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Quinnipiac Bobcats 2026-27 - Cherry Blossom Special

RENCEB said:
Merrimack fan here (with QU as my secondary rooting interest). Very interested to see how the Warriors match up today. They should be solid this year, but Bobcats could be downright frightening. UNH is not very good, but as said above, putting a 10 spot on anyone is impressive.
Click to expand...

Merrimack was picked 6th in the Hockey East preseason poll, but I think they're much better than that. Perhaps that disrespect will motivate them in conference play.

On a related note, I'll be attending Thursday's Merrimack-UNH game in North Andover on my way to Orono for the QU-Maine weekend series. Should be a great game at Lawler. I'm expecially excited for the HEA championship banner raising before the game!
 
Solid weekend. Merrimack was better than the scoreline showed. They play with solid structure and showed some flashes to be optimistic about.

Despite losing 2-10, New Hampshire was somehow worse than the score showed
 
Great offensive showing from the team this past weekend. Goalie position still to be monitored. I felt Applebee gave up too many goals for the number of shots. CK looked the part but against a worse team. Let them play it out but think CK will get most of the starts by year end.
 
QU_Paul said:
Great offensive showing from the team this past weekend. Goalie position still to be monitored. I felt Applebee gave up too many goals for the number of shots. CK looked the part but against a worse team. Let them play it out but think CK will get most of the starts by year end.
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Even Kirsch gave up 2 soft goals.

I want to believe it was just first game jitters. My hope is that Rand does a pure platoon at least until league play starts. That will give them time to settle in and allow either to step up if the opportunity presents itself.

We've also got a little work to do on the back end. There were enough mistakes made this past weekend to notice. Every great QU goalie has had a lights out D in front of them.

I'm confident this team will get better and probably quickly. I think by the end of the month we'll see a marked improvement.
 
Well, Mark, I've returned. After a week of USCHO debating whether or not my credentials aligned, the new and improved allnightwong monicker is back. I think it's been like 14 years. Many posters may not have even seen my namesake, Wonger, play.

Anywho, that was a fun weekend. Two Hockey East guests, 16 goals for. Without diving too much into the two games, you guys have done a nice job with that, I'll give my observations. Merrimack at least looked like a competent hockey program. Man... UNH... sheesh.

I'm really bullish on this year's squad. The lone question mark is clearly in net and I'm not sure this weekend provided many answers. But, at the very least, it didn't seem to matter, at least for two nights. This offense, depth, and experience looks lethal. To be able to return your top 6 leading scorers (really 9 of your top 10) from a darn good team a year ago and pair that with some really fun additions has this team on track to do some really impressive stuff this year.

The new guys seemed to fit. Stockfish is such a seasoned dude. Competent in all phases, adds size, experience and stability. Kostov dealt out a 3 point weekend in his debut despite missing some minutes Saturday after getting banged up, I think. Dylan Edwards' undersized ceiling is Sam Anas (lofty, I know, but I really enjoyed watching this kid). I thought Alcos and Golicic looked ahead of schedule and even Strathmann, the NoDak reclamation project, looked the part.

I leaned over to Mark a few times and expressed how cool it was that there wasn't a dud on the ice. There wasn't a 4th line, checking line, logging minutes incapable of providing production. There wasn't a guy making me want to pull my hair out. So deep. And this is without Matt McGroarty on the ice (who I thought had a great second half last year simply pissing people off) and scratching guys the likes of Frasca and Schultz, definite no brainers on most other league schools to be on the linechart.

Long season indeed, but off to the best possible start. Maine has not been a program the Q has had cakewalks with in the past and Orono was a rough trip two years ago, so I'm expecting a battle this weekend. But even with that said, absolutely can't wait to watch.

On a similar but unrelated note the Twitter/X braintrust has already jumped into the "Well, Quinnipiac has 25 year olds, so it doesn't count" retort. Well, according to CHN, QU is the 17th youngest team in the nation. In fact only Marcellus and McGroarty have reach the ripe old age of 24. So, shut up.

Glad to be back and have really enjoyed following for all these years since I shut down the blog (The new QUHockeyBlog is outstanding, btw) and stopped posting here. Keep up the good work!

Go Q!
 
allnightwong4823 said:
Well, Mark, I've returned. After a week of USCHO debating whether or not my credentials aligned, the new and improved allnightwong monicker is back. I think it's been like 14 years. Many posters may not have even seen my namesake, Wonger, play.

Anywho, that was a fun weekend. Two Hockey East guests, 16 goals for. Without diving too much into the two games, you guys have done a nice job with that, I'll give my observations. Merrimack at least looked like a competent hockey program. Man... UNH... sheesh.

I'm really bullish on this year's squad. The lone question mark is clearly in net and I'm not sure this weekend provided many answers. But, at the very least, it didn't seem to matter, at least for two nights. This offense, depth, and experience looks lethal. To be able to return your top 6 leading scorers (really 9 of your top 10) from a darn good team a year ago and pair that with some really fun additions has this team on track to do some really impressive stuff this year.

The new guys seemed to fit. Stockfish is such a seasoned dude. Competent in all phases, adds size, experience and stability. Kostov dealt out a 3 point weekend in his debut despite missing some minutes Saturday after getting banged up, I think. Dylan Edwards' undersized ceiling is Sam Anas (lofty, I know, but I really enjoyed watching this kid). I thought Alcos and Golicic looked ahead of schedule and even Strathmann, the NoDak reclamation project, looked the part.

I leaned over to Mark a few times and expressed how cool it was that there wasn't a dud on the ice. There wasn't a 4th line, checking line, logging minutes incapable of providing production. There wasn't a guy making me want to pull my hair out. So deep. And this is without Matt McGroarty on the ice (who I thought had a great second half last year simply pissing people off) and scratching guys the likes of Frasca and Schultz, definite no brainers on most other league schools to be on the linechart.

Long season indeed, but off to the best possible start. Maine has not been a program the Q has had cakewalks with in the past and Orono was a rough trip two years ago, so I'm expecting a battle this weekend. But even with that said, absolutely can't wait to watch.

On a similar but unrelated note the Twitter/X braintrust has already jumped into the "Well, Quinnipiac has 25 year olds, so it doesn't count" retort. Well, according to CHN, QU is the 17th youngest team in the nation. In fact only Marcellus and McGroarty have reach the ripe old age of 24. So, shut up.

Glad to be back and have really enjoyed following for all these years since I shut down the blog (The new QUHockeyBlog is outstanding, btw) and stopped posting here. Keep up the good work!

Go Q!
Click to expand...
Welcome back!

We missed you... ok, maybe just me...

I have no doubt that you'll bring your passion for this team like the old days
.
 
allnightwong4823 said:
Well, Mark, I've returned. After a week of USCHO debating whether or not my credentials aligned, the new and improved allnightwong monicker is back. I think it's been like 14 years. Many posters may not have even seen my namesake, Wonger, play.

Anywho, that was a fun weekend. Two Hockey East guests, 16 goals for. Without diving too much into the two games, you guys have done a nice job with that, I'll give my observations. Merrimack at least looked like a competent hockey program. Man... UNH... sheesh.

I'm really bullish on this year's squad. The lone question mark is clearly in net and I'm not sure this weekend provided many answers. But, at the very least, it didn't seem to matter, at least for two nights. This offense, depth, and experience looks lethal. To be able to return your top 6 leading scorers (really 9 of your top 10) from a darn good team a year ago and pair that with some really fun additions has this team on track to do some really impressive stuff this year.

The new guys seemed to fit. Stockfish is such a seasoned dude. Competent in all phases, adds size, experience and stability. Kostov dealt out a 3 point weekend in his debut despite missing some minutes Saturday after getting banged up, I think. Dylan Edwards' undersized ceiling is Sam Anas (lofty, I know, but I really enjoyed watching this kid). I thought Alcos and Golicic looked ahead of schedule and even Strathmann, the NoDak reclamation project, looked the part.

I leaned over to Mark a few times and expressed how cool it was that there wasn't a dud on the ice. There wasn't a 4th line, checking line, logging minutes incapable of providing production. There wasn't a guy making me want to pull my hair out. So deep. And this is without Matt McGroarty on the ice (who I thought had a great second half last year simply pissing people off) and scratching guys the likes of Frasca and Schultz, definite no brainers on most other league schools to be on the linechart.

Long season indeed, but off to the best possible start. Maine has not been a program the Q has had cakewalks with in the past and Orono was a rough trip two years ago, so I'm expecting a battle this weekend. But even with that said, absolutely can't wait to watch.

On a similar but unrelated note the Twitter/X braintrust has already jumped into the "Well, Quinnipiac has 25 year olds, so it doesn't count" retort. Well, according to CHN, QU is the 17th youngest team in the nation. In fact only Marcellus and McGroarty have reach the ripe old age of 24. So, shut up.

Glad to be back and have really enjoyed following for all these years since I shut down the blog (The new QUHockeyBlog is outstanding, btw) and stopped posting here. Keep up the good work!

Go Q!
Click to expand...
Welcome back. This team is really loaded, and I think if it wasn't for 4-5 other teams being loaded like QU this could have been the preseason number 1 team. I honestly think at this point the only question mark is in goal. Having Borgula fully healthy and scoring is a good sign as well. I could easily see this team running away with the ECAC like they did in the National Championship season when they went 20-2 and won the league by 11 points.
 
The Cats take on the Black Bears at Alfond for two starting tonight. Maine came into the year middle of the pack in the HE preseason poll and split a doubledip at Holy Cross last weekend. I said it in my initial "I'm Back" post, we haven't exactly had a ton of success up north of late. The Q did go 1-0-1 last year when Maine visited, but over the last ten head to head meetings, Maine holds a narrow 5-4-1 edge. We've also lost 3 of 4 as visitors. I think this will be a great early season test for a group whose first weekend may have been too much of a cakewalk. We shall see.

I also wanted to attempt at a recurring segment of showcasing top notch performances against upcoming foes. Not a ton to write home about when it comes to the QU/Maine series but here's a few:

THREE STARS
  • 11/23/2018 @ Maine: Odeen Tufto goes off for a 5-point night including a hat trick and two assists in a 7-2 Bobcats win.
  • 10/6/2012 @ Maine: Eric Hartzell stops 30 of 31 shots in route to Quinnipiac's first ever win against the Black Bears in a 2-1 win. Maine had won the previous four.
  • 10/18/2025 vs. Maine: Aaron Schwartz dishes out three assists in last year's 4-0 win at the Bank.
CLEAN SHEETS
  • 10/20/2015 vs. Maine: Michael Garteig stops 20 of 20 in 4-0 win at home.
  • 11/24/2018 @ Maine: Keith Petruzzelli turns away 23 of 23 in a 2-0 win on the road.
  • 10/18/2025 vs. Maine: Matej Marinov stops 19 of 19 in a 4-0 Bobcats home win.
 
allnightwong4823 said:
I think this will be a great early season test for a group whose first weekend may have been too much of a cakewalk. We shall see.
Click to expand...
After watching a bit of last night's UNH @ Merrimack game I'm wondering if we're really that good or was it just a bad season opener for those two teams last weekend?

This weekend should help answer that question.
 
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Wyttenbach is a fantastic goal scorer, but he's also a hothead, and it seems to have gotten worse since last year. Slammed his stick against the trainers table last week, now going to the box for post-whistle shenanigans this week
 
Not the cleanest performance, but good teams find ways to win when not at their best.

Thought we climbed our way into the game after a really rough first period. Kirsch and Sward were immense on the backline to keep Maine at 1.

Great win. Need to clean up the sloppiness and the lack of composure at times. Way too sloppy with penalties, too. Still, never complain about a win.
 
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Gritty road win against a heavy type team. Maine reminds me of the Clarkson type team we played in the playoffs last year. They muddied this game up but it was nice to see Kirsch have a strong 33 save effort.
 
Kirsch was the difference tonight for sure. He looked confident and smooth all night. Lot's of sloppy play in front of him that will need to be cleaned up. The offense looked disjointed for most of the game. No flow, passes getting picked off and few second looks. But they did hang on for the win. Rest up and take it to 'em tomorrow night!
 
MarkEagleUSA said:
Kirsch was the difference tonight for sure. He looked confident and smooth all night. Lot's of sloppy play in front of him that will need to be cleaned up. The offense looked disjointed for most of the game. No flow, passes getting picked off and few second looks. But they did hang on for the win. Rest up and take it to 'em tomorrow night!
Click to expand...

Maine plays a heavy game and definitely muddied it up in the neutral zone. Really took away alot of our normal space in this game.
 
Solid win against adversity. Good game for us to see our weaknesses and learn. Kirsch played out of his mind, and Sward's best game as a Bobcat
 
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