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Norwich 14-15

Re: Norwich 14-15

I went to a Florida Everblades ECHL game here in Naples, FL last night. They were playing the Ft. Wayne Comets. A pleasant surprise was a Mr. Kyle Thomas on the roster of the Comets. According to the program going into last night he has played 10 games and has 2 goals and 1 assist. He notched another assist last night. I was able to get in a quick "Go Norwich" to him as he left the ice after the game that he acknowledged with a clenched fist. It was good to see him on the ice again.

Also, they do dodgeball for a few minutes in between periods before the Zambonis resurface the ice and Rob Gronkowski from the Patriots was on one of the dodgeball teams.

Here is a link to the local news video. Thomas shows up in some of the early clips - #14 (#15 taken by another player).

http://www.winknews.com/2015/02/11/gronk-plays-ice-dodgeball-at-everblades-game/
 
Re: Norwich 14-15

nujack said:
I went to a Florida Everblades ECHL game here in Naples, FL last night. They were playing the Ft. Wayne Comets. A pleasant surprise was a Mr. Kyle Thomas on the roster of the Comets. According to the program going into last night he has played 10 games and has 2 goals and 1 assist. He notched another assist last night. I was able to get in a quick "Go Norwich" to him as he left the ice after the game that he acknowledged with a clenched fist. It was good to see him on the ice again.

Also, they do dodgeball for a few minutes in between periods before the Zambonis resurface the ice and Rob Gronkowski from the Patriots was on one of the dodgeball teams.

Here is a link to the local news video. Thomas shows up in some of the early clips - #14 (#15 taken by another player).

http://www.winknews.com/2015/02/11/gronk-plays-ice-dodgeball-at-everblades-game/
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Thanks for posting this. Didn't realize he had caught on with a team again! I'll be sure to track.
 
Re: Norwich 14-15

Anyone know what the parking and driving situation is around the UMASS Boston campus. I would be surprised if they cleared up the lots when the Boston streets are a mess. Of course the T Red Line goes right near the campus provided the subway is still running. I was in Boston last week and there was nothing but gridlock and that was before the second big storm hit. I would think it was very difficult to get to the weekend games.
 
hawk said:
Anyone know what the parking and driving situation is around the UMASS Boston campus. I would be surprised if they cleared up the lots when the Boston streets are a mess. Of course the T Red Line goes right near the campus provided the subway is still running. I was in Boston last week and there was nothing but gridlock and that was before the second big storm hit. I would think it was very difficult to get to the weekend games.
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Don't know yet Hawk but I'll be finding out this weekend ... I can't wait.
 
Re: Norwich 14-15

Cadet Color Man said:
Episode two of Cadet Corner is up for your viewing pleasure! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpAAi961ptM&feature=youtu.be

DISCLAIMER: Although the video features game highlights, this is not an official Norwich Sports Info. Production.
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Thanks again for posting these. I didn't know that Niezgoda was in the Corps. I know my senior year there was one rook on the team (I didn't know his name at the time, I'm assuming it was Niezgoda since he'd be a junior now), but I heard that he was going civilian the next year. Apparently not.

I bring this up because recently I had a conversation with a former club player who was cut from the Varsity team. He said that when McShane cut him that he told him "I don't know if you can handle the responsibilities of both the Corps and the hockey team." He phrased it in a way that made McShane seem anti-Corps kids. It sounded like sour grapes to me at the time, but I'm still glad to see some evidence that proves otherwise. I've mentioned before that establishing cadet relationships with the Varsity team would go a long ways towards drawing their support.

It's also very likely that McShane did say that, but that he meant it for this particular player specifically. He did have numerous, er, disagreements with authority.
 
NU Pastime said:
Thanks again for posting these. I didn't know that Niezgoda was in the Corps. I know my senior year there was one rook on the team (I didn't know his name at the time, I'm assuming it was Niezgoda since he'd be a junior now), but I heard that he was going civilian the next year. Apparently not.

I bring this up because recently I had a conversation with a former club player who was cut from the Varsity team. He said that when McShane cut him that he told him "I don't know if you can handle the responsibilities of both the Corps and the hockey team." He phrased it in a way that made McShane seem anti-Corps kids. It sounded like sour grapes to me at the time, but I'm still glad to see some evidence that proves otherwise. I've mentioned before that establishing cadet relationships with the Varsity team would go a long ways towards drawing their support.

It's also very likely that McShane did say that, but that he meant it for this particular player specifically. He did have numerous, er, disagreements with authority.
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There are actually two Corps kids on the team this year.

Dean Niezgoda being one and then freshman Kevin Salvucci as well.
 
Re: Norwich 14-15

PSUChamps2001 said:
Dean's father was awesome at the Primelink. Really proud but yet humble of his son.
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He seems to have passed it down to his son. I remember vividly doing a walkthrough of the barracks one night when I was told that "that one" is the rook that plays hockey. It was a short interaction, but I got the impression that he wasn't trying to skirt any of his rook responsibilities, an attitude that unfortunately is present in many other athletes who are on less visible teams, as his cadre seemed to have a good opinion of him. He just seemed like he was keeping his head down and doing what he had to do. Again, it was a short interaction, but nevertheless I remember leaving with a positive impression.
 
Re: Norwich 14-15

Tomorrow afternoon's situation in South Boston is going to be a real mess with the weather we're expecting down here in Southern NH and coastal Mass. We're looking at 12-16" of snow through Saturday night into Sunday morning, so those folks heading to the game tomorrow afternoon may want to plan to head in early and take your time getting out. With the game finishing up around 6, it's going to be slow-going through Boston and back up 93.

The MBTA is likely still going to be running a limited schedule as they have for most of this week. Parking near UMB is going to be a nightmare - the streets in that area are single-lane and very tight.
 
Re: Norwich 14-15

NU Pastime said:
He seems to have passed it down to his son. I remember vividly doing a walkthrough of the barracks one night when I was told that "that one" is the rook that plays hockey. It was a short interaction, but I got the impression that he wasn't trying to skirt any of his rook responsibilities, an attitude that unfortunately is present in many other athletes who are on less visible teams, as his cadre seemed to have a good opinion of him. He just seemed like he was keeping his head down and doing what he had to do. Again, it was a short interaction, but nevertheless I remember leaving with a positive impression.
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Dean is a real good kid, and it's great to see that a member of the Corps can, indeed, do well - excel, in Dean's case - on the ice. Of course, we all remember Klinger. He did pretty well too, if I recall....:)
 
Re: Norwich 14-15

Great game against Babo, the final 6-1 score is not indicative of the closeness of this game. The 4th goal broke the Beavers spirit after a tough 3-1 game well into the third period.
 
"Ho hum ... another ECAC Regular Season title ... seventeen straight ... a 6-1 win at Babson ... just another day at the office ... ho hum ... "

Come on people! Where's the love?
 
PuckVoice said:
"Ho hum ... another ECAC Regular Season title ... seventeen straight ... a 6-1 win at Babson ... just another day at the office ... ho hum ... "

Come on people! Where's the love?
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I'll be the first to admit I'm spoiled. Norwich hasn't not won the conference since I was 7, which is roughly 10 years prior to me even knowing that Norwich existed. Rightly or wrongly, while it's nice to hang another banner, I've been conditioned to expect more, especially when my four years in school coincided with four straight Frozen Four appearances. I'm not saying that's fair, I'm just stating reality.
 
Re: Norwich 14-15

Hey Puck, I commented last night at 9:30.. But then I had to go to bed. Us old farts have to get our rest you know. I woulda stayed up if I'd a known you weren't doing bed checks:):D
 
Re: Norwich 14-15

At the beginning of this season I thought "The Streak" was certainly coming to an end. Babson, UMass Boston and I even though Castleton might have been in the mix this season.

Boy...that's what I get for thinking. This team has been fun to watch transform from the weekend trip to Quebec in late October, until now where they stand with a 21-2-1 record on the last day of the regular season.

I never thought it would be possible.

The differences that have made this team what is today:

1. Goaltending - Ostepchuk and Reichenbach have been great all season working in tandem. The most goals either has given up in a single game is four and that only happened once. They've also on given up three goals in a game three times. You can't ask for much more out of your goalies over the course of a 25-game season. I hope Ostepchuk gets the start tonight. He's had a little bit of a tough go of it lately and some bad breaks along the way, but it would be nice to get the confidence back up heading into the playoffs.

2. Defense contributing offensively - This is something that the team sorely lacked over the last couple of seasons, especially last season. Sure they had Whitell racking up the assists last year, but there weren't many goals coming from the back end. Look at it this year. Brandrup (5), Rowland (4), Hale (3), Thieda (2), Whitell (2). I think you'd be hard pressed to find many more teams in the country with more goals from defensemen.

3. Overall team depth - Norwich has five lines that can all score. Three kids are sitting out of the lineup every night that could easily be a third or fourth line on many teams. The balanced scoring this season has been remarkable. Every night its someone new stepping up. How do you game plan for that as an opposing coach? There have been so many games where we've had different goal scorers for every goal Norwich has scored, I've lost track of the amount of times it has happened this season. 14 players have 10 or more points. The team has a legitimate chance to have 7-9 players reach 10 goals this season with three already there and a couple more knocking on the door.

4. Emergence of Pelletier & Niezgoda as stars - As much as it's nice to have team depth, you also need a go to line every once in awhile and the chemistry between Pelletier and Niezgoda this season on a line together has been incredible. These two always seem to find each other on the ice and they have been so effective at creating offense and chances in nearly every game they've been healthy for. Pelletier is averaging nearly 2 points per game and they both rank among the leaders in the ECAC East in goals scored.

5. Leadership - Alec Thieda in the C, Bryce Currier and Nevin Lawler wearing the A's have given Norwich arguably one of its best trip of captains in recent memory. Not only on the ice, but off it as well. These three took it upon themselves to organize a few community events this season to get the players interacting with the community again which had fallen off in recent years. 80% of the team was freshmen and sophomores and now they are seeing how effective getting involved with the community and the student body can be. The student turnout in the first semester was the best I've seen it in my five years at Norwich. Hopefully we can get them packed in again for the playoffs over the next couple of weeks before they take off for Spring Break.
 
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Re: Norwich 14-15

I'm a little concerned about today's game now that the Cadets have won the regular season title. It may be time for the coach to do some experimenting for the playoffs, not with any intent to lose, but to try some things that may work in the near future. There is also the old ,"it's hard to beat a team 3 times in a season", bromide when you've swept a team in the regular season and then meet them in the playoffs. That's why I don't want to see Babson again this year, but then again, we're going to meet a team that we have swept, dependent on today's outcome.
 
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