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Norwich 2024-25-Is this the year it turns?

It was good to see some fire from the team last night. Nice effort getting the equalizer mid third.
the OT was fairly even, except for one breakdown that Molu covered for.
AND first shooter out was Kerner! He was stopped, but second shooter (another forward!!) fired a wrister from 8 feet or so for the extra point.
a more difficult team tonight.
The Plymouth Hamilton game was influenced by the refereeing. Yeah, Plymouth committed a couple bad ones, but it was the ones not called against Hamilton that were so bad. Plymouth player hit in the face shield by a stick hard enough to push his helmet back, no more than 6 or 7 feet in front of a referee. An obvious boarding call that wasn’t called, in fact they almost called one on the player run into to boards for asking why there was no call.
 
jerrynu26 said:
It was good to see some fire from the team last night. Nice effort getting the equalizer mid third.
the OT was fairly even, except for one breakdown that Molu covered for.
AND first shooter out was Kerner! He was stopped, but second shooter (another forward!!) fired a wrister from 8 feet or so for the extra point.
a more difficult team tonight.
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Spoke too soon. This is just a very average middling hockey team that will be lucky to finish .500. Its pretty bad when everyone in the arena was ecstatic that they were buzzing hard for the first five minutes of the Williams game. Something needs to happen quick before this turns into a middling team in the little east.
 
The decision to play for a certain program isn’t always driven by finances. If prospective athletes lack confidence in the coach and AD, don’t subscribe to the “system” being played, [how many more times will we hear that this season], fail to see / feel the energy, enthusiasm, and potential of a program, don’t value the school’s education, etc., they will play elsewhere. An improved financial aid environment will likely not overcome the aforementioned, especially for a program in a nosedive.
 
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We got to see Norwich vs a ranked team Saturday. Hamilton is historically a .550 club, and this year, they are having a great year. You can see the difference. Passes are fast, accurate and received well. Norwich did look decent for the first couple of periods. Their pass acumen is simply not as good as Hamilton. Norwich had opportunities, but the pass was off just a little bit or not received well. Can they focus on these basics once a week and improve or is this the talent level of the team? Domina dominated the face-off circle against Williams. Seems like a future asset.

Ellsworth may have checked out….don't be surprised if he is looking elsewhere. He doesn’t even give on of his lame quotes at the end of each game anymore. He is not the right fit in Northfield for sure. Hopefully I am wrong? The next 4 games are huge. To get a home playoff game, we need 3 WINS, not 1 win and three ties or worse. UMass and Castleton have to be beaten.

Anarumo did no favors to the institution. Cost them hundred of thousands in legal costs and ruined a stellar reputation.

The challenge is finding a new coach that wants to live in conservative rural America.
 
AmericanCadet said:
The challenge is finding a new coach that wants to live in conservative rural America.
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Interesting comment.

I suppose that in our current political climate, such a thing might be more of a factor than it was, say, 9 years ago. (Insert winky face.)

But isn't VT still solidly Centrist..?
 
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AmericanCadet said:
We got to see Norwich vs a ranked team Saturday. Hamilton is historically a .550 club, and this year, they are having a great year. You can see the difference. Passes are fast, accurate and received well. Norwich did look decent for the first couple of periods. Their pass acumen is simply not as good as Hamilton. Norwich had opportunities, but the pass was off just a little bit or not received well. Can they focus on these basics once a week and improve or is this the talent level of the team? Domina dominated the face-off circle against Williams. Seems like a future asset.

Ellsworth may have checked out….don't be surprised if he is looking elsewhere. He doesn’t even give on of his lame quotes at the end of each game anymore. He is not the right fit in Northfield for sure. Hopefully I am wrong? The next 4 games are huge. To get a home playoff game, we need 3 WINS, not 1 win and three ties or worse. UMass and Castleton have to be beaten.

Anarumo did no favors to the institution. Cost them hundred of thousands in legal costs and ruined a stellar reputation.

The challenge is finding a new coach that wants to live in conservative rural America.
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To answer your question, yes, this is as good as it gets. Wins will be rare; ties will be infrequent. Folks, this is not an intriguing political issue; it’s one of talent. The team lacks speed and skill and will for many years. If the coach is in fact miserable, then show him the door. Throwing the puck at the goalie hoping it will find the back of the net after multiple caroms is not a method for success. But with no quality shooters, that’s the best hope can offer.
 
Let’s all have a shout out to Cam and the team. This weekend we saw solid performances both nights! Some good news as well. This is not their peak. Passing was much improved, but can get better. Positioning was good, but can get better. They put themselves in position to score goals. Keep up the good work Cam. Keep up the good work team. Domina is really looking good.
 
AmericanCadet said:
Let’s all have a shout out to Cam and the team. This weekend we saw solid performances both nights! Some good news as well. This is not their peak. Passing was much improved, but can get better. Positioning was good, but can get better. They put themselves in position to score goals. Keep up the good work Cam. Keep up the good work team. Domina is really looking good.
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They had a good weekend... against the 8th place team in the league. Lets not get ahead of ourselves here come on. I have been at every home game cheering and I will continue to be at every home game cheering but they still are only averaging 1.85 goals per game or 81st ou of 87 DIII teams. Lots of work to do. Like I said I'll be there rooting them on every game but lots to do.
 
Yes UMass is not good. The results against Southern Maine and NEC were horrifying. Hopefully what we are seeing is a relatively young team growing in confidence. Can 5-7 for the rest of the year lock in a top four? Maybe….can they win five more? Let’s see how they look this weekend.
 
AmericanCadet said:
Yes UMass is not good. The results against Southern Maine and NEC were horrifying. Hopefully what we are seeing is a relatively young team growing in confidence. Can 5-7 for the rest of the year lock in a top four? Maybe….can they win five more? Let’s see how they look this weekend.
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Hobart, Babson and Skidmore are away. Hobart is 2 losses, Babson and Skidmore are a split (at best). Salve is at home, but can they win 2 and not split? Castleton is a must win both games, but a decent goalie for CSU can put that in danger. Is NU improved? Yes, they show flashes of what could be, but aren’t there yet. They really only have one scorer, but they don’t seem to be able to get him the puck in great scoring areas. ( but that was a great goal last weekend!).
plenty of room for improvement, but running out of time. Hobart is not a game that is likely to allow that.
this weekend seems to be the last chance to make a turnaround.

We’ll see. Like JCB, I’ll be there cheering whenever there is a chance, and hoping for wins.

But you do have to be a realist, just the same.
 
Again, wins will be rare; ties infrequent. Relying on “room for improvement” and showing random “flashes” are not methods for success. Scoring will not suddenly improve. The program has been in trouble / decline since McShane’s retirement. How much room is needed?
 
The breakout is so one-dimensional and predictable and won’t work against a smarter, better skating team. I do not see a reason to celebrate. Castleton is not a good team and nearly all teams are beating them. NU will have a very brief stay at 3rd.
 
Folks, they should be scoring more against Castleton, which is a better skating team. Going out on a limb here, but at least 9 times out of ten a goalie will stop shots thrown at his chest. Shots wide of the net typically don’t light the lamp either.
 
Another good weekend. Built upon the UMass weekend. Friday passing was crisp. Saturday they slipped a little. They don’t have a pure finisher, so they need to rely on passing/ puck movement and positioning to have success.

The Hobart weekend should be used to demonstrate where this team needs to go. Hobart likely remembers their last non win came at the hands of Norwich, and will be motivated. I would consider starting Walcarius on Saturday, unless Molu has a great Friday. Does anyone else feel Molu ‘drifts’ out of net too often when he goes down on his pads? Hobart will not let him off the hook like Castleton did.

The lower half teams all beat the upper half teams Friday. If Norwich continues to improve, there is no reason we can’t have a home playoff game. Friday showed us any of these teams can win. Can they pull four more wins?? That would be a successful final season for Norwich in the NEHC.
 
The answer to your question is, No. Hobart will skate circles around NU and put on a passing and shooting clinic. They’ll exhaust the Cadets into committing egregious and costly blind and failed clearing passes and several infractions. Half way through the second, Norwich will be penned in their own zone for the remainder of the game. And that might even be optimistic. Take a photo of the conference standings now. Silly optimism is not a strategy for success. Night, night…
 
Bog Hockey said:
The answer to your question is, No. Hobart will skate circles around NU and put on a passing and shooting clinic. They’ll exhaust the Cadets into committing egregious and costly blind and failed clearing passes and several infractions. Half way through the second, Norwich will be penned in their own zone for the remainder of the game. And that might even be optimistic. Take a photo of the conference standings now. Silly optimism is not a strategy for success. Night, night…
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Coach Taylor will have the Statesmen ready for this weekend and make sure they are focused for an old rival. These are the last regular season NEHC games between these two successful programs and the teams know the significance . The Norwich program deserves total respect and the Statesmen will play accordingly. Can't wait for these two meaningful games.
 
Bartman said:
Coach Taylor will have the Statesmen ready for this weekend and make sure they are focused for an old rival. These are the last regular season NEHC games between these two successful programs and the teams know the significance . The Norwich program deserves total respect and the Statesmen will play accordingly. Can't wait for these two meaningful games.
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OK, I'll bite...

Sure, Hobart is the class of D-3 lately, but their 58th SOS won't be helped much via beating #24 NU, and even one loss will be a kick in the yarbles...

(Having said that, I still expect a Hobart sweep.)
 
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