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UNH At The Starting Gate....

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Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

goblue said:
Hey Chad, (and Dean & Toby) -- great to meet you on Saturday, albeit briefly (and what a game, eh?) I've enjoyed reading your comments over the years (Toby: it's all about the quality, not the quantity), and it's especially good to be able to attach a face to a username. Wish I could have met C-H-C; perhaps at one of the upcoming games, since I attend most home games (and some away ones.) Also wish Richard (Snively) would come back to his roots, if only for a game or 2. C-H-C and Richard are from my era, but both must be carrying terabytes of mental storage (unlike me, whose memories are stored on little scraps of brain paper that are probably with my glasses, keys and wallet that I'm always looking for.)

All the best!
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Thanks, Doug... sorry we did not have more time to talk, but it is great to put faces to names and meet people from the board at the games. Very great weekend and a ton of fun!! Thanks for stopping by and maybe next yr Richard will come up from NJ if he can and get CHC (Mike) to come up from Mass for one of the games! Would be an incredible roundtable of hockey tales going on there! Thanks again!
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Up to 4/3T in the PWR after BC's win last night and our early season win in Chestnut Hill. BU's strategy of hitting, putting a body on BC worked, but wasn't enough to overcome BC's speed and talent.

WildShawn said:
...Merrimack is steamrolling teams, AND unlike Maine, they have a goaltender.
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If I find time I'd like to compare averages of opposing goal tenders' GAA and save % in our wins vs. our losses.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Malts18 said:
Thanks, Doug... sorry we did not have more time to talk, but it is great to put faces to names and meet people from the board at the games. Very great weekend and a ton of fun!! Thanks for stopping by and maybe next yr Richard will come up from NJ if he can and get CHC (Mike) to come up from Mass for one of the games! Would be an incredible roundtable of hockey tales going on there! Thanks again!
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Thanks for the great posts, gang -- a weekend to remember, for sure! I do hope to do that, but as Chad notes it will have to be next year (we've made the long roundtrip drive up several times in the past few weeks, but have been unable to get to a game because we have a very ill family member we're seeing while there). Would love to finally meet everyone face-to-face...
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Borrowed this from the UNH/Maine game thread because it makes sense:

Originally Posted by gdawg:
UNH does win many games from behind in the 3rd and often it is because the other team just gets tired out on the big ice.

UNH seems to pace themselves well. Playing good positional defense and not hustling to every loose puck, etc. (Which drives me nuts at times.) Don't know if it is a planned strategy but it works. The Cats seem to be able to really step on the gas at the end of the game and score when it's needed. They've done it 6-8 times this year so far -- either to win or tie it up within the last few minutes.
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Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Clark-Hislop-Cox said:
Borrowed this from the UNH/Maine game thread because it makes sense:
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Its an interesting point. UNH beat the hell out of Maine this past weekend physically, which we're not used to seeing, that might have also had something to do with it. It sure looked like Friday night, Maine was putting out much more effort, and UNH was coasting, so I was hoping UNH would have more energy on Saturday night, but it didn't really work out that way. Maine played a good 3rd period on Saturday night and aside from a few big mistakes (Sirman failing to glove the shot that Borisenok chipped in for the 4th goal, Cherry Picker Nyquist missing the empty net, and Beattie tripping over the blue AND red line coughing up the puck to Campanale and somehow Sirman allowing the bankshot gamewinner) I didn't think UNH had more jump at the end of the game Saturday....
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

A big thank you to everyone who made us feel so welcome last weekend. It's great to meet friends (old and new) and to watch some great hockey. That last minute of the 2nd game will be talked about for generations so I am so glad I was there. 'Gustav, would you care to take us through the last minute please?' Hee hee. Thanks to all the Hosers for letting us crash your party each year and to guys like Doug and C-H-C for being classy guys who love and know their hockey inside out. See you all next year and in the meantime I hope you enjoy the end of this season - which I hope will go on for a very long time!
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

LimeyCat said:
A big thank you to everyone who made us feel so welcome last weekend. It's great to meet friends (old and new) and to watch some great hockey. That last minute of the 2nd game will be talked about for generations so I am so glad I was there. 'Gustav, would you care to take us through the last minute please?' Hee hee. Thanks to all the Hosers for letting us crash your party each year and to guys like Doug and C-H-C for being classy guys who love and know their hockey inside out. See you all next year and in the meantime I hope you enjoy the end of this season - which I hope will go on for a very long time!
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Another echo from me! You guys rock and Tobes hit it right on the head here... we are blessed to have such great friends out in NH who welcome us in to their hockey circles for a weekend each year no questions asked and always make us feel like we are "regulars". :)
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Hopefully the first line will start playing stronger defense, it seems since the break the effort on that end is still missing from this line. Even Thompson seems to be playing a bit more 1 way hockey. It is difficult to evaluate the lower lines as the combinations keep changing but of the last 13 even strenght goals (back to the Dartmouth game) 6 have been with the first line on the ice. With their experience they should one of the best defensive lines on the team not the worst. Too little hustle too much floating. I hope giving up the 3rd and 4th goals against Maine from lazy play and Umile's yelling at them on the bench will have some affect.

Otherwise I hope the lines look like last weekend and UNH rolls 4 line out there.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

While last weekend was a speedy transitional style from both clubs, Merrimack will undoubtedly invoke the trap and try to play more physical, and keep the puck to the boards....UNH has to control the puck, be patient and confident in their game...play UNH's game and make Merrimack play catch-up...a great bright spot on Merrimack is former UNH'er Glenn Stewart part of the coaching staff....no offense Stewy but we'll be hoping to kick your butts like you did to UMass.....another helluva HE weekend! Do you think that because we never have an off weekend of tough play, the last 3 NC come from HE?
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Clark-Hislop-Cox said:
UNH taking Merrimack seriously.
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As well they should. These guys aren't Merri-mat anymore. Even with the big wins over Maine last weekend, the buzz around HE was Mack continuing to put a whoopin on the rest of the conference. We might just be looking to get points out of this weekend, but if Merrimack gets 3 out of 4, they can earn a boatload of respect from the rest of the conference.

That's not to say they shouldn't have some already. Like I said, they've already knocked off some of the top teams in this conference. They beat the crap out of Maine, and they've won the season series against BC. They aren't exactly Vermont or Providence. If you knock off the defending champs...twice...you've got to be doing something right. It's good that the Cats already respect how well Merrimack has played up to this point, because I get the feeling this weekend is a "statement series" for Merrimack, whereas it's "just another series" for UNH.

UNH is already respected as one of the "Big Four" in the conference. We're established, we've arrived, etc. Having been to the NCAA's for nearly a decade in a row, we've paid our dues. Merrimack is hungry and demands respect. Think of it like the beginning of Rocky III: Rocky (or in this case, UNH) has held the title for a while, and just kinda goes through the motions, fights some contenders, and enjoys the winnings. Clubber (Merrimack) viciously slugs away, waiting for his chance at the Big Time, waiting to make a statement. These past few weeks, Merrimack has laid waste to the league, and now they're up against the team at the top of the standings. If we're gonna get out of this one maintaining the lead, we've got to match Merrimack's hunger for success.

These guys are on a mission to end the "doormat" jokes. They've got their shot at it this weekend, and our guys should be ready to face a team with a five-alarm blaze under their ***. Merrimack has taken some of Hockey East's finest to the woodshed already this year...let's not become an addition to the list.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

That analogy suggests that UNH will get smoked this weekend, only to drub Merrimack in the HEA finals.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I understand where you're coming from Irishcat but as Umile says every week, "we have to play our game" I have always said that we are not playing so and so, they are playing UNH....if we execute and play our game, then it doesn't matter if we play BC, Maine, Miami or Providence....it sounds simple but if Pittsburgh didn't have 3 turnovers and executed their game, would GB have won? UNH controls what and where they go by being able to play a consistant and confident game that is their game......imho, that is
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

zoofer said:
UNH controls what and where they go by being able to play a consistant and confident game that is their game.
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Well that's kinda my point, just in different terms.

I guess it's just a matter of being skittish, having seen UNH "play down" to opponents in the past, and even this year (Brown and St. Lawrence, anyone?). Merrimack is going to be doing everything they can to throw us off our game: clogging passing lanes, breaking up rushes, running a trap, etc. I think patience is going to be one of the things this team will have to practice this weekend if we are to escape with 3 points.

We're not going to have very many opportunities against the Warriors...not like last weekend's shootouts with Maine. We have to capitalize on whatever opportunities are given us, because I'd be willing to bet we'll only get about 10 quality scoring chances all weekend.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

carltonbarrett said:
Seems like UNH hasn't been playing its best hockey the past few weeks and their defense may be the weak link??
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Probably, but I thought UNH was fairly good last weekend.. not top shelf A game, but decent vs Maine. Tonight they were not MENTALLY there. I think tomorrow will be the best barometer of what these two teams have to give when they are each on their games and ready to play. Round 1 to MC no doubt. Round 2? We'll see.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Pretty boring effort by the 'cats. Stop watching the game after MCs third goal.. talk about a breakdown... not that the cats had much to begin with.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Malts18 said:
Probably, but I thought UNH was fairly good last weekend.. not top shelf A game, but decent vs Maine. Tonight they were not MENTALLY there. I think tomorrow will be the best barometer of what these two teams have to give when they are each on their games and ready to play. Round 1 to MC no doubt. Round 2? We'll see.
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We also had no puck luck. Hit 2 posts! Crazy stuff.
 
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