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RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

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Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">After a great start to our season the <a href="https://twitter.com/RPI_Hockey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RPI_Hockey</a> skate with <a href="https://twitter.com/rpi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rpi</a> students and fans <a href="https://twitter.com/RPI_HFH?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RPI_HFH</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/letsgored?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#letsgored</a> <a href="https://t.co/sJ5782q3BQ">pic.twitter.com/sJ5782q3BQ</a></p>— Coach Dave Smith (@RPI_HockeyCoach) <a href="https://twitter.com/RPI_HockeyCoach/status/1180614650557321217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">MH| Skate with the Engineers was a success!! ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/RPIAthletics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RPIAthletics</a>⁩ ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/RPI_Hockey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RPI_Hockey</a>⁩ ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/rpitv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rpitv</a>⁩ <a href="https://t.co/lon5s6V9rh">pic.twitter.com/lon5s6V9rh</a></p>— Houston Field House (@RPI_HFH) <a href="https://twitter.com/RPI_HFH/status/1180660444337442817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Thoughts from the game:
PP looked great, definitely schemed better to open more space allowing them to go 4/5 with well-placed shots. I also liked the well-placed passes with purpose of getting redirects and tips (see first goal and other direct chances created)
PK had a rough start but settled in
Offense was generating plenty of chances and the defense looked solid minus the huge mental errors costing goals
2nd and 3rd goals for Brock directly caused by dumb mistakes. Need to shore those up to be a competitive team
Looked solid in the faceoff dot
Lots of penalties in the second, can't afford to take that many in a row like they did and get away with it like they did.

Individual notes:
Dubinsky seemed to be everywhere with his motor and speed on both sides
Ashbrook seemed the same but to a lesser extent
Mahshie did not impress me nearly as much as I thought he would
Babichuk looked great both ways and I expect some big contributions from him
Klee didn't look that impressive but made all the routine plays and looked solid
Kjellberg played a lot of minutes, size stood out and looked good defensively. Offensively, his shot looked weak
Beyond the freshmen seeing their first game action:
Hallbauer looked like one of the best players on the ice. Routinely made Brock look silly while on offensive and generated chance after chance. Lethal shot especially on the second goal, you could tell he was going to rip it top corner when he started walking down the center. I knew he would score before he even released it. Defensively, I thought he looked good and improved from last season.
Reilly I did not notice as much on offense as I had hoped but I also believe that he played way less minutes than he will be in real games. However, he looked improved defensively.
Johnson was pretty much the same and I think for the same reason with less ice time trying to get the less established players more action.
Samec looked improved offensively and very solid both ways.
Bear also played a solid all-around game.
DiGrande and Lee both factored in more than expected and impressed with their speed and smart play.
Zieky did a lot in limited time.
And finally:
There is zero doubt in my mind that Savory is the better goaltender than Marshall. Marshall is fine and neither of the goals were really his fault (especially not the second), but I noticed he kept giving up lots of rebounds even though most of the time they didn't end up causing chances or any harm.
Savory simply looked better and quicker and barely gave up rebounds. I'll be confused and annoyed if Marshall is starting against UMass.

Overall, the offense was a big plus, defense was good minus two big mental mistakes, and special teams were great. We looked way better than last season, and I hope they can build on this and fix the issues which they are definitely aware of.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

rpi82 said:
Even worse, Brock has a game with QU on Sunday afternoon. Even the minor leagues have moved to minimize the number of three game weekends. I just checked out minor league team and they only have a handful of such weekends and they all involve at least two games in the same town (e.g. a road game and two home games or a trip that combines two games in Allentown with one in Wilkes-Barre Scranton). With three road games and that amount of travel I doubt Brock will be able to put up much of a fight against what should be a pretty good Bobcats team.
Click to expand...

Brock and Quinnipiac skated to a 4-4 tie.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

sezenack said:
Thoughts from the game:
PP looked great, definitely schemed better to open more space allowing them to go 4/5 with well-placed shots. I also liked the well-placed passes with purpose of getting redirects and tips (see first goal and other direct chances created)
PK had a rough start but settled in
Offense was generating plenty of chances and the defense looked solid minus the huge mental errors costing goals
2nd and 3rd goals for Brock directly caused by dumb mistakes. Need to shore those up to be a competitive team
Looked solid in the faceoff dot
Lots of penalties in the second, can't afford to take that many in a row like they did and get away with it like they did.

Individual notes:
Dubinsky seemed to be everywhere with his motor and speed on both sides
Ashbrook seemed the same but to a lesser extent
Mahshie did not impress me nearly as much as I thought he would
Babichuk looked great both ways and I expect some big contributions from him
Klee didn't look that impressive but made all the routine plays and looked solid
Kjellberg played a lot of minutes, size stood out and looked good defensively. Offensively, his shot looked weak
Beyond the freshmen seeing their first game action:
Hallbauer looked like one of the best players on the ice. Routinely made Brock look silly while on offensive and generated chance after chance. Lethal shot especially on the second goal, you could tell he was going to rip it top corner when he started walking down the center. I knew he would score before he even released it. Defensively, I thought he looked good and improved from last season.
Reilly I did not notice as much on offense as I had hoped but I also believe that he played way less minutes than he will be in real games. However, he looked improved defensively.
Johnson was pretty much the same and I think for the same reason with less ice time trying to get the less established players more action.
Samec looked improved offensively and very solid both ways.
Bear also played a solid all-around game.
DiGrande and Lee both factored in more than expected and impressed with their speed and smart play.
Zieky did a lot in limited time.
And finally:
There is zero doubt in my mind that Savory is the better goaltender than Marshall. Marshall is fine and neither of the goals were really his fault (especially not the second), but I noticed he kept giving up lots of rebounds even though most of the time they didn't end up causing chances or any harm.
Savory simply looked better and quicker and barely gave up rebounds. I'll be confused and annoyed if Marshall is starting against UMass.

Overall, the offense was a big plus, defense was good minus two big mental mistakes, and special teams were great. We looked way better than last season, and I hope they can build on this and fix the issues which they are definitely aware of.
Click to expand...

Much appreciated. Anything about Herrman?
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Ralph Baer said:
Much appreciated. Anything about Herrman?
Click to expand...

Ah yes I did forget him. I did not notice Herrman much except for one great chance that he did not put home unfortunately. He definitely has some good size, and I did not notice any mistakes from him, which is a positive. He definitely did more offensively than Mahshie and had a better game than him if that means anything. Mahshie was almost invisible, but I was specifically looking for him and not really Herrman. Dubinsky and Ashbrook I did not have to look for as they were all over the place making plays. Dubinsky > Ashbrook > Herrman > Mahshie was how I'd order the freshmen forwards in that game.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Ralph Baer said:
That's a good sign. Q tied it with 12 seconds left.
Click to expand...

I think it's tough to put much stock in exhibition games. Every team (us included) gave players ice time that won't really be seeing it much in the regular season and played multiple goalies. In addition, look at this box score. http://www.collegehockeystats.net/1920/boxes/mbrkqui1.o0
It's pretty clear Quinnipiac heavily outplayed them, and I heard from a fan at the game they hit 4-5 posts and couldn't finish. They fared way better in SOG than we did and drew double the penalties while also going 6/6 on the PK.

Now for devil's advocate:
Despite teams playing guys who usually won't get much ice time, you would still expect a top team like Quinnipiac to have more depth than us and better players to do better overall than they did. In addition, Brock was playing their third game in three days and should have been exhausted. While QU's special teams were good, they had half the PP goals in double the attempts and were penalized more than us (only by one though). We also fared better in even strength play with a net even while they were -2. QU fans also thought Petruzelli was very bad, and he's supposed to be their #1.

You can choose to go with the first viewpoint or the second viewpoint, but as for me, I'm not going to compare our game to QU's because I don't think there's much at all to gain from it. I mean UMD has lost their last 4 exhibitions (including yesterday's) and went onto the national championship game the last 3 seasons. I care more about how we played, what we did well and what needs to be fixed. There's much more to gain from that than comparing two teams who played the same opponent.
 
sezenack said:
Ah yes I did forget him. I did not notice Herrman much except for one great chance that he did not put home unfortunately. He definitely has some good size, and I did not notice any mistakes from him, which is a positive. He definitely did more offensively than Mahshie and had a better game than him if that means anything. Mahshie was almost invisible, but I was specifically looking for him and not really Herrman. Dubinsky and Ashbrook I did not have to look for as they were all over the place making plays. Dubinsky > Ashbrook > Herrman > Mahshie was how I'd order the freshmen forwards in that game.
Click to expand...

The first thing that’s noticeable about freshman forwards is speed. Similarly, for defenseman it is the ability to bring it out of their own end and make the first pass to move the puck up ice. Those things can generally be exhibited from the first practice because they are about personal effort, individual skills and system basics. Goal scoring, creative passing and positional defense take longer to evaluate since they require developing a chemistry with on-ice mates. Sometimes guys break through right away with individual efforts, but I don’t usually start to evaluate goal-scorers and set up men until 10 games or so in. By then they’ve started to understand where they can get position and the habits/preferences of their line mates. Similarly, defenders have to adjust to their mates to provide complementary positioning and support.

One guy few people are talking about is Bowman. I liked how he finished up last year. If he takes care of his defensive responsibilities I hope Smith gives him significant ice time as he seemed to develop confidence as the season wore on and it showed in his late season offensive contributions.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

sezenack said:
Dubinsky seemed to be everywhere with his motor and speed on both sides
< snip >
Mahshie did not impress me nearly as much as I thought he would
Click to expand...

I was impressed that Dubinsky was winning faceoffs. That is a skill which we can use. It's too bad that none of the Junior leagues which we recruit from posts that stats in their box scores.

As to Mahshie, I know that you have been expecting a lot from him. IMO, it is really hard to tell how good a player is on a dominating team like Brooks was last year. Some players benefit a lot from their teammates will others just get lost. I had the opposite opinion from you -- I thought that he showed more than I expected. In the same vein, I am trying not to get excited about McIsaac's performance in his first two games on what to this point is an 8-0 Brooks team. Howver being named his team's Star of the Game in both games is certainly good.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Ralph Baer said:
I was impressed that Dubinsky was winning faceoffs. That is a skill which we can use. It's too bad that none of the Junior leagues which we recruit from posts that stats in their box scores.

As to Mahshie, I know that you have been expecting a lot from him. IMO, it is really hard to tell how good a player is on a dominating team like Brooks was last year. Some players benefit a lot from their teammates will others just get lost. I had the opposite opinion from you -- I thought that he showed more than I expected. In the same vein, I am trying not to get excited about McIsaac's performance in his first two games on what to this point is an 8-0 Brooks team. Howver being named his team's Star of the Game in both games is certainly good.
Click to expand...
I agree with your take on Mahshie ... he moves well for a big kid and he went north-south right to the front of the Brock net a few times ---if he can do that this season it can only help our offense. Tough to take away any firm conclusions from a first game exhibition --but overall signs of life from the offense. Friday night will be far more telling IMO.
 
Wicked Slappaahs said:
I agree with your take on Mahshie ... he moves well for a big kid and he went north-south right to the front of the Brock net a few times ---if he can do that this season it can only help our offense. Tough to take away any firm conclusions from a first game exhibition --but overall signs of life from the offense. Friday night will be far more telling IMO.
Click to expand...

The most important takeaway I had is we got goals from Burgess, Polino, and Zieky. Those three can all put the puck in the net, and we’ll need them to do that consistently this season if we want to win. It’s certainly oversimplifying things, but it’s going to play a huge factor in how the year shakes out.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Best takeaway for me was that Jenny watched the entire game and said we were certainly not boring. Something that she had mentioned about our play several times in the past few years. Then she asked me an interesting question. She asked how good a team Brock was and what i knew about them. I explained i knew very little. She then said "Wouldn't it be really something if it turned out this year that Brock was a Canadian power house and we handled them rather easily while other teams found them much more difficult." Obviously it remains to be seen but they were able to put 4 up against a supposedly very strong and top ranked QU team and came within minutes of beating them.
Withholding any judgement until at least we play one or two more weekends against US Division I competition.:confused:
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

DrDemento said:
Best takeaway for me was that Jenny watched the entire game and said we were certainly not boring. Something that she had mentioned about our play several times in the past few years. Then she asked me an interesting question. She asked how good a team Brock was and what i knew about them. I explained i knew very little. She then said "Wouldn't it be really something if it turned out this year that Brock was a Canadian power house and we handled them rather easily while other teams found them much more difficult." Obviously it remains to be seen but they were able to put 4 up against a supposedly very strong and top ranked QU team and came within minutes of beating them.
Withholding any judgement until at least we play one or two more weekends against US Division I competition.:confused:
Click to expand...

Well, last season they finished tied for the 2nd best regular season record in the 20 team OAU before losing in the 2nd round of the playoffs. I''m not sure what they lost from that club, but a number of their freshmen have major junior or professional experience.
 
Re: RPI Hockey 2019 - 2020: Nordic Combined

Ralph Baer said:
Do others feel that I should start a separate thread for next week's games? If so I should probably also include the 2nd UConn game. I am starting to wonder if the weekly threads are worth doing.
Click to expand...

Does anyone care one way or the other? :)
 
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