Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

C'mon Q!

Guess I didn't yell loud enough!

Clarke was definitely not on his game. Why Rand didn't pull him after the 3rd goal baffles me. At that point, can either of the other 2 guys do any worse? Ugh...

It did seem like the boys tried and didn't give up. Unfortunately, they didn't have a lot of flow. Another night of making a goalie look good. Lot's of shots but not many really good chances.

Time is running out. Tomorrow night becomes a must win because we need the points.

 

[starlessixisky]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

I still think 5-3 was a good showing for our offense from what I heard of the game. It seems Clarke's game is not gonna come back and we're thrown back into the problems at the beginning of the season. you have three goaltenders - who do you put in net? and it's difficult when the two freshmen have not had the time in net. perhaps one thing we can fault rand on eek is not mixing up the goaltending in the beginning of the season, especially before conference games started. the major flaw was keeping clarke in net so much, despite the fact that he was pretty hot at the time, but when clarke's game went to hell, he had two freshmen with no between the pipes experience to go off of and we all saw what happened to clarke last year when he was thrown into net as a freshie when bud's game was shot.
good luck tomorrow night Q!

 

[MCL298]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

I still think 5-3 was a good showing for our offense from what I heard of the game. It seems Clarke's game is not gonna come back and we're thrown back into the problems at the beginning of the season. you have three goaltenders - who do you put in net? and it's difficult when the two freshmen have not had the time in net. perhaps one thing we can fault rand on eek is not mixing up the goaltending in the beginning of the season, especially before conference games started. the major flaw was keeping clarke in net so much, despite the fact that he was pretty hot at the time, but when clarke's game went to hell, he had two freshmen with no between the pipes experience to go off of and we all saw what happened to clarke last year when he was thrown into net as a freshie when bud's game was shot.
good luck tomorrow night Q!

I could not agree with you more! How many games has Clarke "not been on his game" this season? Enough is enough! Granted its a team effort but Clarke has proven time and time again that he should not be our #1 goalie. Give one of the freshmen a chance please!!!!!!
Something needs to change; why not start with the goaltending?

 

[allnightwong]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

You guys hit the nail on the head when it comes to Clarkie. I'd like to see Chewy in net tomorrow...why not?

On a side not Lampe and JMB are running out of time to join the 100 point club. With only 3 regular season games left Lampe is stuck at 94 points and JMB is a ways off at 91. I think in order for the boys to reach that high accolade they'd need to head deep into the playoffs. I hope for their sake it happens.

 

[critsports]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

I could not agree with you more! How many games has Clarke "not been on his game" this season? Enough is enough! Granted its a team effort but Clarke has proven time and time again that he should not be our #1 goalie. Give one of the freshmen a chance please!!!!!!
Something needs to change; why not start with the goaltending?

Just throwing out a thought here..........but what you may or may not know is how those other goalies perform during the week during practice and what the coaching staff feels about them.

I can say as an SLU fan our coach does do an almost equal rotation at the start of the season and as the conference season approaches he sort of settles on a number 1, 2 and 3. However the last couple of years our #3 has wound up earning the bulk of the playing time down the stretch. One year we had a kid John Hallas who never played at all in 4 years and he wound up being our go to goalie the last third of the season. It's so tough to figure.

Tonight in our game at Yale........Allain pullled Blase after the first when he gave up 3 goals on only 7 shots.

Having said all the above I'll revert back to my original point.......just seeing the games you/we only see the tip of the iceberg and even if you don't like that tip.......you don't know what's going on beneath the surface, at practice and all the other intangibles that coaches decide on. Just food for thought.

 

[MCL298]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

Just throwing out a thought here..........but what you may or may not know is how those other goalies perform during the week during practice and what the coaching staff feels about them.

I can say as an SLU fan our coach does do an almost equal rotation at the start of the season and as the conference season approaches he sort of settles on a number 1, 2 and 3. However the last couple of years our #3 has wound up earning the bulk of the playing time down the stretch. One year we had a kid John Hallas who never played at all in 4 years and he wound up being our go to goalie the last third of the season. It's so tough to figure.

Tonight in our game at Yale........Allain pullled Blase after the first when he gave up 3 goals on only 7 shots.

Having said all the above I'll revert back to my original point.......just seeing the games you/we only see the tip of the iceberg and even if you don't like that tip.......you don't know what's going on beneath the surface, at practice and all the other intangibles that coaches decide on. Just food for thought.

you bring up valid points but if Clarke is the best we have then we are in big trouble. he has potential (as shown during our hot streak at the beginning of the season) but other than that he has been inconsistent during his QU career

I like what you said about SLU, and it seems like after the coach picks the #1,2,3, there is still an opportunity for the other guys. What frustrates me is that I can't understand why Rand keeps going back to Clarke. Maybe it goes back to what you said about not knowing what goes on behind the scenes because i can't think of any other reason.

"Tonight in our game at Yale........Allain pullled Blase after the first when he gave up 3 goals on only 7 shots." - Reminds me of when Rand pulled Clarke at home against Yale in the first last year. Bud came in and had his best game of the season.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

just seeing the games you/we only see the tip of the iceberg and even if you don't like that tip.......you don't know what's going on beneath the surface, at practice and all the other intangibles that coaches decide on

I've considered this angle but still don't get it. Maybe that's why I'm not the coach?

The problem has been that Clarke is like ECAC officiating: you never know what you're going to get. Last night he was weak. The team played well enough to win (where have we heard that before?) but couldn't overcome a couple of soft goals allowed by Clarke. After giving up 2 goals in :56 (both 4-on-4) he should have been yanked IMHO.

 

[GoQ!]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

That loud SPLAT you all heard last night was me landing on the ground after jumping off the roof of the Bank!

PLEASE Go Q! (Figured if I was a little more polite they might answer.)

 

[6AMSK8er]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

Clarke has shown himself to be a strong goalie at times but very inconsistent as we've slid down hill. You hope a goalie can pull himself and thereby the team out of a slump and steal a game. At this point in the season do you make a change and totally blow his confidence? Would have liked to see a change much earlier in the season. Now you risk using a freshman goalie late in the season and hope he can get on track and carry us through playoffs? it always amazes me how many mistakes coaches make in managing goalies. I like what the SLU fan said about how Joe Marsh manages his goalies. I think too many coaches base their rotation (if there is a rotation) on pre-determined beliefs and the commitments they have made financially to each goalie. In other words, if they have one on full scholarship and one on a 50% scholarship, the coach is going to try to make the full guy work. Also brings into question who is working with the goalies in practice and if there needs to be a change in goaltender coaching strategy

 

[red army hockey]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

The Bobcats played a pretty solid game - They showed some grit and battled back but came up a little short - Wong had many chances but couldn't beat the Freshman goalie - I wish our D-men would fire the puck to the net quicker they tend to hold the puck a split second to long - To many bad penalties - Jerry D'Amigo was awesome last night he is the real deal completely turned around our D all night

Check out the RPI web site you can watch the game

 

[critsports]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

I've considered this angle but still don't get it. Maybe that's why I'm not the coach?

The problem has been that Clarke is like ECAC officiating: you never know what you're going to get. Last night he was weak. The team played well enough to win (where have we heard that before?) but couldn't overcome a couple of soft goals allowed by Clarke. After giving up 2 goals in :56 (both 4-on-4) he should have been yanked IMHO.

Not that it helps but.........how would you like to be the absolutely best offensive team in the ECAC, have an awesome power play, be ranked 5th in the country, have one of the most potent and best teams you have ever had and seriously could be an NCAA title contender (if only you had a decent goalie)????????????? Thats what's down the street from you at Yale.

What a shame that arguably the best team the ECAC has produced in some time likely won't go as far as they could because they can't find a guy to keep the puck out of the net.

 

[LTsatch]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

SLU

At least the scorers overcompensate for the goalies shortcomings, SLU did not have much of a backstop either, Both offenses were flying last night.

 

[critsports]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

SLU

At least the scorers overcompensate for the goalies shortcomings, SLU did not have much of a backstop either, Both offenses were flying last night.

Not sure if we were watching the same game last night but if it weren't for Tisi the score would have been 12-5. At the start of the first he absolutely kept us from being blown out........do you really think he could have stopped many if at all any of those Yale goals???

The tic, tac, toe on Arcobello's goal??? The shot that was batted out of the air. The first goal that he was screened on?? The shots into the upper corners that were like laser beams???

Hey I won't go on because we are on a Quinnipiac thread but I disagree with your analysis of Tisi's play last night.

 

[GoQ!]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

To get this back on a QU thread, I absolutely will not say anything negative about any of our players, especially a goaltender because, frankly, who really understands those guys? And it's presumptuous of most of us to second guess the coaching staff. However, having said all that, I would like to see one of our highly touted rookie goaltenders get a chance to show us what they can do. Sometimes a change in goaltender can turn around a team for reasons that might not have anything to do with how well or poorly the current tender is playing. And as we all know, a team can ride a hot tender deep into the playoffs.

Go Q!

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

Would have liked to see a change much earlier in the season. Now you risk using a freshman goalie late in the season and hope he can get on track and carry us through playoffs?

I've said this before... we rode Clarke's back a bit too long. I don't think he should have started the 2 games after Yale (at Brown, 2-1 L and at Holy Cross, 1-1 T). The Yale game was a tough, emotional loss for the team. The next night in Providence I think Clarke should have been rested. Less than a week later at HC, we should have started one of the freshmen just to see what they had and to give Dan more needed rest going into the holiday break. I believe those 2 games did more to hurt Clarke's confidence than any other we've played.

Also brings into question who is working with the goalies in practice and if there needs to be a change in goaltender coaching strategy

Our volunteer assistant this year is Justin Eddy, a QU alum and a former goalie. Early in the season I heard how he had worked with Clarke to change his style and obviously it paid off over the first 2 months.

Based on everything I've seen and heard over the past few years in respect to the way Rand handles his goalies, I think it's safe to say that Rand sticks with a guy, especially in down times, in order to keep and or build upon the confidence level.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

The Bobcats played a pretty solid game

That's what hurts the most... we've been in almost every game that we've lost. There haven't been any blowouts, just bad bounces offensively, a few D mistakes, and some really soft goals scored against us.

Wong had many chances but couldn't beat the Freshman goalie

I told allnightwong last night that we have a knack for making opposing goalies look great!

I wish our D-men would fire the puck to the net quicker they tend to hold the puck a split second to long

I've heard this a time or two this season!

To many bad penalties

Luckily, that didn't really hurt us last night as RPI was 0-4 on the PP. Of course being a man down doesn't help us offensively so I guess it all even out.

Hey I won't go on because we are on a Quinnipiac thread

No problem here, Mike. I appreciate you candor and your impartial 3rd-party observations are usualy right on. Sometimes it's beneficial when others help you see the light!

who really understands those guys?

Only other goaltenders?

And it's presumptuous of most of us to second guess the coaching staff.

Agreed.

However, having said all that, I would like to see one of our highly touted rookie goaltenders get a chance to show us what they can do. Sometimes a change in goaltender can turn around a team for reasons that might not have anything to do with how well or poorly the current tender is playing. And as we all know, a team can ride a hot tender deep into the playoffs.

Unfortunately, I think we're too far past the point where that would be beneficial. If it had happened in December or early January I think it would have helped those 3 guys with the pads as well as the rest of the team.

In the quest for home ice, I think we're entering desperation mode. I'm sure others have spent time crunching numbers and playing out all the different scenarios, but I haven't. In my mind, we need 2 wins (4 points minimum) in our last 3 games or else I fear we'll be travelling the first weekend in March.

It would be sweet to get 2 of those points tonight!

Go Q!

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

In the words of our friend Puckie:

Send Help!

We certainly stunk up Messa rink tonight. Came back from 2 down to tie it but seemed to totally give up when U went up 3-2. A couple of times I thought I saw guys just standing around as the Dutchmen skated by.

Terrible performance when we needed our best game. This doesn't bode well for next weekend. A sweep is a must if we want to stay home for the playoffs. Brown is going to be tough for Friday's senior night. We better not even think about looking past them to Yale on Saturday. That game essentially means nothing until Friday is over.

 

[bobcatsfollower]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

Time to call it like it is, and forget all of this political correctness. It should not be a surprise to so many to see what has happened to this team. And for those who think Rand is not to blame, think again. I believe this situation can be related best to karma. Rand is getting his come around.

In the words of our friend Puckie:

Send Help!

We certainly stunk up Messa rink tonight. Came back from 2 down to tie it but seemed to totally give up when U went up 3-2. A couple of times I thought I saw guys just standing around as the Dutchmen skated by.

Terrible performance when we needed our best game. This doesn't bode well for next weekend. A sweep is a must if we want to stay home for the playoffs. Brown is going to be tough for Friday's senior night. We better not even think about looking past them to Yale on Saturday. That game essentially means nothing until Friday is over.

 

[red army hockey]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

Can anyone stop the puck???? The D was brutal?? To many freshmen in critical spots - Recipe for disaster and we have unraveled

2-2 game and give up 5 unanswered goals???????????????????

Call the Cops!!

 

[MinniQUFan]

Re: Quinnipiac Bobcats 09-10: Part II

Unfortunately with 2 games left in the regular season, this is looking like it may go down as the worst QU team in many years... which is ironic considering they were the number 4 team in the nation only a few months ago.

It's sad to say, but it feels like an era is ending with these being the final days of players like Wong, Lampe, JMB, and the rest of the senior gang. These were the guys who as freshman helped lead QU to within 20 minutes of the ECAC Championship, and it looked like they would make so many good things happen over the next 3 years... especially with Cash and Bords being the only major departures. (Though it was and will continue to be incredibly difficult to replace Cashman.) And now, it looks like they're going to go out with a whimper never having come close to realizing that potential.

I kinda miss the old days... the NIP, the no-talent all heart guys, the promise that things were on their way up. Everything over the last few years seems to have become so stagnant whether it be the coaching or the players not living up to their potential.

I guess we need to ask, what are the real bright spots that give us hope that QU is going to make the next step? We haven't had a consistent goalie since Jamie Holden. We have never come close to replacing Reid on or off the ice. We consistently bring in freshman who shine their first year only to fall off and settle in for quietly solid careers.

I know it's early to be writing the epitaph on the season, but let's face it... the magic that carried this team to a number 4 ranking is long gone. I wish I still had Bud Fisher to blame.