Re: UMD - Bulldogs -'11-'12 Season Thread
Like I said in another thread, we Bulldogs fans are spoiled. No other team has matched UMD's success, although Wisconsin looks like an easy favorite to claim their fifth national title this season to pull even with UMD. So it's especially disappointing to see the results we've seen so far. At least to me it is.
Doesn't matter much where you start. I'll go with goaltending. I don't know what's up with Jenny Harss, but she seems far more beatable this season than ever before and almost looks nervous in net. Is her head still in the game? I don't know. She's graduating early and good for her. Maybe her focus is more on academics than hockey and there's nothing wrong with that. Or she's just in a rut. But I think today Coach Miller ought to start Lana Steck and see what happens. She'd still have two goalies dressed and sitting.
Defense? Please come back. We miss you. Aside from Jessica Wong, the Bulldogs are pretty thin on D. Larocque is sorely missed. How the hell does a single player come in with two defenders in front of her basically standing beside other and skate right between them to come in one-on-one and score? How does that happen? Ugh.
Offense? What offense? It was like watching high school hockey yesterday. Lots of slapping the puck around, lots of missed passes, lots of sloppy passes, lazy shots, etc. Does anybody want to score? Put up some points? Anything? The Bulldogs controlled the play for most of the first period, such as it was, and then disappeared. I don't know if Haley Irwin is saving her best stuff for Team Canada or what. I wish she'd just shoot the puck and stop with the fancy stickhandling moves that don't fool anyone and take away her chance to score. Then she ends up skating around with the puck. Pass it if you don't have a shot. McParland still looks good, Winberg is there but not producing, and Cournoyer of all players is the leading scorer. Good for her and it's not unexpected, but come on. These juniors won the title as freshmen two years ago.
Coaching? Yes, Miller is ultimately responsible for the team's results, but she's not out there skating. If the players aren't interested in putting in 60 minutes of work, she can't do it for them. She does need to motivate them, though, and she's always been good at getting their attention. Maybe she needs to mix up the lines today and see if something new works. There's leadership lacking on the ice and I have to assume off the ice. There doesn't seem to be any chemistry at all between any of the players like we're used to seeing. Time to push the players hard and see if you can scare up some character.
You can't lose this many games and hope to be able to dig yourself out of that hole and be a contender come playoff time. There are 18 regular season games left after today and they're not going to win them all.
But since I'm not easily discouraged, I think the UND series sets up for the Bulldogs. Against both Wisconsin and Minnesota, your forecheck was very disruptive. I think in the matchup with NoDak that can lead to goals.