Nescac

[Mr.Right]

What an absolutely electrifying and prodigious Weekend of Nescac Men's Hockey.

Uh-oh uh-huh oh yea oh its time to get yourself pumped, hyped, energized, charged up and even wild eyed and a bit crazed as it is getting to be that time of the year for Hockey. Focus and discipline are key but you also gotta have fun out there because it allows the player to play with freedom which breeds confidence.

There are so many topics to cover and write about and only so much time. I will try to dig deeper into the following stories from the Weekend throughout the week:

-Wesleyan and Amherst going on the Road and picking up 2 Wins and 6 Pts.

-My new found respect for Trinity and the talent and swagger they possess. BUT only IF they keep up the focus for all 60 minutes, stay disciplined, continue to play unselfishly and bust their butt like they did against Williams.

-With Amherst defeating Colby they have successfully brought Colby back to the pack. If you look at the standings we have a 5 team dog-eat-dog for Home Ice and the Regular Season Title (maybe 6 but only if Hamilton can Win out and finish 5-0 which if you look at their remaining schedule is practicable if they can get all their injured / Covid players back). The Regular Season Title in any of these Sports has historically been the more satisfying title even if it does not get you the AQ for the NCAA's. Winning a 2 week conference tournament is the more challenging and exciting because of the NCAA berth but it is a completely different entity than winning a 3 month Horse Race.

-I have not really dug into Amherst much in my writing so far but that does not mean I am not paying attention and watching them play. They are an adaptable team as proven this weekend with the 5-3 Win at Bowdoin and the 1-0 Win at Colby. They can score 5 Goals against an organized Bowdoin side and then they can also shutout a Colby team that had been 8-0-1 in their last nine games before the Home Loss to Amherst. Amherst has some of the best team speed in the league which I really enjoy watching and G #30 Dan Dachille after a tough start to the season has played very well since being thrown a bone and called on for the Curry game. Instead of a one and done Dachille took full advantage as he played so well there was no way the Coaching Staff could sack him and go back to the Frosh G #1 Connor Leslie who Amherst had been using. The Amherst Win over Bowdoin was even more impressive in view of the fact that Amherst RD Pieter von Steinbergs got ejected 2 minutes into the game after he lost control of his emotions for a split second which morphed into a ruthless hit from behind into the boards on Bowdoin's #7 Ethan Kimball. Kimball is one tough dude though as Bowdoin used a fierce aggressive Line of LW #7 Ethan Kimball, C #24 Kyle Jarosz and RW #12 Jimmy Duffy early in the game. The three of them are competitors and bangers and they came out on the forecheck and were hitting hard and with purpose. They were not only keeping the puck in the O Zone because of the hitting they were throwing their weight around pretty good. von Steinbergs had seen enough and went for the crushing hit and eventually paid for it. So that minute or two of forechecking not only gave Bowdoin some sniffs on goal but it got the team and crowd pumped with some big hits early in the game. It also absolutely frustrated the veteran von Steinbergs to the point of retaliation and ejection. That would be called a productive minute or two of forechecking.

-von Steinbergs. Prussian Nobility no matter. This kid works his butt off. He is an entertaining and fun player to watch and more importantly is a fantastic example for the youngsters. From a distance he seems a real mature leader and his on Ice demeanor and play, besides the Bowdoin disaster, should be watched carefully and emulated by his teammates. He is one of the best two way players in the league. Great puck carrier, covers a lot of Ice, moves the puck out of the zone well, great speed(I feel like sometimes he looks like he has been shot out of a cannon) on the rush, his passing and he can score Goals. When his team needs him he comes thru as he can create his own shot as his 2nd Period PPG and buzzer beating bomb from the point at Babson as an example. He is committed to this program as he is a 5th year player with his Frosh season being in 2017-2018. Amherst is really going to miss this blue liner next season and I hope he gets to enjoy the final few weeks of his career at Amherst.

-Colby v Hamilton game I would like to break down and I still have not had a chance to watch yesterday's Sunday Showcase of Amherst at Colby. Looking forward to that.

-I wish the league would continue next year to keep one game a weekend for a Sunday Showcase at 1pm. It would be great for recruits because they are probably not playing on a Sunday and could come for a visit. The students I know usually get a lot of their work done on Sunday's but if your team plays on a Sat/Sun then you would have Friday open to do your school work and you would probably only play one or two Sunday's throughout the season anyway so it is not a big ask. It is an opportunity to showcase the league in D3 Hockey and I hope it sticks around. The mid-week games are tougher and the travel needs to be cut down. Again I think these HC's should really think about tossing the Home and Away's. You have one league game against each team and play 9 League games. Then you will be able to play OOC games in January and February when your team is not at a disadvantage. Williams playing an Oswego team twice on Thanksgiving weekend with Oswego already having played 9 games and been in season for a month and a half compared with Williams only 2 games into their season and barely been playing for a month. Amherst same thing with playing Utica on Thanksgiving weekend. Wes and Trinity playing Adrian etc etc. It is great that the league is playing these teams but you want to play them later in the season when both teams are dug in deep into their respective seasons and it is more of a fair fight. Also by getting rid of the Round Robin the HC of each Nescac teams will have much more flexibility and command of one's own schedule. IDK maybe they want the Round Robin because it does create rivalries but you can always schedule an optional 2nd game against any Nescac team you want it just would not count in the league standings.

-Props to Tufts for bouncing back from their 3-1 Home Loss to Williams with a Home Win and Road Tie against Conn. I hope to be able to re-watch those games as well. Frankly I thought after Conn's great effort against Colby it would carry over to the Tufts back to back's. It was not to be and Tufts showed they want nothing to do with Play-In games and are now 4 pts back of Hamilton for 6th Place with a Home and Away coming this weekend against The Continentals which will determine Tufts fate in the standings and Play-In games.

-Williams had a tough weekend losing two Home games to Wes 0-3 and Trin 2-3. Williams has a lot of guys out but the effort against Trinity is something to build off of. Williams played hard all game and created some good scoring chances but could not get that 3rd Goal. A 5v3 in the 2nd period proved the difference as Trinity took advantage of their opportunities. Trinity did have Williams pinned in their D-Zone for long stretches at times and were working very hard. I will go into Trinity more later but Williams should hold their heads high after that effort and move on to prepare for Babson tomorrow and Midd this weekend. I will be curious to see what Williams team shows up in Wellesley because a win at Babson could give Williams a shot in the arm of confidence to finish strong. Very impressed with the play of Frosh LW #24 Nicholas Rashkovsky as he showed courage all game not being afraid to get his body in front of the goal until someone moved him. He got a Goal out of it and with #9 Niko not really doing his usual getting in front of Goal against Trinity it was necessary that someone did and the Vermont Academy product proved to be the one.

-Lastly a big shout out to Williams Men's Soccer JR #6 Nick Boardman who was doing the Color for the stream of the Williams v Trinity game. Who knew it would take a box to box Soccer Midfielder to come into the booth of a Hockey game and not only add some personality to the stream he did a solid job of breaking down the game and what each team was trying to accomplish in each zone. He was not quiet either as the kid was confident and jumping in with analysis at will. The first Williams Men's Soccer player in over 40 years to be recruited out of the Brunswick School and Greenwich, CT he has more than proven his work ethic and play on the field was well worth the investment. Well done "Boardo" and right up there with Jimmy Delano for Top Dog of Color Commentating on the Williams Hockey broadcasts.

 

[Birds]

Wondering, do you do a poll as in the past ? Not talking NCAA. Just your own poll. How do I see it ?

 

[Mr.Right]

Some Respect for Trinity:

Trinity finished the weekend with a Win and a Tie for a respectable 4.5/6 pts on the Road. Trinity now sits at 10-7-1(8-5-1) with an admirable 5-2-1 Road record. I was unable to catch anything but the box score for their 2-2 game at Midd on Friday night but from what I saw in the 3-2 Win at Williams on Saturday afternoon I was very impressed. They were relentless all game, disciplined(1 Penalty), more unselfish than I expected them to be and every player worked hard for 60 minutes. All that plus some timely scoring and a solid effort in net by the Frosh G #35 JP Mella who played both games on the weekend.

Trinity leads all of Nescac with 53 Goals in 18 Games. That is a 2.94 Goals per game average in what is probably one of the better OOC schedules in the league. They have a commanding lead in SOG with 630 for an average of 35 Shots on Goal a Game. The next best average is Colby with 507 for an average of 29 SOG/Game. The rest of the league is hovering on average between 26-29 SOG/Game. So Trinity is finding 6 more SOG than anyone else in the league but for me it is more important to know where the SOG are coming from on the Ice as quality chances are more important than quantity but more Shots equal more opportunities for rebounds and mistakes. You cannot score if you do not shoot. They lead the league in PPG with 18 and are 18/73 on the PP for a league leading .247%. They are 2nd in the league allowing only 37 Goals Against in 18 Games for an average of 2.06 GA behind only Colby (27 Goals Against in 17 Games for a crazy 1.59 GA per game). They are also a well disciplined team as they lead the league in the least amount of Pens called (68) and PIM (136:00) for an avg of 3.78 Pens a Game with an average of 7 minutes a Game in the Box just ahead of Williams and Wesleyan which are also well disciplined sides.

Trinity can roll 4 Lines no problem and with a dangerous Top Line. My hunch is they probably still have some really good players not dressing. Their Top 2 Lines have the best production in Nescac. Against Williams they used LW #29 Jax Murray 8-8-16, C #19 Lucas Michaud 5-9-14 and RW #22 Gerard Maretta 9-6-15. Murray had an Assist on Maretta's Goal top shelf to open the scoring while Michaud got the GW'er from the slot on a 5v3 in the 2nd Period. Maretta is quick thinking with the puck on his stick and pushed hard on the rush. A real solid player. The Captain Michaud showed no fear by sticking his *ss in front of the goal and refusing to be moved including by Williams 6'4 D Lawrick just punishing him with carbon fiber to the back but still Michaud was unafraid and would move out and right back in causing all kinds of problems. Michaud has proven to be one of Nescac's most dangerous weapons offensively his entire career. He also showed well on the F/O's not only winning them but tying his opponent up. Murray showed real finesse with the stick handling as he had good control of the puck and was able to orchestrate it any way he wanted. He has never been in the Penalty Box and his dangerous speed and skill make him a real fun player to watch.

Next Line they had LW #17 Riley Prattson 2-8-10, C #21 Kyle Tomaso 5-9-14 and RW #9 Cole Poliziani 2-4-6. Prattson is a high energy guy. He let's no one off easy and uses his quickness to effectively hunt the puck. At 5'9 185 he is built like a solid block and his low center of gravity gives him an advantage of having his body more stable when skating, stick handling and checking which allows him to play physical with some heavy hitting. Prattson finished with 6 Goals his Frosh year so you figure he is due with only 2 to date. Tomaso has 5 Goals overall of which 2 are GWG with 3 PPG and 1 SH. Sneaky good on those F/O's he seems pretty adaptable to playing with any of his teammates as he is always on a different Line when I tune in. Poliziani is Captain along with Michaud and is another dangerous offensive player but his numbers are down from his stellar Soph year of 9-10-19 with 4 PPG and 3 GW'ers so I am guessing he is playing more the "what does my team need from me today for us to Win this game and is fine letting others do the sniping" or I could be completely wrong and he could just be in an absolute scoring funk because he is still one of the PP units.

Another dangerous Line is the Young Guns Line of Soph LW #13 Devan Tongue 5-4-9, Frosh C #16 Nick Siffringer 1-5-6 and Frosh RW #27 Richard Boysen 4-0-4. Both Siffringer and Boysen are solid two way players and are an important part of Trinity's PK units. Boysen got Trinity's 2nd Goal against Williams with a nicely placed wrister top shelf with of course help from his Frosh Linemate Siffringer who was in front of the goal setting a nice screen on Williams G #31 Ruschil to take him out of the play and set up Boysen. Sifflinger impressed me at Williams last weekend with his persistent and sustained hustle every shift he was on the Ice. As if it was his last shift and it is refreshing when Frosh come in and bust like this because it can be contagious for the veterans on the team as too see a kid who always brings it usually can rejuvenate a down on their luck upperclassman if their happens to be one on your team. Anyone named Devan Tongue better be a sniper and the kid has proven his worth as he can bring it with hustle, skill and the ability to create his own shot and score off it. A good young talented player that Trinity will be relying on to start driving the bus next year and beyond along with his Linemates.

Lastly another solid two way Line with LW #12 Casey Rhodes 4-1-5, C #11 Paul Selleck 2-3-5 and RW Connor Sundquist 0-2-2 who is their most important forward on their PK. Selleck and Rhodes bring quickness and scoring danger right at tired defenses. Selleck is usually on the Top 2 Lines. I have seen #25 Jacob Smith used on this Line as well but he was scratched against Williams.

Defensively two pairings stay intact. LD #28 Eamon Doheny 1-2-3 8 Blocks and RD #24 Ned Blanchard 1-3-4 speedster who is an important piece on the PP. Both are used on the PK and have shown incredible discipline with 3 and 2 Pens apiece respectively. They just complement each other well. Doheny is a big Deerfield Academy kid who has shown well as a Frosh. The other pairing that compliment each other well is LD #20 John Campomenosi 1-6-7 also leads the team in blocks with 19 and in Shots with 64. RD #23 Andrew Troy 2-1-3 with 13 Blocks. Both Campo and Troy lead the PK with Campo running the PP. Last defensive pairing was #5 Teddy Griffin and #3 Kevin O'Leary with #8 Jacob Borgida 1-2-3 another big physical presence but does lack pace.

PP Has 18 Goals and with these Lines you can see why Trin leads Nescac in %.

PP#1 Tomaso-Michaud-Maretta-Murray-Campo.

PP#2 Tongue-Selleck-Poliziani-Prattson-Blanchard.

PK Trinity plays an I-Formation on the PK with the forwards staying very pinched and tight playing off each other and the defenseman. Sundquist is very good at this and to me he leads the PK and sometimes is used as the xtra skater and only plays on the PK which is a huge advantage.

PK#1 Sundquist-Prattson-Blanchard-Doheny.

PK#2 Siffringer-Boysen-Troy-Campo.

Starting Goalie had been #33 Patrick Pugliese but #35 JP Mella started both games this past weekend. Maybe Pugliese has an injury / Covid or maybe his HC gets annoyed when he wanders out of his goal(i.e Hamilton game) but both Goalies have very good #'s with both hovering around a 2.00 GAA but Pugliese has played 13 Games to Mella's 5. Who starts against Bowdoin / Colby this weekend will probably answer my question.

So to wrap I think this Trinity team is pretty talented but if they start to get over confident and think they are too good to be playing their opponent in a Playoff game and too good to be losing to them then they are doomed to repeat the mistake they made in 2020. Swagger will only get you so far, you need to show up when it matters and Trinity showed up in Williamstown last weekend. If they play like that for 60 minutes and could squeeze Home Ice from Colby, Williams, Wes and Amherst they will be in as good a position to win a Nescac Title and get the AQ as anyone.

 

[Mr.Right]

Goals of the past Weekend that I Liked:

1. Wesleyan's #11 Alex Giummo---This Goal was a thing of beauty. A perfectly conducted Rush as it was started by a #13 Sorabella give and go with #7 LaChance with Sorabella ending up on the goaline playing across the goal to Giummo who buried it. Wes had an early 3-0 lead in the 1st period at Midd and they were clicking all over the Ice but this Goal was my favorite.

2. Bowdoin's #17 Albert Washco---This was all Washco as his stop and cut just beyond the point got him free from his man and into the high slot where he snapped a wrister on the PP to give Bowdoin an early 1-0 lead v Amherst.

3. Colby's #2 Michael Thomas---Another PP Goal that is completely scored wrong in the boxscore. They have #14 Breitenfeldt with an Assist and it should be #3 John McElaney. Eh small potatoes I suppose. Anyway this PP Goal had everything. Deception-#9 Sanzone faked a slapper from the point and played McElaney across the Ice, this started to get Hamilton Goalie #29 Sean Storr out of his set position and moving side to side. Unselfishness-It took McElaney about 2 seconds to then then play Thomas at the opposite dot below the point where Sanzone had faked his shot, this caught Storr still on the other side of the Goal and moving back from one side to the other to try to get Thomas would be shot. Composure-Thomas did not rush and took the extra second he had and placed a beauty near post over Storr's left shoulder. Not easy and most kids would have rushed that shot to try to beat Storr as sometimes under pressure you can get nervy and start rushing shots and passes. Anyway I liked this Goal because of my 3 keys in Bold.

 

[Mr.Right]

"Right Back On Top"---That whole piece I went into on Sunday about Colby coming back to the pack did not last long. With the Home Win over Midd on Tuesday they have a 3.5 point lead on 2nd Place Wesleyan with a huge Friday Night Clash coming up between the two teams. Frankly if Colby Wins that Game in regulation and they own the tiebreaker with Wes they will have a 6.5 point lead on Wes and maybe a 5 point lead on Trinity on Saturday morning with only 3 Games left in the season. That will probably be too much to overcome for anyone even Trinity because Wes and Trinity still have to battle on the final Weekend in a back-to-back. I think Williams with only 3 Games remaining might be to far back with 26 pts and Amherst with only 23.5 pts but with 4 Games remaining are also to far back. I believe it has come down to a three team race just because both Trinity and Wesleyan get to play Colby this Weekend and then each other in a Home and Away. We will certainly know where everything stands on Sunday but the Wes v Colby Game is both teams most important of the season.

"Did We Have A Game Tonight?"---Wesleyan(10-8-2) walloped Albertus Magnus(12-7-1) last night 5-1 in a complete thumping. I was expecting a competitive game because I had seen Albertus beat Hamilton and Trinity plus Tie Conn. I forgot that they really have nothing to play for anymore as they have no conference affiliation this year and no NCAA berth possible. They will play in something called the GNAC Commissioner's Cup next weekend in a 2 Game Championship with which I am guessing other Independents because the GNAC conference does not have Men's Hockey. It should as a lot of their schools could benefit enrollment and $$$ wise. Oh yes the game well Wesleyan took advantage of an Albertus team that looked 1. uninterested in playing and 2. unwilling to work as hard as Wes. Wesleyan also came out dominant as they have for the past few weeks scoring the first 3 Goals for a 3-0 lead and adding 2 more with 3 total on the PP and it was "Good Night Irene" after the 2nd Period. The Wes PP is starting to click as they not only got 3 Goals off it they are creating all kinds of dangerous chances and are moving very well off the puck. But my favorite two Goals of the game were the two 5v5 Goals. Goal#1 Me Jaw Opened(My best Scottish go) #7 Jake LaChance continues his great play and the Wes D-Men love getting in on the offense. A cagey movement off the puck from the neutral zone by LaChance caught Albertus completely napping and nice unselfish passing by #16 O'Connor and #15 Cobb who then found LaChance tape to tape as he was charging in and ripped one of his filthy wristers to beat the Goalie. Goal #2 Me Jaw Dropped(my best Liverpool try) #2 Emmet Powell made an absolutely filthy move to lose an Albertus defender and create enough space to get a mean wrister off to beat the Albertus Goalie. Just a filthy move and worth the highlight reel. On a more serious note hope one of the Wesleyan Captain's Senior #9 Tyler Levine is doing better after he had to leave the game in the 1st period after what looked like he dislocated his shoulder. Hopefully they popped it back in and most likely told him his season is done even though the sling can come off in 2 weeks. Still you can play thru a dislocated shoulder after the 2 weeks but the doctor will not recommend it.

 

[Mr.Right]

#MuleTrain Wknd Recap:

After 3 Home Games in 4 days Colby came out of it with 2 Wins and a Loss. A 3-2 OT Win over Hamilton was the most exciting game and a 3-2 Win over Midd showed Colby knows how to Win games when they are not playing their best(and frankly showed Midd knows how to Lose Games however they are playing). A gritty 0-1 Loss v Amherst was frustrating as they had created some good looks but could not get anything by Amherst G #30 Dan Dachille. More importantly Colby is now 13-4-1(10-3-1) with 30.5 Points to lead the league. They are playing the most consistent Hockey in the league sporting a 9-1-1 Record over their last 11 Games. Everyone is chipping in and more importantly from a distance the players seem to be enjoying themselves and having fun throughout this whole season. It is amazing what winning can do.

My Top 4 Contributers From The Weekend(not in any order)

1. #33 Andy Beran-3 Games in 4 days no problem for the youngster. This Soph is super cat quick in net and made some great saves all weekend. He moves side to side with seeming ease which allows him to make some spectacular saves. I am guessing he sees the puck better than most and even if he doesn't he will get big and stick his torso in front of it. These Goalies not only need Cat like speed but they need Cat like eyes. He was even the primary Assist on #3 John McElaney's first GW'ing Goal of the weekend against Hamilton. A beautiful give and go between the two. In 17 Games Beran sports a 11-4-1 Record with a league leading 1.59 GAA and .939 Save % and 3 SO. Beran has only given up 27 GA and only 3 PPG all year.

2. #3 John McElaney-Another Soph who is playing with a ton of confidence. He is 5-6-11 for the year and had 2 key GW'ing Goals this past weekend and leads the team with 3 GWG. The 5'10 170lb dynamo is all over the Ice, busts his butt, good quick hands, unselfish yet selfish enough to score 2 GW'ers and one of the better passers of the puck on his team. His GW'er v Midd showed his composure under pressure. McElaney smartly held the puck for an extra second before shooting which completly faked the Midd Goalie out who had to commit to the would be shot and once McElaney got the Goalie to commit it allowed McElaney a free look on goal which he calmly buried. A Fun player to watch and love that he is rewarded with PP minutes.

3. Captain #2 Michael Thomas-One of Colby's 3 Captain's he finished the past weekend with a Goal and an Assist and was instrumental on the Defensive end in all 3 Games. He had missed some games in January but has come roaring back like a lion. Sometimes the play of the youngins' like Sullivan, Korpi, O'Brien etc on the defensive end can get an Injured / Covid veteran like Thomas who missed a few games real hungry again. Not that he wasn't before but competition within a team is a really good sign of hunger within the player. The kid plays with passion and is not afraid to throw his weight around with some heavy hits. In 15 Games he is 2-6-8 and is 3rd on the team in Blocks with 16(behind #6 Halpin with 27 and #20 Sullivan with 19).

4. Captain #15 Quinn Doyle-Another of Colby's Captains he has really stepped up his game in the last few weeks. He has been rewarded with starting LW duties on the Top Line with C #12 Bourhas and RW #8 Grillo and joins them on the PP as well. A nice feed from Grillo behind the Goal to a charging Doyle and Hamilton's G #29 Sean Storr had no chance as Doyle buried it. In 15 Games he sports a 4-4-8 and is 3rd on the team with 46 SOG. The "Rachacha" native is a horse on the Ice and a tough kid not afraid to get his nose right into the action. His puck pursuit is for me the most entertaining part of his game to watch. He has a high Hockey IQ and awareness of where the puck is going and has the ability to get there first. A great example would be in the Colby v Hamilton game Doyle on his own created a 4v1(Colby failed to convert) with his puck hunting ability. He is smart and takes away space from the opponent with the help of his teammates as they take away passing lanes. Colby does this very well and if there were a stat for forced giveaway's throughout the game I am sure Colby would be near the top in the league. I suppose it would be tough to determine who actually forced the giveaway but maybe a good team stat that to me would be as important as Blocks. I would want to know how many giveaways my team and my opponent has throughout the game and where on the Ice these turnovers are happening. Almost like a +/- for turnovers. Who is on the Ice when we are forcing the most giveaway's.

Honorable Mention:

#6 Austen Halpin-This Senior Lefty D-Man had a 3 Game Weekend of 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 6 Blocks. The Goal was a bomb from the point that knotted up the score 2-2 in the 2nd Period against Midd. Halpin is not a Captain but that does not mean he is not a Senior leader on this team. He was pumped after the Goal and those were his first Points of the year. He has missed 4 Games but still has a wide margin of a lead in Blocks for Colby with 27 and shows discipline with only 3 Pens all year.

#9 Brian Sanzone-Had a Goal and 2 Assists in the 3 Games and is 4-3-7 on the season. His physical play combined with his skill make him one of Colby's more dangerous offensive players.

#12 Alex Bourhas-Bourhas sports a 4-2-6 and his play last month was rewarded with a spot on the Top Line and PP. He has not scored in the past 5 Games since moving to the Top Line after the Southern Maine clinic. Still I am a big believer in winning F/O's and gaining possession from the start. I see that the trend now is not to specifically care about the F/O as much as long as you hunt the puck right back to gain possession. Still it would save a ton of energy to just WIN the puck from the start instead of constantly having to recover. This is why Bourhas is here as he had 38 F/O Wins with only 24 F/O Losses. That is a high % and worthy of hon. mention.

#13 Henry Molson-It is getting harder and harder to keep this kid off the Ice. His quick hands proved beneficial from behind the Goal as the Lefty made an incredible pass to Sanzone for his Goal v Midd. He also made an unreal saucer pass from his D Zone to #18 Jake MacDonald in the Amherst game to release him and get him free alone on goal. MacDonald dinged it off the bar but it would have been a highlight reel play. I get the feeling his lack of pace makes the Coaching Staff a little nervy and sometimes he can get careless with the puck in his own end but he has very quick hands and I believe with even more focus and discipline this kid will be not only scoring Goals but contributing everywhere on the Ice.

 

[Mr.Right]

Randoms:

1. Absolutely LOVE the Wes YouTube broadcasts midweek. All you need is a skilled camera person. Make sure the Volume is ON so the viewer does not feel muted and feels like they are there. No Announcers on the stream. They are not needed. I absolutely love to hear just the sounds of the game. Who needs some guy "yackety-yak yacking" or driveling along when you have so much action in front of you. Some of these guys are obviously very good like Caleb Lamb for Colby, the Bowdoin and Midd guys as well. The Conn Announcer to start the year was absolutely nuts however he has not been on the broadcast lately but I thought he was funny. He used some odd language that hockey players probably understand but not me. When the Goalie was out of the net he would scream " The net is Yawning". When players would be clawing on the boards for loose pucks it would be "there mucking, there mucking, there mucking". Mucking usually means wasting time so I do not get that one until he compared farming on muck ground to farming in a compost pile. So his idea of "mucking" is to battle in cow sh*t?? IDK bout that one. Anyway as long as you know the rosters you have no need for an announcer just a skilled cameraman but I imagine people would start to complain. People LOVE to complain and some are very skilled at it but to me your wasting time. I used to battle with all the "haters" in my 20's and looking back it was a complete waste of time. There is only so much time in a day so best to spend it wisely and not waste a minute on these people. Moving On........

 

[Mr.Right]

Amuse and Divert:

Home Team on Bottom Row.

Amherst: 8-9-2 (7-6-1) (-.5 +120)
Conn: 5-9-2 (4-7-2) (+.5 -145) O/U 5



Bowdoin: 5-8-4 (5-6-3) (+1.5 -200)
Trinity: 10-7-1 (8-5-1) (-1.5 +160) O/U 5



Colby: 13-4-1 (10-3-1) (+.5 -120)
Wesleyan: 10-8-2 (8-4-2) (-.5 EVEN) O/U 4.5



Hamilton: 7-8-0 (6-7-0) (-.5 +110)
Tufts: 4-11-1 (4-7-2) (+.5 -110) O/U 5.5

 

[Mr.Right]

Wondering, do you do a poll as in the past ? Not talking NCAA. Just your own poll. How do I see it ?

Birds,
Uscho.com, D2/3, Polls or Pairwise....

 

[Mr.Right]

Quick Recaps of the games I was able to catch on Friday 2-11.

Hamilton at Tufts-

Hamilton Won the game one minute into OT on #13 D Nick Rutigliano's vicious slap shot from just inside the blue line to beat Tufts 4-3 Soph G #32 Peyton Durand. This was a game with not much flow as the whistles were blowing every two minutes. There were 15 Penalties between the teams(Tufts 8, Hamilton 7) with the most costly being by Tufts Frosh #13 Harrison Bazianos in the final minute of regulation. It carried over to the OT and gave Hamilton a 4v3 in OT which proved the difference. This is Hockey IQ stuff. Bazianos's penalty was in the neutral zone after he had just had the puck on his stick and was called for Roughing. It is vitally important that you know where you are in the game and on the Ice. Only a minute left in the 3rd Period in the neutral zone is not the time to be overly aggressive especially because "Stripes" seemed to be calling everything in this game. Bazianos is only a Frosh and he will learn but it was a costly. Still Tufts worked very hard and should be proud of the effort and really only lost 1 point in the standings by getting the game to OT and will get their chance at revenge in the Sunday Showcase up at Hamilton which will be both teams 3rd game in 3 days and my guess is it will be a wild one. Tufts had everyone pitching into the scoring and really battled in the 3rd Period getting back into the game after giving up a late 2nd Period Goal to open the 3rd with a 3-1 deficit. #21 Mason Kohn might be one of the best F/O guys in the league as he keeps racking up the Wins going 15-23. So there are plenty of positives to build off of. Hamilton also had everyone pitching into the scoring and have like Kohn, one of the best F/O guys in the league in #10 Fred Allaire winning 15-21 F/O's and #44 Scott McKenzie not a shabby 9-13 at the dot. Still this team is a total enigma for me as somehow they have got to get back to the way they were playing in December. One of their Captains #22 Chad Varney has been out since mid January and in 8 Games he was 2-4-6 but I do not see any other major injuries. Hamilton is young defensively and there have been some breakdowns but nothing unlike any other team. I think they have one of the Top 3 Goalies in the league with G #29 Sean Storr and while this team was struggling to score in January they have started to find the Goal much more consistently lately. I think they need some of their veterans to step it up a bit and give a much more consistent all around effort for this team to go on a run. From a distance it looks like some of the veterans body language during January and even still today can at times almost seem disinterested in what they are doing. Some are playing real well some games and then disappear in others. IDK maybe I am way off on this one. I can promise you no one wants to play Trinity in the Nescac Championship but I think Hamilton still has plenty of talent that I am sure teams will want to avoid if possible especially Trinity who Hamilton swept this year.

 

[FLHockeyMom]

Nice summary, Mr. Right AKA Write. I, too, feel that Hamilton is a much better team on paper than they have shown to date. And I think you hit the nail on the head with the disinterested player syndrome. I’ve always felt that D3 coaches must find it particularly challenging to keep athletes fully engaged for all 4 (or 5, as the case may be) years given the reality that very few athletes graduate to play at the next level. This is particularly true in the NESCAC where there’s such high academic standards resulting in the pressure and distraction of finding good paying gigs in the real world. I imagine it manifests itself in some more than others.

 

[Mr.Right]

Nice summary, Mr. Right AKA Write. I, too, feel that Hamilton is a much better team on paper than they have shown to date. And I think you hit the nail on the head with the disinterested player syndrome. I’ve always felt that D3 coaches must find it particularly challenging to keep athletes fully engaged for all 4 (or 5, as the case may be) years given the reality that very few athletes graduate to play at the next level. This is particularly true in the NESCAC where there’s such high academic standards resulting in the pressure and distraction of finding good paying gigs in the real world. I imagine it manifests itself in some more than others.

Oh I think these Nescac athletes are pretty motivated and there are plenty of motivated Seniors playing right now in the league. It just seems to be Hamilton for some reason. Motivation can be contagious but you need the right guys on the team to get everyone going. Agreed that each kid or situation is different with after graduation thoughts and pressures and maybe it does play a bigger factor on some teams than I realize but I think kids should be able to separate the two. Again Winning plays a huge role in all this.

 

[Mr.Right]

Colby at Wes:

2-2 Final with Colby going up 2-0 early in the 1st period and Wes staying patient not panicking and finding a Goal in each of the 2nd and 3rd Periods. Wes came out sluggish and a bit sloppy with the puck compounded by giving up 2 Goals in the first 10 minutes. However, when their student body arrived the tide turned. Wes was playing for the crowd and the crowd willed them on to biggger hits, harder work and more dangerous scoring chances. It made a big difference in the game. Colby was making life difficult on Wes in the Neutral Zone and it wasn't the cleanest of games yet still really exciting. Colby again was forcing giveaway's like mad and Wes made some dangerous turnovers in their end. Colby C #28 Michael Morrissey was back on the Top Line with #14 Breitenfeldt and #8 Grillo. The Senior Morrisey played like he wanted to stay there. He scored a Goal about one minute into the game as a puck deflected to him and he calmly buried a wrister. Then he got to a loose puck near the half boards in Colby's Offensive end an sent a great pass to Grillo who was charging toward goal and beat Wesleyan's Goalie #31 Marc Smith for a 2-0 lead. Morrisey finished 1-1-2 winning 11-20 F/O's. Grillo actually also finished 1-1-2.The team and the crowd wroked off each other with every hit including #13 Sorabella's crushing hit in the 2nd Period. As the crowd willed Wesleyan back into the Game both Goalies put on a serious display of Goaltending as both made some great saves throughout the game. Wesleyan almost Won it late in Regualtion on a PP but Colby's G Beran stood on his head. Sorabella would be my MVP of the Game for Wes saving about 2 Goals alone defending a 5v3 and putting his body on the line in the 2nd Period. Had Colby scored on that 5v3 the game would have been out of reach for Wesleyan. Sorabella worked hard as usual but also found the GTG with about 10 minutes left in the Game. Solid Game and will be curious what both teams bring today

 

[Mr.Right]

Still on Friday's Games with a Quick Recap:

Amherst at Conn- This was a decent game with 16 Total Penalties(8 for each team) but only Amherst could take advantage on the PP. It was a 1-1 Game for 2 Periods but as the game wore on Amherst really ground Conn down as their speed and possession thru all three zones was causing problems for Conn and three 3rd Period Goals sealed it as Amherst Won the Game 4-1. 1st Period Conn was effective at disrupting Amherst in the neutral zone forcing giveaway's or 50/50's but when Amherst did get into its O Zone 1st Period they looked dangerous and were generating good sniffs at goal. Still Conn's Goalie #1 Sean Dynan was saving everything put on goal for the first 2 Periods. The Amherst Line of LW #25 Ryan Tucker 4-4-8, C #9 Mitchell Shults 2-8-10 and RW #19 Christian Powers 0-3-3 I thought was causing problems early for Conn as Tucker and Shults are like darts with exceptional speed. Amherst has some good young talent with the Frosh LW #20 Ben Kuzma 7-5-12 as he is also leading the team in Shots with 75. Another dangerous player is Frosh #41 Matt Toporowski 3-10-13 as the kid busts and is unafraid out there which is fun too see in a Frosh but he does lead the team with 10 Pens. That is one of Amherst biggest problems as they lead the league with 103 Pens called for 218 minutes spent in the box this season. I think some of it is an individual lack of discipline but a lot of it is Amherst plays an aggressive style when hunting the puck and sometimes Pens will happen but Amherst also can get careless, lazy and frustrated(i.e Amherst #22 Connor Merrill in the 1st Period missed a chance off a 2v1 then proceeded to allow his frustration of the missed shot morph into a lazy and unnecessary Hooking call in the neutral zone about 20 seconds later after missing his chance on goal.) This is what I mean by players needing a little more "mind control" while still being super aggressive and not letting anyone off easy.

We had a Frosh brother battle in the 1st Period as two more lightning bolts of speed lined up against each other. Amherst Frosh #8 Bobby Luca and Conn's Frosh #24 Jack Luca. They will have 3 more years of battling each other as both played at Roxbury Latin. I absolutely love the name Luca and both first names roll with the last name. Just for a chuckle the name Jack Luca sounds like the name of a CEO or an Investment Banker. The name Bobby Luca echo's a disreputable loan shark who WILL "break legs".

2nd Period Amherst got on the board first with a PP Goal from #16 LD Connor McGinnis. #11 von Steinbergs moved off the puck to create space for himself and his teammates. McGinnis was on the weak side dot and found von Steinbergs on the point. von Steinbergs already knew where he was going as he passed to #4 Senior Sean Wrenn on the strong side. Wrenn smartly one timed a pass back across the Ice thru the slot to a wide open McGinnis still on that weak side dot. McGinnis in one fell swoop cracked a slapper right past Conn's G Dynan for a 1-0 Amherst lead. Conn would score 2 minutes later on a bad giveaway / miss hit by Amherst Soph D #5 Spencer Kimball. Kimball was paired with #3 Greg McGunigle and they had both been on the Ice for what had to be over two minutes but did not have a chance to change. I think Kimball just lost focus for a split second as when you are tired you can sometimes get careless with the puck. Well that is what happened next as it turned into a great pass from behind the Goal to get the primary Assist on Conn's #26 Kei Yasuda's Golazo to even things up 1-1. Kimball was trying to pass to his teammate and Conn's Yasuda was in the right place at the right time as he was in front of the goal and was as surprised as everyone else in the building when the puck was passed perfectly to him and he calmly beat Amherst G #30 Dan Dachille. That would be all that Dachille would let up on this night as he continues his stellar play. This Amherst team with the good goaltending they are getting right now from Dachille is playing some of its best hockey of the year. The skaters in front of him have full confidence in Dachille and therefore are more confident themselves on the Ice. Confidence and similarly lack of confidence can spread like wildfire on a team you gotta roll with the former and try to break the latter. Amherst started 2-6-1 or something but the way Amherst is playing right now it looks like a team on a mission and they will not be satisfied until it Wins the Nescac Championship and gets an NCAA game.

3rd Period began at 1-1 and ended 4-1 Amherst. My "trois etoiles" for Amherst in this game would be G Dachille, RD #11 von Steinbergs and Senior winger #26 Matteo Mangiardi. Dachille I mentioned above. von Steinbergs 2 Assists and again was covering a ton of Ice in this game. His movement off the puck and his passing with his head up shows why he is such a smart player. von Steinbergs was key to Amherst getting its 2nd and 3rd Goal's. 2nd Goal was von Steinbergs winning the puck in his defensive zone sending an unbelievable "Double Seamer" thru the neutral zone that found #26 Mangiardi tape to tape and Mangiardi was in alone on goal as he beat Conn's G Dynan. Mangiardi is having another productive season at 7-5-12. 3rd Goal von Steinbergs carried the puck from one nd to the other and cut on the goaline all with composure and eyes up as he found a wide open Wrenn on the weak side dot for a bomb but it missed everything. This is where #26 Mangiardi comes into play as he retrieved the puck and drove with it into the slot area drawing Conn defenders like a magnet. He waited long enough for Wrenn to get wide open on that weak side dot again and this time Wrenn buried it. #20 Kuzma showed some serious skill on Amherst 4th Goal after receiving a fantastic pass from #22 Merrill in the neutral zone that released Kuzma charging into their offensive zone. Kuzma had to still beat one Conn defender and he used a sick piece of skill to deke the kid and had a free wrister which he placed nicely.

Just a really good effort Friday night by Amherst as they are playing some of the best Hockey in the league right now.

 

[Mr.Right]

Weekend Recap: I have to do this in pieces as there was an abundance of happenings this past Weekend and another Game today but I want to get to every team.

It was a Predominant Weekend For Two Teams:

Trinity- Two Home Wins over Bowdoin and more importantly Colby gave Trinity 6 out of 6 pts for the Weekend. They now sit .5 points behind Colby for 1st Place and Home Ice with 2 Games remaining and did everything they had to do to climb right back in. Trinity had 3 more PPG this weekend with #17 Riley Prattson, #19 Lucas Michaud and #20 John Campomenosi all pitching in with 2 Goals apiece and Trinity is 6-2-1 in their last 9 Games with a Home and Away against Wesleyan to finish out the season. A Trinity v Wes game on Saturday will officially close out the 21-22 Regular Season with the game time moved to 7pm to allow for a little drama to play out if Colby does drop points this weekend. Friday night will be a rematch of the 2020 Nescac Championship. This Home and Away for both teams is perfect preparation for the Nescac Championship. The 2nd Game of a back to back with the same team can be almost as intense as a Playoff Game.

Hamilton- Well this team has forced me to tuck my tail in and eat some humble pie and I am fine with that. I had really questioned the effort of "some" not "all" of Hamilton's veterans and they proved me wrong. Hamilton with 3 Games in 3 Days got 8 out of 9 pts for the Weekend and have now climbed into 4th Place alone with 3rd Place in their sights. They are now 10-8 (9-7) and are 5-1 in their last 6 Games. They defeated Tufts in Malden 4-3 in OT in a game that could have gone either way. In total domination early on in Saturday's Game they roared to a 4-0 lead at Conn and held off a fierce Conn comeback try (Conn got it back to 4-2 and had a flurry of chances on the PP late in the 3rd but could not convert) as they eventually Won that game 5-2. Then in a complete thrashing of Tufts in the Sunday Showcase Hamilton had their best game in like forever as they put on a 2nd Period Clinic and Won 6-1 in the rematch. Tufts did get some sniffs on Goal early and it was 0-0 after the 1st Period as Tufts looked like they were hungry to keep the game close and then go for a possible knockout punch. It was not to be and Tufts being Tufts and so adept at submerging in the middle of games when faced with a little adversity completely collapsed to give up five 2nd Period Goals and it was "tsetchem leshalom" as Hamilton Won the Game 6-1 and outshot the Jumbos 28-6 in the 2nd Period alone. Rumor has it after the 2nd Period the Tufts Bus Driver came into the building and had asked if the plan was to leave now or was Tufts planning on finishing the game. All jokes aside Tufts gave a fantastic effort in the 3rd Period which say's a lot about how much this team is really trying to do the right things. For this game though Hamilton looked as good as I have seen them this year and that is a real good sign. Everyone pitched into the scoring this weekend with RW #24 Matt Gellerman getting a "hatty" at Conn on Saturday and then proceeding to win Nescac POW for the 2nd time this year. The talented Soph is at 11-3-14 for the year and is one skilled winger using his strength and skating to cut to the net and his overall game eventually wears defenders down. The Sunday Showcase also featured an absolutely ridiculous Goal of the Week from Hamilton's #6 Sean McAvoy. The Deerfield Academy lefty was threaded a nice pass as he moved into the O Zone. He was in alone with only one Tufts defender to beat to get to Goal. That defender was Alaskan native #3 Gunnar Stadem. Like most young men and women from Alaska his Dream Job growing up according to his bio was to become a Hedge Fund Manager. Jesus when does this all end. He is only a Soph so plenty of time to change his mind but you are only in your 20's once and unless you really need to go earn take a year or two and really go on an adventure you may find you have a passion for something completely different or think about digging deeper into the game you love(umm Hockey) or try to go to.....forget it just go earn. Right the Goal. McAvoy deked #3 Stadem maybe twice in the same move that was almost Houdini like and then snapped one past Tufts G #32 Peyton Durand to give Hamilton a commanding 4-0 lead before Stadem even realized what had happened. Goal of the Weekend and a must highlight to watch.


Heroes to Zeros:

Word of the day-"Vicissitude"

Amherst- Here I am on here a couple days ago recapping Amherst commanding victory over Conn on Friday night. Writing about how Amherst was playing some of the best Hockey in the league. Writing about how if Amherst were to continue to get consistent goaltending, focused defending and continued goal scoring they would be in a great position to Win that Nescac Championship. Then they travelled to Tufts for a Game on Senior Night for Tufts. I really think Amherst assumed all they had to do was show up and Win. Get off the bus and proclaim that "We have arrived and are in the building do we grab the trophies now or after the game?" In an absolutely dissatisfying and disappointing performance and a "Throw out the Video on that one" Game Amherst went down 5-1 in the 2nd Period and lost the Game 8-5 while out shooting the Jumbos 46-25. Tufts had their usual 10 Penalties/game but 4 of them came after they had a 7-3 lead and were seemingly enjoying themselves while getting to entertain in front of their families and friends. Looked like even Amherst D #3 Greg McGunigle had some local fans show up from nearby Melrose as they went crazy when he scored from the point as Tufts G #35 Josh Sarlo got screened to get Amherst within 3 Goals at 5-2 but it only got worse from there. Rumor has it that McGunigle's fans were so embarrassed at the end of the game they sheepishly snuck out the door without any goodbye's or pleasantries just shaking their heads in disgust and headed back to Oak Grove(I lived in Melrose for a cataclysmic 4 months a while back). Amherst Coaching Staff sacked G #30 Dan Dachille after Tufts scored their third goal in the opening 6 minutes. Personally it was the defending that was deserving of the sack but since that is harder to do you pull the Goalie. The effort and especially focus on defense was just not there for Amherst. Tufts 1st Goal was an #16 Aiden Lovett breakaway off a great pass from #4 Cam Newton. Newton is a serious athlete on skates. Tufts 2nd Goal Dachille allowed a rebound off a tough shot and Tufts Frosh #26 Clark Bolin cleaned it up nicely. When Dachille did cough it up I suppose he could have pounced on the deflected puck faster as he was scored on off the rebound but the 3rd was a free #21 Mason Kohn wrister in the slot with a lot of defenders caught "puck watching". Dachille has really put together some solid goaltending this past month so maybe you let him try to work it out on his own but patience on the Amherst bench was wearing thin and they went to the Frosh #1 Connor Leslie who was not any better throughout the rest of the game and now you might have two Goaltenders with lost confidence or hopefully for Amherst sake it is a one off and everyone forgets it most importantly the Goalies. How everything can change in one night though. Amherst falls to 9-10-2 (8-7-1). Amherst has proven to be a team of spurts this year. Win 3, Lose 4, Win 4, Lose 2 etc etc.


Today's Game:

Midd: 3-12-3 (2-11-2) (+.5 +110) at Conn: 5-11-3 (4-9-2) ( -.5 -110) 5pm O/U 5

Game Notes:
-Conn Home Record: 0-6-3
-Midd Road Record: 1-5-1

-I will get into both of these teams games from this past weekend in my next post but now I will be able to intertwine it with this game.
-Midd has absolutely nothing to play for as they are stuck in either 9th or 10th Place no matter what. That means a Road Game for the Play-In. That did not matter at Williams, will it matter today?
-Is Conn really going to go Winless at Home in 10 Games this year?
-Ever since the 3-3 Tie with Colby Conn has gone 0-3-1 in their last 4 Games.

 

[Mr.Right]

"Look Who Gettin' Hungry..."

Midd defeated Conn 5-3 in New London on Tuesday in a spirited and competitive game especially for two teams tipping the scales under .500. I thought it was an entertaining up and down game for 1.5 Periods. However, Midd's 2nd Goal of the game in the 2nd Period to even things up 2-2 seemed to sort of sap the mentality of Conn. This can happen when you are on losing streaks and they looked frustrated and not willing to deal with the adversity that they knew was coming. Losing can wear you down mentally but you gotta try to be as resilient as you can. Midd's 2nd Goal to even things up was frustrating for Conn because it came off a rebound as Midd's #12 Cole Joslin got on the inside of Conn defenseman #17 Eric Fournier and beat him into position right on the post and Fournier could not move him. The rebound was easily buried by Joslin. Nice play by Midd #2 Jack Clarner to drive the net and shoot to get things started for Joslin's Goal and frankly the best effort on the Goal did not even show up on the stat sheet. #29 Matt Myers started the whole play in the neutral zone when he played #2 on the weak side to catch Conn on its heels and late.

As we entered the 3rd Period the score was 2-2. Anyone's game. Until the actual game started. I have no idea what was said in between periods to either team but Midd flat out came to play and Conn did not. Midd had all the energy and positive vibes after scoring 17 seconds into the Period off of another rebound Goal that came from a 2v1 as Junior Captain D #18 Bret Pastor got his 1st Goal of the year. Midd started the Period with Junior Captain and their scoring leader #23 Emack Bentley 4-7-11 at LW, C #22 Capello and Frosh #77 Wyatt Pastor 1-2-3 at RW. Conn gave the Puck over in the Neutral Zone as Capello got a hold of the puck and played the Frosh Pastor on the strong side boards. Pastor somehow squeezed the puck down the Ice past Conn's #5 Radochia who was on Pastor like glue to Emack who was moving off puck to the opposite wing. So you now have the LW Emack with the puck on the RW Half Boards, Capello charging towards Goal from the Neutral Zone to create the 2v1 as he noticed Radochia was 2 skates behind the play and now uh oh big bro Brett Pastor is trailing right behind Capello on Goal. Emack had his eyes up with the Puck on his stick the entire time and flicked it right to Capello charging in on Goal but Conn's G #30 Cam Fernandez made the Save. The veteran Pastor who was trailing right behind Capello buried the wide open rebound. Very smart to trail your teammate to goal on any odd man rushes. I mean it was like Capello was making a trail with Pastor coming in right behind. A Rebound bonanza.

Midd's 4th Goal was all Frosh. #29 Matt Myers athletically keeping the Puck alive right near the Blue Line after a blocked shot and then unselfishly played #3 Andrew Malatesta for the easy finish and then Malatesta ignored him in "the celey". As if Malatesta did all the work and Myers is just joining "the celey" as the last guy in. Ridiculous. That's a favor owed. Seeyou need to keep track of these things.

Midd's 5th Goal was all #98 Antoine Belisle 2-4-6 who works hard and does everything right and with speed plus can change the direction of a game with one hit. He does not let opponents off easy when he is a Puck hunting but will accumulate Pens with his aggressiveness . Belisle scored his 1st and 2nd Goal's of the season against Conn and needs one more to match his Frosh year. This Goal was a fantastic off Puck read that got him free in the slot with space to shoot and he scored. Completly lost his defender.

Conn's Goalie #31 Cam Fernandez got chased for the 2nd straight Game as #1 Sean Dynan replaced him after the 5th Goal. Personally I do not know what happened to the Senior #35 Mike McHale as I thought he played well v Colby and was surprised when he was not starting at Tufts the next game because he looked the most confident in that Goal to my eyes. Of course my eyes mean nothing but anyway maybe he got injured / Covid. Either way Conn needs to pick one Goalie now and stick with him the rest of the way and the Senior would be where I am going.

Midd PK:
Against Conn Midd was using a Passive 1-3 Neutral Zone ForeCheck on the kill. #23 Emack Bentley the "1" and then three good puck retrievers and stick handlers as your "3" in order. #22 Capello, #3 Malatesta and #18 Pastor. 2nd Line was #98 Belisle for Emack Bentley with #12 Joslin, #6 Dubinsky and #33 Mangan. This is like a Prevent Defense so no stretch passes but the Top guy is the most important as he needs to create as much pressure as he can or the opponent will have the Neutral Zone to work and build up their attack and speed.


"Tough Start"
Middlebury got off to a tough start this season by having all their games cancelled except two in the 1st Half of the year because of Covid. My guess is their practices during this time, if they were even having practice to begin with, was a hodgepodge of players coming and going with the Covid. So with no games and sporadic practices for two months this team of whippersnappers really began their season on Jan 1st. That means they have now played 17 Games in 45 Days which is a Game every 2.7 Days on avg which means even now they really have not had a chance to get 3 Days straight of Full Practice time because of Games, Walk Thru's and Days off. That is a challenging environment to procure real player development and fix bad habits. It would also be hard to implement team tactics and set plays with a different set of players at each practice. Midd is one of the more inexperienced teams in the league(only 3 listed Seniors on the roster) however they do have a core of veterans and reclassified JR's. Midd has a lot of guys that have reclassified and that is a good sign of commitment to the program and hunger that the players have to want to keep playing and improving. All of a sudden though these veterans are starting to gel nicely with the hungry ankle biters. This has given Midd the wherewithal to play their most consistent Hockey of the season at just the right time. They sit in 10th Place at 4-12-3(3-11-2) but have Won 2 straight Road Games to improve to 2-5-1 on the Road with 2 more games at Amherst and at Hamilton to finish out the regular season. This is perfect preparation for a Conference Tournament as Midd will be plenty comfortable to play its game on the Road by the time the Puck drops for the two Friday Night Play-In Games.


They have had some growing pains Defensively, in Goal and especially moving the puck out of their D-Zone with all the giveaway's. Every opponent that I have seen play Midd is on an aggressive forecheck to put early pressure on their D-Men and force turnovers. From what I have seen and I saw them Live at Williams on Saturday they have improved in all three of these areas. Defensively they look much more organized and focused with not nearly the amount of mistakes that were happening early on in the year. In Goal Midd had been using both 6'3 210lb Reclassified Soph #31 Jake Horoho and the 6'1 190lb reclassified JR #1 Adam Wisco and each play a different type of Game and that is good to have, however Horoho looks like for now he has won the job to finish the year starting in 5 straight Games after relieving Wisco 25 seconds into the 2nd Period at Home v Conn at the end of January. I was literally standing 20 feet from Horoho for 2 Periods against Williams and was impressed with not only his game but his athleticism and focus. The kid is an athlete and was controlling rebounds and pouncing on them faster than I expected. I mean he saved everything that Williams threw at him. His issue from the games I have seen on the stream had been on shots from the Point with heavy screens to take him out of the play. When a Goalie is screened its a 60/40 chance the Puck will hit him for a Save or miss him for a Goal(good odds in this sport). Most Shots are coming in as hard as the shooters can rip them but the one that comes in at just one-tenth the speed is harder for him to stop. Also Love the American and Italian flags on the back of his Goalie Mask which is his way of honoring his roots. A Bowl of piping hot Pasta Pomodoro after the game would be a nice way to get into touch with your roots too but the East Greenwich, RI native is not greedy as he understands its box lunches and dining hall substance or starve.


What does Middlebury do best statistically? They Win F/O's. Winning or Losing Faceoffs can mean Winning or Losing Games in College Hockey. If Williams understood how to keep F/O statistics we would have seen a huge Middlebury Win margin as they seemingly were winning everything all game. Senior Captain #22 Tyler Capello 2-4-6, 214/377 56% Wins and Frosh sensation #78 Jin Lee 5-5-10, 164/270 for a 61% Win ratio are their "Puck-Off" warriors. Capello has taken the most F/O's on average in the league. #98 Antoine Belisle and #29 Matt Myers also are very adept at the Faceoff. The 6'1 195lb Frosh #78 Jin Lee had some game against Williams with the second "hatty" by a Nescac Player over the weekend. Lee missed out on Nescac POW because his 3rd was an EN'er. He is 2nd on the team with 50 Shots and he is a strong kid on the boards and quick on the forecheck. He has plenty of courage to get in front of the net and battle for positioning. Good young player.

Top Player Stat Line for a 4-12-3 team.

Soph #5 D Nolan Moore 16GP 1-6-7 +4.

 

[Mr.Right]

Amuse and Divert:

Home Team on Bottom Row.

Conn: 5-12-3 (4-10-2) (+1 +120) Over 5 -130
Bowdoin: 6-9-4 (6-7-3) (-1 -145) Under 5 +110



Trinity: 12-7-1 (10-5-1) (-.5 -120) Over 5 +130
Wesleyan: 10-9-3 (8-5-3) (+.5 Even) Under 5 -110



Williams: 9-10-0 (9-7-0) (+.5 -120) Over 4.5 -180
Hamilton: 10-8-0 (9-7-0) (-.5 EVEN) Under 4.5 +160



Middlebury: 4-12-3 (3-11-2) (+.5 +110) Over 5.5 +145
Amherst: 9-10-2 (8-7-1) (-.5 -110) Under 5.5 -165



Tufts: 5-13-2 (5-9-2) (+1 -120) Over 5.5 +140
Colby: 13-5-2 (10-4-2) (-1 Even) Under 5.5 -160




Conn College Randoms:
Conn College had a student announcer for a Game last Weekend and he did a good job with his knowledge of the Game but he also knew the players so he gave us some great insight into what this team is like off the Ice.

I caught some as I was watching.

- #18 Frosh Bjorn "The Dog" Schuepbach.

- #34 Junior Younghoon Choi not only is a skilled Hockey player who had a great goal off a breakaway against Hamilton but apparently a dangerous 3 Point Shooter in his spare time.

- #27 Quatieri and #21 Capozzi are not only linemates but roommates. Apparently there have been 2 absolute brawls between the two where teammates had to break it up and pick them up off the floor as punches were thrown to the stomach(no ribs as these guys are smart) but then only 10 minutes later Capozzi and Quatieri would be laughing and finishing each other's sentences again. "Pazzo di Capozzi and Quatieri".

-#5 Rob "Hollywood" Radochia was the darkest. The stories the announcer told were almost alarming. First of all since when is Hollywood scouting for talent in Woburn, MA? For the last twenty-five years Woburn's Town Motto has been "Just Drink the Damn Water its Clean Now!". Apparently, Radochia "starred" in a new Netflix Movie "Don't Look Up" which is in the Fantasy / Disaster category. Serious. I had no idea "Disaster" was even a category now. I have not seen the movie but the announcer was plugging it like 3-4 times and because of its popularity Radochia has been in high demand. With that demand his head has swelled. His ego and imagination of his own self importance have gone thru the roof. He has become as the announcer said "very high-maintenance". Anything his teammates want to do with him it is always "go thru my agent first". If they want to talk to him about a play in the game that HE screwed up on, Radochia puts his big paw in the air and stops them short "Guys I am the same guy as you knew before the movie hit big, I have not changed at all as you guys all know that however you know my rule GO THRU MY AGENT FIRST". So his teammates just deal and kind of put up with him because the old Radochia they really liked and he is still a solid blueliner that they need to Win games.

 

[Mr.Right]

Midd at Amherst Recap:

Midd travelled down to Amherst on Friday night and picked up its 3rd straight Road Win as they improve to 5-12-3 (4-11-2) and 3-5-1 on the Road. Midd is playing some of its best Hockey in this run and at just the perfect time. Amherst drops to 9-11-2 (8-8-1) with a Home record of 4-4-2.

This was a competitive Game to watch as both teams brought some serious energy and life to the Game. A very even Game for 1.5 Periods with both teams scoring Goals and creating good scoring chances. I thought Midd had an edge the first 1.5 Periods and grabbed a 2-0 lead out of it but the tide turned once #26 Matteo Mangiardi got Amherst on the board. Amherst was playing with persistence and looked confident in possession of the Puck and hunting it right back with speed and discipline if they lost it. Amherst had Midd pinned into its D-Zone for a couple different stretches late in the 2nd and in the 3rd but could not squeeze a 3rd Goal. Credit to Midd for bending not breaking as G #31 Jake Horoho continues his great play in Goal and the Defense worked extra hard that last 1.5 with some guys getting heavy minutes to end Regulation. Midd had a couple bad giveaway's in bad areas of the Ice but were able to recover. They have been using the super fast Winger #19 Chris Garbe 5-4-9 to help out as a Puck Carrier the past few games that I have seen and for the 2nd consecutive Game he managed to carry the Puck 200 feet while leaving all 5 opposing Skaters in the dust. The talented Soph now needs to work on burying the chances he is getting off of these rushes or feed his teammates. Garbe is a good player as his Skating Speed while he still is in control of the Puck is fantastic. If Midd was in real danger in the D-Zone they would just Ice the Puck because if you are close to Winning 60% of your F/O's it is safer to just Ice the Puck when unsure. The 3v3 OT was ALL MIDD. Midd looked plenty comfortable and happy to be playing 3v3 and Amherst did not. Midd's #98 Antoine Belisle would Win the Game with about a minute left. Still Amherst grabs 1 point and every Point matters now. I felt Amherst focus, discipline and effort were much improved from last Weekend's Tufts Game.

The players brought energy which is more than I can say for the crowd. The crowd needs something to get them going because after all they are not the ones playing the game. This is a 60 minute Game and the crowd can only stay crazy for so long which is why you need to activate them when you feel you need them most in the Game. This should not be a decision just arbitrarily made as this should and can be part of your Home advantage especially indoors where noise just builds. The students need a shift or two of serious Forechecking with hard hitting and the whole Line throwing their weight around. That easily fires up the student body which is exactly what Wesleyan did last weekend and their crowd responded. Amherst had a great crowd now the team has to find a combination / Line to really fire them up.

Goal Recap:

1st Period:

Midd 1-0 from the hard work of Senior #37 Zach Shapiro behind the Amherst Goal as he completely stripped Amherst #21 Michael Pitts of the Puck. Shapiro played the puck immediately in what was a cagey pass from behind the Goal right into the front of net where a charging #14 Paddy Bogart had a free look and buried it upper left corner. Amherst G #30 Dan Dachille had no chance.

2nd Period:

Midd 2-0 Another Midd pass from behind the net this time by #6 Billy Dobensky found #13 Zach Milton wide open just inside the blueline. The Deerfield Academy product snapped a free wrister thru about 4 players and found the 1st Goal of his career. Milton's shot should be replayed over and over for the Players as he kept that Puck ON THE ICE. Had he lifted one it would have been easily blocked or deflected as there were 3 Players and the Goalie to get thru. These are the most dangerous shots IMO because the shots that are kept on Ice have a much better % of not being blocked or deflected and either finding the Goal or allowing for a juicy Rebound.

Midd 2-1 as this was Amherst #26 Matteo Mangiardi's Goal to get Amherst on the board. Mangiardi is 2-2-4 in his last 3 Games. The work on this Goal was all done by the Senior #4 Sean Wrenn. The Nobles product stripped Midd's #78 Jin Lee behind the Midd Goal and found himself with multiple options with the Puck on his stick from behind the Goal and with an extra second or two to calmly make his decision. Wrenn made the correct play as he found Mangiardi wide open in the slot for the Goal.

2-2. This was a nice Goal as well. #25 Ryan Tucker picked up a loose Puck in the Neutral Zone and made a smart pass to #41 Matt Toporowski just inside the blueline. Tucker immediately started driving towards Goal after the pass to Toporowski which gave Amherst a 3v2 advantage. Toporowski with his head up and great vision makes a clever pass across the Ice splitting the Midd defenders and getting the Puck to the weak side to a wide open #20 Ben Kuzma. Kuzma calmly ties the Game up.

3rd Period:

No Goals. Amherst did lose #25 Ryan Tucker about 2 minutes into the Period as he skated right from the bench off the Ice never to return to the Game. Maybe an injury or who knows but he was missed for sure in the 3v3 OT.

OT:

3-2 Midd Winner as it was the #98 Antoine Belisle show. 2nd consecutive Game he has scored a Goal and you could tell he wanted it. He got fed a nice pass from his teammate #5 Nolan Moore as Belisle had made a nice cut towards net but Amherst G Dachille was up to the task. However, Belisle collected his own rebound, spun up the boards heading towards the point but then cut at the Half Boards and drove hard towards Goal and into the slot area where he snapped a free wrister by Dachille. He was pumped. Midd was Pumped. Big Win for that team but now they have to concentrate and try to be resilient for the whole 60 minutes. They escaped the 3rd Period but they might not the next game so the veterans need to make sure the young guys stay disciplined and focused throughout and vice versa if your a youngster and you see something wrong during a game say something. Open your mouth. The Upperclassman might thank you later.

 

[tjoneslo]

And this is the reason we love NESCAC hockey. The final standing in the league come down to the games on the last day of the season. And sometimes not even then (According to the NESCAC rules, everything else being equal ranking is determined by a coin flip). Trinity and Colby are both fighting for the top spot in the league. Wesleyan, Hamilton, Williams and Amherst are all angling for the last two home slots in the QF round, with Tufts, Middlebury, and Conn all looking to take the last home slot in the first round. Win or loose Bowdoin is firmly in the #8 position and hosting a first round game. I make no predictions on how this will turn out.

 

[tjoneslo]

With the Colby / Conn College game getting underway two hours late because of issues with the ice, Colby comes up with a 4-0 win at home to win the NESCAC regular season. The tournament comes up as (If I read this correctly):

Friday First round:
Conn College @ Amherst for the #7 seed
Tufts @ Middlebury for the #8 seed

Saturday first round:
Bowdoin @ Williams
Wesleyan @ Hamilton

Sunday first round:
Tufts/Middlebury winner @ Colby
Conn College/Amherst winner @ Trinity

With the QF / Finals hosted at the highest remaining seed.