Re: Northeastern Huskies 2011-2012 Season Thread: Year of the Mad Dog
I don't think he should be the full-time starter, just he should get more time. And I don't think he's "amazing", but that he is a different style goalie that hash is advantages. The issue I have with Rawlings is consistency. If he was more consistent this wouldn't even be a topic of conversation. But you cannot deny in the games Witt has started, he has looked very good. Nobody is saying he is Hasek which you are implying.
I was not thinking Hasek at all. while he did flip and flop, I did not compare Rawlings to anyone, I did not compare Witt to anyone, nor did i say you think he is Hasek in net.
Witt has looked like Witt looks. Does he deserve more starts? I do not know. He has a very small sample size, playing in games that were either over or did not matter one way or the other.
As for Rawlings and consistent. I would say the ENTIRE NU team has always lacked consistency. Since i started back in 96 through today, the majority of the players on the ice have lacked it up until their Junior years at which point they become what they will be the rest of their careers. Ouside of a few guys like Esner who get hot (finally) the last 3 months of their careers, what you see junior year (or you could make the case last half of sophomore year) is typically what you get. Some guys start off hot freshmen year, tail off, and you never see much of them again (Scott Selig would be the classic example, Tuckerman and Quailer to date though injuries play a part there). Some guys start slow, and gradually get better. (Thiessen, MacLeod, McNeely) How many blue line goals and misses with his mitt did Thieseen give up his first two years? A bunch if I remember correctly.
All Rawlings has done in his stay here so far is get better year to year. Yeah occaionaly he lets one in that drives you crazy, but as long as he keeps getting better we are in great shape. So far this year, it has not been him, more the guys in front of him who have been to busy not gettng back on defense, or turing around to start offense before the puck is cleared. Thus our defense can not stay out of the box, 11 of the 18 penalties so far are on dmen, to busy covering for forwards who are not in the play, and are getting tired out by the end of the game. Not to mention breaking in two new guys ( one of which i think is a perfect 8th dman but is early to tell), and our best guys trying to do to much.
Classic new coaching staff stuff that I am sure (hope) is being addressed and will get better as the season rolls along.
As for more starts for Witt, where? Do you want to play him against the top Hockey East teams or the bottom? Which games would you like to potentially sacrafice needing divisonal points by not playing your #1 guy? UML? Merrimack which does not have a dymaic offense or play a speed side to side game like bc or bu? Or bc/bu since those are the teams that do play that speed game?
Its not that easy.
