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

[GreenBear]

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

Adrian Clark: man, if he could just play against Clarkson all the time. Huge 1-0 win for the Big Green. Been waiting for him to steal a game all season--there it is.

I didn't see it--heard portions of periods 1 and 3 on the Dartmouth broadcast. Clark was 1st star and I'll have to find highlights in the AM of a couple saves he made that the broadcaster was going crazy over. One was on Sturm I know. Looking forward to seeing the highlights.

Great win, Dartmouth--just don't go lay an egg at St. Lawrence tomorrow. Haven't taken 4 points in a weekend all year--it's there for the taking.

 

[BIG Green]

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

Adrian Clark: man, if he could just play against Clarkson all the time. Huge 1-0 win for the Big Green. Been waiting for him to steal a game all season--there it is.

I didn't see it--heard portions of periods 1 and 3 on the Dartmouth broadcast. Clark was 1st star and I'll have to find highlights in the AM of a couple saves he made that the broadcaster was going crazy over. One was on Sturm I know. Looking forward to seeing the highlights.

Great win, Dartmouth--just don't go lay an egg at St. Lawrence tomorrow. Haven't taken 4 points in a weekend all year--it's there for the taking.

GreenBear, you took those very words out of my mouth regarding Clark's performance! Awesomeness!!!

 

[BIG Green]

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

I have been rather tough on Clark but to be fair and balanced...Clark literally and figuratively STOLE last night's 1-0 W over and tough Clarkson team. This team is built to go deep if they get a little more scoring. Their D core and team structure is sound and tight and back that up with Keily you have a recipe for success deep into playoffs.

BG outplayed Clarkson in the first with one really good one-timer in the slot by Sellar which Keily stoned. He looks so effortless and efficient; most definitely a great trait for a goalie. Then in the second the Clarkson comes out on fire and the game opens up a bit, penalties contributes to this. While killing, Clarkson down on a 2-1, then 2-2, then late trailer (take notes BG on the 3 man trailer) Sturm who gets a Grade A chance but Clark is there. Then on their PP, they set up the triangle (tic tac toe) with in the high slot only to be denied by Clark. Clarkson dominates the second and third only to have Clark keep them scoreless, obviously TEAM D helped out. Then with less than a minute left in the game O'Connor at the very end of a shift after Clarkson has extended O zone time, comes out on a harmless 2 on 2 then 3 on 3. He moves the puck over to a supporting Han who stays wide and centers a puck (Han had no other better options) to a hard driving center lane drive by O'Connor (pass and go yeah O' Connor) who deflects home Han's centering pass, just like you draw it up. So with about 30 seconds to go with Keily playing the puck behind the net gets tripped by Forman. Clarkson gets into an O zone FO and gets an absolute Grade A one timer by Brosseau from right FO circle which Clark slides over and saves. GAME OVER as BG wins this tightly contested play-off atmosphere and game-style affair.

 

[BIG Green]

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

Well after playing one of their best games of the worst, BG turns Jekyl & Hyde and proceeds to play one of their worst games of the season in tying SL 2-2. The highs and lows played out from the previous night as BG were "trapped". I would have expected somewhat of downer but not to this extent. This game was downright ugly as no one player really stood out. The players standing out were of reasons you don't want to stand out for. It was filled with TO galore preceded by bad decision-making, bad (off) passes, bad hands to receive passes, you name it! The good thing was that the effort was there.

A "bad" goal given up by each goalie turns out to be a wash, tied at 1's. Then Yau clears the puck off the high glass onto a streaking Sellar who has a 2 on 1 (I think either Forman or Graber) as the defender plays it well. Sellar shoots and I believe it goals five-hole to take the lead but a bit later SL ties it on a scrum in front. Ugly but they don't ask how but rather how many! That's the way it ends in both regulation and OT.

More will come on later! Stay tuned BG fans!

 

[BIG Green]

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

The good from the weekend:

Roth/Han was maybe their best pair as both provided O support, especially Han; still scary defending in their own zone or trying to get out
Clark stole the Clarkson game but then reverted back to inconsistent play, albeit good enough
Sellar might have turned the corner and back to playing to his strength; puck-retrieval, instigator, net presence, and PK
Demler good deep in corners with board battles and so so in open ice stepping up with bad reads

The Need to Improve:

PP was atrocious with the first unit with no puck retrieval thus set up; second unit with better entries and zone time but not dangerous
Graber is not the same player as he was earlier in season; why I cannot tell you
Forman has been scoring hands are suspect and needs to win more board battles with that reach; not a good decision-maker
Jasiek has cooled off and was invisible this weekend
Hesler needs to find some offensive output
O' Connor while dangerous in O zone badly needs to work on D zone coverage and puck decisions; this isn't minor or junior hockey anymore
Losurdo is AWOL
Yau/Matthews has been the best pair all season but so so this weekend
Markell might be hurt and Less takes over; he is still work in progress
Grind Line hands are very suspect and I guess an achievement for them would be an EVEN at the end of game; pluses are a bonus for them

I wish there were more Goods than Improves but that's how I saw it!

 

[BIG Green]

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

It’s Game Day/Weekend as BG hosts Yale then Brown. You can call it Jockey Weekend as well as most teams including BG will be fighting for first round byes and home ice. These are all 4 point weekends. Yale is coming in on a good roll seems to almost always put up some crooked numbers against BG although BG and Clark shut them out last meeting at the Whale, go figure. I do not foresee that happening tonight. It appears BG plays their better weekend games on Friday. Additionally, BG appears to have tightened up their team D. Is that because of their overall play, structure, goaltending , etc , probably a combo of the above but one thing is for sure ....that is the overall essence of play-off hockey. Also is it at the expense of team offensive output? BG has always been challenged to score goals especially “easy and quick ones” like counters and odd man advantages. Goooooo BIG Green!

 

[BIG Green]

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

BG beats Yale 2-0 in a very even and fast paced game. BG gets on the board less than one minute as the Yale D misplays a clearing pass onto a streaking Baker who centers a pass to a hard driving Less going to the net. Less opens up his hands and deflects the puck right in the crease for a beautiful goal. However Yale had the better play in the first but nothing really Grade A for a highly skilled and octane offensive team. BG comes out in the second and turns the tide in play, controlling pace and possession. They catch Yale pinching at blue line and off on an odd man advantage with O’ Coonor threading a nice pass to Rutherford who bangs one off the inside of the post only to have a hard driving Baker follow up with the rebound in the open net. Baker was the best player on the ice last night, playing hard and with purpose, factoring in in both BG goals. Then the third was fairly even. Although BG had a two goal lead they did not sit back but rather played smart hockey rather than preventive hockey. Kudos goes out to the D core and team D as Clark made the timely and consistent saves to get another shut out. BG shuts out Yale in both games this season, go figure as the are fast and skilled. That was indeed a playoff gameesque!

So BG holds serve on Friday but as mentioned earlier they seemed to not be as sharp for the Saturday game and Brown will be coming in hot, despite losing to Harvard yesterday. A 4 point weekend here will almost assuredly guarantee ( without loooking at scenarios) a first home ice first round playoff for the BG. Gooooo BG!

 

[GreenBear]

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

So BG holds serve on Friday but as mentioned earlier they seemed to not be as sharp for the Saturday game and Brown will be coming in hot, despite losing to Harvard yesterday. A 4 point weekend here will almost assuredly guarantee ( without loooking at scenarios) a first home ice first round playoff for the BG. Gooooo BG!

It's pretty unlikely that Dartmouth would open up on the road at this point--just a matter of who they'll play. Both a 1st round bye and a road series in the opening round seem equally unlikely, but again--I haven't seen the latest projections.

One thing I'll add to your very good writeup is the effort from the Big Green last night. They outworked Yale consistently over the 60 minutes, which is a necessity when the opponent does have more skill. That recipe--outwork them and get excellent goaltending--can take a good team a long way. And Dartmouth is a good team--they don't have the great pieces that other teams have, but when they play well as a team and that formula holds, they can stay with anyone.

Only team I just can't see Dartmouth beating in a 3 game series is Cornell. At the same time, there are teams below them who can certainly beat Dartmouth if the Big Green don't get the goaltending and effort they have been receiving lately.

 

[GreenBear]

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

Something about Brown. BG have lost 3 straight to the Bears now.

Dartmouth does have home ice in the playoffs for sure. But after the way last season ended, this "maybe we'll be 5th, maybe we'll limp into 8th" conclusion to the year is disappointing. Power play can't connect, some of the big guns are silent, and right now, I don't see an easy matchup with whoever we get: RPI, Princeton, Colgate or Union--I doubt we get St. Lawrence.

Maybe they'll go into this weekend and take 4 points in NY. That'd have me a lot more optimistic than I am now. It's a roller coaster with this team--I was pretty happy 24 hours ago with that win over Yale. I've gone from "Only team I just can't see Dartmouth beating in a 3 game series is Cornell" to "man, we may be done in 2 weeks".

 

[BIG Green]

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

100% agreed GreenBear! Something about Brown that BG has trouble with. Brown is last year’s Princeton. In the past, while BG was better on paper, the results were almost always a split.

 

[BIG Green]

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

BG reverts back to its Sybil personality of inconsistent play and playing better on Fridays than on Saturday’s. I guess one can say that the only thing consistent is their inconsistent play. After playing a pretty airtight game the night before beating Yale, BG just didn’t seem to have the skating legs, losing puck battles, passes were not crisp, etc. This was a very even game despite the outcome. BG was terrible in the first with Brown capitalizing on its PP on a nice set up and execution. While settling in on the left half boards, Marchin takes a few strides back in a “quiter” area and one times a goal past Clark. The goal got a lot of net; I believe this play surprised BG and Clark as I do not believe he was ready for it. Clark was very good but Kania was better stming BG’s every attempt. Brown’ s three best players were Kania, Marchin, and little Stillwell ( almost a exact replica of Yau). The first ends with BG down 1-0. BG comes out, not surprisingly motivated and with a sense of urgency in the second only to be stymied by Kania and maybe this played into their heads. It is my belief that is BG scores here they come back and wins the game. The second ends with Brown still maintaining its 1-0 lead. Both teams trade scoring opportunities in the third and with Brown pressing a rebound deflects perfectly off a Brown weak side D and into the goal. However BG never quit as they exerted more pressure only to be stoned even with an EA towards the end of the game. So with the results of the last month or so things are becoming increasingly clear: the goals against are way down and even amount of Grade A scoring chances given up due to a vastly improved D core and team D, anchored by Clark in goal. As usual and again it’s Achilles Heel is that BG is challenged to score which conflates to too much pressure on Clark and D core. Without proof I believe BG has secured at bare minimum to host a first round playoff tilt. More to come on Senior’s Night and players!

 

[Mike Hutter]

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

Big Green: Can't travel to Meehan for Friday's Q at Brown game but I think I can make it to Achilles to see Dartmoth play U. A lot at stake for both teams. Should be a good game. I will be one of the few rooting for Dartmouth.

 

[GreenBear]

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

I just did the math: Clark is .943 save percentage in February. And the Big Green went 2-3-2.

Get him some goals, boys! Clark's playing the best hockey of his tenure at Dartmouth so far. Gotta do better for him than 10 goals in 7 games!!

If this team could have everyone click at once they'd be darn dangerous. It hasn't happened yet, at least for any length of time. At this point of the year you usually think it's not going to, but sometimes, the clean slate of the playoffs can be beneficial. We'll see. I wouldn't be surprised to be watching/listening to the Big Green at Lake Placid, or conversely if they're eliminated in the first round. Everything is on the table.

 

[BIG Green]

I just did the math: Clark is .943 save percentage in February. And the Big Green went 2-3-2.

Get him some goals, boys! Clark's playing the best hockey of his tenure at Dartmouth so far. Gotta do better for him than 10 goals in 7 games!!

If this team could have everyone click at once they'd be darn dangerous. It hasn't happened yet, at least for any length of time. At this point of the year you usually think it's not going to, but sometimes, the clean slate of the playoffs can be beneficial. We'll see. I wouldn't be surprised to be watching/listening to the Big Green at Lake Placid, or conversely if they're eliminated in the first round. Everything is on the table.

Thx for number crunching GreenBear! Without a doubt Clark has been BG’s best player during that timeframe and he only can do so much....he cannot score goals for them. He he! It is the same old story; the challenge to score goals and I often mentioned “easy” goals like I referenced earlier a couple games ago. However it’s playoff hockey time and its those greasy goals that’s going to do it. This is where the special will probably end of it winning/losing for you. And you know that is not BG’s strength!

 

[BIG Green]

Big Green: Can't travel to Meehan for Friday's Q at Brown game but I think I can make it to Achilles to see Dartmoth play U. A lot at stake for both teams. Should be a good game. I will be one of the few rooting for Dartmouth.

Thx for the nice gesture Mike! Like I posted on your thread, this is probably the best Brown has played in some time. Hell, they swept BG this year.
Good luck the rest of the way!

 

[BIG Green]

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

I will utterly be remissed if I didn’t bring up Senior Night this past weekend against Brown. Although the outcome was not kosher, that it no way takes away from the contributions of the six departing seniors: Ernsting, Hesler, Jasiek, Kilistoff, Roth, and Yau. BG, let’s go out on top for these boys!

 

[BIG Green]

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

It's Game Day/Weekend! BG travels to Union and then RPI. What's at stake...everything which is not different than all the teams jockeying for poll position the following week for the start of the play-offs. Although BG lost to Union in Hanover, I believed they were slightly the better team so I hope they get rewarded for that tonight if that plays out of being the better team. Obviously, this Union team is not of teams past but still good and growing. Like GreenBear has duly noted, BG has yet to put it together for both the entire and/or 60 minutes. Sooooo about starting now and going into the Little Dance on a roll.

Keys to Vic:

- Continue to plays good team D (D core supplemented by F's) and of course consistent (no bad goals) goaltending
- Continue to put pucks on net but with more traffic or shoot for a rebound as BG does not have a proven finisher
- Graber needs to finds his mojo again (sleeper alert...Clay Han)
- Win the special teams game with a bare minimum even, hopefully a in the plus column
- Just skate, skate, and skate and have fun!

Let's Goooooooo BIG GREEN!

 

[Mike Hutter]

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

Big Green: terrific game last night. Dartmouth's comeback with two goals in final minute and a half after Union went up by two goals a minute before, with tying goal at :32 was a great effort. Actually, after U went up by two, Dartmouth showed a determination it would not lose. Here is local newspaper account of game - OT goal descriotion is accurate

https://www.timesunion.com/test/sports/passtheball/article/Union-13656493.php

 

[BIG Green]

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

Big Green: terrific game last night. Dartmouth's comeback with two goals in final minute and a half after Union went up by two goals a minute before, with tying goal at :32 was a great effort. Actually, after U went up by two, Dartmouth showed a determination it would not lose. Here is local newspaper account of game - OT goal descriotion is accurate

https://www.timesunion.com/test/sports/passtheball/article/Union-13656493.php

Thanks Mike for kind words and link! BG did indeed comeback to no avail. They were their own worst enemy as they played terrible throughout the whole prior to the EA and ensuing goals. Since we both took it on the chin last night, good luck tonight and the rest of the way for your Bears!

 

[BIG Green]

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

How fickle can BG be? Doing the splits again...losing Friday to Union and coming back to beat RPI. BG was actually only existent for the last 5 minutes of the Union with a EA with Union dominating the game. Then BG gets outplayed in the first and a careless blind backhand pass by Demler deep in BG's D zone leads to a easy RPI goal in the slot where Clark had absolutely zero chance. Then RPI comes out storming with extensive O zone time although nothing Grade A but had BG hemmed in their D zone for probably the first 5 minutes. Then the parting of the Red Sea. Graber who has been MIA for the last month or so rifles bardown upper right 90 to ignite and jump start a BG team left for dead. Then quickly thereafter Graber goes wide and deep and centers a pass to a center and hard driving O'Connor for the nice re-direct goal. Then a bit after that with BG on the PP, Yau moves the puck over to a forward momentum moving Graber who poys another upper right 90 for a PP goal. Did I just say that? That was the game as BG took control for the rest of the game. If Graber can keep this pace and results up, BG can be dangerous in the playoffs, along with a consistent, steady, and reliable Yau and Clark. More to come of BG's 5th place finish and match up with St. L in the first round of the playoffs.