Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

[MaineHockeyPuck]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

We should have known better, Tim hasn't handled goalies well since he has been here. Yeats and Morrison, Jimmy and Frankie, Mattie and Big Ben, Darling, a complete screw up and now 3 guys playing for 1 spot so..... . Sully is the only guy I have any faith in at this point. I was really rooting for Martin to take over but it ain't happening.

I was just hoping one of the four goalie would step up and play with passion. Most goalies at this level are good a positioning themselves to make the stop. What I see is a lack of passion and a lack of confidence in themselves. I know they have a Goalie coach what is he helping them with?? Maybe we need to have a goalie coach who is on payroll not just a volunteer!!! Maybe even get a coach who was a goalie!! Shawn was a goalie wasn't he??

 

[BoSox3066]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Felt like he handled Jimmy and Frank perfectly in 2003-04. That's why I never understood why he screwed up Bish and Lundin so badly. Just follow the blue print from the 04 season and repeat.

 

[walrus]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Felt like he handled Jimmy and Frank perfectly in 2003-04. That's why I never understood why he screwed up Bish and Lundin so badly. Just follow the blue print from the 04 season and repeat.

I think Frankie should have played more, maybe that's potato, potatoh

 

[acs64]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

I was just hoping one of the four goalie would step up and play with passion. Most goalies at this level are good a positioning themselves to make the stop. What I see is a lack of passion and a lack of confidence in themselves. I know they have a Goalie coach what is he helping them with?? Maybe we need to have a goalie coach who is on payroll not just a volunteer!!! Maybe even get a coach who was a goalie!! Shawn was a goalie wasn't he??

Handling goalies is a sticky wicket. Especially trying to rotate them . You gotta know what you're doing, and Tim does not. Walshy was a master at it, but of course he did have that goalie experience. Its easier with just one guy, probably why most teams dont rotate their goalies. But if you know the right buttons to push and the right time to push em, you get a real bonanza by having two confident goalies to count on....namely if they're consistent you got it all, but if one of them has an off night, you throw the other out there and dont skip a beat. And as an added bonus, you hope to have one of them really elevate their game going into the playoffs. To me, Whitehead just doesnt seem to have any kind of plan to build confidence and get them on a roll. Technically I dont see many problems with them, but they're obviously not mentally prepared. Disheartening to watch actually.

 

[Slapshot08]

The players probably agree with this, does the coach? because I see players getting benched if they did that. This is the thing, we've seen this same pattern repeated every year for 4 years now. The players have changed to some degree but one thing hasn't

Exactly right. Watched the Beanpot last night. All 4 teams (yes, even Hahvahd) are MUCH more physical than Maine. Even the little things, like sticking a guy if he even comes near your goalie, or getting in the other guy's face after the whistle, are done by every other team. Pinhead sent the boys to charm school so we now have the most polite hockey team -- with the best grades. Oh yeah...but no NCAAs in sight!

 

[MAINEhockeyFireWhitehead]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

First order of bussiness. I am very happy to see most of you have come around and seen the light that whitehead needs to go even if it took you almot 4 years. Second on the goaie roation topic. Its eay to say this now but I would like to se tim say ok I am going with goalie X for this weekend and goalie Y for the next weekend. If goalie X or Y doesnt take the bull by the horns then give goalie Z a chance for a weekend. I would keep doig this unil one prooves to be the best of the 3 then try rideng them. I think this one new goalie every game doesn't let any of them get in any kind of rythem. I would have like to see how max would have responed playing last saturday if given the chance. At this rate anything is worth a shot besides the regular rotation wich has prooven to be uneffective.

 

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

We should have known better, Tim hasn't handled goalies well since he has been here. Yeats and Morrison, Jimmy and Frankie, Mattie and Big Ben, Darling, a complete screw up and now 3 guys playing for 1 spot so..... . Sully is the only guy I have any faith in at this point. I was really rooting for Martin to take over but it ain't happening.

You are right that Sullivan has been the the most consistant of the three...I also thought that Ouellette could be the odds on to be the starter at the end,but he seems to not have that in game focus unless he see's alot of rubber...still think that a duo of Sullivan/Ouellette can click for Maine...does not look like they will this year...I don't have any faith in Sirman....this is a mess and no answers in sight....you win with goaltending and this years squad is proving that...

 

[sandiegoblkbr]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Larry calling Joe B. out........LOL.

http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/02/08/sports/hockey-east-commissioner-made-wrong-decision/

Some pretty surprising statements from the Commish........"The contacts-to-the-head didn’t rise to the level of suspensions"..........“the fact he has had a lot of penalties that have come after the whistle didn’t help him. He’s a dynamic player who plays on the edge. I like Joey but he has to make better decisions.”

Sounds like Bertagna does whatever the Boston area coaches want him to do........I have a hard time believing that if Diamond played for BU or BC that he would be getting hassled like this. At least our resident BDN boozer is sticking up for him.......god knows that his lame *ss coach NEVER will!!!!

 

[BassAle]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Felt like he handled Jimmy and Frank perfectly in 2003-04. That's why I never understood why he screwed up Bish and Lundin so badly. Just follow the blue print from the 04 season and repeat.

Bishop and Lundin were not Frank and Jimmy. It was hard, even for Timmay, to screw up with two top notch goalies getting coached by Grant.

 

[Slasher7]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Sounds like Bertagna does whatever the Boston area coaches want him to do........I have a hard time believing that if Diamond played for BU or BC that he would be getting hassled like this.

Nathan Gerbe and Patrick Eaves would disagree with this. For the record, I cannot remember a BU player being suspended by Hockey East for anything.

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

I am surprised Bertagna admitted that his refs screwed up and had under-called some penalties. That's a big step for him. Usually he is adamant that his officials never make mistakes.

What I noticed in just a few games is what Bertagna references, the garbage after the whistle. At Conte earlier this year Diamond was constantly trying to slash or crosscheck the nearest defenseman on the wrist between the glove and elbow pad. He clearly has intent to be a dirtbag after the whistle. On the other hand, Larry is upset that the other hits weren't looked at by the committee. I just have a hard time proving bad intent during the fast action of live play unless we're talking a Matt Cooke type hit that was absolutely careless and needs to be addressed. Were any of the BU hits like this?

I did think it was funny he referenced Petrecki, who was embarrassingly terrible that year (thank God he left school after that), but refused to mention the Gerbe suspension. Pat Eaves's suspensions were all mandated by what was called on the ice, granted they were terrible except the original one against UNH earlier in the year, but the league had no say on that although they did nothing to fix the scoresheet buffoonery that took place both at the scorer's table and in the room underneath Conte later. The decision by this small committee was also brushed aside to focus on the fact that just this hit was sent to them for review and not any others. It's framed in the way that Bertagna is out to get Maine and suspended Diamond and he acted alone in all of this.

As an aside, it would seem that Larry is a freakin terrible journalist. He is not much better than Scott Weighart and that's tough to do.

At the very least, Diamond puts his team in a bad position with the selfish penalties and this suspension might be helpful in the long run for him and Maine. Hopefully a wake up call and everyone in the league will be better for it, both opposing players, Diamond, and his team. That is simply selfish hockey by Diamond and that should infuriate Maine fans more than any suspension handed down from the league, IMO.

 

[True Blue Fan]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

We have long known that Larry is not the best journalist around Nick, but he is what we have.

The penalty was rightly called a two minute minor and the suspension is garbage, period!

 

[walrus]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

.

At the very least, Diamond puts his team in a bad position with the selfish penalties and this suspension might be helpful in the long run for him and Maine. Hopefully a wake up call and everyone in the league will be better for it, both opposing players, Diamond, and his team. That is simply selfish hockey by Diamond and that should infuriate Maine fans more than any suspension handed down from the league, IMO.

I agree, Prestin did the same thing and he figured it out afterawhile, I think Joey will also. One thing I will say, everyone else on the team is so passive its nice to see someone who is willing to go toe to toe and I think Maine fans like that in a way( I know I do) but he has to pick better spots to go after someone and that trip wasn't smart at all with or without the suspension

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

I agree, Prestin did the same thing and he figured it out afterawhile,

He sure did, I noticed that at the time as well... and gscott likes to point it out every 3 weeks or so on this board.

 

[Runsub5]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Larry makes many valid points, especially the penalty minutes that Petrecki received without a suspension. Obvious from Larry's article that the league office is controlled by the Boston coaches. Bertagna did not review the game recording until urged to do so by another coach. Great way to manage a league and then selectively enforce additional sanctions on equally severe penalties. I am mailing my letter to the league office today after many revisions.

 

[acs64]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

I agree, Prestin did the same thing and he figured it out afterawhile, I think Joey will also. One thing I will say, everyone else on the team is so passive its nice to see someone who is willing to go toe to toe and I think Maine fans like that in a way( I know I do) but he has to pick better spots to go after someone and that trip wasn't smart at all with or without the suspension

Was that trip embellised a bit by Milan? I cant remember. Maybe with pads on, a goalie goes down quicker.
I like Diamonds feistynish and wouldnt change much on his play. He draws a lot of penaltys out front of the net because hes tough to move with a low center of gravity. Hes just gotta continue to play tough out front....but when ur getting crosschecked, hes gotta defend himself.

Prestin....he wuz God man.

 

[acs64]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Larry makes many valid points, especially the penalty minutes that Petrecki received without a suspension. Obvious from Larry's article that the league office is controlled by the Boston coaches. Bertagna did not review the game recording until urged to do so by another coach. Great way to manage a league and then selectively enforce additional sanctions on equally severe penalties. I am mailing my letter to the league office today after many revisions.

What credibility Bertagna had was lost with this entire episode. Commissioners got to be impartial....its now clear Bert isnt at all.

 

[gscott13]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

What credibility Bertagna had was lost with this entire episode. Commissioners got to be impartial....its now clear Bert isnt at all.

my take on the whole episode... if you think it is worth suspending, fine, but it is absolutely ridiculous that the decision was made on Thursday. There is no reason given todays technology that this could not have been addressed earlier in the week... instead, maine goes through a week of practice expecting him to be in the line-up only to have to retool at the last minute.

in the end, it may have been a moot point as he was injured for saturday's game and did not play... does anyone know when he was and what he injured?

 

[gscott13]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

He sure did, I noticed that at the time as well... and gscott likes to point it out every 3 weeks or so on this board.

i like to point out that after a couple years of listening to how you thought he was akin to hannibal lecter and how it was only a matter of time before he sat down and ate peaves liver with some fava beens and a nice chianti at center ice, it was nice witnessing your realization that he was an incredibly talented d-man that was essentially a one-man breakout regardless of the number of guys draped on him... and the absurd +/- he had his senior year...

 

[WildShawn]

Re: Maine Black Bears, 2010-2011, Redemption or FORE, I say......

Was that trip embellised a bit by Milan? I cant remember. Maybe with pads on, a goalie goes down quicker.
I like Diamonds feistynish and wouldnt change much on his play. He draws a lot of penaltys out front of the net because hes tough to move with a low center of gravity. Hes just gotta continue to play tough out front....but when ur getting crosschecked, hes gotta defend himself.

Prestin....he wuz God man.

He plays for BU, I'm sure it was embelished a bit, and i wouldn't be surprised if he, out of habit, kicked the goal off of its pegs on the way down...