UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

And, some folks here on the off-season thread thought Camper might see a lot of healthy scratches, whereas others thought his being a senior would be awarded by Umile; but, first line assignment really surprised me.

Not surprising in the least. It's just the way Coach Umile has always handled things.

With all due respect, it's why the typical preseason projections on here of upperclassmen playing on the lower lines (OR not dressing), with frosh populating all the top lines is always so laughable. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with those who have high expectations for the incoming players. But not all freshmen are created equal ... and Coach has always leaned in the direction of giving his older players the benefit of the doubt for their perceived experience, and defaults to forcing the frosh (and sophs) to earn their time.

If we have seen anything so far this season, it's that it DOES take time for players new to this level to adapt. Perhaps that has been shielded to some degree in the past at UNH because we've not had so many youngsters in the line-up all at once out of necessity like we're seeing this season. I have no reason to doubt several of these players will prove to be above-average D-1 players in the future, while others will likely prove to be reliable players at this level, and others may never become more than limited role players.

In search of the silver lining, I guess one bright spot in light of last week's discussions was that UNH scored goals via second chances, so hopefully that's an important step in the right direction.

 

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

I didn’t see the game, followed the on line box score and via texts from the Whitt. That, the post-game comments and articles isn’t much to go on but:

Sounds like more of the same.

Coach described the ‘cats 1st period play as “blah”. How does that happen after last weekend?

Willows’ line did not start the game, perhaps they started the 2nd or 3rd period? Regardless, sounds like a message from coach.

Eiserman not playing, another message? C’mon kid, Ottawa drafted you, step it up.

Clark (.876%) may not be the answer. As bad as life must be for Casey Desmith, as much as the legal system may impose on him, nothing must hurt as much as knowing that he has let his team, one that he followed as a youngster, down. In no way am I justifying or apologizing for his actions, but I feel for the kid.

We scored on some rebounds. Having someone in position to do so is an improvement from last weekend

NU tied at UML. The BU/BC game was fun to follow via on line box score. The Terriers are back. This isn’t going to get easier.

The switch could flip, we could win the rest of our games, but realistically prepare for a sans ‘cats NCAA regional.

 

[Scarlet]

Agreed; real tough night for Clark. But, he was not getting much help from his teammates, either. Worst passing that I have seen by any UNH team in over two decades, which I attribute to their inexperience. And, some folks here on the off-season thread thought Camper might see a lot of healthy scratches, whereas others thought his being a senior would be awarded by Umile; but, first line assignment really surprised me.

However, I did not think that the Spartans were much better. Overall, reminded me of a typical AHA game in sloppiness. If the Cats can do a better job of breaking the puck out of their own zone, I think that they will have a chance to even up things on Saturday night.

The final few minutes after Michigan scored its fourth goal (the only goal that I thought was not a total giveaway by UNH) was exciting, as the Cats finally began connecting on some passes, with several great scoring chances and a goal to get them within one again.

Face off in the offensive zone on Michigan icing with about 70 seconds remaining allowed Umile to pull Clark for the extra attacker, so there was hope right up to the bitter end. Glad that I did not leave early to beat the traffic, as some fans did. Speaking of which, a lot of empty seats tonight.

No smiley faces in this post.

I thought you played Michigan STATE last night, not Michigan.

 

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Camper is a high energy player, one of our best at being unafraid of getting dirty, probably the thinking on his start. This team maybe the one that pushes us to start the Foegele/Poturalski/Kelleher or Eiserman/Smith/MacDonald line.

How did Gaudreault look last night?

 

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

I thought you played Michigan STATE last night, not Michigan.

... State, University of ..., ... high school all star team, ... Department of Corrections all star team.

Details.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Clark (.876%) may not be the answer.

Another dangerously isolated stat-driven conclusion. He is a frosh having been thrown in at the deep end, and with an inexperienced crew of defensemen playing in front of him, featuring at least 2 (if not 3) frosh per night, a pair of sophs who are getting more ice time with less experienced partners than surrounded them last season, and one junior who has spent his first two seasons as a spare part. The one experienced, formidable junior is being asked to be the leader of the group for the first time in his D-1 career.

Those are an awful lot of kids who are still nearer to the starts of their respective learning curves in their current roles.

Clark was being viewed in successful terms before last Saturday's pasting by UML. Two bad outings, in which poor play by inexperienced teammates was a key factor, should not come to define what Clark is capable of. I seriously doubt the assailant would have UNH in any better position right now, had he decided to stay semi-sober over Labor Day weekend.

It's going to take patience - sometimes, a LOT of patience. Right now is one of those times.

 

[Dropkicknh]

Face off in the offensive zone on Michigan icing with about 70 seconds remaining allowed Umile to pull Clark for the extra attacker, so there was hope right up to the bitter end. Glad that I did not leave early to beat the traffic, as some fans did. Speaking of which, a lot of empty seats tonight.

No smiley faces in this post.

This is a never ending frustration for my friends and I. It's at the point that we just openly mock the people leaving which is fun since we're on the aisle. We sit in 103, the first people I saw leave was with 8:30 to play down 2. The worst was in the last 2 minutes and possession in front of us, 4 guys stood up and left blocking our view for a solid 20 seconds. Instead of mocking I just swore at them because it was a tense moment and sometimes I like to pretend I'm 13 again.

 

[Dropkicknh]

I thought you played Michigan STATE last night, not Michigan.

Having spent some time living in Michigan in between stints in NH I can say that both of those schools are incredibly easy to hate, and outside of their fans no one cares to distinguish between them.

 

[Snively65]

I thought you played Michigan STATE last night, not Michigan.

Oh, right you are. I get those two teams confused, all the time. I think that we played the other Michigan team earlier this season?

 

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Another dangerously isolated stat-driven conclusion. He is a frosh having been thrown in at the deep end, and with an inexperienced crew of defensemen playing in front of him, featuring at least 2 (if not 3) frosh per night, a pair of sophs who are getting more ice time with less experienced partners than surrounded them last season, and one junior who has spent his first two seasons as a spare part. The one experienced, formidable junior is being asked to be the leader of the group for the first time in his D-1 career.

Those are an awful lot of kids who are still nearer to the starts of their respective learning curves in their current roles.

Clark was being viewed in successful terms before last Saturday's pasting by UML. Two bad outings, in which poor play by inexperienced teammates was a key factor, should not come to define what Clark is capable of. I seriously doubt the assailant would have UNH in any better position right now, had he decided to stay semi-sober over Labor Day weekend.

It's going to take patience - sometimes, a LOT of patience. Right now is one of those times.

No truer words were ever, ever spoken. I KNEW it wouldn't take long until the Clark questioning would start; I mean, it's easy to look at the goal tending when the bigger pic is what we are honestly contending with...a rookie defense. I too wish things could have been different with the goal tending situation but it isn't and I too find myself considering what was lost in poor decision making. (weak words given what happened) But it is what it is and here we are. He*** it's a rookie team out there figuring it out. Kudos to them. Yes that turnover from last night wasn't pretty but that is part of figuring it out. I hope the boys come out flying tonight...all 60 minutes. If they can't/won't do that, well, that is another discussion. Patience. Yes. Onward 'Cats!

 

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Another dangerously isolated stat-driven conclusion.

With most team sports I fall in the middle of this argument. If I were Julian Edelman's QB he would be a statistical stiff. If I were the Celtics point guard then whoever their forwards are would score a lot less. If Lionel Messi was on the world cup pitch with a bunch of NCAA players he would be unlikely to score. If you, me and a team of our posters were wearing MI ST sweaters last night... So why bother keeping individual statistics at all? They are what they are. My point was more about Casey, bringing me to...

I seriously doubt the assailant would have UNH in any better position right now...

Respectfully, I completely disagree with this. Casey had several stretches where he was literally unbeatable. I am not saying he would do that with this season's team in front of him, but I would take him over Clark in a heartbeat, no disrespect to Clark. Forgetting all that, my point was that Casey, like any competitive player, feels he is good at what he does, wants to help his team and is disappointed when he cannot.

 

[C-H-C]

Respectfully, I completely disagree with this. Casey had several stretches where he was literally unbeatable. I am not saying he would do that with this season's team in front of him, but I would take him over Clark in a heartbeat, no disrespect to Clark. Forgetting all that, my point was that Casey, like any competitive player, feels he is good at what he does, wants to help his team and is disappointed when he cannot.

Conversely, wonder how Adam would be doing with TvR, Knodel, Agosta and Pesce in front of him.

 

[The Zlax45]

Conversely, wonder how Adam would be doing with TvR, Knodel, Agosta and Pesce in front of him.

Like that group was the New Jersey Devils of the mid-1990's....how many titles did that group win under Umile?

 

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Conversely, wonder how Adam would be doing with TvR, Knodel, Agosta and Pesce in front of him.

Much better!

Please notify me when smiley emoticons are back in fashion?

 

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Much better!

Please notify me when smiley emoticons are back in fashion?

No better time than the present....**** the torpedos!!

 

[sonar]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Camper is a high energy player, one of our best at being unafraid of getting dirty, probably the thinking on his start. This team maybe the one that pushes us to start the Foegele/Poturalski/Kelleher or Eiserman/Smith/MacDonald line.

How did Gaudreault look last night?

I thought Gaudreault was one of the most effective players on the ice for UNH. Not allergic to the area around the net and works hard at backchecking.

 

[Aerman]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

FWIW I assumed starting Thrush and friends was a message to the first line following last Saturday's game. Having not seen last Saturday's game though, I did not know if the Downing line was any more or less guilty of dogging it in that game than any other. Seemed like Downing's line still got the most playing time, perhaps followed by Kelleher's. THAT line is the most fun to watch offensively, but maybe the biggest defensive liability right now. I expect that will come along as effort is not the issue for those guys, just inexperience. Surprised by Eiserman's absence, maybe he goes tonight after a game in the stands?

What did folks think of the four forward PP unit? I was surprised that McNicholas drew the assignment at center with Downing on the blue line, but I suppose that keeps the other two lines intact for the other half of the PP. They seemed to maintain a lot of time in the zone with that crowd, and some good chances.

 

[C-H-C]

FWIW I assumed starting Thrush and friends was a message to the first line following last Saturday's game. Having not seen last Saturday's game though, I did not know if the Downing line was any more or less guilty of dogging it in that game than any other. Seemed like Downing's line still got the most playing time, perhaps followed by Kelleher's. THAT line is the most fun to watch offensively, but maybe the biggest defensive liability right now. I expect that will come along as effort is not the issue for those guys, just inexperience. Surprised by Eiserman's absence, maybe he goes tonight after a game in the stands?

What did folks think of the four forward PP unit? I was surprised that McNicholas drew the assignment at center with Downing on the blue line, but I suppose that keeps the other two lines intact for the other half of the PP. They seemed to maintain a lot of time in the zone with that crowd, and some good chances.

Eiserman blocked a pass with his ankle in the 2nd Lowell game and was hobbled.

 

[Aerman]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Eiserman blocked a pass with his ankle in the 2nd Lowell game and was hobbled.

Je comprende. Hope he's back soon.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2014/2015 - Wait 'Til Next Year!!!

Like that group was the New Jersey Devils of the mid-1990's....how many titles did that group win under Umile?

They managed to get UNH to the HE title game last year with TvR sidelined - they were pretty good, probably made the assailant look better than he really was. The former goalie certainly had his moments, but overall he was a slightly above-average Hockey East goalie. Curiously, he saw his back-up chosen as alternate captain last year, while as one of only a few high-profile returning seniors THIS season, the assailant had already been overlooked for a leadership letter by his teammates and coaches. Maybe they knew something we didn't?