critsports
Registered User
Re: SLU - Summer of 2010
Well got my first chance to see the Saints in person.
Before I weigh in on the game, just a comment to say what a pleasure it was to be back in Lake Placid and to be in an arena that has so much hockey history and ECAC history as well. According to the box score there were 5,500 people there for our game but I assume that also counted those who attended the RPI/Union game (but not positive on that)????? It was a great atmosphere (unlike Albany) and I can only imagine the morgue that Atlantic City will be. For our game and the one before the stands looked quite full other than the upper section and there was plenty of atmosphere and noise (unlike Albany). Now that I have that off my chest onto the game.
Although the loss stung and came off a pretty egregious turnover by us there were a lot of positives to take from the game. I think we have to be realistic in that we have an awful lot of freshman playing and it is going to take some time for everyone to jell. We did carry a lot of the play as the SOG indicated but we missed 3-4 glorious chances on passes to players on the weak side that had open nets and just couldn't get the shot off or if they did....it didn't go into the net.
Our goaltending was outstanding. Weninger looks to be a real diamond in the rough and will only get better with more experience. He was always square to the puck, moves great and for the most part it seems every puck shot at him that he doesn't catch or control completely, drops harmlessly right in front of him where he can smother it or direct it elsewhere.
On the negative to get 8 power plays and not score probably sealed our fate. At times the entire PP seemed to consist of Little Flanny spinning magic and little else. That aspect of our game really needs work.
Carey appears to be a real goal scoring threat. Boy can he release and get a shot off in the blink of an eye. He had a few tonight that Karpowich had saves on but they were saves only in the sense he got in the way of the shot. A little bit either way and they were in the net. I also really like the play of Essery. Very responsible on the back check and all over the ice. I can see already how the comparisons to Travis V. are being made as I think he will be every bit as good and that is saying something. Wick is very strong on his feet and appreciates the contact aspect of the game shall we say. Baker looked pretty solid on D as the game went on however our D overall didn't seem to have much jump tonight....we looked slow at times (defense).
I think the ice also might not have been in the best shape. Both teams had tons of passes bounce over sticks.
Another concern was Bogo seemed to get hurt on a shift......he went down pretty hard holding his head....he came back for a shift or two then did not play again the rest of the night. We couldn't tell what was wrong but I sure hope it isn't the dreaded "C" word.
I don't know if it is just because I am getting older but it didn't seem like both teams played with the intensity that one has come to expect over the years from an SLU/Clarkson game. The spunkiest player for us tonight was probably Mobley.
We have four at home, all ECAC tilts and then we hit the road for I think 11 of 12 games. Wins may be hard to come by with that schedule but I think this will be a very different team by the end of the year than they are right now.
I also think Clarkson will fare a lot better this year. I'm hopeful the Saints can at least pick up a couple of W's to get that monkey off our back over the next four games. I think more than a couple of wins out of those 4 games might be unrealistic but again....I think we will get better and better as the year goes on.
It was great fun to see so many familiar faces in Lake Placid and I hope this can become an annual event. And not to start a flame fest or a whole new thread on the subject but the place, the town, the arena are all perfectly proportioned for a conference of our size and scope and it is a shame we are going to be in Atlantic City for a few years before it moves elsewhere and trust me.....it will be moving elsewhere when that contract is up. I haven't talked to a soul who is even thinking of going there even if our beloved Saints were somehow to make it.
Well got my first chance to see the Saints in person.
Before I weigh in on the game, just a comment to say what a pleasure it was to be back in Lake Placid and to be in an arena that has so much hockey history and ECAC history as well. According to the box score there were 5,500 people there for our game but I assume that also counted those who attended the RPI/Union game (but not positive on that)????? It was a great atmosphere (unlike Albany) and I can only imagine the morgue that Atlantic City will be. For our game and the one before the stands looked quite full other than the upper section and there was plenty of atmosphere and noise (unlike Albany). Now that I have that off my chest onto the game.
Although the loss stung and came off a pretty egregious turnover by us there were a lot of positives to take from the game. I think we have to be realistic in that we have an awful lot of freshman playing and it is going to take some time for everyone to jell. We did carry a lot of the play as the SOG indicated but we missed 3-4 glorious chances on passes to players on the weak side that had open nets and just couldn't get the shot off or if they did....it didn't go into the net.
Our goaltending was outstanding. Weninger looks to be a real diamond in the rough and will only get better with more experience. He was always square to the puck, moves great and for the most part it seems every puck shot at him that he doesn't catch or control completely, drops harmlessly right in front of him where he can smother it or direct it elsewhere.
On the negative to get 8 power plays and not score probably sealed our fate. At times the entire PP seemed to consist of Little Flanny spinning magic and little else. That aspect of our game really needs work.
Carey appears to be a real goal scoring threat. Boy can he release and get a shot off in the blink of an eye. He had a few tonight that Karpowich had saves on but they were saves only in the sense he got in the way of the shot. A little bit either way and they were in the net. I also really like the play of Essery. Very responsible on the back check and all over the ice. I can see already how the comparisons to Travis V. are being made as I think he will be every bit as good and that is saying something. Wick is very strong on his feet and appreciates the contact aspect of the game shall we say. Baker looked pretty solid on D as the game went on however our D overall didn't seem to have much jump tonight....we looked slow at times (defense).
I think the ice also might not have been in the best shape. Both teams had tons of passes bounce over sticks.
Another concern was Bogo seemed to get hurt on a shift......he went down pretty hard holding his head....he came back for a shift or two then did not play again the rest of the night. We couldn't tell what was wrong but I sure hope it isn't the dreaded "C" word.
I don't know if it is just because I am getting older but it didn't seem like both teams played with the intensity that one has come to expect over the years from an SLU/Clarkson game. The spunkiest player for us tonight was probably Mobley.
We have four at home, all ECAC tilts and then we hit the road for I think 11 of 12 games. Wins may be hard to come by with that schedule but I think this will be a very different team by the end of the year than they are right now.
I also think Clarkson will fare a lot better this year. I'm hopeful the Saints can at least pick up a couple of W's to get that monkey off our back over the next four games. I think more than a couple of wins out of those 4 games might be unrealistic but again....I think we will get better and better as the year goes on.
It was great fun to see so many familiar faces in Lake Placid and I hope this can become an annual event. And not to start a flame fest or a whole new thread on the subject but the place, the town, the arena are all perfectly proportioned for a conference of our size and scope and it is a shame we are going to be in Atlantic City for a few years before it moves elsewhere and trust me.....it will be moving elsewhere when that contract is up. I haven't talked to a soul who is even thinking of going there even if our beloved Saints were somehow to make it.
We need a stretch of good health and for this team to find some chemistry. After the first game and for the first line, I haven't seen much chemistry on the lines. I'll be the last one to second guess the coaches, but I also wonder if we should pick two Powerplay units instead of just rolling lines. I say that only because I agree with Tim that we can not squander PP chances and expect to win....and we sure as hell can't give up a shorty!! It obviously appears it is Weninger's job to lose. He was clearly the better goalie on the first weeken out in Minnesota. He was coming out, playing aggressively, squaring well and just seems to be a true goalie. 
and not since) I really liked what I saw and did not see much of a difference at all from our team last season. We miss the poise of Keller and Caister on D, and the scoring of guys like McKenzie, but in a lot of ways I feel like we are better now because we are deeper. Only time will tell, but I think a healthy SLU team could challenge the top teams in the league which I expect will be Yale, Union, and Q-Pac (and it pains me to say that) followed by Colgate, Cornell and then it is wide open. I am not ready to concede a **** thing yet other than October has sucked!