Re: Notre Dame Hockey 2013-2014 Go East young men
I have a ton of observations from this week.
Good observation kudos go to the fans (primarily the ones at the west end of the rink) who did a great job not only showing up, but also cheering the team on. Also gotta praise the team itself. Stephen Johns, Vinnie Hinostroza, Sam Herr and Bryan, in particular, had outstanding weekends. Johns was the most poised Dman for ND all weekend, and while Shayne Taker et al recovered well, scored, made big plays, Johns seemed to the steadying force on the backside. I know it's still early, but I have been so impressed with his maturity and solid play this season. This is the defenseman I've been waiting to see. Hinostroza was targeted all weekend long, and paid the price halfway thru tonight's game, but not before he registered 3 assists and 4 points on the shortened weekend. Herr is shaping up to be this season's Ryan Guentzel. I love the work ethic and the results. The GWG last night and especially the body-sacrificing shift early on tonight were things of beauty. Rust is a bit off the mark from last season, but he is still one of the most clutch guys out there, especially on the PK.
Single game kudos go to Steven Summerhays for his play Friday night. He made the win possible with his play. T.J. Tynan made Johns' GTG tonight possible with his amazing hustle on the boards while playing point on the PP. If he hadn't kept that puck in with the period winding down, Johns never would have been able to make it a new game. And let's not forget about Mario Lucia. He got off the schneid a bit tonight with 2 awesome rebound shots, from the LEFT side, no less. I want him to camp out there from now on. His play tonight in his own zone saw marked improvement too. He and Hinostroza are very much offensive-minded players, and sometimes that comes back to bite the team, but tonight Lucia did a nice job of playing on both sides of the rink. Lastly, I like the way Ali Thomas plays. He made good use of his limited shifts. He separated several players from the puck that started some good plays as a result and seemed to be in the right place all the time. I look for him to dress in several more games this freshman year.
I will reiterate that I like the way this year's squad is sticking up for each other. I know sometimes that can result in retaliatory penalties, but sometimes it's worth it. There's something different about a team that takes every (dirty) hit on a teammate personally. They tend to go far.
Special teams made some nice improvements as well. Our PP went 3-9 this weekend while our PK killed off 7 of 8 Minnesota chances. If those numbers hold true, I like our chances. I like that the team did not let up Friday night when they were ahead or tonight when, twice, they were down by 2. A split with Minnesota is quite acceptable. But...
Summerhays picked a bad time to crap the crease. I firmly believe Notre Dame would have won tonight if he had actually played. I can't remember a game of his that was a rotten as tonight. ND has been embarrassed in games while he's been in net, but it has never been a case where ALL of the goals were his fault. I can excuse a weak goal. Hell, I'll excuse 2 softies. But 5? Uh-huh. As good as he's been thus far, he was that bad tonight. In all the other games this season, I've noticed his poise, his lack of movement, his tracking the puck. He had little-to-no poise tonight. And where was he going on that 2nd UM goal? And the only time he tracked the puck tonight was as he watched it being fished out of the back of the net.
I still want to see a few more puck to the net. In the waning seconds, I swear ND would've scored the tying goal if that last pass, that eventually got tipped out of the zone, had been on net instead.
I also want to call out a few players. I know that Thomas DiPauli and Mike Voran are dinged up, so can do nothing about their stats at the moment, but I want something out of them when they return to the ice. I'll give a mini-pass to DiPauli because he's a sophomore (you know, "sophomore slump" and all), but Voran gets no "get out of jail free" card from me. Assuming he misses next weekend, he should still be registering a point every 3 games and he is way off the mark thus far. I'll also call out T.J. Tynan. I know he is 3rd on the team in points thus far, but he was held off the scoresheet this entire weekend. If he could have gotten a point tonight, the outcome would have been rosier. Lastly, I'll call out David Gerths. I do not want a repeat of his sophomore year. It seems that when he averages a point every 4 games or so (his freshman and junior seasons), the team has a very good year. When he averages a point every 8 games or so (his sophomore year)...eesh. What does it mean when he averages a point every 10 games?
On a side note, I gotta praise Eric Johnson's Fu Manchu 'stache. Two words: Awe. Some. And I will reiterate again that Mike Voran is extremely tasty with facial hair. I may be antsy about his scoring, but I'm lovin' his scruffy smile.
Next weekend is the first ever Hockey East series at the Compton. Oh how I would love to see the crowd just as huge and into it for Merrimack as they were for Minnesota...