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UMass Lowell 2021-2022: Which way are we going?

Most normal hockey like game I've from this team this season. Im not entirely sure what that means though. I thought the power play looked bizarre but great look on the penalty kill.

So I take it as Denver is shaping the game so far but it's nothing we can't handle. They have the skill we need to generate the opportunity.

I'll take one a piece after one.
 
Great effort by Lowell. They were clearly gassed...not getting a bigger lead is a death knell because the longer the game went, the more Denver dominated with their speed and skill advantage. That penalty kill reminded me of the 2004 Championship game (between Denver and Maine) at TD Garden. Maine had a two-man advantage and then pulled their goalie to have a SIX on THREE advantage and they still couldn't score, resulting in a 1-0 Denver win.
 
Denver is the better team. That being said I don't care about who is the better team. What the hell has it been all day today where players have to settle the puck or are having a hard time setting up the puck??? Did they salt the ice? Ensemble casts means the ensemble needs to perform. Our power play looked like a nightmare. The decisions on it didn't make sense and the puck handling was mind boggling.

Defensive effort was top notch though I hope we improve our defensive corps before next season either by players getting better or other means. Great work on the PK. Wish getting under Mazur's skin didn't take 2-3 penalties but I applaud the effort to drive him nuts.

We need to schedule more teams like Denver if they aren't going to exist in Hockey East. No more cream puffs, no more "gentlemen of hockey" games against LIU and other schools that need help. No more jetting off to Northern Ireland to make good on some boy's fantasy about his great grandfather. I didn't know him and they ain't from Belfast. edit: scheduling the tough teams is hard, I'd sooner go to Omaha than Waltham. Hell, call up Cornell if you only want a bus ride.

Alright, that's my frustrations out. Don't question the effort, question decisions here and there. Two scrappy goals without a doubt. Again, power play could have helped if they played like they had one before.
 
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chickod said:
Great effort by Lowell. They were clearly gassed...not getting a bigger lead is a death knell because the longer the game went, the more Denver dominated with their speed and skill advantage. That penalty kill reminded me of the 2004 Championship game (between Denver and Maine) at TD Garden. Maine had a two-man advantage and then pulled their goalie to have a SIX on THREE advantage and they still couldn't score, resulting in a 1-0 Denver win.
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Having to kill off 3 penalties in the 2nd period probably took it's toll. Overall a great effort hanging with a more talented team.

Game article from CHN. The Wright Guy For Denver : College Hockey News
 
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BostonSoccerDad said:
I have a weekly meeting with a company based in Sweden and learned an interesting tidbit today. Before the meeting started several of us were having general chitchat and the topic of hockey came up. I mentioned our Riverhawks have some excellent talent from Sweden and there is a big game tonight. One of the guys is a serious Swedish “hockey krishna” and recognized the names. He quickly noted that Jonsson comes from a hockey pedigree and played a couple of games in Sweden’s top professional league. That’s all I got. Just trying to pass the time until puck drop.
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I'm a big fan of Jonsson. He just kept getting better and better as the year went on. I guess we're officially on the Andre Lee and the transfer portal watch now.
 
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bottomdweller said:
I guess we're officially on the Andre Lee and the transfer portal watch now.
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Totally. I am expecting Andre to leave. The Kings are a good organization. I know sometimes players don't sign and play senior year, but generally I think that's to avoid going to a bad organization.

Hopefully no one poaches Matt Crasa.
 
Middle Street said:
Totally. I am expecting Andre to leave. The Kings are a good organization. I know sometimes players don't sign and play senior year, but generally I think that's to avoid going to a bad organization.

Hopefully no one poaches Matt Crasa.
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I think Lee could use another year, but ultimately, I think it comes down to do the Kings want their development guys working with him full time, or just have him go to their development camp and keep working on his game with Lowell.

I hope Crasa doesn't think of leaving. His mom sits over near us and brings so much energy to every game, it's great.
 
If the Kings don't sign Lee, they lose his rights. He'll be a free agent at the end of his senior year. So, I don't think they would even consider encouraging him to develop another year in Lowell. It's ultimately his decision as to whether or not he signs.
 
bottomdweller said:
I'm a big fan of Jonsson. He just kept getting better and better as the year went on. I guess we're officially on the Andre Lee and the transfer portal watch now.
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i'm hoping lee comes back mostly because I feel like he's still got stuff to learn to be effective at the next level
 
Middle Street said:
If the Kings don't sign Lee, they lose his rights. He'll be a free agent at the end of his senior year. So, I don't think they would even consider encouraging him to develop another year in Lowell. It's ultimately his decision as to whether or not he signs.
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Teams always have ways to incentivize players to come in if they want to keep them.
 
Middle Street said:
If the Kings don't sign Lee, they lose his rights. He'll be a free agent at the end of his senior year. So, I don't think they would even consider encouraging him to develop another year in Lowell. It's ultimately his decision as to whether or not he signs.
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That's not completely true. If he doesn't sign now, they lose his rights on June 15 after his senior year. So, they still could sign him after next season.
 
Given the makeup of the team, a great effort....just need a bit more speed, finesse and scoring. Disappointed, but it is what is is. Tough to over-achieved consistently against higher skilled teams. I agree that at times we look so disorganized on offense with the lack of ability to get clear and open shots. Do we need an assistant coach to focus more on face-offs and offense in general? I always point to the lack of recruiting solid USHL players and NHL drafted prospects. Not certain if it's conscious choice by Norm and the rest of the staff, or just a city of Lowell diss, as the education one receives their is first class. No disrespect to Savory but his GAA average the last half of the season was not as sparkling as the first half, but then again we were dealing with higher skilled and better teams the second half of the year, so maybe a correlation.

Lastly I think Lee is gone as well, though the last few games he was very quiet because of the aforementioned offensive issues I think he is better served professionally by signing and moving on. Let's hope Crasa stays and Scout Truman is the real deal
 
I'll defend savory, I don't think he got the defense Hellebuyck saw. I think we have great potential coming in. Obviously Savory is done but I applaud what he gave us.

edit: comparing to Helly's defense is unfair but this was never a lock down defense. Its been competent and it worked hard
 
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Chiefof78 said:
No disrespect to Savory but his GAA average the last half of the season was not as sparkling as the first half, but then again we were dealing with higher skilled and better teams the second half of the year, so maybe a correlation.
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Not counting yesterday's game:

Before Christmas 9-1-2 1.23/.950
After Christmas 11-5-0 2.34/.913

There was zero chance he was going to keep up the numbers he had in the first half, but it's not like he was bad in the second half. For the whole season, BU's Drew Commesso had 2.54/.914 and Matt Murray for UMass was 2.27/.919.
 
According to Barry Scanlon on twitter, Carl Berglund is confirmed to return for his senior year and Jon McDonald will also return to play a 5th season.
 
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