Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

[wsummers]

New Thread since no one else stepped forward....

A few notes on yesterday's exhibition.

Windsor was a big team...I don't recall ever playing a bigger one with one guy towering at 6'9" and several others not far behind. While they had size, they didn't have speed and we dominated the play. Their goaltender was good and they played a defensive game which kept the score to 3-1. Their only goal was on a 2 on 1 breakaway.

MSU had a full bench with no scratches and played everyone except for the 3rd string goalie. The KHL line was dominant and could have scored at least a couple more goals. The first two lines stayed intact, but there was a lot of shuffling in the 3rd and 4th to get everyone in. As far as the Freshman class, DeRidder looked good in his half of the game. Stachowiak and Cesana continued to impress. Mattson and Goodsir also played well and should be regulars on either the 3rd or 4th line. The K twins looked good at times, especially working in the corners, but are still adjusting to the speed of the college game. At this point I'd put them as the 6/7 defensemen behind Miller, Osburn, Rosburg, Cesana, and Ghafari.

Maybe I missed this at the Green and White game, but MSU is using two Zamboni's (a green one and a white one). A first for MSU as far as I can remember.

Looking forward to next week to see how we play when a good Northern Michigan team comes to town.

 

[Pirateasaur]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

The team looked good last night but it’s hard to say since the competition was poor. I did notice that the entire roster was in the lineup so it will be interesting to see who makes the cut for this Friday. I anticipate the NMU series being a difficult grind.

The KHL line was predictably unstoppable at times. I am waiting for our 2nd line to produce on the stat sheet. I think they are capable and we need them. I was hoping to see us pound that team on the scoreboard. Yeah, we can outskate and outshoot them but finishing offensively is what we’ve been missing for years. That game could have been 8-1.

 

[owslachief]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

New Thread since no one else stepped forward....

A few notes on yesterday's exhibition.

Windsor was a big team...I don't recall ever playing a bigger one with one guy towering at 6'9" and several others not far behind. While they had size, they didn't have speed and we dominated the play. Their goaltender was good and they played a defensive game which kept the score to 3-1. Their only goal was on a 2 on 1 breakaway.

MSU had a full bench with no scratches and played everyone except for the 3rd string goalie. The KHL line was dominant and could have scored at least a couple more goals. The first two lines stayed intact, but there was a lot of shuffling in the 3rd and 4th to get everyone in. As far as the Freshman class, DeRidder looked good in his half of the game. Stachowiak and Cesana continued to impress. Mattson and Goodsir also played well and should be regulars on either the 3rd or 4th line. The K twins looked good at times, especially working in the corners, but are still adjusting to the speed of the college game. At this point I'd put them as the 6/7 defensemen behind Miller, Osburn, Rosburg, Cesana, and Ghafari.

Maybe I missed this at the Green and White game, but MSU is using two Zamboni's (a green one and a white one). A first for MSU as far as I can remember.

Looking forward to next week to see how we play when a good Northern Michigan team comes to town.

Granted he was challenged just a little more than Lethemon last night, but wasn't Deridder pretty sharp? MSU needs to exceed expectations with 2 goalies to have hopes of finishing better than 7th this year.

 

[gomsuman]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

My 2 cents:

I came away unimpressed with the K twins.. but I do like their size. Like summers mentioned they could just need some time adjusting. All the other d-men played solid and I can't remember any major mistakes. Osburn seems to have taken on a much more physical role than I remember.. He had a few nice hits in this game. Cesana will be really really good on the offensive end.

Both goalies looked good. Windsor's only goal came on a sort of fluky bounce after a 2 on 1 was defended well (can't remember which d-man it was).

KHL line was overwhelming. They forechecked like crazy and got more than a few chances off of it. I was hoping the 2nd line would be able to have a little better success than they did, Stachowiak did flash his skill a couple times though. Overall we have more depth than last year and maybe that alone will get us a few more wins. The drop off in talent wasn't as noticeable in the 3rd and 4th lines but hard to tell against maybe a less than stellar opponent.

Kris Draper was there scouting for the Redwings. I wonder which players they are looking at.. I know Hirose went to their summer camp.

 

[Pirateasaur]

My 2 cents:

I came away unimpressed with the K twins.. but I do like their size. Like summers mentioned they could just need some time adjusting. All the other d-men played solid and I can't remember any major mistakes. Osburn seems to have taken on a much more physical role than I remember.. He had a few nice hits in this game. Cesana will be really really good on the offensive end.

Both goalies looked good. Windsor's only goal came on a sort of fluky bounce after a 2 on 1 was defended well (can't remember which d-man it was).

KHL line was overwhelming. They forechecked like crazy and got more than a few chances off of it. I was hoping the 2nd line would be able to have a little better success than they did, Stachowiak did flash his skill a couple times though. Overall we have more depth than last year and maybe that alone will get us a few more wins. The drop off in talent wasn't as noticeable in the 3rd and 4th lines but hard to tell against maybe a less than stellar opponent.

Kris Draper was there scouting for the Redwings. I wonder which players they are looking at.. I know Hirose went to their summer camp.

The Krygier twins have alluring size and flashed some skill at times, particularly in the green and white game but my impression is that they might be a little prone to turnovers right now. Appeared to be a combination of a sort of gunslinger’s attitude with youth/lack of adjustment to the pace of the game. They turned 18 back in May so they are pretty young for college hockey freshman.

 

[John J. MacInnes]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

The Krygier twins cannot be paired together. Too slow.

The KHL line still has their #1 flaw - way too cute with the puck. If they just took the shot instead of trying the extra threaded pass, their production would go up considerably.

It was hard to get a flow for any other line, since there were 5 forward lines and 4 D pairs on the bench. Couple that with too many penalties in the second half of the game, and you see why.

I don't know if he did this last season, but Lewandowski is always the guy to step on after a penalty is served. With about 10 seconds to go, he reaches over and puts the blade of his stick on the ice (I'm guessing it's a signal). When he scored his goal in the 2nd, it was directly off of one of these plays. Not sure how legal it is, but it worked.

DeRidder has a lot of nervous energy, he's certainly not what you'd call calm or stoic. He does move well, certainly better than Lethemon. My prediction stat is this: if DeRidder doesn't grab the job and play at least 28-30 games, this team has no chance to move up. Lethemon is still just out of his league at this level.

 

[Spartanforlife4]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

The Krygier twins cannot be paired together. Too slow.

The KHL line still has their #1 flaw - way too cute with the puck. If they just took the shot instead of trying the extra threaded pass, their production would go up considerably.

It was hard to get a flow for any other line, since there were 5 forward lines and 4 D pairs on the bench. Couple that with too many penalties in the second half of the game, and you see why.

I don't know if he did this last season, but Lewandowski is always the guy to step on after a penalty is served. With about 10 seconds to go, he reaches over and puts the blade of his stick on the ice (I'm guessing it's a signal). When he scored his goal in the 2nd, it was directly off of one of these plays. Not sure how legal it is, but it worked.

DeRidder has a lot of nervous energy, he's certainly not what you'd call calm or stoic. He does move well, certainly better than Lethemon. My prediction stat is this: if DeRidder doesn't grab the job and play at least 28-30 games, this team has no chance to move up. Lethemon is still just out of his league at this level.

Agreed on all of this. I'm wondering if Lewandowski's goal will work against any NCAA team. That was as big of a cherry pick as you can get in hockey and Windsor had no idea it was there. Probably something that will be scouted now and hopefully we didn't waste it on an exhibition.

I thought it was interesting the new banners recognize the old Big Ten mini-conference from the WCHA days. I do have a gripe with whoever designed them though, because they're all set up symmetrically, but any new titles added will be out of order chronologically.

 

[wsummers]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

Goofus will be honored Friday night.

https://www.uppermichiganssource.co...d-at-Michigan-State-University-496368561.html

 

[wsummers]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

Neil’s take on this coming weekend.

https://msuspartans.com/news/2018/1...k-optimistic-spartans-eager-to-get-going.aspx

 

[gomsuman]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

I would hope for at the very least a split this weekend. Something like 2-4 Friday and 3-1 Saturday.

Will be interesting to see how the defensive pairings shake out.

 

[Pirateasaur]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

Excited to see NMU back in Munn even though I always found them aggravating to play. They’re probably pretty dang good this year so hopefully we have improved. The team’s quotes from Neil’s notebook paint an especially optimistic picture of how they feel.

 

[John J. MacInnes]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

Excited to see NMU back in Munn even though I always found them aggravating to play. They’re probably pretty dang good this year so hopefully we have improved. The team’s quotes from Neil’s notebook paint an especially optimistic picture of how they feel.

This is not the NMU you remember. Potulny has therm playing a high tempo offense with a lot of speed and attack, and they have skill players to do it. It's the polar opposite of Walt Kyle strategy.

 

[FLHockeyMom]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

Will be interesting to see how the defensive pairings shake out.

I predict d pairings similar to the exhibition vs. Windsor:

Rosburg - Cesana
Cole Krygier - Osburn
Christian Krygier - Miller
Ghafari

Scratches: Chrcek, Scarsella

 

[wsummers]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

Good game with fast pace from both teams with MSU outshooting NMU by a wide margin. KHL line was amazing to watch. They scored the winnng goal and added a 4th with a second or two left on a bad NMU turnover with goalie pulled. The first two were by Osburn and Sanford. NMU controlled play at times, but overall looked like a team playing their first game of the season while I think we benefited from getting rid of some of the rust against Windsor. NMU’s goalie kept them in the game and deserved the 3rd star of the game. Of their two goals one we put in and the other was a result of Ghafari falling down leaving his man open to receive a pass and bang in the puck. Our defense looks improved this year..we skated 7 dmen in this game. Penalty killing didn’t allow a powerplay goal..skating off a lengthy 5 on 3.

Interesting to see how tight the officials were on faceoff infractions...lots of tossed players for what appeared to be very minor issues.

 

[Pirateasaur]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

Awesome game last night. Entertaining and well played by the spartans. I was very pleased with what I saw out of the team. The KHL line is brilliant. Enjoy them this season because I highly doubt they will all be returning next year.

2nd line also looked great! That is huge and sorely needed.

It was a really fun game and the big student section was great which enhanced the fun factor. MSU hockey has rarely been genuinely enjoyable to watch in many years so last night was an absolute pleasure.

DeRidder will be in net tonight. I expect NMU to be better tonight so let’s hope he’s up to the task and the team helps him defensively.

 

[Spartanforlife4]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

A little disappointing last night after the showing on Friday. Northern came out with a strong five minutes that eventually lead to a goal and while we carried the rest of the first, we couldn't get many real chances. The NMU shorty shouldn't have happened. That came off back to back turnovers and DeRidder let a weak rebound get out for a poke through the five hole. We couldn't have had a better start to the third. Essentially two straight PP goals, but I think we were technically a second late on the first one.

Then it just unraveled. Khodorenko going to the box twice. One for a very weird penalty and another for a retaliation. It's one thing if it's a third or fourth liner racking up penalties, it's another if it's one of your top three. I feel like we had this same issue last year, but it was Lewandowski racking up minutes or getting DQ'd. But really penalties overall killed us. If you give up two PP goals, you're not gonna have a good time, and though we're 80% after two games, I'd feel a lot better about it if it was because we were 4/5, not 8/10. On the plus side, the PP is at 33% and essentially at 44%.

Time to rest up for a week and see what this team can do against Cornell.

 

[Pirateasaur]

A little disappointing last night after the showing on Friday. Northern came out with a strong five minutes that eventually lead to a goal and while we carried the rest of the first, we couldn't get many real chances. The NMU shorty shouldn't have happened. That came off back to back turnovers and DeRidder let a weak rebound get out for a poke through the five hole. We couldn't have had a better start to the third. Essentially two straight PP goals, but I think we were technically a second late on the first one.

Then it just unraveled. Khodorenko going to the box twice. One for a very weird penalty and another for a retaliation. It's one thing if it's a third or fourth liner racking up penalties, it's another if it's one of your top three. I feel like we had this same issue last year, but it was Lewandowski racking up minutes or getting DQ'd. But really penalties overall killed us. If you give up two PP goals, you're not gonna have a good time, and though we're 80% after two games, I'd feel a lot better about it if it was because we were 4/5, not 8/10. On the plus side, the PP is at 33% and essentially at 44%.

Time to rest up for a week and see what this team can do against Cornell.

I’ll credit NMU last night. We popped them in the mouth Friday night and they responded. They made everything much more difficult for MSU last night. We knew NMU is a good team and we’d have our hands full. Most i’m sure assumed they’re straight up a better team going into the weekend, after all.

Still, it was a grind for both teams. I felt our play was fine but the cats raised their game from the previous night. 1 shot was the difference. That’s Hockey.

I like what I saw this weekend. I think we appear to be a deeper team than previous years. All 4 lines had their moments, even last night.

Jury’s out on DeRidder vs. Lethemon. Lethemon was tested less vigorously but DeRidder looked shaky at times. I observed that his glove hand is not his strength. I would wager he didn’t spend his springs on the baseball diamond. Still, he made some big saves and it was his first real action. He’ll improve.

 

[Pirateasaur]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

Oh, and yes, penalties. I hope it’s standard early season touchy refs but we’re taking too many. Loooots of hooking calls out there.

Also, anyone feel like players are losing their sticks a lot? Maybe the new trend is to butter them up a bit?

 

[owslachief]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

I’ll credit NMU last night. We popped them in the mouth Friday night and they responded. They made everything much more difficult for MSU last night. We knew NMU is a good team and we’d have our hands full. Most i’m sure assumed they’re straight up a better team going into the weekend, after all.

Still, it was a grind for both teams. I felt our play was fine but the cats raised their game from the previous night. 1 shot was the difference. That’s Hockey.

I like what I saw this weekend. I think we appear to be a deeper team than previous years. All 4 lines had their moments, even last night.

Jury’s out on DeRidder vs. Lethemon. Lethemon was tested less vigorously but DeRidder looked shaky at times. I observed that his glove hand is not his strength. I would wager he didn’t spend his springs on the baseball diamond. Still, he made some big saves and it was his first real action. He’ll improve.

As far as the eye test is concerned this group has taken a step forward this season. There's a lot to like from every line, but once the second line starts burying chances with consistency, this team takes another step. Lambdin and Stachowiak are certainly on the same page. I'm concerned a little bit about youth on defense, the penalties (though as some pointed out it could be a matter of a learning curve), and probably #1 uncertainty in goal. Lethemon was good enough Friday night, but DeRidder didn't seem to look all that comfortable Saturday. There were rebound control issues that resulted in two of those goals. Trying to duplicate Friday's outcome though with a freshman goalie against a good team returning a lot of scoring prowess is a bit like throwing someone to the wolves.

 

[wsummers]

Re: Spartan Hockey 2018-2019 - Preparing for Glory

Back in action this week. At the beginning of the season my hope was for this young team to split the first two series. Good news they split against NMU. Bad news NMU got clobbered last weekend by St. Cloud. Maybe I’m a little crazy, but I think we have a good chance to get a split against Cornell.

As far as how good, or not, this team will be...waiting until GLI time to see how much the Freshmen and defense improve, and how much scoring there is after the first line.