SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

[scsutommyboy]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

Yep that's true and the funny thing is the ref doesn't need to explain every call or non call to the officials so in essence some of them are at fault as well.

I just wish Motzko's team won as much as Gwoz.

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

If you look at how Gwoz wins, he does it with a foundation of great goaltending. Dubielewicz, Berkhoel, Fisher, Mannino and Cheverie (the recent DU goalies over the last decade or so) were all good enough to steal games and carry lesser talented Pioneer teams to greater heights than they would otherwide attain. That's not to say DU wasn't talented on D or upfront, but goaltending is the most imporant position in hockey.

SCSU has always usually had good scoring talent, but up and down defense and goaltending. If Motzko ever gets the defense and goaltending to go with the scoring, I could see SCSU becoming a consistently elite program.

 

[scsutommyboy]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

If you look at how Gwoz wins, he does it with a foundation of great goaltending. Dubielewicz, Berkhoel, Fisher, Mannino and Cheverie (the recent DU goalies over the last decade or so) were all good enough to steal games and carry lesser talented Pioneer teams to greater heights than they would otherwide attain.

SCSU has always usually had good scoring talent, but up and down defense and goaltending. If Motzko ever gets the defense and goaltending to go with the scoring, I could see SCSU becoming a consistently elite program.

That's a big if. He hasn't recruited well on defense and that is the biggest problem they have right now. I am hoping Zabs, the great Dane and Johnson end up to be really good players for us. Only time will tell, but they seem to be improving every game so at least that is a good sign.

 

[motox]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

SCSU has always usually had good scoring talent, but up and down defense and goaltending. If Motzko ever gets the defense and goaltending to go with the scoring, I could see SCSU becoming a consistently elite program.

I'm not one to use the signature very much but this statement coming from Puck Swami! It had to go on there.

I would say goaltending hasn't been as big of an issue as defense and even when the defense has been good the offense lacked firepower. Goaltending should be pretty solid the next few years as long as Lee can play like he did last Friday.

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

That's a big if. He hasn't recruited well on defense and that is the biggest problem they have right now. I am hoping Zabs, the great Dane and Johnson end up to be really good players for us. Only time will tell, but they seem to be improving every game so at least that is a good sign.

Recruiting great d-men is hugely difficult for all teams. The best players all want to be forwards. The critical thing is you need at least one great puck-moving d-man who can qb the pp and make a great first pass. Then you need at least two great shutdown guys that can log big minutes, kill penalties and don't care about points. The rest of the D just need to to be smart, and make solid plays that don't hurt you if you have good goaltending.

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

I'm not one to use the signature very much but this statement coming from Puck Swami! It had to go on there. .

If you want to quote me, at least include the context.

 

[motox]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

If you want to quote me, at least include the context.

Oh fine, makes it less fun though. Now I'll only keep it through the series.

 

[Dmann]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

If Motzko ever gets the defense and goaltending to go with the scoring, I could see SCSU becoming a consistently elite program.

How's that Swami? I remember when SCSU first came to the WCHA, they were pretty bad. They have really come a long way!! Some say that you guys out recruit your Minn. brethren (Gophers and Bulldogs)! And while we're at it, who was that one Swede you guys had back in the 90s?, Sasha something, man he was good

 

[du78]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

DU Game Notes for this series.

SCSU Game Notes for this series.

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

How's that Swami? I remember when SCSU first came to the WCHA, they were pretty bad. They have really come a long way!! Some say that you guys out recruit your Minn. brethren (Gophers and Bulldogs)!:

St. Cloud has a number of cool things going for it.

1) Hockey is the flagship sport there - gets the attention

2) Great fan support, especially from students

3) Rink renovations coming

4) Can recruit wherever they want, without pressue to fill lineup with Minnesotans

5) The academics aren't too onerous, so there is a wider talent pool to shoose from

6) Don't have as many inflated egos to deal with as some programs

7) Underleveraged history - Frank Brimsek, logo origin, Herb Brooks, etc.

8) Campus is big enough to get what you want, without being too big

9) Good location - not too isolated, but not overwhelmed in a big metro area

10) Big ice means players get to be better skaters - good for development

 

[Montelena]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

Over the past 20 years le Huskies have had their share of excellent goaltenders with Leitza, Sjerven, Meyer, and Goepfert. This covers at least half of the past 20 years. These were all goaltenders that could win games on their own. Lee can be an All-American by his junior year if he doesn't get restless and commits to the program for at least three years. The Huskies have an excellent young goalie coach/mentor in Michael Ayers (former New Hampshire All-American) who will help him tremendously. Look at the progress he's made wth Dunn.

In my opinion, you don't need a full cadre of blue chip defenseman just one or two and the rest just solid serviceable defensive guys. When SCSU won the Final Five they had an elite defenseman in Duvie Westcott and an enforcer in Jeff Finger. Currently, SCSU has a core of 6 serviceable defenseman. The jury is out on Lauridson as to what level he can get to. He can shoot the puck, skate and play physical. But, the mental part of the game still evades him at times. IF he can pull it all together he could be a top defenseman in the WCHA. Raboin is very good but probably a 3 or 4 on teams with a strong defensive unit. SCSU has several very good prospects coming in (Jensen, Gravel). They'll have an excellent core group of DE next year. But, they need an explosive offensive defenseman and I'm not sure they will have that. In my opinion that's the glaring deficit on this team now and go forward in 2010-11.

They have a deep group of forwards that will keep getting better. No issues whatsoever there.

 

[Husckey Domi Nation]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

St. Cloud has a number of cool things going for it.

1) Hockey is the flagship sport there - gets the attention

2) Great fan support, especially from students

3) Rink renovations coming

4) Can recruit wherever they want, without pressue to fill lineup with Minnesotans

5) The academics aren't too onerous, so there is a wider talent pool to shoose from

6) Don't have as many inflated egos to deal with as some programs

7) Underleveraged history - Frank Brimsek, logo origin, Herb Brooks, etc.

8) Campus is big enough to get what you want, without being too big

9) Good location - not too isolated, but not overwhelmed in a big metro area

10) Big ice means players get to be better skaters - good for development

Hey now. Be careful with 5).

Seriously, SCSU hockey players perform consistently well academically in comparison to the student/players on other WCHA rosters.

Chevy gets stuck in the levy; St. Cloud sweeps this weekend!

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

Hey now. Be careful with 5).

Seriously, SCSU hockey players perform consistently well academically in comparison to the student/players on other WCHA rosters.

It's not about academic performance of players while on campus, which is just fine - it's about having lower selectivity in college admissions to admit more players in the first place. St. Cloud can likely admit some players that schools such as Denver or CC cannot admit because of academic admissions selectivity requirements. This gives SCSU a recruiting advantage because they can pick from a wider pool of players. SCSU, as a state school, can also offer in-state tuition to Minnesota prospects and more easily split scholarships than a private school like DU or CC can with a $50k annual price tag.

 

[motox]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

They'll have an excellent core group of DE next year. But, they need an explosive offensive defenseman and I'm not sure they will have that. In my opinion that's the glaring deficit on this team now and go forward in 2010-11.

Couldn't Zabs develop into that type of player? I agree on the goalies, we've had a good number over the years that were fully capable of stealing games on their own.

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

Over the past 20 years le Huskies have had their share of excellent goaltenders with Leitza, Sjerven, Meyer, and Goepfert. This covers at least half of the past 20 years. These were all goaltenders that could win games on their own. Lee can be an All-American by his junior year if he doesn't get restless and commits to the program for at least three years. The Huskies have an excellent young goalie coach/mentor in Michael Ayers (former New Hampshire All-American) who will help him tremendously. Look at the progress he's made wth Dunn. .

Certainly Goepfert is at the top of that recent SCSU list as a two-time all American and serious Hobey Candidate. I think Meyer was also elite, but a perhaps a notch below Bobby. Statistically, I think the dearly-departed Jase Weslosky has to be in that conversation as well. As I recall, all three of those guys had some very high saves percentatage (above .920) years, which is a good indication of how well goalies do their jobs. When you have goalies playing at over .920, chances are your team is either in contention or not far from it.

As for Lietza and Sjerven, they were servicable WCHA goalies, but I don't think those two were on the same competitive level compared with Bobby G, Meyer and Jase. The stats just aren't there for Lietza and Sjerven. They could win some games on their own, but also had more serious sieve nights as well to offset the good play, at least more so than the others.

 

[motox]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

Certainly Goepfert is at the top of that recent SCSU list as a two-time all American and serious Hobey Candidate. I think Meyer was also elite, but a perhaps a notch below Bobby. Statistically, I think the dearly-departed Jase Weslosky has to be in that conversation as well. As I recall, all three of those guys had some very high saves percentatage (above .920) years, which is a good indication of how well goalies do their jobs. When you have goalies playing at over .920, chances are your team is either in contention or not far from it.

As for Lietza and Sjerven, they were servicable WCHA goalies, but I don't think those two were on the same competitive level compared with Bobby G, Meyer and Jase. The stats just aren't there for Lietza and Sjerven. They could win some games on their own, but also had more serious sieve nights as well to offset the good play, at least more so than the others.

Almost should mention Weasler in there, at least the 01-02 season. He had a save % of .923. He only had the one year because he was behind Meyer before that but he certainly performed well.

 

[Montelena]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

Yes, your exactly right. I totally forgot about Zabkowicz. No doubt he is one of the best skaters we've ever had back there. We've never had anyone with lateral movement like him. However, I close one eye hoping he doesn't get crunched whenever he goes in the corner. Westcott was a total punk on DE, drove Dahl nuts and never backed down from anyone. He was extremely skilled and played like he was 6"2" as opposed to 5'10". Zabkowicz shows flashes of an ability to go end to end but is hesitant to do so. He teases us alot with his ability to go with the puck. He's not there yet. I think he thinks the game well but needs to get more confidence in his game. Defensively I think we all would agree he's average but because of his skating can recover if he makes a mistake. He gets out muscled alot. If he could put on 10 pounds and get more confidence with the puck he'd be a real factor out there. Thanks for pointing that out - you're right!

 

[motox]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

Yes, your exactly right. I totally forgot about Zabkowicz. No doubt he is one of the best skaters we've ever had back there. We've never had anyone with lateral movement like him. However, I close one eye hoping he doesn't get crunched whenever he goes in the corner. Westcott was a total punk on DE, drove Dahl nuts and never backed down from anyone. He was extremely skilled and played like he was 6"2" as opposed to 5'10". Zabkowicz shows flashes of an ability to go end to end but is hesitant to do so. He teases us alot with his ability to go with the puck. He's not there yet. I think he thinks the game well but needs to get more confidence in his game. Defensively I think we all would agree he's average but because of his skating can recover if he makes a mistake. He gets out muscled alot. If he could put on 10 pounds and get more confidence with the puck he'd be a real factor out there. Thanks for pointing that out - you're right!

Nice thing is he's only a soph and at 5-11 170lbs I don't think he's going anywhere. He has the rest of this year to get that confidence and the offseason to add the weight. He definitely has the talent and I would love to see him handle the puck a little more. Agreed that he isn't the best true D-man but he makes up for a lot of that with his quickness.

 

[Montelena]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

It's not about academic performance of players while on campus, which is just fine - it's about having lower selectivity in college admissions to admit more players in the first place. St. Cloud can likely admit some players that schools such as Denver or CC cannot admit because of academic admissions selectivity requirements. This gives SCSU a recruiting advantage because they can pick from a wider pool of players. SCSU, as a state school, can also offer in-state tuition to Minnesota prospects and more easily split scholarships than a private school like DU or CC can with a $50k annual price tag.

The current squad of Huskies are for the most part very good students and most (probably 75%) would be quite capable of getting into either school. But yes it's an advantage in some situations. However it isn't when competing against UND, UMD, Mankato, Bemidji and many others.

 

[scsutommyboy]

Re: SCSU @ Denver--November 27th and 28th

Certainly Goepfert is at the top of that recent SCSU list as a two-time all American and serious Hobey Candidate. I think Meyer was also elite, but a perhaps a notch below Bobby. Statistically, I think the dearly-departed Jase Weslosky has to be in that conversation as well. As I recall, all three of those guys had some very high saves percentatage (above .920) years, which is a good indication of how well goalies do their jobs. When you have goalies playing at over .920, chances are your team is either in contention or not far from it.

As for Lietza and Sjerven, they were servicable WCHA goalies, but I don't think those two were on the same competitive level compared with Bobby G, Meyer and Jase. The stats just aren't there for Lietza and Sjerven. They could win some games on their own, but also had more serious sieve nights as well to offset the good play, at least more so than the others.

I agree on Lietza 100%. You could get to his head and then he would seive out. I liked Sjerven a lot and his defense hung him out to dry a lot. If Sjerven had one more year I really think good things would have happened for Dahl that year. Instead Neil Cooper drove drunk and hit someone and went to jail and Lietza was forced to play as a freshman and sieved out.