Re: UML 2013/2014 Season ... The Target is firmly on
So are the issues strictly attitude, i would like to believe so... But I'd rather hear from more seasoned hands.
I honestly can't grasp what it is, but it's definitely a mental thing. Expedient decision-makiing on the ice is flatly non-existent; at times it looks like they don't even know each other. When they do get it together, it's like a Star Trek scene with the phase differential set at -0.02, you can see it but it's just that far off. The net to them appears to look as small as a dartboard bulleye.
In fairness, they really had potential in 2004 to really start something special...in that HE Championship Final; I don't recall how many posts UMass hit in OT but I thought it was at least 2 or 3. For my money, that's a game you have to watch from start to finish and probably one of the best NCAA games I've ever seen. Lowell fans owe a debt of gratitude to Ben Murphy and Jimmy Howard. In 2007, Maine once again bested them in the NCAA East Final with Quick. IMHO, if UMass parted ways with defensive-minded Cahoon in the mid-2000s, they would have had one league or NCAA championship and Lowell's hockey team most likely would have been eliminated focusing their efforts on the flagship with the trophies.
Anyways, here's the latest edition of fun with statistics...And all this time everyone thought Lowell's cycle was a result of class size.
There are two issues with those stats in how they can be misleading....
1. Lowell came nowhere near the tourney in 2005, 2006, made a gutsy run in 2009, then imploded in 2010.
2. Those fire sales were expected as 10+ seniors graduated the year before. I don't care how good or bad a team may be, but when you lose half of a team, there are going to be some growing pains.
In this case, we have a rather balanced class size and problems with all four classes; the freshman show promise but need time; and several members of the three upper classes nowhere to be found. Certainly, Ruhwedel was an integral part but it didn't fall apart when he was hurt, so I don't get it at all.
Yes, it's true that they haven't played a league game and it's still early. At the same time, how confident would you be feeling on 01 November going to a home UNH game (where HE points are 18-19% more valuable) and the team's record being 1-5. Have to get rid of these bad habits now because one simply can't rely on going 19-2-3 to finish a season (or whatever it was) each year.
