Re: PC - A new start and a new venue
1. The sweep should move us up in the standings. Being that it is a pretty safe bet BC takes Army today out of USCHO's top 20 only 4 teams had 4 point weekends and we were one.
2. Maybe Leaman is glad it happened so we don't, but for one bad period last weekend, we actually might have had the #1 ranking.
3. Rebounding after blowing the 2nd period up at Agganis was one lesson to be learned, but rallying from a deficit going into the 3rd period vs Merrimack is another lesson learned.
4. Merrimack had some a superb track record of winning once they had a lead going into the 3rd period. Something like 43-2-4 over the last 4+ years. The rally had some meaning
5. Saw Rufo limping around on crutches and with a brace. Divver said a lower body injury (obvious from seeing him) and used the word minor. Even so I bet we don't see him again till the Army game at the earliest.
6. Even more concerning is that MacKenzie didn't take a shift from the first period on and played most of the game with 5 dmen. MacKenzie as an older freshman has bolstered the defense considerably as he seems to get his stick and deflect pucks and handles himself in his own zone. He is what he is and will always be just that a defensive defenseman but he is good at it. Another good find by Leaman and his staff.
7. Florentino clearly has a bit of the Jay Leach bent to him, he puts some hard hits on people, and he is going to have to watch some of them since they are much tighter calling the game now then when Leach played a over decade ago. He is also a much better offensive player than Leach and will get much better as he gets accustomed to the speed of Hockey East. Right now is the 2nd leading scoring freshman defenseman in the country.
8. Nice game by MacPhee also. Got the goal that got us started in the 3rd, just missed on the nice set up later. Granted he has good linemates, but he is proving better than I thought he would be at this point.
9. Demo is the only player without a point offensively, but as proven by the fact he was not dressed in that disastrous BU game, he grinds his shifts and does his job and until we finish the process of upgrading from the Army days he has his value.
10. Another nice pickup as a piece of the puzzle guy is Steve McParland. He has 5 points as a 4th line guy, kills penalties nicely, and makes his chances. He is a recruited walk on.
11. Power play can still use some work but it is clicking a bit more than last year and I think as Florentino improves it will improve. Also Nick Saracino seems a bit snake bit at this point and that should change also.
12. I would actually like to see us be a little more consistent shutting down the power play of the opposition. Of the 14 goals Gillies has given up 7 have been on the other team's power play
13. Derek now has 64 career points. With roughly 30 games left in his career he might be one hot streak away from being the first Friar to hit 100 points since Jon Rheault Odds are better Mauerman is the next 100 point scorer in Friartown......In the past decade only Rheault has made it since the '03 trio of Johnny D, Fregoe and Rask.
14. Things Leaman said I agree with.....this was playoff hockey and with only 20 games you get that feel every week. Believe it or not we are 20% done and will put another big dent in the number of league games by exam break.
15. Again I agree Miami did expose a number of our weaknesses and it is clear we are working on them. We will be a lot better by February than we are now (however so won't a lot of other teams as they work toward peeking at playoff time).
16. What I disagree with is that the band and students have been great.....truthfully they suck. Two separate people brought up the fact (and I didn't speak with '91 who has noted this complaint) the band plays the same old tired songs and does nothing to get the crowd in the game, heck they don't even play the song Eric the Ram used to dance to.....they need to trash everything they play now and learn some real hockey music to get the crowd going. As for the students yes they showed up, they sat on their hands for the most part, you could see many on their cell phones the entire time texting away and then a good percent might still think we lost as they were long gone by the third period.