Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

[Carmine Scarpaglia]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

looking mighty pretty sitting 1 point out of third place in the best conference in college hockey

You finally DID get kicked out of Hockey East! Thank God. Injuries to the other 9 teams are about to go way down now.

Congrats to the WCHA for picking up Merrimack.

 

[Dirt]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Congrats on a great win! Good luck down the road. This was my first trip to Lawler and the one thing that really stood out was how low the ceiling is. A low ceiling like that takes away the high flip dump in. I think NCAA rules state that there must be at least 35 feet between the ice and the ceiling, scoreboard etc... Is that ceiling exactly 35 feet above the ice?

 

[sterlippo1]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

what's up with Cannata? Mike Mcmahon's Tribune article said he "went down after a breakaway save" in the 3rd and was relpaced but he didn't say what the injury was.............

 

[GoUNH]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Saw the video highlights of the Maine game. The Merrimack play by play announcer RULES. Love him!

 

[Federal League]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

what's up with Cannata? Mike Mcmahon's Tribune article said he "went down after a breakaway save" in the 3rd and was relpaced but he didn't say what the injury was.............

Looked like he might've strained something or gotten a cramp while going into a split. He got up and wanted to stay in the game, but Dennehy elected to play it safe and take him out. Dennehy said after the game that it wasn't anything serious.

 

[Salvo1017]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

You finally DID get kicked out of Hockey East! Thank God. Injuries to the other 9 teams are about to go way down now.

Congrats to the WCHA for picking up Merrimack.

What's your problem? Seriously, what is your deal? Bitter much that Maine just got absolutely SPANKED and sent crying back to Orono? See you in a few weeks, we'll beat you up there too.

Sters: Cannata went down and at first it looked really bad. He went down into a split to block a shot - which he did - nothing looked out of the ordinary but he started to wince and it looked like it was a groin problem. He was down for a while, got up. Marotta skated over and I could see Cannata mouthing to the bench "no I'm fine, no worries". Dennehy did the safe thing and pulled him anyways.

At this point I'm not concerned, I think he'll be just fine to help us try and win the season series from the Terriers.

 

[Carmine Scarpaglia]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

What's your problem? Seriously, what is your deal? Bitter much that Maine just got absolutely SPANKED and sent crying back to Orono? See you in a few weeks, we'll beat you up there too.

Good I hope you do. I'm waiting anxiously for Merrimack to win a road game against someone in the top half of the country.

 

[irishfan85]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

What's your problem? Seriously, what is your deal? Bitter much that Maine just got absolutely SPANKED and sent crying back to Orono? See you in a few weeks, we'll beat you up there too.

Sters: Cannata went down and at first it looked really bad. He went down into a split to block a shot - which he did - nothing looked out of the ordinary but he started to wince and it looked like it was a groin problem. He was down for a while, got up. Marotta skated over and I could see Cannata mouthing to the bench "no I'm fine, no worries". Dennehy did the safe thing and pulled him anyways.

At this point I'm not concerned, I think he'll be just fine to help us try and win the season series from the Terriers.

Carmine is here to be funny, agitate people. I would not worry about it, but he is a BC fan. It is great what Merrimack is doing this year. I could not be happier, but let's just let the boys take care of business. No need to tell the whole world how great the team is because then people can come back and say "told you so" if it doesn't work out in the end. Enjoy the ride. This is the best team we've had in since 88. The 96-97 season was good, but didn't have the depth and skating ability of this team.

 

[Salvo1017]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

How do we think the team will do with short rest against BU?

 

[WarriorDJ]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

A few observations from last night's game:

1. Merrimack's forecheck was the best I have seen this season. You could tell that Maine's defensemen were being forced to deviate from their normal outlet passes and zip the puck through the neutral zone to break MC's aggressive play.

2. I thought one of the headier plays in this tilt came from Mike Collins. In the 1st period, Karl Stollery was already heading to the box for a crosscheck, to give Maine a chance to creep back into the game. Collins started up a scholarly chat with Will O'Neill and O'Neill had heard enough and took a swing at Collins to cut it out. The ref saw the whole exchange, and took O'Neill off the ice to make it 4 on 4. The result: 40 seconds later Stephane Da Costa blasts one that Ouellette never touched to make it 3-1 Warriors. Unsung "play" by Collins, could have been a big PP for the Black Bears if O'Neill doesn't take a hack at the freshman.

3. Cannata made one of the best saves I've seen in my time at Lawler with a diving (Tuukka Rask vs. Wild esc) save going left to right in the 3rd period. In addition, his save against Mangene on the breakaway in the third was very good, even though he hurt himself in the process. I think if Joe keeps his GAA under 2.00, he could be Merrimack's first All-American since Rejean Stringer (97-98).

4. The freshman D who played last night have been as good as advertised:

Jordan Heywood: Hits as hard as any D-man in Hockey East, and delivers one of the better hip checks in the league. Very responsible in his own zone and first pass out of the zone is typically strong.

Brendan Ellis: If you have never seen him play you might not pick him out immediately, but he is a rock on the blue line. Has a lot of speed for a D-man and is good at jumping up into the rush, and in some cases breaking down the opposing D.

5. Kyle Bigos took more shots from the blue line last night on the PP and I have to say I'm all for it. His shot is so heavy, I figure if he has an open look he might as well put it on net. In time, he could be a feature player on that PP, especially with a Brodhag or maybe a Flanigan in front of the net to clean up the loose rebounds.

 

[WarriorDJ]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

How do we think the team will do with short rest against BU?

Good question Salvo. BU just dismissed WSH draft pick Andrew Glass for breaking team rules, so they will be patching up his spot on the roster. One major key in this game: goaltending. Right now, Cannata is riding a hot streak and Kieran Millan/Grant Rollheiser are playing OK.

If Merrimack wants to take this game, I think they need to capitalize on odd man rushes and punch in second-chance goals. The other question is who will take the lion's share of penalties, because you can bet both teams will be very physical. Whoever is able to stay out of the box will probably come away with the W.

 

[ChiefWahoo]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

The Warrior's certainly need to take BU seriously. Glass has been in Parker's doghouse for awhile so they had already taken steps to compensate for his absence. Also BU had 3 players in the World Juniors during the break. They will be back. Traditionally BU has used games against MC in early January as a springboard to the second half of the season. It's a midweek game after a blow out win. It has trap written all over it.

 

[Federal League]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

BU just dismissed WSH draft pick Andrew Glass for breaking team rules, so they will be patching up his spot on the roster.

Not really much to patch up. He got moved up to the third line when Chris Connolly went down with an injury, but Connolly's back now. Glass likely would've been the guy dropped from the top 3 lines anyway. And the 4th line has been playing very well, especially in its own end, for a while now, so Glass won't be missed there, either.

Also BU had 3 players in the World Juniors during the break. They will be back.

Just to correct this- BU only had one player on the WJC team (Charlie Coyle). Matt Nieto and Adam Clendening were invited to camp, but were both cut and didn't miss any BU games.

 

[J.D.]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Why the hell are they playing this game on a Wednesday night?

 

[WarriorHockey11]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

have to love the way this team is playing right now, they are 4 lines deep, 3 great d pairs, every line can score, bring great pressure and contribute to the game, and joe has just been an anchor between the pipes. This team is as legit a team as merrimack college can ever imagine producing. They have the one star player needed to make a run, and the extremely deep and talented supporting cast around him. Great coaching, a star player, a star goaltender, amazing depth, speed and size, i really dont get why everyone in the country isnt talking about this team, but i feel they will be very soon.

 

[sterlippo1]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Looked like he might've strained something or gotten a cramp while going into a split. He got up and wanted to stay in the game, but Dennehy elected to play it safe and take him out. Dennehy said after the game that it wasn't anything serious.

glad to hear that

 

[Scarlet]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

How do we think the team will do with short rest against BU?

It's a longer rest than BU will have. They play tonight.

Congrats on the win - that was interesting to see! Not the win, but the margin of victory.

 

[dmjossel]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Carmine is here to be funny, agitate people.

One out of two isn't bad, I guess.

I would not worry about it, but he is a BC fan.

Say no more!

It is great what Merrimack is doing this year. I could not be happier, but let's just let the boys take care of business. No need to tell the whole world how great the team is because then people can come back and say "told you so" if it doesn't work out in the end.

Thanks! Actually I don't think anybody has said they are great, just that they are a "contender" or "pretty good" or "for real" which in the case of Merrimack means, "not a doormat this season". It's no longer necessary for Merrimack to play perfectly, for the opponent to take the night off, and to be ridiculously lucky to get a win-- at home or on the road. The most ambitious prediction I've seen for Merrimack is that they might be able to get home ice-- and if they do, make it to the Garden.

Enjoy the ride. This is the best team we've had in since 88. The 96-97 season was good, but didn't have the depth and skating ability of this team.

No argument here. The '98 team that upset BU had some players as good as this one, but not the depth.

 

[dmjossel]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Good I hope you do. I'm waiting anxiously for Merrimack to win a road game against someone in the top half of the country.

Maybe wait til a few more are scheduled?

So far MC has lost by one goal to UNH on the road, by one goal to BC on the road. BC has lost to Merrimack on the road twice by an aggregate score of 5-9 and has yet to play at UNH this season. I guess those road losses don't count against BC? Is there a reason why winning on the road counts, but losing doesn't?

BC's recent road wins came against Providence, BU, and Vermont-- only one of which is in the top half. Vermont has only one league win all year, and PC has only two.

BC this year is a very good team. There's no reason to hang their reputation on two out of conference road wins against Denver way back in mid-October, plus one game against BU, and then hold up "road wins against top half teams" as an essential metric for success.

Merrimack has eight of the remaining league contests at home, and six on the road. Of those six, three are against teams out of the top half-- NU and UMA. They've only got one road game against a top ten team scheduled for the entire rest of the season, and that's on the road against UNH again. They can easily lose that game and still have a winning season, a home berth for the playoffs, and a trip to the Garden for the playoffs, and possibly even an at-large NCAA bid. Their chances against Maine at Orono might be a bit better-- a split would give them the season series and an important tiebreaker, but Maine is no longer top-ten and if they continue to struggle they may drop from the top half by that time, conveniently removing their performance there from your essential and arbitrary "road wins against top half teams" statistic.

I suppose, then, it would still be out of bounds for a Merrimack fan to utter something as arrogant (and vague) as "this team is for real" because they aren't likely to win on the road against the top teams, and aren't a favorite for the NCAA crown?

 

[theprofromdover]

Re: Merrimack College 2010-2011: taking H.E. one chair-back seat at a time

Arnie Davis, the Potato Pin man from Alfond Arena is celebrating his 90th birthday this week. I've started a birthday thread in the Cafe. Make sure to post your birthday wishes to one of the few gentlemen from Maine!