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Nescac 2009/2010

Re: Nescac 2009/2010

Another interesting Beaney fact...he is not a fan of the Jr A circuit. In fact 100% of his current roster is from hockey prep school backgrounds. I guess you cant build character or help develop a young man who previously made a decision to skate on the dark side for a year or two before college.
 
Re: Nescac 2009/2010

With all these character and sartorial flaws, it's a miracle on ice that anyone would want to even consider playing for Bill Beaney. It's nine days + few hours before the puck drops on the NESCAC season. Then, thankfully, we can move beyond mindless topics like this and focus on what happens on the ice.
 
Re: Nescac 2009/2010

I predict Beaney wins it all again, he has the best players and he is a very good coach. Amherst will be a big challenge, and I want to see how teams like Trinity, Conn College and Hamilton do this year, I think the young coaches at Hamilton and Trinity are going to make their team factors (Hamilton up after several down years, and Trinity staying as an elite member of the NESCAC standings). Conn, has terrific goaltending. The season should be competitive as usual.
 
Re: Nescac 2009/2010

neverplayed said:
I predict Beaney wins it all again,
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Last year Midd switched from the Torpedo type system ( Svoboda was the rover ) to a more conventional system, which I did not see enough to comment on. I will say that any Prep or College team that I have seen that has as many freshman as Midd does has growing pains. Amherst shelled Yanchek and dominated the finals last year. They will have to replace a lot of points , veteran D, integrate 8-9 guys into a still new system and a goaltender will have to take the Number 1 spot. . A lot of question marks for such an optimistic prediction. If by "all" you mean Dlll, not a chance. If you mean the NESCAC, maybe, but some of those freshman will have to come up Very big
 
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Re: Nescac 2009/2010

Agree, best thing they ever did was scrap the Torpedo. They still play very agressively but they don't give up nearly as many odd man rushes, because in that system you end up with forwards skating backwards and playing D. It's a good offensive system but you must have the right players to execute it on the defensive end. Yes I was talking about NESCAC, playoffs are always tough.
 
Re: Nescac 2009/2010

Just looked at roster and stats...Midd has lost 50 points on D...hard to replace. Amherst lost Landers but might actually be deeper on D....if Anderson plays as well as last year it will be interesting. Watch this kid Hawkrigg from the OPJHL..have heard good things...as well as Brock from Holy Cross up front and Hannon from Army on D ( solid defensively ) .
Frankly although I am a big fan of Prep hockey I think Dlll is a bigger adjustment for Prep guys ( on ice anyway ) than for Jr A players.
 
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Re: Nescac 2009/2010

I originally thought that it would be close between Amherst and Middlebury but the unexpected loss of Midd's 2 experienced and productive D-men (in combination with Yanchek's weaknesses) tips the balance more clearly in Amherst's favor.
 
Re: Nescac 2009/2010

Williams was improved last year, if they continue their upward trend they might surprise. Bowdoin if they solve their goaltending will be a contender. Hamilton on the upswing. Trinity..NESCAC champ two years ago with same goalie...Although Amherst might be deeper on D, Landers was deadly on the power play, that might be their challenge to produce on the PP without him. Might be one or two darkhorse teams.
As to Yanchek being weak..12-1-1 with a .900. He should be Midd's guy.
In the course of checking last years stats.. Svoboda was 2nd in NESCAC D scoring with only Landers ahead of him. As a freshman he was in the top 20 D scorers in Dlll as a Soph he was 16th. . Unless a major disciplinary problem which I have not heard about seems a little extreme. Curious about the reasons Kretchmer"s name not being on roster.
 
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Re: Nescac 2009/2010

doncheery said:
Williams was improved last year, if they continue their upward trend they might surprise. Bowdoin if they solve their goaltending will be a contender. Hamilton on the upswing. Trinity..NESCAC champ two years ago with same goalie...Although Amherst might be deeper on D, Landers was deadly on the power play, that might be their challenge to produce on the PP without him. Might be one or two darkhorse teams.
As to Yanchek being weak..12-1-1 with a .900. He should be Midd's guy.
In the course of checking last years stats.. Svoboda was 2nd in NESCAC D scoring with only Landers ahead of him. As a freshman he was in the top 20 D scorers in Dlll as a Soph he was 16th. . Unless a major disciplinary problem which I have not heard about seems a little extreme. Curious about the reasons Kretchmer"s name not being on roster.
Click to expand...
Trevor Dodds didn't return, either.
 
Re: Nescac 2009/2010

doncheery said:
. .
As to Yanchek being weak..12-1-1 with a .900. He should be Midd's guy.
. . . .
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The win record's fine and dandy but he did melt down in the Amherst game (what was it: something like 3 goals on 6 SOGs?) and didn't play in the play-offs. And his GAA and SAV stats (other than the win-loss record) were virtually identical to Bowdoin's Nerland's stats in conference play (7th & 8th and 12th & 11th respectively). I don't doubt that he's Midd's guy but he is not in the league with Anderson, Vesprini, or even Conn College's Parker and the Midd offense will probably need to perform at a very high level (which could very well happen) for Middlebury to win the conference.
 
Re: Nescac 2009/2010

Goaltending will IMHO be the difference maker in NESCAC this year just as it was in 2009....especially come playoff time. Although Amherst lost one of its duo, it was Anderson who nailed the key game in the NESCAC final and was a wall. LaRose looked solid in the 2009 Semi but wasn't really tested by Trin much in that tilt. With Landers I think his real contribution was not measured strictly by his stats. Like "quarterbacks" of the past, Bryan Murray (Platty) and Ben Barnett (Midd) come quickly to mind, Landers really directed and motivated the team on the ice. A bunch of new guys with good Jr/Prep numbers won't necessarily make up for his graduation.

Wesleyan is always well-coached and has a solid backstop but they perenially have trouble with the offensive side of the ice. Will their transfer have an immmediate impact?

We get to see Conn College the first weekend and we never know quite what to expect. Even in the Championship years of the 90's a trip to CC was often a season opener ending up in the lost column.

As a Frosh/Soph it was Vesprini that impressed me the most recently but seemed tentative at Amherst in the Semi last year. He had big losses to CC and Skidmore last year as well as a stumper with SMC. Is there blueline issues?? Trin also usually plays better at home but suffered 5 losses in Hartford last year...not typical.

Can't wait to get started...also nice to talk hockey on here for a change.
 
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Re: Nescac 2009/2010

If I remember right, the NESCAC really beat up the East last year, in looking at last years rosters I think the NESCAC keep a significant edge on the East. My question is this, if Midd and Amherst meet expectations they could both potentially go to the NCAA tournament does anyone see 3rd NESCAC team pulling together enough wins during the regular season to send 3 teams to the NCAA tournament from the NESCAC?
 
Re: Nescac 2009/2010

d3follower said:
I originally thought that it would be close between Amherst and Middlebury but the unexpected loss of Midd's 2 experienced and productive D-men (in combination with Yanchek's weaknesses) tips the balance more clearly in Amherst's favor.
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A couple of observations about Middlebury:


  • There will be healthy competition at goalie.
  • All transfers will have an immediate impact; though curiously enough the intra-conference one might have the biggest statistical impact.
  • The first year students provide a great mix of speed & skill; a couple of them are really, really special (if you follow NEPSHC East and/or NEPSHC West you know what I mean).
  • Great to see a big, fast & skilled Vermont 'kid' on the roster as well.
  • They also added someone to run the PP from the blue line.
  • There are any number of reasons why student athletes might not play for a season; I would not try and read too much into this.
 
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Re: Nescac 2009/2010

Good points, though my only observation on prep schoolers is that they were playing against 15/16 year olds in NEPSAC and now they play against 21 year old freshman. Big difference, though a good player is a good player and should adapt quickly. If not, well......
 
Re: Nescac 2009/2010

polarbearfan said:
Bowdoin has also posted their roster

http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/winter/mice/2009-10/roster

It looks as if Meagher has cut down the roster significantly to 28 with a number of players from last years roster missing (Fanning, Luther, Rosata, Higgins, Bayer and Herd). A few of those guys got very litte playing time but Fanning had 10 points last year. Any word on what is going on there?
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hmmmm..not sure, though Beyer had a sense for the net and Herd won my award for hustle on the ice last season, always around the puck. Too bad. Perhaps, they'll get a chance to return.
 
Re: Nescac 2009/2010

Was it last year Meagher sent 6 or 7 guys guys home after the Friday night first game loss ( Conn College I believe ) of a road trip and told the non roster guys to stop drinking and come to the 2nd game? Assuming that won't happen this year with the smaller roster.
 
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Re: Nescac 2009/2010

polarbearfan said:
Bowdoin has also posted their roster

http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/winter/mice/2009-10/roster

It looks as if Meagher has cut down the roster significantly to 28 with a number of players from last years roster missing (Fanning, Luther, Rosata, Higgins, Bayer and Herd). A few of those guys got very litte playing time but Fanning had 10 points last year. Any word on what is going on there?
Click to expand...

The Bowdoin roster may be smaller this year because the NESCAC has implemented new restrictions on the number of players permitted to travel to away games. That may explain why those who didn't play much last season are not on the squad this year (Luther, Rosata, Higgins, and Bayer) but it does not explain why Fanning and Herd did not return . . .
 
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