Re: Providence College 2010-2011 - Things are looking up.
Face offs were better, PP still does not exist......Basicly 2 bad teams playing as well as they could......entertaining yes, competetive div 1 NO.....they will be playing more poor teams until December (Maine) then the real test begins....as a young team this first part of the schedule could build up their ego or totally wreck them, only time will tell.....they are leaving it all on the ice and because of that I applaud them
I am not quite sure how to respond to you without giving too much of a nod to a certain poster.
First in regard to PC. I think we are looking at a different team, though you have to realize some things you can't change and others can't be changed on a dime. First for the first time in a long time we have a veteran team--6 seniors are playing regularly. With these guys I think early gains reinforce the saying it is more fun to win and in the long run may make us better down the stretch. I think there is a difference on the power play, yes we still don't score but part of that simply is we don't have true sniper to finish off. What I have seen is there is system and they are moving the puck and doing so faster (while not fast enough but that is to the point of lacking that finisher). I doubt we'll be prolific on the PP by year end but it should improve as the year goes on and just maybe if that happens we won't have the 2nd half draught we have experienced in the past. I think the big difference is that you have a forward with an offensive bent directing the power play in Donatelli.
I think that we still have been out quicked in 3 of the 4 home games but our experience has given us chances to make up for not being fast. We have balanced things out by winning more one on one battles in the corne and using angles to cut off the opposition. Vermont was the best of the 4 teams on the night we played them and they put us in a hole. I think it took a while but we did adjust and by and large we more then held our own after giving up the 2 weak power play goals in the second.
On defense I do think as the game progresses without Velischek in the lineup we feel the loss of Fayne. The one bright spot from last year was how he stepped up. At the moment we don't have that and it has hurt us and I think it has had an affect on Beaudry. Still the positives here are 3 freshmen are getting a good deal of experience which will help later. Second I thought Baier especially played very well this weekend and Harvey really looks like he is learning the small details and improving his game. New also looks improved though he is one of those who has taken a few too many penalties.
Offensively we are better at this point because the team is working better together. We can improve a bit more once Velischek gets back and some of the others on the point find a comfort zone. Last year with Fayne a lot of our offense was through him. Still hee is the problem our top line does not truly match well against most other team's top line. At UMD it killed us. Right now it is our 4th line that is driving us. They scored the first goal vs Merrimack, and 2 more last night and 2 of the line members were on the ice when Army scored his goal (though they had no part in it.) The point is we will win more if our balanced scoring holds up.
Also I think it is clear Derek is a Division 1 player. He is not a stud and no one with true knowledge of juniors/preps ever advertised him as such. He does have things to learn that things he has done in lower levels won't work on this level, but he knows the game, has a good on ice sense, and is a really good stick handler. I'll check a little more but the bad news for this year is that the player they brought to carry the offensive load is out now for the season. I've heard he suffered ligament damage in the NU game and that since he'd miss most of the season and having been in 5 games he'd be eligible for a medical red shirt season.
Anyway at this point I am encouraged. If Bergland can get out of his funk we have another weapon. It looks like they are playing looser right now and if that attitude can be maintained through the season it will be good. I definely think the Rask/Donatelli combo have been a major improvement over Moore who simply had reached the point of not wanting to be here and it showed. I suspect unless several teams have surprisingly down seasons our cap is probably 7th, but the chances are there we could do slightly better.
On the idea of everyone we play being weak. College hockey overall is not as strong as it once was, many players leave early (look at how hard UMass was hit), look at all the decomits who jump to major juniors instead of showing up. It all snow balls down and keeps many teams from being as strong as things were 10 15 years ago. Also the top is much stronger. Look at the number of players drafted. BC and BU have 11 each, Maine and NU have 5, the rest of the teams together don't equal BC
