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UNH At The Starting Gate....

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Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Snively65 said:
Tickets should be easy to get this coming weekend with the students leaving for spring break, right?
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Often a hot-topic of discussion during HE Playoffs, attendance during the quartferfinal round always dips a little. Still, UNH typically manages one of the higher numbers around the league.

Friday's game will have the most people, as some of the more die-hard students will attend that game before leaving for break. Saturday, fewer. And Sunday (god forbid), it seems nobody wants to watch hockey at 7pm on a Sunday, so you can get tickets at the door easily - which you pretty much have to, because they don't sell them until necessary.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I know I'm a little late to the party here, been a little busy, but congratulations on a great regular season. Another season where UNH completely exceeded expectations (I think...). Outstanding work by the Wildcats.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Nick Papagiorgio said:
I know I'm a little late to the party here, been a little busy, but congratulations on a great regular season. Another season where UNH completely exceeded expectations (I think...). Outstanding work by the Wildcats.
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I would agree UNH completely exceeded (my) expectations.

I wonder if this is Umile's curse on himself. Many will say beyond here at some point UNH will choke in the playoffs. I am starting to wonder if on average they just over achieve by such a large margin during the season the expectations become unreasonable (please note there have been years where they have just hacked out a hair ball too, not discounting those at all). Just wondering if Umile actual does a really good job of maximizing the talent he gets to UNH (past UNH's foolish admissions, and on the ice) so the expectations this time of year become very high. For example I figured going into this year they would be lucky to get home ice and the NCAAs would be like getting hit by lightning. Down the road UNH will likely get bounced but will that actually be a choke becomes the question...

Example last year I figured Cornell would beat the tar out the UNH. Some how UNH knocks off a higher seed, over achieving? But how do you evaluate the loss to a RIT team that just beat a really good Denver team.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

JB said:
I would agree UNH completely exceeded (my) expectations.

I wonder if this is Umile's curse on himself. Many will say beyond here at some point UNH will choke in the playoffs. I am starting to wonder if on average they just over achieve by such a large margin during the season the expectations become unreasonable (please note there have been years where they have just hacked out a hair ball too, not discounting those at all). Just wondering if Umile actual does a really good job of maximizing the talent he gets to UNH (past UNH's foolish admissions, and on the ice) so the expectations this time of year become very high. For example I figured going into this year they would be lucky to get home ice and the NCAAs would be like getting hit by lightning. Down the road UNH will likely get bounced but will that actually be a choke becomes the question...

Example last year I figured Cornell would beat the tar out the UNH. Some how UNH knocks off a higher seed, over achieving? But how do you evaluate the loss to a RIT team that just beat a really good Denver team.
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I don't think it was so much the loss to RIT (who did beat the regional's #1 seed the night before), but how the game got out of hand. I don't think the losses themselves are what get people so perplexed, its the manner at how bad some of them are. I don't think anyone had a problem when UNH lost to DU in 05 in the Regional Finals, or even 1-0 to MSU the following year, both as lower seeds. But when UNH is 1 seed and loses in Manchester to Miami, or when they get blown out as the 1 seed by Notre Dame (who did prove to be a worthy opponent by making it through MSU and Michigan afterwards, though there wer 2 ENGs in that game IIRC, it was still ugly). 2009, was a great regional tournament, and UNH outplayed the national champs, but hit a goaltender who had his best game of the NCAA's (why couldn't we get Millan like he was vs. UVM?) and put the puck in our own net. No rational fan was down on the team/Umile after that game, I don't think.. (there are a lot of irrational folks out there though)..

I agree, expectations were low coming into the year, and they did exceed expectations, but thats no reason not to have some hope that they'll be able to put something together in the post season (other than their history of not doing so). They proved at times this year that they were able to compete with some of the best teams in the country, and they only lost one game to a team that isn't at least in NCAA contention (SLU). The flip side is, they did rack up most of their Hockey East points against teams in the lower half (plus Maine), and other than Maine, haven't beaten a NCAA tournament contending team since November. So, there are a lot of things that can be analyzed within the season and within the last decade or so.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

WildShawn said:
I don't think it was so much the loss to RIT (who did beat the regional's #1 seed the night before), but how the game got out of hand. I don't think the losses themselves are what get people so perplexed, its the manner at how bad some of them are. I don't think anyone had a problem when UNH lost to DU in 05 in the Regional Finals, or even 1-0 to MSU the following year, both as lower seeds. But when UNH is 1 seed and loses in Manchester to Miami, or when they get blown out as the 1 seed by Notre Dame (who did prove to be a worthy opponent by making it through MSU and Michigan afterwards, though there wer 2 ENGs in that game IIRC, it was still ugly). 2009, was a great regional tournament, and UNH outplayed the national champs, but hit a goaltender who had his best game of the NCAA's (why couldn't we get Millan like he was vs. UVM?) and put the puck in our own net. No rational fan was down on the team/Umile after that game, I don't think.. (there are a lot of irrational folks out there though)..

I agree, expectations were low coming into the year, and they did exceed expectations, but thats no reason not to have some hope that they'll be able to put something together in the post season (other than their history of not doing so). They proved at times this year that they were able to compete with some of the best teams in the country, and they only lost one game to a team that isn't at least in NCAA contention (SLU). The flip side is, they did rack up most of their Hockey East points against teams in the lower half (plus Maine), and other than Maine, haven't beaten a NCAA tournament contending team since November. So, there are a lot of things that can be analyzed within the season and within the last decade or so.
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I have a bunch of thoughts on this topic.

1) It seems you can see the nights that they are going to be bad right out of the gate. It is a lack of... something... you can just see it. The play is sloppy and off. See last Friday for example. All credit to the Eagles but there were so many unforced turnovers in that game.

2) When it goes wrong it does seem to go way wrong. I have heard Umile say 1 goal or 4 a loss is a loss, hence why you will see two empty netters at time skewing the score board. (not all years)

3) I agree that they have an opportunity to do something this year. I also wouldn't find Friday's play ever acceptable. Sometimes you need to view a season through a better lens of perspective. UNH went 1-2 against each of the other 3 teams at the top of Hockey East. The consistency against the rest of the league put them in the position they are in.

4) I do wonder about not using some of those early season opportunities against weaker league opponents (hence inflating the record and expectations) to develop depth and gain confidence in the 4th/5th line players is an issue. In the 2nd and 3rd UNH’s 4th line played around 3 shifts. Against a team rolling 4 lines that will wear you team out. I don't think Umile had confidence in that 4th group last weekend. I also wonder if the wrong players sat Saturday (DeSimone was just terrible both nights, regardless of the Saturday score sheet)

5) UNH needs to find a way to beat teams when they tighten the neutral zone down (trap one of the many varieties). UNH likes to skate the puck and pretty goals but sometimes you need dump and chase and get dirty goals.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

JB said:
I I also wonder if the wrong players sat Saturday (DeSimone was just terrible both nights, regardless of the Saturday score sheet)

5) UNH needs to find a way to beat teams when they tighten the neutral zone down (trap one of the many varieties). UNH likes to skate the puck and pretty goals but sometimes you need dump and chase and get dirty goals.
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I agree with about everything said by Wildshawn and JB, but I thought that DeSimone played much better on Saturday night than on Friday. I am not a big fan of passes across the crease from low on the sidewalls in hope of a tip in, which has been DeSimone's forte, as Sislo and Thompson were not able to get a stick on any of them on Saturday night. I would prefer to see the passes and shots coming from out front, with the hope for a tip or a rebound. But, with Muse in net, nothing is easy.

I agree that UNH needs to change their offensive strategy entirely from this past Saturday night for facing the trap against UVM this coming weekend.

Overall, I got about what I expected out of the forwards and d-men this season, but much, much more than I expected from DiGi (I believe that I posted something like the Cats can go as far as DiGi can take them this season near the beginning of this thread). I felt about the same last season with Foster in net. But, as always in the post-season, the seniors need to step up and show their leadership. Butler and Foster did that last year, LeBlanc not so much; Kapstad, Pollastrone, Collins, and Fortney the year before, after many years of no-shows for seniors.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Snively65 said:
But, as always in the post-season, the seniors need to step up and show their leadership.
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Darius said:
Uh oh.
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I wouldn't underestimate the positive effect Captain Sislo and Assistant Captain Campanale have already had, and will have throughout the playoff run. Sislo has been playing with intensity and Campanale is one of the steadiest defenseman UNH has had in a long time.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Clark-Hislop-Cox said:
I wouldn't underestimate the positive effect Captain Sislo and Assistant Captain Campanale have already had, and will have throughout the playoff run. Sislo has been playing with intensity and Campanale is one of the steadiest defenseman UNH has had in a long time.
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Our opinions on Sislo are not the same. IMO he maybe the biggest floater on the team. I only ever see him playing hard one way and that is a rarity if he is on a 2-1. Not a fan of Sislo. There are many games he would have found his butt in the stands if I were coach for lack of effort the game before.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

JB said:
Our opinions on Sislo are not the same. IMO he maybe the biggest floater on the team.
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Since the Christmas break, all three seniors on the first line have had games where they have "floated" - that is, not played hard in all three zones, particularly in the defensive end. The last time UNH played UVM at the Gutt, which I attended, was particularly egregious. However, in the absolute "must win" games since then (e.g., @NU; BC @the Whitt), I have seen Sislo play with intensity. Paul Thompson makes me scratch my head from time to time and DeSimone hasn't consistently played hard in the defensive end. But the three of them played much better on Saturday night.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I was thinking "not Campanale" when I wrote "Uh oh". No major complaints with the others, but they are not stepping it up the way Seniors need to in order to be successful at this time of year. Sislo, great at Northeastern, and Desimone have played better lately. PT is hard to figure. Is it more likely that the non-seniors step up and give us a boost? I love Goumas constantly playing on the edge, getting knicked up, but rarely missing a shift.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Obviously, like everyone else, I would like to see seven (eight, if necessary) more games, as I missed a lot of games during the regular season, so cannot have the seniors focused one night and not the next from here on out. Would be great if the non-seniors can contribute also, but it is now or never for the seniors.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

Think you mean eight (nine , if necessary). Each tournament is four if you're in the final.
 
Re: UNH At The Starting Gate....

I was worried there for a bit. I thought you might actually drag this one thread through the playoffs, too.
 
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