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NESCAC 2016-2017 season

CrossCheck said:
I don't totally disagree with a few of your points, but please...you need to wake up and smell the coffee.

1. To say that Conn "At this stage of the season they have to be the odds-on favorite to win the NESCAC" is just plain ignorant. How can they be "the odds on favorite" when, according to the "experts" at USCHO...they aren't even good enough to be ranked? Apparently, Middy, Ammy, [and probably Hammy and Bowdoin] are all much better than Conn. Plus, these other teams never choke [lol] . They also have never won the Conf in their entire history. Honestly, this is the unpredictable nescac....there is no way any knowledgeable hockey fan would consider Conn a lock to win. In fact, they can't be considered anything but a dark-horse.


2. Then to suggest that "They're history of choking and coming up short will be looming over their heads as they go into the playoffs" just really shows your ignorance. This is a team that until very recently never finished over .500. So where where's the "choking"...by definition, you have to be favored to win to "choke" come playoff time...Here's a team that never even played a home playoff game until 2015. As for "choking"...that would be defined by a team like Midd who 3 years ago as a #1 seed lost to Conn, a #8 seed...at home no less [or their loss to Trinity the following year, again at home]. In sum, nothing will be "looming over their heads" come playoff time.
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Glad to see you latched on to my facetious tone. They've been inconsistent once again this year but their remaining schedule looks pretty favorable to them. The choking and coming up short I was referring to was their habit of losing to teams during the regular season that they're supposed to be better than, you know, on paper, and generally underperforming over the years because their coach has never been able to get the most out of her players and I still don't think she has learned how yet. Therefore, without being facetious, they will fall short of reaching their full potential once again. Same story, different year. Sad.
 
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Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

hockey4u said:
Very frustrating when you play your backup goalie, 6d and still run the 4th line against a team like Elmira (and Midd etc). There are teams you can do that and teams you can't. There has been zero differentiation at Amherst. Winslow and Young seem to be out every other shift at Midd, as it should be, since this is college hockey after all. Players can play to win, but the coach has to also coach to win.
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Serious question: why is the goalie who took the loss vs. Elmira considered the backup goalie, when her record is 5-2-1, which is half of the 16 games they've played? The minutes are evenly split, as indicated by their team stats. (No, she is not my daughter, nor do I have a daughter on either Amherst or Elmira). Thanks.
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

shelfit said:
Glad to see you latched on to my facetious tone. They've been inconsistent once again this year but their remaining schedule looks pretty favorable to them. The choking and coming up short I was referring to was their habit of losing to teams during the regular season that they're supposed to be better than, you know, on paper, and generally underperforming over the years because their coach has never been able to get the most out of her players and I still don't think she has learned how yet. Therefore, without being facetious, they will fall short of reaching their full potential once again. Same story, different year. Sad.
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well, as I said, I don't totally disagree with you....

That said, this is a much different/better team than in prior years...from the goal on out. If you look at the results the past 2-3 years, they really haven't underperformed [as they frequently did in years past...i.e. losing to last place teams and never getting a nescac sweep, which was very common].

They say defense wins...and they are probably the toughest team in the Conf to score against [stats bear that out...especially when you factor in they have already played the top teams early]...if [and it's a big if] the offense can consistently find the back of the net, they will be in contention until the end...and possibly overcome some of the other 'issues' you mention
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

genecarr said:
Serious question: why is the goalie who took the loss vs. Elmira considered the backup goalie, when her record is 5-2-1, which is half of the 16 games they've played? The minutes are evenly split, as indicated by their team stats. (No, she is not my daughter, nor do I have a daughter on either Amherst or Elmira). Thanks.
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Stats don't always reflect the real picture.
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

hockey4u said:
Stats don't always reflect the real picture.
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True, but looking at what goalie plays against what opponents sure does. Since the first series of the season, the two goalies have been splitting games, including the Middlebury series which is pretty much the ultimate series for an Amherst team.

- Plaman played against Elmira, Colby, Bowdoin, St. A's, Middlebury, Salve, Manhattanville, and Trinity (reverse chronology)
- Dobbins played against Colby, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Southern Maine, Norwich, Trinity, and Conn College (2)

Looks like after 2 close losses to Conn to start the season that Matthews saw something that suggested that both goalies are fairly equal and since then they are getting equal time and quality of opponents (Plaman actually maybe a little more with St A's and Elmira and she has a better save % and GAA). I don't know if you're a Dobbins fan for some reason but from the outside this does not look like a starter-backup situation but like an equal time situation.
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

HockeyEast33 said:
True, but looking at what goalie plays against what opponents sure does. Since the first series of the season, the two goalies have been splitting games, including the Middlebury series which is pretty much the ultimate series for an Amherst team.

- Plaman played against Elmira, Colby, Bowdoin, St. A's, Middlebury, Salve, Manhattanville, and Trinity (reverse chronology)
- Dobbins played against Colby, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Southern Maine, Norwich, Trinity, and Conn College (2)

Looks like after 2 close losses to Conn to start the season that Matthews saw something that suggested that both goalies are fairly equal and since then they are getting equal time and quality of opponents (Plaman actually maybe a little more with St A's and Elmira and she has a better save % and GAA). I don't know if you're a Dobbins fan for some reason but from the outside this does not look like a starter-backup situation but like an equal time situation.
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No dog in the fight this year, still do feel like Dobbins is a bit stronger though. That being said after watching 4 years of the same roll the lines everyone is "equal" mentality it's no wonder Amherst hasn't won anything, even when they've had the chance in the past few years. Everyone isn't equal at that level, hence why you have a top line etc. Still getting stressed over it this year!! Time to get a new hobby.
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

hockey4u said:
No dog in the fight this year, still do feel like Dobbins is a bit stronger though. That being said after watching 4 years of the same roll the lines everyone is "equal" mentality it's no wonder Amherst hasn't won anything, even when they've had the chance in the past few years. Everyone isn't equal at that level, hence why you have a top line etc. Still getting stressed over it this year!! Time to get a new hobby.
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Agree with that 100%.

Amherst is a strange team...probably the best top-to-bottom in the league, although this year they are really missing a complimentary scorer to go with Topal...It's really pretty simple....If you can stop her they will lose.
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

bearcat said:
Agree with that 100%.

Amherst is a strange team...probably the best top-to-bottom in the league, although this year they are really missing a complimentary scorer to go with Topal...It's really pretty simple....If you can stop her they will lose.
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It looked like Elmira had that in mind Tuesday. Except for one Toupal-esque dance 1x4 through the zone and into the goalie's grill, they seemed to have someone in her sweater.
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

obserbear said:
It looked like Elmira had that in mind Tuesday. Except for one Toupal-esque dance 1x4 through the zone and into the goalie's grill, they seemed to have someone in her sweater.
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It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this stuff out [unfortunately many of these coaches are not great with rockets]...Amherst graduated the complimentary scorers...so she's pretty much it.
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

So, picks for this weekend:

Trinity at Colby. The fight for who gets to to be the last team in the league. Trinity takes both games.

Hamilton at Middlebury. Hamilton is an interesting team and has given fits to Midd before. But on the big ice Midd should take both games.

Bowdoin at Wesleyan. Bowdoin seems to be stepping up, but I've not seen Wesleyan play this year so far. I'm going to guess a split here.

Amherst vs. Williams. This is a home-and-home series for the two teams. Amherst has been on a five game win streak until Tueday, but Williams isn't slouching either. A split here too.

Conn College at Saint Anselm. The way Conn is playing recently, this should be another with for Conn.
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

Hamilton goalie Walther pitched a perfect game stopping all 21 Middlebury shots and the Continental power play (6 for 67 coming into this evening) came alive producing two 2nd period goals as Hamilton beat Middlebury 2-0 this evening at Kenyon.
The game opened at a very fast pace; back and forth, end to end on the large Kenyon ice. It was not until 9:24 of the 1st that the Panthers had their first shot on goal. Hamilton mounted good pressure on a power play, but failed to score. The Panthers had a good chance at about 13:40 when Winslow had an open look from the left circle brushed away by Walther's blocker.
Middlebury came out strong in the 2nd and were buzzing low getting shots only to be assessed a penalty (and Midd never seemed to regain the momentum). Hamilton made the most of the opportunity. Parkman got the puck to Mackey on right point; Mackey had lots of space and walked into the right circle and deftly put the puck up into the far corner of the net to Panther goalie Neuberger's stickside. The Continentals extended the lead on a similar play. Parkman again fed Mackey at right point; she again had space and her shot forced Neuberger to do a split kicking the low shot out with her right pad. Rockey put the rebound up into the open net from low left side of the crease.
The 3rd saw both Middlebury goalie Neuberger and Hamilton goalie Walther trading saves. Middlebury got the extra attacker on for 2:15, but the Continentals kept the puck from getting to the crease and preserved Walther's shutout.
Back in action tomorrow at 3.
 
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Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

Witnessed history this afternoon as Hamilton became the first team to achieve a two game sweep of Middlebury at Kenyon. Obviously the play of Continental junior goalie Walther (56/57 or .978) was outstanding but equally important was the play in front of Walther, where her team were blocking shots and clearing Panther players and the few rebounds Walther yielded. It is one thing to understand how to play against Middlebury on the big Kenyon ice, but Hamilton was true to the game plan and kept things packed in. Middlebury controlled the puck for long stretches and their forwards dig in the corners and cycle off the back wall and around the net, but they were not able to find/or were not allowed by the Hamilton D to get to pucks in the kill zone at the top of the crease. It would be easy to overlook the amazing improvement in the Continental powerplay this weekend. Hamilton powerplay entered the weekend at 6/67 (.090) over 16 games and went 4/7 accounting for all the goals scored. The four goals all came on almost identical plays. This afternoon Hamilton opened the scoring in the 1st. Knop fed the puck from the blueline to her right to Giuttari at the top of the right circle. Giuttari had space and her drive off Panther goalie Han's pads was put in by Jewell at the stickside post. The game winning goal featured the contributors of Friday night's game winner. Parkman moved the puck from center of the blueline to Mackey top of the right circle. The Panthers again failed to challenge possession in that right circle and Mackey had space to get a shot through that Rockey deftly deflected into the net to Han's stickside. Middlebury had drawn even with their own powerplay goal in the 2nd. Winslow got the puck out from the left to Watson in center field on the blueline. Watson walked slightly right and launched a shot that Sheline tipped from the high slot between the circles, beating Walther high gloveside. Middlebury got the goalie off at 18:20 and :30 later Watson caught a post on a drive from left point, but time ran out and history was made.
Long drive down from Middlebury got me thinking about the Goal Gods. How do you outshoot someone 36-9 and lose. I guess the answer obviously lies in the play of the Continentals...but (and I warn of potential for micro-invalidation here) couldn't Friends of Panther Hockey afford more chickens?
Here are the NESCAC standings:
http://nescac.com/sports/wice/2016-17/standings
If anyone can figure out what happens from here, I am all ears.
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

After this weekend there is a realistic chance that there will be no NESCAC team in the top 10 poll. Has that ever happened before?
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

HockeyEast33 said:
After this weekend there is a realistic chance that there will be no NESCAC team in the top 10 poll. Has that ever happened before?
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well..in reality there should be several in the top 10 including Amherst, Conn, Midd and Hamilton...the problem is they keep knocking each other off...However that does not mean they aren't better than most of the other teams out there.
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

bearcat said:
The fact that a **** team like Endicott is ranked #6 based on SOS tells you all you need to know about this "formula ranking"...total and complete horse****!!
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I didn't say I agree....but some voters do use it to consider their vote.... i must say though Endicott has surprised a lot of people.
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

bearcat said:
The fact that a **** team like Endicott is ranked #6 based on SOS tells you all you need to know about this "formula ranking"...total and complete horse****!!
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Krach does have Endicott ranked 6th, yes. Their SOS on Krach only has them ranked 39 of the 54 teams ranked. I like it as a tool, but it's not the only tool in the toolbox!
 
Re: NESCAC 2016-2017 season

Midd 2 Norwich 1 end 2. Norwich goal by Schwenzfeier. Midd by Sheline from Young and Watson Watson with second goal from young and Winslow
 
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