow will be the D pairings!

Thoughts GreenBear???
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

What's going on with Princeton and also where are their poster/followers? Or is it that they just have the BG's number?

Anyways as promised, here are the D pairing based on performance thus far:

Yau/Matthews: Yau is playing some of his best hockey though should shoot more on PP; Matthews still finding himself but so far so good
Demler/Markell: Demler nice stay at home physical presence, gets in trouble when not playing simple; Markell is a really nice stable RIGHTY addition and doing as well as a freshman
Roth/Michalowski/Han: Roth has been OK although lots of play in his own zone; cannot fault Michalowski as he is not a trained D man as it shows on changes and puck management although has acquitted himself OK; Han is buried on bench when Michalowski has more TOI than him with good O instincts but also plays in own zone

Thoughts GreenBear???
 
Re: Dartmouth BIG Green Hockey: 2018-19 Season : Failure is NOT an Option...SUCCESS

It's Game Day vs bordering state Vermont! This has always been pretty much a tight game. We will see how the week lay-off rest/rust did for the BG. I think they will be chomping at the bit and ready to get after it; first 10 minutes of the game might be a little rough and shaky but the BG will get their legs and get after it. We will see what the BG worked on for the past two weeks, hopefully they are some of the issues as pointed out earlier. Gooooo BIG GREEN!
 
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