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Nescac 2013-14

Hamilton reverting to typical post-Xmas form. Lack of discipline (in spite of numerous player coaching suspensions).
It was a shame what happened at the end of the Bowdoin game. That was really a 4-3 game. I've never seen a goal scored after an empty-netter, much less two. They played a lot better than the score. They also played well against Colby - just came up a little short. That's probably Hamilton's longest road trip every year - tough to pick up points... Except for that last minute in Brunswick, I thought they looked better than Amherst on the weekend.
 
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Re: Nescac 2013-14

Don't look now, but the Mules are 5-1-1 in their last 7. Nice overtime road win tonight.

I'm still waiting to see the box, but a win is a win!

In other news, Trinity smoked Bowdoin 5-1. Ha! (I'm still a very partisan White Mule:).)
 
I'm still waiting to see the box, but a win is a win!

It was mostly seniors in the scoring. Lanza had two goals and an assist - the game tying goal with 10 secs. left in regulation and the winner with 1:47 left in OT. They were down 2 goals with 1:43 left and McCormick got a short-hander to get them within one. Amazing! Way to battle back!
 
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Re: Nescac 2013-14

TRINITY 5 - BOWDOIN 1

First of all, thanks to former Trinity coach John Dunham and his wife Susan for organizing a great pre-game dinner for Bowdoin and Trinity alumni. I had the pleasure to sit next to John Corcoran (Bowdoin'82), whose son Charlie will be attending Brown next year. At the restaurant we ran into Mike Lockwood (St. Lawrence), whose son Kyle is a senior at Bowdoin. John and Susan also hosted us on Koppel Center mezzanine during the game.

It was a strange game. Bowdoin outshot Trinity and seemed outskate the Bantams for most of the game, but made too many defensive errors and took too many bad penalties, including three by the two co-captains, Jay Livermore (after only 21 seconds) and Harry Matheson. They should know better. The goaltending by Steve Messina left a lot to be desired. With Messina, a great save is often followed by a save that could and should be made, partly because he's out of position so much. This was certainly the case last night. Sometimes Messina appears to be a victim of his great athleticism. Trinity played a simpler, more disciplined game, and displayed a terrific power play. They exploited Bowdoin's weaknesses on defense. The Bantams were much more efficient than the Polar Bears proving that talent alone won't win too many hockey games.

For Trinity, keep doing what you're doing, and you'll be in great shape. For Bowdoin, it's time to make Max Fenkel your undisputed number one goaltender, to become more disciplined, and for your captains to display better leadership, particularly in the face of so many injuries. Losing smooth-skating Ollie Koo has really hurt the Polar Bears.

Finally, I remain concerned over Bowdoin's recruiting over the past couple of seasons. No freshmen forwards played last night. The five freshman defenders (actually "backs" in Bowdoin's 2-2-1 system) have size and good skating ability, but make far too many errors. It's time to go back to the recruiting drawing board. And let's not forget that Colin Downey, who's already scored 101 career points for Bowdoin, will be graduating.
 
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Trinity just aded the 4 p.m. Colby game to their webcast schedule. Today, 1/18.

http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/trincoll.portal#
 
Re: Nescac 2013-14

Ugh, awful camera angle at Trinity, and an announcer who's not much better. I quote "ohhh, a turnover".

On the brightside, 1-0 Colby early!

Edit: 1-1, that was a quick response.
 
Re: Nescac 2013-14

In other news, Trinity smoked Bowdoin 5-1. Ha! (I'm still a very partisan White Mule:).)

Bowdoin 3 - Wesleyan 2

In other news, Trinity 6 - Colby 3. Too bad. I'm pulling for Colby to do well.

NB: I'm not a very partisan Polar Bear, just a nice one -- even though the latter may be redundant. :-)
 
Re: Nescac 2013-14

BOWDOIN 3 WESLEYAN 2

Despite a couple of awful defensive errors in the first period (leading to two Wesleyan goals), a much better effort by the Polar Bears on Saturday afternoon against a pesky Wesleyan team.

Max Fenkel was solid in goal for the Polar Bears. He couldn't be faulted on either of the Wesleyan goals. The team plays with much more confidence when Fenkel is on net.

Co-captains Jay Livermore and Harry Matheson redeemed themselves from their substandard play against Trinity, and played very well. Matheson was really flying, and he was particularly effective in the last minute or so of the third period when the Polar Bears were protecting the lead. He won several battles along the boards in the Wesleyan defensive zone making it difficult for Wesleyan to pull their goalie. Matheson is small but he is deceptively strong. He's the proverbial good stick. Keep it up, young man! Bowdoin needs you to play at this high level.

Good to see smooth-skating Ollie Koo back on the ice. He adds a new dimension to the offense from his back position.

Mitch Barrington is the best of the freshman defenders. He's a strong skater with great hockey sense. He scored a beautiful and timely goal in the third period.

Crucial weekend coming up for the Polar Bears and the White Mules with home games against Middlebury and Williams. Good luck to both Maine teams. They can greatly help themselves as well as each other by defeating Middlebury and Williams.
 
Re: Nescac 2013-14

Crucial weekend coming up for the Polar Bears and the White Mules with home games against Middlebury and Williams. Good luck to both Maine teams. They can greatly help themselves as well as each other by defeating Middlebury and Williams.

I'm afraid this is going to be a tough one. Best chance for a win for either of us is a sagging Middlebury. The Mules will be looking for payback for a 7-1 early season loss. Williams, hot off a decisive victory over Plattsburgh, will want to show that game-one, 1-1 tie was a fluke.

Looking at the Week-Seven Update from NESCAC, I couldn't help but notice that Trinity is hogging the top of the individual scoring list. They are a team to look out for.

Good to see Ollie Koo back. Colby had a pretty good Freshman, last year, named Jonathan Sdao. He has been out of the lineup most of this season. Anyone know anything about him?

Covering a lot here... In watching the Webcast of the Colby - USM game awhile back, the broadcast crew was talking about a potential Lobster Bowl tournament with Bowdoin, Colby, UNE and USM. I wonder if it has any chance of coming to fruition. They were hot for it. BTW, their color man is a hoot isn't he?

On a personal note, they just opened a new rink here in Southwest Ohio, about 15 minutes from my house. Among the many features offered are a Noon Skate during the week, where usually no more than a half-dozen people show up, and Stick & Puck sessions in the evenings, requiring participants to come dressed pretty much in game pads. At the age of 69, I am back on the ice after 30+ years (with some rollerblading in between). There's nothing like getting home from Stick & Puck at 7:00 on a Friday night and tuning into a Mule's Webcast. It kinda makes me feel connected. And makes up for all those inter-fraternity games my brothers would never put me in, so many years ago... I plan on signing up for their hockey school next year, after I turn 70. I'm hoping to set some kind of record. http://ntprdchiller.com/
 
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In watching the Webcast of the Colby - USM game awhile back, the broadcast crew was talking about a potential Lobster Bowl tournament with Bowdoin, Colby, UNE and USM. I wonder if it has any chance of coming to fruition. They were hot for it. BTW, their color man is a hoot isn't he?

This would be a welcome addition to the schedule provided that the regular season games against UNE and USM would be dropped. In the late 70s and early 80s Bowdoin, Colby and Maine participated in a late December/early January tournament at the Cumberland Civic Center in Portland with another guest school from outside Maine. Princeton, Brown, Middlebury, Plattsburgh and McGill participated. In those days it wasn't guaranteed that the D-I schools would win. I remember in 1983 when Bowdoin beat Maine AND Brown to win the tournament. That Bowdoin team had great players like Hobey Baker finalist Jean Roy, Hilary Rocket, Chris Simon, and others. In the first year of the tournament, an outstanding Bowdoin team defeated Princeton in the championship game. Colby always played well in that tournament. It was a fun tournament.

On a personal note, they just opened a new rink here in Southwest Ohio, about 15 minutes from my house. Among the many features offered are a Noon Skate during the week, where usually no more than a half-dozen people show up, and Stick & Puck sessions in the evenings, requiring participants to come dressed pretty much in game pads. At the age of 69, I am back on the ice after 30+ years (with some rollerblading in between). There's nothing like getting home from Stick & Puck at 7:00 on a Friday night and tuning into a Mule's Webcast. It kinda makes me feel connected.

Good for you! I play with and against players in the Brown high intensity intramural league who are thirty-five years younger. My doctor says that I'm out of my mind, but one of my teammates (and longtime friend) is actually five years older than I. I've resisted joining an old timers' league...
 
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Congrats to Zach Arnold on the start and a well earned tie with Utica. Two and a half years without even a sniff but kept his attitude up and had a great weekend shutting down Geneseo in relief and the game at the Aud.

Only 8 games left or possibly 9 (playoff) for DiMare to net 10 points and reach the century mark for points.

Another shorty turned over at the blueline. That's a 2 year chronic bug. Seems to me you could coach that issue away.

This is the most talented group Haberbusch has had in his 3 years yet it is not translating into wins. 8 in his rook year, 6 last year, and so far 4 this year. When you play an instrument well, you practice the fundamentals as well as rehearse the piece you are going to play till it happens naturally. Maybe the emphasis needs to be changed.
 
Re: Nescac 2013-14

Good for you! I play with and against players in the Brown high intensity intramural league who are thirty-five years younger. My doctor says that I'm out of my mind, but one of my teammates (and longtime friend) is actually five years older than I. I've resisted joining an old timers' league...

Good for you, too. After five weeks of skating, I feel better than I have in years.

So, I was at the noon skate one day this week and an old-timer skates over to chat. At 66 yrs. he was back on skates for the first time in over 40, he said. Turns out, he played hockey for Hamilton at a time that I would have seen him play. Small world, but not the first time this has happened. While I was still practicing law in Manhattan, I ran into a judge who had played for Bowdoin in the early 60's - another guy I would have seen play. Hailing from the Boston suburbs, he had played with, or against, many of the guys on the Colby team while in high school.

It's catch-up weekend for the rest of the league while the Mules and the Bears are idle - a chance to lick our wounds. I just mentioned Jonathan Sdao, last week, and sure enough he's back in the lineup with an assist and mucho touches. I see Ollie Koo is playing well right away.

Don't know who to root for this week. Are we solidly enough in the playoffs to root for the bottom dwellers to reel in the leaders a bit..? Colby and Bowdoin could meet in the first round, but that requires Middlebury to stumble some more. Midd and Trinity are two teams Colby does not want to meet in the first round. I guess I'll watch Tufts at the Panthers tonight.
 
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It really looks to me like Peters in goal gives Midd the best chance to win. I do not understand why Beaney doesn't stick with him more.

Drew Michals debut in net for Middlebury was impressive. Given the uneven goaltending by Midd this season, this is good news. I wonder how much work he will get. Nick Bondurant got the win the night before, but was not the starter for the second game of the tournament. Usually, if you win, the goaltender stays for the next start. Not this weekend. Next weekend against Trinity and Wesleyan it will be interesting to see what happens.
 
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