Re: The University of Vermont Official 2010-2011 Season Thread : Part 1
I disagree with Snwbrdr saying we can forget the NCAA's for this year. We've been in most every game and with a bit of luck and some smarter play our record would be much better. There's no reason this team can't get hot and reel off a bunch of wins.
I too would disagree regarding a few of the points.
The offense is averaging 2.5 gpg which is 5th in the league behind BC,BU,ME,UNH. That is much better then I though and hardly underperforming, and 1/3 rd of their games at this point has been against BC which has the second lowest GAA at this early stage (2GAA). So I think the offense is performing relitively well compared to my expectations. Sure I would love to see them putting up 5 gpg and the 2.5 seems pretty low, but when put into perspective the other teams its actually not too bad.
The defense, I don't think they have underperformed so much as they have really been unable to put together 60 min. They play solid for large parts of the game and then just blow it for a short periods that are costly. I think to some degree the pressure of trying to carry the team got to them. They need to focus on playing solid hockey, nothing extraordinary, just a solid 60.
Regarding the NCAA's, it will depend on how things play out, its waaaaaaaayyy too early to be looking at the NCAA's. Their OCC isn't going to carry them this year as it did last year so they are going to have to step it up and do it in conference. Right now it would appear that UNH, BC, ME, and BU are all going to be in. MC will be a TUC. They need to do well against those teams and win some of those comparisons. The Yale game will also be huge, as will the rest of the ECAC games to garner some of the COP's. The NCAA will take a bit of a streak during conference play but certainly not out of the question.
Regarding UMA, they will be desperate. They will play hard and see that UVM has a single win and maybe the team to get them in the win category. Its away although the Cats have similar records home v. away the past few seasons. UMA has been in almost every game and have played some good teams tought (BU, UNH) and blown others (Army). As always it will come down to who shows up to play. Which UMA teams show up and which UVM team shows up.
They can, should and need to win this game. In past years they have played good teams well and given up points to some of the lower teams. This year they need to take EVERY point and stop this playing to the level of the opponent garbage. I remain optimistic they will come out of this season with a winning record and a shot at the NCAA's.
) And it's certainly a good thing, because now we can get back to talking about Vermont hockey. Tonight is a complete toss up. Absolutely no idea what's gonna happen, but I have a feeling Madore is gonna have to stand on his head again against a desperate umass team. Let's hope the defense can block more shots and keep rebounds and second chances away from madore.