Time to change it up maybe....? Went to heck in the 3rd. Hate to see it.
Are you finally conceding that things under MS7 aren't quite going to plan, 'Ref?
Even if UNH was somewhat fortunate to get to the 3rd period on level terms, you could see from the outset that they were simply outskated, outclassed and outcoached. Robinson did a good job keeping things close until then, even unlucky with a weird deflection accounting for PC's tying goal. But after that ... yowzah, the second goal came from a terrible decision that let the PC kid basically walk in unbothered from the right corner to the front of the UNH net (guessing MacKinnon blew that coverage, not sure though?) ... the 3rd PC goal, Maass makes a terrible decision to gamble, again leaving the lane to UNH's goalfront wide open. Those two goals right there, ugh. Just some very basic defending, and you can probably cut both of those out, and then you're deeper into the game tied at 1-1. But with those two blown coverages, it's 3-1, then a decent goal from a PC senior who'd never scored a D-1 goal before, and it looks like UNH were the guys ready to board the bus early for a long ride home. Q - U - I - T is what I saw, and that's unacceptable in any way, shape or form.
PC's forechecking really just took it out of UNH, and as the game wore on, PC seemed more and more focused on pinning UNH's defense in their own end. Of course, the inability of most of the UNH defensemen to carry the puck cleanly out of the defensive zone played into the success of the PC forecheck. UNH, on the other hand, couldn't establish a forecheck against PC's defensemen if their collective lives depended upon it. And instead of coasting to the finish, PC ramped it up to the end.
If I didn't know better, I'd say one of the head coaches was tutored by the late, great Shawn Walsh ... while the other has been sold to us as the hand-picked successor to the good but not great Dick Umile. I'll let you guys figure out who was who, it's not a tough call. And one of them was hired about 10 years ago ... hmmm, why can't we ever hire a guy like that, eh?!?
One final comparison ... Robinson was seemingly (and if so, understandably) showing some frustration at how the guys were playing in front of him in the 3rd period. It was hard not to think back to a game almost 18 years ago, which also entered the 3rd period at 1-1, when a Coach Umile squad either ran out of gas OR quit/choked and saw a souped up opponent erupt for a slew of goals, that decided a watershed game in the program's history on the shores of Lake Erie. In that game, the UNH goalie - who is now the lead assistant at another HE program - similarly lost his cool and composure in frustration at how his teammates were spitting the bit at the worst possible time. Of course, said same goalie had a similarly unpleasant experience in his team's final game the season before ... but whatever, it shouldn't be too much to ask the players not to soil themselves when the chips are down. Last night was JAG - just another game - but yes, it was downright embarrassing down the stretch.
Yes, this is a challenging year. For everyone. No more excuses. Right the ship, or down with the ship, and we've got to find a new captain - not the next "E.J. Smith". I loved MS7 as a player, he was right in the middle of so many great moments, but to watch him behind the bench ... it's like he's a poorly-dressed carbon copy of his former UNH coach - uptight, aloof, looking at times like a man waiting to catch the commuter train out of town. If his current boss could at least suggest he appear a little more engaged and animated, I'd appreciate it. 'Cuz it looks like he's there to just punch a clock, and his players do the same.
It's too bad, there is a decent (not great) core of talent on this team, it should at least be a .500 team, somewhere in the middle of the pack in the HE standings. At this rate, neither of those goals is going to be even remotely attainable. Sad ...
