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Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Priceless
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Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

Tango said:
Just watched the Hockey East preview video. Anyone know why Maine was the only school without an interview? Just some video of Ouellette making a save?
Click to expand...

The new athletic director is going to have a lot of work ahead of them.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

I'd say the turnout was pretty good for a Sunday afternoon competing against a Patriots game.
Maine won, 5-1. The stats showed Maine outshooting Dalhousie something like 42-16. I don't know the penalty statistics, but it seemed to me that the refs were calling a lot of marginal penalties vs. Maine. There were several slashing calls where the Maine player used his stick to hit a Dalhousie stick, not breaking the stick but making a loud noise.

I was impressed by Maine's hustle, or work ethic. I didn't see very many players just cruising down the ice.

I would be curious about the reactions of fans who know more about hockey that I do.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

Drew S. said:
I would think Lean-Shore-Lomberg is the first line. Why in **** is Norman playing with Renouf? Is the audio or video working for anyone?
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When is Maine going to join the real world and start streaming video in Hi Def? And please get the audio right. Listening to 50% of a game doesn't cut it. It' just really annoying and Maine fans deserve better.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

dwollstadt said:
I'd say the turnout was pretty good for a Sunday afternoon competing against a Patriots game.
Maine won, 5-1. The stats showed Maine outshooting Dalhousie something like 42-16. I don't know the penalty statistics, but it seemed to me that the refs were calling a lot of marginal penalties vs. Maine. There were several slashing calls where the Maine player used his stick to hit a Dalhousie stick, not breaking the stick but making a loud noise.

I was impressed by Maine's hustle, or work ethic. I didn't see very many players just cruising down the ice.

I would be curious about the reactions of fans who know more about hockey that I do.
Click to expand...

I agree on the turnout. It looked to me on my computer that there were a lot more people there today than a lot of games last year. I would guess there were 3600 to 3800 people there.

I was pretty happy with the freshmen. I think Renouf, Byron, Brown, and Morgan will all contribute straightaway. The others all looked decent and there were none who I thought wouldn't make it at this level. We've had a few of those the last six or seven years too.

As far as everything else, it was hard for me to take much out of the game. Dalhousie was obviously gassed and were without a lot of their top guys. I'm definitely excited for the season, with Maine's schedule they should be pretty close to 20 wins.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

After the game Red said, "We still have a million things to work on." The first one is discipline. 11 penalties? That won't fly.

It was great to see everyone involved in the offense. Live stats crapped out after Maine's final goal, but at that point Maine had 17 players with at least one SOG. The freshmen tallied 1G 3A and 7 shots on net.

Maine never scored five goals at home in any game last season. They did not score five total goals at home until November 2, a 4-2 loss to Boston College. In all, Maine scored only 34 goals in 18 home games last season. They are already on a pace to shatter that mark.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

First period was fun, second period was timmay time, third period was back to being fun. Talent is still an issue, finishers being the biggest concern. Like the way Byron always tries to go to the net. Brown looks like he will generate some excitement as a pest. Lonborg looks faster. Marty looked great. Considering no practices, not bad.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

Chairman of the Boards said:
When is Maine going to join the real world and start streaming video in Hi Def? And please get the audio right. Listening to 50% of a game doesn't cut it. It' just really annoying and Maine fans deserve better.
Click to expand...

I didn't try the video because I was at the game. But it will be a cold day in hell before I try streaming video from the current providers. I paid by $8 (or whatever it was) for video of Maine's first home football game (vs. Bryant??), and it was very unsatisfactory. Sometimes the operator wouldn't even point the camera at the action, much less follow it as the play progressed. As I recall, I had the same experience when I tried the video for a hockey game last year.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

Very entertaining game. Maine worked hard and battled for loose pucks. Way too many penalties. Maine will pay for the lack of discipline if they play conference teams that way. The officials were from Hockey East, so a reflection of how the game would have been called if within conference. Cam Brown is a very active player and was fun to watch. Ouellette looked good but wasn't really challenged. Student section was full and the atmosphere was like a playoff game instead of an exhibition. Overall, I was encouraged with what I saw.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

A good effort for the first game of the season, not exactly against the strongest team, but a good effort. Sounds like a lot of positives to build on and a a lot of things to work on. They will have to cut the penalties down a ton, 11 just won't cut it. Glad to see hockey season has started, been a long wait.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

True Blue Fan said:
A good effort for the first game of the season, not exactly against the strongest team, but a good effort. Sounds like a lot of positives to build on and a a lot of things to work on. They will have to cut the penalties down a ton, 11 just won't cut it. Glad to see hockey season has started, been a long wait.
Click to expand...

Upon further review, four of the penalties were interference and one was for holding. As players become accustomed to what referees will and won't call those should be eradicated. It seems every season there is a new focus for the refs. Red has probably already talked to Bunyon and Fyrer to get a grasp on what they're looking for on those calls. The roughing and slashing calls are the ones that have to be addressed.

As I said elsewhere, this is a great way to start the season. A nice home win with three first period goals to get the crowd into it. Plenty for the fans to like about a 5-1 win and some positives on the ice but a whole lot Red and the coaches can work with in practice - things the average fan doesn't notice or care about but the coaches do. It was also nice to see the players take to Twitter last night to thank the students for showing up and being so loud. In the past few years it has fallen on the players to be the ambassadors of the program but that is changing. Red came out before the game and talked to the students who were in line early to get into the arena. I don't know if he will go as far as Shawn did - going to dining halls and dormitories is not really needed anymore with 21st Century technology - but he will be more accessible than Tim was.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

I agree, a certain % of penalties will work themselves out when they get a feel for the officiating. A lot of positives for sure, I am excited to see how the team progresses under Red.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

It's only one game, but I was pleased to see the officials did not call an embellishment penalty which is sometimes called in association with a penalty. I saw a couple of incidences where it would have been called in the past. That penalty has been in vogue the last few years and I hope we are getting away from it.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

Priceless said:
Upon further review, four of the penalties were interference and one was for holding. As players become accustomed to what referees will and won't call those should be eradicated. It seems every season there is a new focus for the refs. Red has probably already talked to Bunyon and Fyrer to get a grasp on what they're looking for on those calls. The roughing and slashing calls are the ones that have to be addressed.

As I said elsewhere, this is a great way to start the season. A nice home win with three first period goals to get the crowd into it. Plenty for the fans to like about a 5-1 win and some positives on the ice but a whole lot Red and the coaches can work with in practice - things the average fan doesn't notice or care about but the coaches do. It was also nice to see the players take to Twitter last night to thank the students for showing up and being so loud. In the past few years it has fallen on the players to be the ambassadors of the program but that is changing. Red came out before the game and talked to the students who were in line early to get into the arena. I don't know if he will go as far as Shawn did - going to dining halls and dormitories is not really needed anymore with 21st Century technology - but he will be more accessible than Tim was.
Click to expand...

I thought a lot of the penalties were fairly soft and it was good Maine had plenty of time on the PK as that is the area I am most concerned about right now. Cornell and Nemec were out there a lot on it the last few years and some new guys are going to have to step up this year which could take some time. I didn't see anything yesterday that made me concerned about them taking too many penalties long term. Not having Joey should count for a couple less penalties per game over last year.
 
Re: Maine Hockey '13-14: Are you Red-E?

First game as head coach at Alfond Arena brings back memories for Red Gendron

By Larry Mahoney, BDN Staff
Posted Oct. 07, 2013, at 1:43 p.m.
http://bangordailynews.com/2013/10/...-back-memories-for-red-gendron/?ref=SportsBox



ORONO, Maine — When Dennis ‘Red’ Gendron stepped onto the Alfond Arena ice surface for his first game as an assistant coach at the University of Maine in 1990, he got caught up in the moment.

Between the large, energized crowd and the pep band playing the “Stein Song,” Gendron said, “it sent chills down my spine.”

Twenty-three years later, Gendron was able to relive that moment, this time as the head coach of the Black Bears for Sunday afternoon’s season-opening 5-1 exhibition win over Dalhousie University of Halifax, Nova Scotia, at Alfond Arena.

“The same thing happened to me Sunday afternoon,” said the 55-year-old Gendron referring to the chills down his spine.

A crowd of 4,058 showed up to welcome Gendron back and get a first glimpse of the Black Bears.

“It wasn’t full, but there was a great crowd. The student section was packed, and that’s what we see coming out of the tunnel,” said Gendron. “That was pretty special.”

The hockey coach had observed the long line of students waiting to go into the Alfond before the game and went outside to chat with some of them.

“I thanked them for coming,” said Gendron. “If all the seats aren’t sold for a game, we should let all the students in. The more the merrier. They were exuberant.”

He added, “I want to see this place full.”

Gendron said the fact that the New England Patriots were playing at 1 p.m. meant the fans “had to leave that game early to get there for the game … was fabulous.”

The Black Bears averaged 4,175 fans a year ago, which was the lowest since the 1991-92 season when they averaged 4,024. They have lost 1,700 season ticket holders over the last five seasons, falling from 3,600 to 1,900.

“People here love their hockey. The paying customers were into it, the students were into it. But the only way this place is going to be full again is if we win,” said Gendron.

Maine missed the NCAA Tournament five times over the past six seasons after a run of nine consecutive tourney berths. That ultimately cost 12-year coach Tim Whitehead his job with one year remaining on his contract. Maine was a dreadful 2-9-6 at Alfond last season.

“Let’s not kid ourselves. You have to have a winning program. It would be nice to say if the kids work hard and compete hard, that will be enough for the fans. For some fans, maybe it is,” Gendron said.

“But a lot of fans want to see a championship-caliber team, and they deserve it. I don’t blame them for not coming. Our job is to give them a reason to come. Our kids want to do that. They care about the fans,” he added.

Freshman center Cam Brown had been told about the crowd by his former coach, ex-Black Bear Timmy Lovell. And it lived up to his expectations.

“The crowd was amazing. My heart was racing,” said Brown who scored Maine’s fourth goal.

The Black Bears didn’t disappoint as five different players scored goals (Ryan Lomberg, Andrew Cerretani, Connor Leen, Brown and Steven Swavely); eight others picked up assists; and senior goalie Martin Ouellette had 17 saves, including 11 of the Grade-A (high-percentage) variety.

“At the end of the day, we wanted to establish that this is going to be a tough place for teams to come in and play, and we did that,” said Gendron. “They worked hard, competed for every puck and finished their checks.

“We made a ton of mistakes. We didn’t do a good job staying out of the penalty box. We have a long way to go if we’re going to become a good team,” he said.

Maine was whistled for 11 minor penalties compared to Dalhousie’s four, but the Black Bears killed all but one of the 11 Dalhousie power plays.

“The penalty-killers did a great job,” said Ouellette. “They blocked shots, forced turnovers and cleared pucks.”

Twelve of Dalhousie’s 18 shots on goal came on the power play. Dalhousie was without four of its top six scorers and was playing its third game in three days.

Gendron was impressed with the way his team played offensively, generating 47 Grade-A scoring attempts of which 23 went on net. Dalhousie had 22 and 12, respectively.

“What was neat about yesterday was when we had space and the opportunity to make plays, the kids did a pretty good job,” Gendron said. “But when they didn’t [have time and space], they threw grenades in front of the net to create a scrum.

“This program scored 77 goals [in 38 games] last year. For us to score more, we’ve got to score more dirty goals. They were hungry around the net, we had traffic in front of the goalie and the guys were willing to pay the price to make a play,” added Gendron.

Maine’s 2.03 goals per game average a year ago was 57th among 59 Division I teams.

One point of emphasis this week in practice will be passing, he said, as they prepare for their regular-season season-opener Friday and Saturday nights, at St. Lawrence University in New York.

“Too many times, our passes were too soft, and Dalhousie was able to defend it. We have to pass the puck harder,” he said.
 
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