UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

Having only seen UNH once I can't give an opinion on whether Gildon should have made team
However, I wonder if playing for a weaker team in Hockey east away from the main media market has hurt him
Maybe he was scouted less as games weren't seen as important
If you look at team the 4 Boston schools and Providence have all the players selected

I don't know anything about the selection process but they (powers that be with USA hockey) know Max having seen him in the summer and at other USNDT events...I'm selfish of course because we need him at our games but I'm sure there's disappointment there. I remember when Brett Pesce was selected didn't make the final cut. He (Max) has had a lot of great experiences and I'm sure he'll have a lot more. No question a worthy candidate! Like Dan said the make up of the coaching staff might have something to do with it as well perhaps.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

UNH will sweep Dartmouth this weekend. Both goalies will play, one will earn a shutout. Discuss.

 

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

UNH will sweep Dartmouth this weekend. Both goalies will play, one will earn a shutout. Discuss.

That's the spirit Chuck! Absolutely agree both goalies will play...and am thinking it's a GREAT weekend to get our first sweep in awhile...we can do it 'Cats!!! Keep hearing that Thompson Arena is a 'tough place to play'...why is that? Anyone got an inkling?

 

[Ray Dorn]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

The health of the defensemen will be big for this weekend. Last weekend a few of the defensemen played a lot of hockey over a 26/27 hour span and wore down toward the end of it. Hopefully, the defense is healthier than last weekend. I believe both goalies will play and play well. To win we will need to generate more offense than we have been. A solid weekend would be good heading into the end of the semester break.

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

I think that Chuck and HR are lunatics!

And, so am I, as I think that UNH, UVM, and UMass-Amherst will sweep this weekend!

Road stop at Rik Marley's Flying Goose Brewery at Exit 11 on I-89 en route to Hanover.

 

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

Ty Taylor gets the start Boyd back in the line up. Naz Bela Grasso top line

 

[Greg Ambrose]

Additionally - I do tire of this USA Hockey approach of putting so much thought into how they will match up with other teams as opposed to building their best team and letting other countries worry about them...

It's not 1980 anymore. You're best players are among the world's best players nowadays. The US is a power and I wish they'd really start acting like one.

Yes, Eruzione, of all people was the hero for the '80 Olympic team - and they deserved their underdog title - but there were also quite a few real good players on that team. Question for our elder statesman- but besides Cox (who battled significant injury) and Mullen (who declined) who had the elite talent to be on that team but wasn't...?

In general, I think this idea that this US team was the right players rather than the best - when perhaps they were actually both - is overblown. The reason they were huge underdogs was age and the US's low status as a hockey country - not because they weren't generally the best Americans? Right or wrong, Greg? Others?

The US is as good as anyone these days - especially at the junior level...

Re: your 1980 Olympics question, the answer is Craig Homola. Homola, a Minnesota native, was a in the midst of a dynamic career at UVM. From people I knew who were in the know back then (from BU), I was told that Brooks was unhappy with some of the forwards leading up to the Olympics (but before the wipeout against the Russians at MSG) and was looking to change things up. They brought Homola in for a tryout and supposedly he was offered a spot but declined, partly because he knew most of the guys on the roster.

It’s pretty hard to criticize the selection of the US team that year since, after all, they produced what is probably the greatest upset in the history of international sports. But Ralph Cox should have been on the team. He was one of the leading scorers throughout the season leading up to Lake Placid and he had few equals when it came to sniping the puck. The knock on him was his skating but there were a few forwards on that team who didn’t skate any better than Ralph and had nowhere the scoring touch that he did. I know Ralph a bit. He’s really a great guy and has been remarkably successful in his life and he long ago got over this snub. Chalk it up to Minnesota bias.

And Dan, you should never use the implied perjorative “of all people” when describing Mike Eruzione. During his time at BU, UNH had many epic battles against the Terriers. He clearly was not the prototypical stud on his BU teams (that would have been Ricky Meagher) but when it came to making the big play, getting the killer goal against us, it always seemed to Eruzione. Trust me, when he got the game winner against the Russians, I was not surprised that of all the great players on that team that it was he who got the goal.

As an aside, Eruzione is a cousin of my next door neighbor. Her husband, along with a dozen members of the extended Eruzione family, was part of the expedition to Lake Placid in February, 1980. My neighbor has accomplished quite a lot in his life, personally and professionally, But he acknowledges that sitting in Olympic Arena the night the US beat the Russians is right near the top.

 

[Snively65]

Re: your 1980 Olympics question, the answer is Craig Homola. Homola, a Minnesota native, was a in the midst of a dynamic career at UVM. From people I knew who were in the know back then (from BU), I was told that Brooks was unhappy with some of the forwards leading up to the Olympics (but before the wipeout against the Russians at MSG) and was looking to change things up. They brought Homola in for a tryout and supposedly he was offered a spot but declined, partly because he knew most of the guys on the roster.

It’s pretty hard to criticize the selection of the US team that year since, after all, they produced what is probably the greatest upset in the history of international sports. But Ralph Cox should have been on the team. He was one of the leading scorers throughout the season leading up to Lake Placid and he had few equals when it came to sniping the puck. The knock on him was his skating but there were a few forwards on that team who didn’t skate any better than Ralph and had nowhere the scoring touch that he did. I know Ralph a bit. He’s really a great guy and has been remarkably successful in his life and he long ago got over this snub. Chalk it up to Minnesota bias.

And Dan, you should never use the implied perjorative “of all people” when describing Mike Eruzione. During his time at BU, UNH had many epic battles against the Terriers. He clearly was not the prototypical stud on his BU teams (that would have been Ricky Meagher) but when it came to making the big play, getting the killer goal against us, it always seemed to Eruzione. Trust me, when he got the game winner against the Russians, I was not surprised that of all the great players on that team that it was he who got the goal.

As an aside, Eruzione is a cousin of my next door neighbor. Her husband, along with a dozen members of the extended Eruzione family, was part of the expedition to Lake Placid in February, 1980. My neighbor has accomplished quite a lot in his life, personally and professionally, But he acknowledges that sitting in Olympic Arena the night the US beat the Russians is right near the top.

Excellent post, Greg. I was still in Seattle that winter, but a friend who managed the EMS store in Lake Plastic rented his apartment to the Italian Olympic team, which more than paid for his rent the next 12 months (he slept on floors and couches those four weeks).

 

[Dan]

Ty Taylor gets the start Boyd back in the line up. Naz Bela Grasso top line

Despite return of Boyd - both Sato and BVR playing a number of shifts on defense...

Outplayed in the second (shots 9-2) - a couple of huge Taylor stops keep this game tied heading to the third. UNH carries a PP into the final period...

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

Yikes! Cats once again blow a two-goal lead, and now have a mighty 7 SOG heading into third. But, could be down 3-2, as Gildon coughed up puck and let his guy take a point-blank SOG from right in front of the net with two seconds left in second; maybe he thought that he had heard the horn?

 

[Dan]

All three UNH goals now - assuming +/- taken correctly - have been scored with one true defenseman on the ice. They certainly seem to be making a conscious effort to rotate F's (specifically 18 & 7) in on the blueline...

 

[e.cat]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

PK does it again! Go get 'em tomorrow!

 

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

Picked it up in the third beautiful goal by Cipollone! Cats winnnnn!

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

Dead lucky, eh?

 

[HockeyRef]

Dead lucky, eh?

We’ll take it anyway we can get it Taylor had some great saves! Hitting Molly’s for some post game victory Margs

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

And Dan, you should never use the implied perjorative “of all people” when describing Mike Eruzione. During his time at BU, UNH had many epic battles against the Terriers. He clearly was not the prototypical stud on his BU teams (that would have been Ricky Meagher) but when it came to making the big play, getting the killer goal against us, it always seemed to Eruzione. Trust me, when he got the game winner against the Russians, I was not surprised that of all the great players on that team that it was he who got the goal.

Agreed, Eruzione was not only nails, but totally clutch in his time at BU, well before the '80 Olympics. He wasn't chosen as captain of a largely Western team by accident. Not a flashy guy by any means, but an absolute stone-cold winner. Even his decision to virtually end his career at the pinnacle was the right call. Precisely the kind of player the best UNH teams of all time lacked, who could have made the difference by his sheer force of will. Which I mention because originally, guess where Eruzione was planning to play?

http://www.lowellsun.com/sports/ci_26723748/billericas-role-miracle-ice-story

The mind boggles at the thought of what Eruzione, Langway, Bobby Miller and two-thirds of the C-H-C connection could have gotten done at Durham together. Barry Edgar turned out to be a very good D-1 player, but one has to wonder what Charlie Holt thought in the aftermath of what Eruzione accomplished at BU and for the USA. And equally fascinating how Coach Parker sized the kid up on the spot while reffing a summer league game, with Eruzione at the time headed for (then D-2) Merrimack. In the end, another tantalizing near-miss, but a testament to one kid's never-say-die attitude, and his college coach's tireless dedication to his recruiting efforts.

Back to the present. UNH to complete the sweep tomorrow night, with Robinson posting the shutout.

 

[Snively65]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

I thought that I was paying pretty close attention at the game tonight, and I do not recall BvR taking any shifts on the blue line, although I did see him go back a few times to cover for a blue liner who got caught up ice. Like the PC game on Saturday night, Gildon and Wyse logged the most minutes, with Verrier, Mackinnon, and Sato rotating as the second blue liner, other than a couple shifts for Boyd in the first and maybe one in the third? I thought that Sato played well in both games, and apparently Souza did, too, with Hickey and Boyd hardly seeing any ice time tonight.

My sense is that none of the forward lines have any chemistry right now, but I sure would like to see Blackburn, Grasso, and BvR together again, which is what I told the vR parents between the first and second; really fun talking to them about lodging with friends at Wallis Sands, where lots of my UNH classmates lived during the school year.

Hey, Chuck, maybe UMass-Flagship has been finally exposed for the charlatans that they are?

 

[chickod]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

Hey, Chuck, maybe UMass-Flagship has been finally exposed for the charlatans that they are?

It's the #1 jinx. Often when a team gets voted #1 it goes to their heads. They have a letdown. Remember, they're college kids. It happens a lot. If this turns into a slide, then that's a different story. Only time will tell...

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

It's the #1 jinx. Often when a team gets voted #1 it goes to their heads. They have a letdown. Remember, they're college kids. It happens a lot. If this turns into a slide, then that's a different story. Only time will tell...

Lots of truth to this. Honestly, you don't get to where UMass is now without having a boatload of talent, and it would be ridiculous for me to deny that. But it's a huge jump from long-term D-1 irrelevance to the top of the hill in early April. And UNH fans are better positioned than most to understand D-1 titles aren't won in November or December. I'm sure my *beloved* "Red Army" will make the D-1 tourney, but I'm not sold on them winning any hardware along the way. At least not this season. If this turns out to be more than a recruiting bubble in Amherst, then I'll be happy to give kudos to Coach Carvel, just as I was with Coach Bazin in Lowell.

There's nothing harder in coaching than building something where nothing has been for a long. long time. The guy up in Orono was the last to pull that off in the East for more than a small handful of seasons. And we all know that he had to go (ahem) "above and beyond" to make that happen. As good as Bazin has been in Lowell, the rise of his program looks like a poor man's version of what Coach Umile accomplished 15-20 years ago at UNH. Coach Leaman at PC did bag the big trophy, but his success hasn't reached the levels of Walshy (his mentor), or Coaches Parker and York at the long-established elite programs in Boston. Carvel isn't even at Madigan level. Yet. But he's already made a bigger push with his previously-nowhere program than the guy in Storrs has with his still-nowhere program, despite Luce having had a significant (several years now) head start on him. JMHO.

 

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity

ICYMI: Joe Cipollone's first collegiate goal. Way to be in the right place at the right time...after a not so hot 2nd period...much needed! Happy the 'Cats held them off with the extra skater; not sure I could stand another OT Go for the sweep tonight 'Cats!!! (thanks C-H-C for the vid)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbX0OzQwXTk