Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

[klbaum1077]

Re: Ohio State 2012/2013 - Third year in Oz

Re: Ohio State 2012/2013 - Third year in Oz

As our USCHO Ohio State beat writer, I apologize I forget to post on here. I will make an effort to be more active on here. If you guys ever have any questions for me, I can be reached on Twitter at @jjboggs. Is anyone planning on going down to Oxford this weekend. Should be a fun, exciting weekend there.

Heard some debate on Brady. In my opinion, he looked decent. He certainly was not his normal self by any means, but three of those four against Michigan Saturday night were not his fault. Bad turnovers and bounces led to those goals.

I am coming down to Oxford and hoping to see at least 1 victory.

 

[OSUmab]

Re: Ohio State 2012/2013 - Third year in Oz

Re: Ohio State 2012/2013 - Third year in Oz

I was pretty upset Sat night so I gave myself a 36 hour furlough

The game(s) has been discussed in fair detail and I can't say I disagree with anything. I will emphasize how disappointed I was in our defensemen this weekend. The turnovers, failure to clear, lack of checking, etc. UM was coming through the neutral zone free as can be. Excluding the Fritz-McCormik-Sesh line Im not letting the offense off the hook. 1 for 11 on the pp all weekend. Sloppy passing as well, UM was tape to tape. I was concerned with them having a bye week before this weekend, they might find something.

Ok time to move on-but it hard to have a good feeling about hosting FS with what we are facing this weekend. Maybe this team will respond and play angry-which they have done before. Still a step fwd to earn a 1st round bye compared to previous seasons.

 

[streaker]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

No excuse to let the 10th place team come into our building and sweep.

Really? You must have an inflated opinion of your .500 team.

Or, should I use your non-conference record as further proof?

Michigan stinks this season, no doubt, and most of it lies on their goaltending and defensive play. But geez, even if this is a rivalry series- this sport is not the Buckeyes greatest strength. FTR- Michigan is 7-3 in their past ten away games against OSU either in Columbus or at a neutral site like the Cleveland game. It's not like they haven't won at Value City recently.

Furthermore, you can't tell me with a straight face that the 7th place CCHA team this season is marginally better than the 10th place team. Frankly, outside of Miami, WMU and Notre Dame, none of the teams in the CCHA (in league play) are consistent. The Bucks looked terrible this weekend and chances are their play was more the reason they got swept more so than why Michigan won. But don't be making out the Bucks as something more than they are, even with that nice streak they had rolling at home prior to this weekend.

Hjelle is a nice talent when he is on, and Fritz, Dzingel and McCormick carry their offense and should get their due. That's it, IMO. But that 10th (now 9th) place team scored 11 goals this weekend on one of the better statistical defensive teams in the CCHA and one of the better goalies in the league. They had to do something right to do that-more so what they have done against the top three teams in the league this season.

 

[OSUmab]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

Really? You must have an inflated opinion of your .500 team.

Or, should I use your non-conference record as further proof?

Michigan stinks this season, no doubt, and most of it lies on their goaltending and defensive play. But geez, even if this is a rivalry series- this sport is not the Buckeyes greatest strength. FTR- Michigan is 7-3 in their past ten away games against OSU either in Columbus or at a neutral site like the Cleveland game. It's not like they haven't won at Value City recently.

Furthermore, you can't tell me with a straight face that the 7th place CCHA team this season is marginally better than the 10th place team. Frankly, outside of Miami, WMU and Notre Dame, none of the teams in the CCHA (in league play) are consistent. The Bucks looked terrible this weekend and chances are their play was more the reason they got swept more so than why Michigan won. But don't be making out the Bucks as something more than they are, even with that nice streak they had rolling at home prior to this weekend.

Hjelle is a nice talent when he is on, and Fritz, Dzingel and McCormick carry their offense and should get their due. That's it, IMO. But that 10th (now 9th) place team scored 11 goals this weekend on one of the better statistical defensive teams in the CCHA and one of the better goalies in the league. They had to do something right to do that-more so what they have done against the top three teams in the league this season.

Valid points. What bothers me the most is we were coming off a win and tie vs both WMU and ND. So maybe foolish me I had higher (obviously) expectations for the weekend. And true UM has won in VC recently, but its the first sweep in Cbus since 91. Points were a must with what lies ahead this weekend.

 

[klbaum1077]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

Really? You must have an inflated opinion of your .500 team.

Or, should I use your non-conference record as further proof?

Michigan stinks this season, no doubt, and most of it lies on their goaltending and defensive play. But geez, even if this is a rivalry series- this sport is not the Buckeyes greatest strength. FTR- Michigan is 7-3 in their past ten away games against OSU either in Columbus or at a neutral site like the Cleveland game. It's not like they haven't won at Value City recently.

Furthermore, you can't tell me with a straight face that the 7th place CCHA team this season is marginally better than the 10th place team. Frankly, outside of Miami, WMU and Notre Dame, none of the teams in the CCHA (in league play) are consistent. The Bucks looked terrible this weekend and chances are their play was more the reason they got swept more so than why Michigan won. But don't be making out the Bucks as something more than they are, even with that nice streak they had rolling at home prior to this weekend.

Hjelle is a nice talent when he is on, and Fritz, Dzingel and McCormick carry their offense and should get their due. That's it, IMO. But that 10th (now 9th) place team scored 11 goals this weekend on one of the better statistical defensive teams in the CCHA and one of the better goalies in the league. They had to do something right to do that-more so what they have done against the top three teams in the league this season.

Friday night was more of what michigan did to get the win, but Saturday night Ohio state handed them 4 of the 6 goals on a platter.

 

[MGoBlueHockey]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

Really? You must have an inflated opinion of your .500 team.

Or, should I use your non-conference record as further proof?

Michigan stinks this season, no doubt, and most of it lies on their goaltending and defensive play. But geez, even if this is a rivalry series- this sport is not the Buckeyes greatest strength. FTR- Michigan is 7-3 in their past ten away games against OSU either in Columbus or at a neutral site like the Cleveland game. It's not like they haven't won at Value City recently.

Furthermore, you can't tell me with a straight face that the 7th place CCHA team this season is marginally better than the 10th place team. Frankly, outside of Miami, WMU and Notre Dame, none of the teams in the CCHA (in league play) are consistent. The Bucks looked terrible this weekend and chances are their play was more the reason they got swept more so than why Michigan won. But don't be making out the Bucks as something more than they are, even with that nice streak they had rolling at home prior to this weekend.

Hjelle is a nice talent when he is on, and Fritz, Dzingel and McCormick carry their offense and should get their due. That's it, IMO. But that 10th (now 9th) place team scored 11 goals this weekend on one of the better statistical defensive teams in the CCHA and one of the better goalies in the league. They had to do something right to do that-more so what they have done against the top three teams in the league this season.

FWIW, ohio hasn't won in their own building against Michigan since 2010 in OT. Including the sweep last year when they were #2 in the poll.

They're definitely getting better. I can see it. But hockey just isn't their sport. I thought they'd have a ton of fans there and they had the upper deck curtained.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

Really? You must have an inflated opinion of your .500 team.

Or, should I use your non-conference record as further proof?

Michigan stinks this season, no doubt, and most of it lies on their goaltending and defensive play. But geez, even if this is a rivalry series- this sport is not the Buckeyes greatest strength. FTR- Michigan is 7-3 in their past ten away games against OSU either in Columbus or at a neutral site like the Cleveland game. It's not like they haven't won at Value City recently.

Furthermore, you can't tell me with a straight face that the 7th place CCHA team this season is marginally better than the 10th place team. Frankly, outside of Miami, WMU and Notre Dame, none of the teams in the CCHA (in league play) are consistent. The Bucks looked terrible this weekend and chances are their play was more the reason they got swept more so than why Michigan won. But don't be making out the Bucks as something more than they are, even with that nice streak they had rolling at home prior to this weekend.

Hjelle is a nice talent when he is on, and Fritz, Dzingel and McCormick carry their offense and should get their due. That's it, IMO. But that 10th (now 9th) place team scored 11 goals this weekend on one of the better statistical defensive teams in the CCHA and one of the better goalies in the league. They had to do something right to do that-more so what they have done against the top three teams in the league this season.

Maybe you should check the league standings as we're in 4th place, not 7th, and I can tell you unequivocally with a straight face that I expected at least a split this weekend. Funny you mention ND and Western Michigan as we recently took four points each from both. Not going to get into a big debate about this. You apparently think of us as a perennial bottom feeder and fully expected the sweep this weekend. I see us as a program that is climbing the ladder with a coach in his third season and I expected to at least get one win this weekend. I'm honestly not sure why an Ohio State fan saying it's inexcusable to get swept at home has anyone all bent out of shape. Hell, maybe I should have just left out the "10th place team" part if that's what set you off because to me it's unacceptable to get swept at home by anyone if you're trying to build a program and get to the next level. To me the first step in becoming a contending program is protecting your own ice. Guess we can just agree to disagree on this one. You fully expected Michigan to sweep, I expected Ohio State to show up and at least win one of the two at home with 4th place on the line. I don't have an inflated opinion of my team at all, but I do have some expectations. Not sure why I am spending this much time answering a post that might be just trolling.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

FWIW, ohio hasn't won in their own building against Michigan since 2010 in OT. Including the sweep last year when they were #2 in the poll.

They're definitely getting better. I can see it. But hockey just isn't their sport. I thought they'd have a ton of fans there and they had the upper deck curtained.

Thank you for recognizing that we are getting better. Apparently you are one of the few Michigan fans that can see that. You are correct, that right now hockey isn't our sport. It's a mystery to me. I have always believed Ohio State was a sleeping giant in hockey, but we've never had a coach in here to get us to that level, and the athletic administration continues to treat hockey as an afterthought (even if we do finish in 4th place, our guys will get kicked out of their own building for OHSAA State Wrestling and the playoffs will be at the OSU Ice Rink ... just one example). I think we may have the right coach in place now, but my expectations are going to be ramped up next season with three full recruiting classes in here. As for the fan support, I read that there would be five figures for these games and that there would be people sitting in the upper deck. Instead the crowds were 6,772 and 9,278, a little disappointing. But then, those crowds would sell out every other building in the league. Maybe Pgb is onto something about building an arena that only seats 7,000! Oh, sorry! I know, we all agreed to table that discussion!

 

[MUhawks628]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

Instead the crowds were 6,772 and 9,278, a little disappointing. But then, those crowds would sell out every other building in the league. Maybe Pgb is onto something about building an arena that only seats 7,000! Oh, sorry! I know, we all agreed to table that discussion!

I just don't get it!!! Atmosphere, Atmosphere, Atmosphere.

What fans don't want to show up and watch a game if it's a great atmosphere? What recruit doesn't factor in a great gameday atmosphere? Even a 10k arena with 2,000-3,000 empty seats every night is the antithesis of a great atmosphere.

Build it small - relatively - and if it just so happens to create demand, all the better. Any lost revenue (not that tOSU AD seems to really care) could eventually be made up in ticket price increases. I don't understand *owing* it to the fans that only show up for 2 games a year to have the capacity to accommodate them. Chances are they won't be all that broken up about it.

At any rate, see y'all in Oxford this weekend.

 

[OSUmab]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

Thank you for recognizing that we are getting better. Apparently you are one of the few Michigan fans that can see that. You are correct, that right now hockey isn't our sport. It's a mystery to me. I have always believed Ohio State was a sleeping giant in hockey, but we've never had a coach in here to get us to that level, and the athletic administration continues to treat hockey as an afterthought (even if we do finish in 4th place, our guys will get kicked out of their own building for OHSAA State Wrestling and the playoffs will be at the OSU Ice Rink ... just one example). I think we may have the right coach in place now, but my expectations are going to be ramped up next season with three full recruiting classes in here. As for the fan support, I read that there would be five figures for these games and that there would be people sitting in the upper deck. Instead the crowds were 6,772 and 9,278, a little disappointing. But then, those crowds would sell out every other building in the league. Maybe Pgb is onto something about building an arena that only seats 7,000! Oh, sorry! I know, we all agreed to table that discussion!

Actually this time we would be losing to OHSAA Girls Basketball Also I think some of those presale #'s count PSL holders in the 2nd deck, but once gameday comes and goes its tickets scanned.

 

[THE OHIO STATE]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

Was Hjelle really bad this weekend or did the defense let him down?

Some of the players in front of him were out worked. He didn't have much help Friday or Saturday. He made some very good saves. Looks to me like Coach OZ put the blame on him as a team and pulled him. There were fans sitting a few sections over from me yelling at Coach OZ that it's not the Goalies fault. Alot of angry fans this weekend.

Goalie , Brady Hjelle is a big reason the team has won some close games this year. Here's some saturday night video action with alot of saves by Hjelle.

http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/allaccess/?media=374352

 

[streaker]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

Maybe you should check the league standings as we're in 4th place, not 7th, and I can tell you unequivocally with a straight face that I expected at least a split this weekend. Funny you mention ND and Western Michigan as we recently took four points each from both. Not going to get into a big debate about this. You apparently think of us as a perennial bottom feeder and fully expected the sweep this weekend. I see us as a program that is climbing the ladder with a coach in his third season and I expected to at least get one win this weekend. I'm honestly not sure why an Ohio State fan saying it's inexcusable to get swept at home has anyone all bent out of shape. Hell, maybe I should have just left out the "10th place team" part if that's what set you off because to me it's unacceptable to get swept at home by anyone if you're trying to build a program and get to the next level. To me the first step in becoming a contending program is protecting your own ice. Guess we can just agree to disagree on this one. You fully expected Michigan to sweep, I expected Ohio State to show up and at least win one of the two at home with 4th place on the line. I don't have an inflated opinion of my team at all, but I do have some expectations. Not sure why I am spending this much time answering a post that might be just trolling.

I'm not trolling. You can ask any of your other fans. I've been around this site awhile, and I call them as I see them. 4th/5th place in the CCHA isn't exactly proof positive that your team has arrived, especially sitting at/near .500

I do expect that any fan will expect their team to win in their own building- especially if that team is perceived to be better.

Read my comments again. I stated that you can toss any of the bottom 7 teams in a hat and none of them are marginally better than the other- except for maybe MSU.

BUT, I do believe there is a big difference between the top three teams and the rest of the league, regardless of your H2H meetings. It may not be that great a difference between the top tier teams and teams 4-6, but the proof is in their overall records. I also think that, regardless of your 4/5th place position, that there is a thin margin between that and the teams below you. That is not a slight, it is just how our league is. You are the one projecting how I think your program is- not me. I also had no preconceived notions about sweeping, either- I think I prefaced that well. They are in 4/5th place for a reason and one weekend of poor play won't change that. All I am saying is that it doesn't matter who you are playing because your program isn't a "dominant" program yet. ND is still a good team and got swept at home by a 'lower' team in Alaska. Yet, they are still a good program.

The CCHA is not that strong- it is full of parity. The real test will be in the NCAA playoffs. I think the top three teams are best suited for NCAA competition, period- with Notre Dame having the most experience against the other nationally ranked teams. Miami has been the best- defensively and otherwise. They don't let teams come into their rink and sweep them. WMU has proven to be the same way. Yet, all of these teams struggled at some point against teams below them in the standings.

Let's see what your program does in Oxford.

 

[streaker]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

Friday night was more of what michigan did to get the win, but Saturday night Ohio state handed them 4 of the 6 goals on a platter.

Yep, I concur. But I am kinda use to our own team doing it this season, so it's nice that someone else got the disease at least for one weekend.

The epitome of the weekend was watching Guptill dipsy-do through four guys for the game winner saturday. That guy has killed you the last two seasons.

 

[klbaum1077]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

Yep, I concur. But I am kinda use to our own team doing it this season, so it's nice that someone else got the disease at least for one weekend.

The epitome of the weekend was watching Guptill dipsy-do through four guys for the game winner saturday. That guy has killed you the last two seasons.

That goal made me sick to watch martell have him on the boards and just let him off. Yea Guptill has just destroyed ohio state the last couple of years. Ohio state picked the worst possible time to play the 2 worst games of the season.

 

[streaker]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

Valid points. What bothers me the most is we were coming off a win and tie vs both WMU and ND. So maybe foolish me I had higher (obviously) expectations for the weekend. And true UM has won in VC recently, but its the first sweep in Cbus since 91. Points were a must with what lies ahead this weekend.

It's tough to play at your peak level every weekend, especially coming off series against two of the top teams in the league. I think the team thought Michigan was going to lay down and it didn't work out that way. Having won only one true road win this season coming in (at LSSU) did provide a false sense of optimism I'm sure. There should have been no excuse saturday, except it was Senior night- which seems to be a distraction for our program every season.

As far as the "sweep" record- we can split hairs here, but Michigan has won the last three in Value City + the Progressive Field game which was technically a weekend sweep last season. But, the last time Michigan won two games in C-bus during the same season was in 1999-00 when they won on separate dates: 11/5/99 and 1/21/00. They did the same thing in 1996-97: on 1/31/97 and 3/2/97. It's just how the schedules were back then. I know you really mean b2b nights, which hadn't been done for 22 seasons-1991, but I'll take a sweep any way you slice it.

 

[THE OHIO STATE]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

I was talking to a group of guys after the game on Saturday night. Most of them were at both games. We all agreed on that Coach OZ made NO effort in coaching these players from the bench because the team played the same both nights. I know the Coach can't put the puck in the net for the players, but he needs to guide them in the right direction and point out there pro & cons while the game is playing.
Adjust to the game more and try harder to out Coach the other teams Coach. I don't think there's been the same lines for the players to adjust to all year.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

I'm not trolling. You can ask any of your other fans. I've been around this site awhile, and I call them as I see them. 4th/5th place in the CCHA isn't exactly proof positive that your team has arrived, especially sitting at/near .500

I do expect that any fan will expect their team to win in their own building- especially if that team is perceived to be better.

Read my comments again. I stated that you can toss any of the bottom 7 teams in a hat and none of them are marginally better than the other- except for maybe MSU.

BUT, I do believe there is a big difference between the top three teams and the rest of the league, regardless of your H2H meetings. It may not be that great a difference between the top tier teams and teams 4-6, but the proof is in their overall records. I also think that, regardless of your 4/5th place position, that there is a thin margin between that and the teams below you. That is not a slight, it is just how our league is. You are the one projecting how I think your program is- not me. I also had no preconceived notions about sweeping, either- I think I prefaced that well. They are in 4/5th place for a reason and one weekend of poor play won't change that. All I am saying is that it doesn't matter who you are playing because your program isn't a "dominant" program yet. ND is still a good team and got swept at home by a 'lower' team in Alaska. Yet, they are still a good program.

The CCHA is not that strong- it is full of parity. The real test will be in the NCAA playoffs. I think the top three teams are best suited for NCAA competition, period- with Notre Dame having the most experience against the other nationally ranked teams. Miami has been the best- defensively and otherwise. They don't let teams come into their rink and sweep them. WMU has proven to be the same way. Yet, all of these teams struggled at some point against teams below them in the standings.

Let's see what your program does in Oxford.

Guess we both did a little "projecting" here because at no point in any of my posts did I state or imply whatsoever that Ohio State's Hockey Program "has arrived" or is "dominant." I, like you, tell it like it is (incapable of sugarcoating), and I will guarantee you I will be the first person to tell you we have not arrived (not even close). In regard to Oxford, I don't expect to get any points down there. That is why I was so ticked off about not getting any points this past weekend. Now Ferris State is going to pass us for the 4th spot and we'll end up on the road in the second round. And before that gets misinterpreted as a slight against Michigan Hockey, Ferris State has the tiebreaker over us, so if you sweep them and Miami sweeps us, we end up 5th and they end up 4th. As I said in an earlier post, next year will be Coach Osiecki's 4th season, so my expectations will be a little different. A .500 season and a second-round exit in Big Rapids isn't going to cut it next season.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

I was talking to a group of guys after the game on Saturday night. Most of them were at both games. We all agreed on that Coach OZ made NO effort in coaching these players from the bench because the team played the same both nights. I know the Coach can't put the puck in the net for the players, but he needs to guide them in the right direction and point out there pro & cons while the game is playing.
Adjust to the game more and try harder to out Coach the other teams Coach. I don't think there's been the same lines for the players to adjust to all year.

I'm starting to wonder if Coach Oz is just using this job as a stepping stone. We'll see what happens next season I guess. Honestly, with the athletic administration's "who cares" attitude toward hockey, I suppose I shouldn't blame a coach for getting here, seeing the lack of committment from the administration, then deciding to move on.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

I'm still wondering about what I posted before on why did Oz change the lineup from what worked so well last week against Western? I realize Geddig was back from injury but he was a non-factor Friday and back out of the lineup Saturday.
I'm not going to take anything away from Michigan on their wins, any team in our conference is capable of winning and regardless of how their season has been one should always consider them a dangerous team.
If any are interested official attendance for Saturday was 9278.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State 2013/2014 - Third year in Oz

I just don't get it!!! Atmosphere, Atmosphere, Atmosphere.

What fans don't want to show up and watch a game if it's a great atmosphere? What recruit doesn't factor in a great gameday atmosphere? Even a 10k arena with 2,000-3,000 empty seats every night is the antithesis of a great atmosphere.

Build it small - relatively - and if it just so happens to create demand, all the better. Any lost revenue (not that tOSU AD seems to really care) could eventually be made up in ticket price increases. I don't understand *owing* it to the fans that only show up for 2 games a year to have the capacity to accommodate them. Chances are they won't be all that broken up about it.

At any rate, see y'all in Oxford this weekend.

If it's all about packing the place, then shoot, let's just save our money and go back to playing mens games at the OSU Ice Rink. Just kidding, of course. To be honest, our facilities are killing both our programs right now (mens and womens), so I would be happy with any brand-new hockey-only facility, even if they shortchange it and decide to build something that only holds 5,000 or 6,000 (too small, IMHO). I would be fine with Pgb's 7,000 figure like the University of Denver built. My magic number at this point is 8,000, but I would settle for 7,000 (haha, like I would have any say in the matter).