Re: Providence - 2009-10 In-season Thread
1. A 2-1-1 stretch & 3 of 6 HEA points is better then I am sure most people would have penciled in even 2 weeks ago. The challenge going forward is this: Weaker teams have to win games whenever they can. Better teams build up their momentum and are sharpest come Feb. and March. We had to pull out all of the stops now and their very well could be a price to pay later.
2. Offensively right now a 1/3 of the way through the season we are on pace to score slightly less then 100 goals for the season. We have done that once since ‘04. It would fit in between the totals from the 2 better seasons in the past 4 yrs, the ones where we challenged for home ice till the end.
3. Still think there is some tinkering to do with the lines/lineup. First despite the complaints about Army and the fact he has so many players on the roster, he does pretty much stick with his lineup except for injuries. I think he really needs to complement Bergland/Jamnick. I thought putting Schaller there was a great idea and maybe eventually he does become a 1st liner, but Tues. getting him back on 4th line let us go with 4 lines pretty regularly. It would be especially nice if Maloney would step up. He’s got great speed, just seems way to leery of mixing it up or even being gritty. He’s not small and while he came in as a true freshman, you would think the connection between being “gritty” and sitting in the stands would click in. I certainly think the opportunity is there. Despite his fast start I am beginning to find it harder and harder to find Eppich really be anything but a drag on his line. He gets overpowered too easily. I thought all 3 4th liners played better then him Tuesday. When Cavanagh was out Army seemed to be testing Landman/Maloney as who was his 13th forward ready to step into the breech. Landman seems to have enough size and speed to play, seemed willing to get involved in his few shifts, but clearly he has not shown the consistency to be bumped into the lineup regularly, never mind replace a 3rd liner. Simon and Hess at this point seem to be projects with the eye to them stepping in next year with Cavanagh/Eppich’s departure.
4. Long term by my calculations we still have a full scholarship for a forward. Theoretically he would be the one to replace Eppich so that would appear to be a major upgrade if they do their job well. My guess is they look at the Jamnick/Bergland prototype and grab a Minn. player willing to come east, who is glad to skip juniors, steps up late toward playoff time and who has some size/speed/scoring skills This would let them begin building a line that could really complement the top line.
5. The player I’d like to see take it to the next level the most is Kyle MacKinnon. He gets loads of playing time as he plays the power play, penalty kill (maybe our best), lots of regular playing time when Army doubles up the top lines in the stretch.. When he does score you sit there and wonder why he does not do it more often. His pace is for a dozen goals, which on this team is a big deal, but the expectation is more.
6. Neither O’Connor nor Cavanagh are big scorers but their presence usually does mean solid shifts. I actually don’t think a good number of our defensmen played exceptionally well against UML, and as Saty noted Beaudry leaves rebounds. I thought the forwards did a good job of falling back and helping to get the puck first out of danger, then out of the zone forcing Lowell to at least have to regroup.
7. I like Aaron Jamnick. That goal was his first league goal so he had been off to a slow start in league play. Even with PC having played less games then others in league play no matter how good a year he does end up with I would expect he will be overlooked on the rookie team like Bergland was last year.
8 The power play does still present a problem. I actually liked the idea of the 3 men back setup NU used to float someone from the point into the play. I think it could work at PC, Velilschek is very versatile, Fayne has size that might suddenly open things up if he breaks down low and the 3rd player I’d use is MacKinnon. It might provide the chance for him to break loose if he can float down low to the appropriate place at the correct time. Despite the 2 power play goals against UML it still seems we are too tentative, looking for the perfect play. Still its up by about 5% which is still from looking at league stats about 6% less efficient then where we would need to be. The other positive though is a third of the way through the season we haven’t given up a short handed goal while we gave up 4 last year..
9. On defense Mark Fayne finally has a partner he doesn’t have to baby sit and it seems to have freed him up. I would also not be surprised if Lou didn’t explain the hockey facts of life to him and warn him of the fates of Rheault and Norton who had the teams that drafted then renounce those picks, thus as Rheault getting cut by the PBruins shows making life getting even to the AHL tougher. Someone noted to me he seems to be having the senior year Jay Pemberton had his senior year till he got hurt
10. Velischek is an impact player. Nice to see him get his first goal. There is tremendous upside to this kid. Remember he is just stepping off the ice in NJ’s Catholic Conference. This is a major step up for him. He pretty well seems able to handle the jump. I think he’s having freshman problems realizing how to avoid penalties and I’m sure part of that is the fact freshmen don’t get breaks. He still might not have all the defensive skills his dad had as that was Randy’s calling card, but he seems to be showing the offensive skills his dad did not till his senior year. You might not remember but Randy only scored a handful of goals his first 3 years and his 1st three years his point total was about 10 less points then he got in just his senior year. (In part of course is they had offensive defensemen in Jim Colucci and Scot Kleinendorst whose job it was to be major contributors to the offense)
11. Problem with the defense is the depth is not there. Danny New has played well so it seemed he was rotating the other defenders with these 3, double shifting the top 3 continuously. (Why I worry about the stretch run). It appeared to me Baier was bench and Smith was used sparingly. Brown has the makings of some nice offensive skills, but is a bit slow on defense
12. I wonder if Army will consider benching Baier totally and inserting David Cavanagh into the lineup
13. Supposedly we have our two dmen to replace Cavanagh and Fayne. Adams is cutting his teeth in the USHL where as a high school senior he one of the younger players in the league. His numbers are not outstanding but its better prep then staying at MC or even the EJHL/Prep. I had pictured Brice O’Connor coming in and being the 7th guy next year, but the situation might provide him with an opening too. He plays for a strong Monarch team and seems to lean more to be defensive minded though he has streaks where he does get points. He is about Taormina’s size.
14. I wonder if since last year we changed from going hard for a defenseman to getting a partial to come in when we got the chance to get Jamnick, this year we would do the opposite. I see 2 possibilities to do this. The easier one is you hold back either Jamie Ferullo or Derek. I would guess that all depends on how Brown/Smith develop here and O’Connor/Adams do in juniors. The other is that with 3 returning goalies within 2 classes and Beaudry clearly being the guy, one of the others leaves and frees up money.
15. Beaudry has been very solid this year. He’s hold the fort enough times to get the offense in gear, like Tuesday. Still since again as Saty points out he does leave rebounds which certainly come back to haunt you if we are seeing a great streak. I certainly would not anoint him the next Nolan Schaefer. Still his pluses outweigh his minuses. His ability to handle the puck helps the defense, he does try to kick his rebounds real wide and he seems to have great concentration.
16. Defense is much improved because of him and Fayne/Velischek. We have cut off about a goal a game in league play and closer to a goal and a half overall. In fact despite thinking our PK is bad, they seemed to have settled in fairly well. We killed 4 of the last 19 and basically we are in the middle of the league pack with only BC seeming to heads above our ability to kill them.
17. We still are below average in taking penalties only UNH and UML are more disciplined then us in league play. Nationally there are just in the top third of least penalized teams. I do think we do have a problem with so many freshman (see Alex in particular) taking penalties they might be able to avoid. I also think guys like MacKinnon and Farrer need to be more controlled. Actually lately MacKinnon has been and Farrer played a very under control game against UML. Still the lack of penaltes in the UML game made it much easier on us. Gravelesse has always been good about letting them play.
18. Speaking of Refs, Jon mentioned Bunyon and by now you take him for what he is, reffing about two levels about his skill level. The ref to me who seems to be more of a problem is Dave Hansen. He’s all over the place which again makes it difficult for the newcomers to figure out what is a penalty and what is not.
19. Derek made his prep debut for Gunnery Sunday and scored a goal. Ferullo has 23 points with the Monarchs which if you extrapolate puts him about 50 points for the year and at about the level of O’Connor’s and Germain’s last seasons with the Monarchs.
20. That basketball game ‘73 mentioned on 12/12 should be the last conflict this year. Still it would be nice if they tried to do something to get more people in. Even give tickets away.
Dope!!!