Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Ryan Guentzel had a huge part in the win last night, beyond the obvious assists on both goals, and has played a huge part all year. More goals this year than in his first three years combined. More assists this year than in his first 3 years combined. With all of the deserved talk about the freshmen this season so far, this guy shouldn't get lost in the shuffle.

After last season no one knew what to expect and he has exceeded every fair expectation. He's playing this year like Mark Van Guilder played his senior season, getting it done all over the ice, scoring, playing defense, leading by example. The team seems to be responding to him. He's my MVP so far.

oh yeah, did anyone else wonder what was up with the ice/pucks? We are all used to some pretty "mysterious" ice at the Joyce, but last night the pucks were bouncing from the opening faceoff to the final buzzer as bad as I've seen. Alaska actually looked like they responded better to it than we did.

I wondered about it, and so did others around me. Mr. JJfP noticed the Zams were flooding the ice pretty badly and seemed to be having trouble on their passes.

 

[IrishHockeyFan]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Ryan Guentzel had a huge part in the win last night, beyond the obvious assists on both goals, and has played a huge part all year. More goals this year than in his first three years combined. More assists this year than in his first 3 years combined. With all of the deserved talk about the freshmen this season so far, this guy shouldn't get lost in the shuffle.

After last season no one knew what to expect and he has exceeded every fair expectation. He's playing this year like Mark Van Guilder played his senior season, getting it done all over the ice, scoring, playing defense, leading by example. The team seems to be responding to him. He's my MVP so far.

Earlier in the season I had posted this:

...(Ryan Guentzel) seems to have found some of the passion missing in his game last season and appears to have really embraced his role as a leader on the team. I think so much was expected of him last year and since so many types of talent were lost after 2009 (grit players, defensive standouts, great faceoff guys, great scorers) was his role clearly defined going into the season? Whatever happened he is IMHO the leader in the most improved category.

I'm probably a little biased about my favorite sport, but leadership is so important to a hockey team, probably more so than other team sports. This team has four different leaders with 4 markedly different personalities and styles. Guentzel stepping up his game to the extent he has is a huge reason this team is in this position. Jackson asked a lot of him coming into the season, and had he had a season like last year, there is no way they would be where they are right now.

 

[IrishHockeyFan]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Just when you thought a little roll was taking hold... Very uneven effort tonight.

 

[SwedishJustice22]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Yeah. I dont think there is much to say about tonight. Lets regroup and get it together for next weekend.

 

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

UA(F) has been known to give ND fits...

I hate those crystal ball moments...

Here's to being able to comment and cheer out loud tonight. I hate being sick.

Well, so much for that. At least I picked the right night to be well enough to stand... I think this marks only the 3rd home game I've missed in as many decades.

So, my posse and I are going to lovely Columbus for the games this weekend. The minimum of a win and a SOL on the road would be enough to make up for this past weekend for me. But I bet the renewed OSU will have something to say about that.

Since Thanksgiving, ND is 6-3-1 (with the tie being a SOW). OSU is 7-2-1 (their tie also being a SOW). Both have played some tough and/or ranked opponents in that time. Were the season to end today, OSU would get home ice...and I remember all too well what they can do on home ice.

Mike Johnson is still a conundrum. But then again, so is the entire team. The 2nd half of the season is usually when the freshmen stop looking like freshmen and the D finally looks like it should. Johnson's numbers still improved over the weekend. He's got a GA of 2.51 with a save % of .906. OSU's Cal Heeter has been in net for every win, loss and tie for Coach Osiecki. He's got a GA of 2.31 and a save % of .919.

ND is still led by freshmen and seniors as the top 5 guys. OSU is led by only upperclassmen in their top 5. ND has 12 guys in double digits in scoring with 9 of those registering at least a half point a game. OSU has 7 guys in double digits, 6 of whom are half-point-a-game scorers.

ND's PP is getting there. It's at 15% while their PK is 86.4% finally pushing them over that special teams threshold of 100. ND is +95 as a team. OSU's PP is 18.9% with a PK of 82.3%, also good for that benchmark of 100. OSU is +39 as a team.

ND still leads the country in shorties with 12, but now they've given up one. They have 19 PPG's and have given up 16. Come the end of the season, I'd like to see ND averaging a PPG/game, a typical goal for special teams. OSU has only 1 shortie, but they've given up 3. They have scored 20 PPG's and given up 16. ND is averaging 3.77 GF but gives up 2.73. OSU scores 2.96 GF while giving up 2.43 GA.

Whether you think about this past weekend, the last weekend of last season, or the past 42 years, Shakespeare always fits: The past is prologue.

 

[BUmutt]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

I am doing an article on Kevin Lind of Notre Dame. I was fortunate enough to interview him.

I am not able to see any Notre Dame games so if someone could shed some light on how he has been playing for them, what's his style, what are your projections for him in the NHL, etc., it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Awesome. But narrowing it down will be hard. At least I know who my #1 pick for D will be in the next batch.

(John Schmidt for those of you who just fell off the turnip truck.)

 

[Third Family Member]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Awesome. But narrowing it down will be hard. At least I know who my #1 pick for D will be in the next batch.

(John Schmidt for those of you who just fell off the turnip truck.)

You got your wish. John Schmidt was the first team defenseman selected for the 1980-1990 decade.

 

[BUmutt]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Here is an article I wrote on Kevin Lind. Hope you guys enjoy it.

http://hockeyspy.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-plead-6th.html

 

[Third Family Member]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Here is an article I wrote on Kevin Lind. Hope you guys enjoy it.

http://hockeyspy.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-plead-6th.html

That's a really nice article. I especially like that you hope he stays in college! He's a good kid and a nice addition to the Notre Dame team.

 

[IrishHockeyFan]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Mike Johnson is still a conundrum. But then again, so is the entire team.

Yup.

I have an uneasy feeling about this weekend. The team seems to be pi**ed off. Now sometime that's good, but sometimes it's not. With a young team I'm inclined to believe the latter. The coaching staff and the upperclassmen need to do everything possible to keep the team focused going forward. There seems to be a little residual frustration left over from last weekend, combined with some from the series in Columbus last year that ended the season. Hopefully it translates into a realization that it is best to simply play the game that awaits you when the puck drops in another few hours, because you can't win last Saturday's game or last year's series anymore. You can only control the game yet to be played.

 

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Ugh. That was all goalie. I never once said about a Buckeye goal, "Wow. That was nice." Those were ugly, flookie, backbreaking... I could go on and on. It's not the D. It's not the freshmen. It's not the leadership. It's the goalie. Stay in net. Play with poise. Stop a puck.

I hate losing on Friday on the road because now you gotta win on Saturday to preserve that road split. That's a lot of pressure on a team that's under pressure.

Okay, so now we're out of the top spot. Time to get busy and check your gut.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Ugh. That was all goalie. I never once said about a Buckeye goal, "Wow. That was nice." Those were ugly, flookie, backbreaking... I could go on and on. It's not the D. It's not the freshmen. It's not the leadership. It's the goalie. Stay in net. Play with poise. Stop a puck.

I hate losing on Friday on the road because now you gotta win on Saturday to preserve that road split. That's a lot of pressure on a team that's under pressure.

Okay, so now we're out of the top spot. Time to get busy and check your gut.

Have to agree the goalie seemed not in his zone. Most of OSU's early goals came when he was down on the ice to one side of the net leaving the back door wide open. Personally I did not expect the score to be the way it was. Do you know why they disallowed the Irish goal?

 

[IrishHockeyFan]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Do you know why they disallowed the Irish goal?

Directed in by a high stick.

 

[IrishHockeyFan]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

I have an uneasy feeling about this weekend. The team seems to be pi**ed off. Now sometime that's good, but sometimes it's not. With a young team I'm inclined to believe the latter.

Sometimes it's not...

The biggest issue with this team is they don't yet know how to respond when things don't go their way. Things didn't go their way with goals 13 seconds apart putting them in a hole, and it looked pretty apparent at that point that things weren't going to go their way from that moment on out.

They're good enough to beat Ohio State. They're certainly good enough to not suffer their second straight blowout loss to them. But there are too many things about this team that makes good enough NOT good enough. When the other team has an off night, we look like world beaters. But we're not adept at forcing other good teams to look bad very often. We've had a couple of wins where we overwhelmed the other team, and a couple of games where the goalie flat out stole a game (the tie @ North Dakota and the first UAF game), but great teams grind out more wins than that. Other than the Boston College game, I don't think I've seen this team take the other guy's best shot, and come out on top. The MU win was a good win, coming back from a first period deficit, but I don't think Miami played particularly well that night, and I'm sure Reichard will tell you giving up 5 goals on the last 20 shots he saw meant he certainly didn't give anyone his best shot.

From this point forward, as teams play for their NCAA lives, and meaningful things like first round byes and home ice, we are going to see a lot of teams giving us their best shots. We better figure out a way to take it, give it right back, and finish up as a better team than we started.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Congrats Irish, it certainly looked like you kicked it up a couple of notches tonight. It seemed to me OSU didn't have enough gas in their tanks tonight, slower skating, lower passing proficiency, and comitting too many dumb penalties.

 

[IrishHockeyFan]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

in·con·sis·tent (in′kən sis′tənt)

adjective
not consistent;
specif.,

1. not in agreement, harmony, or accord; incompatible: acts inconsistent with belief
2. not uniform; self-contradictory: inconsistent testimony
3. not always holding to the same principles or practice; changeable
4. not regular or predictable; erratic: the 2010/2011 Notre Dame Hockey team

Related Forms:

inconsistently in′·con·sis′·tently adverb

 

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Much better. The whole team looked sharper, including the PP. I had a bird's eye view of Ben Ryan's redirect. Nice. Nice crowd, too. Sat in front of ND fans from Boston. While I loathe the hype and noise at these big arenas, they did a nice job promoting the hockey team. I liked the All-Americans flashed on the screen as they were revving up for the intros. Man, does Coach Pooley's son look just like him.

I guess I'm happy with a split on the road. 8 games left. The clock is ticking on regaining the top spot.

 

[BUmutt]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

That's a really nice article. I especially like that you hope he stays in college! He's a good kid and a nice addition to the Notre Dame team.

Thanks. I really appreciate that. I just feel if Lind stays in college all 4 years he will better himself and his game. Staying in the NCAA does wonders for rounding out the overall game and would benefit him more in the long run when he tries to make the big club in Anaheim.

 

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Okay, so today you should be able to access the ballots to vote for the all-JACC team. All of my picks made all the decade teams. This is one election I won't have to hold my nose and pull the lever for: Jordan Pearce, David Brown and Morgan Cey get my nod for G, John Schmidt, Bill Nyrop, Jack Brownschidle, Benoit Cotnoir, Brett Lebda and Ian Cole for D and Brian Walsh, Eddie Bumbacco, Greg Meredith, Dave Poulin, Kirt Bjork, Mike McNeill, Jamie Ling, Erik Condra and Mark Van Guilder for forwards.

Edit: I misread Morgan Cey. He only got special mention. I'll have to rethink my 3rd G...