HawkStar12
New member
OK well then, where do we start ... first things first, UNH extends its late season winning streak to six (6) straight against overmatched UConn, in a game where UNH jumped on top early and was never seriously threatened. At 4-0 midway through the second period, after two quick PPG's, a blowout seemed to be in the cards. UNH really didn't do a whole lot wrong for the first 30 minutes, and UConn didn't do a whole lot right. So it seemed like UNH dialed things down at that point, and played more cautiously, knowing that there is at least one more meeting with this opponent over the weekend. Even when UConn had cut the lead in half 4-2 with plenty of time left in the 3rd period, it never really felt like they were capable of making it all the way back. Interestingly, Coach Umile called an uncharacteristic time out about a minute before the 2nd UConn goal, as UNH seemed to be a little TOO cautious in their play. Oops.
UConn's only chance to make this a series is to try to grind UNH out of its game tomorrow, but even if they do that, I'm not sure they have the firepower to pull it off? And if UNH plays the way they did in the first 30 minutes of tonight's game, they can outgrind UConn. UNH played a very honest, hard-working game, and did not shy away from the physical stuff either. That's historically been a point of weakness in the past at this time of the season, so it's encouraging to see the 'Cats more than willing to bang a little bit. Downing even put one of the UConn players head over heels into the UNH bench midway into the first period.
Best player on the ice by a wide margin was Pesce, and after that I was thoroughly impressed with Poturalski, who reminds me a little bit of Krog as a frosh (we can only hope that pattern continues the next few seasons!). Not so impressed with Foegele, who seemed to make a million mistakes in his own end, and never really flashed anything at the other end. Eiserman is Eiserman, and not Yzerman, so we'll see how he develops next season and beyond. Boyd surprised me in a good way, Furgele in a not-so-good way, and any team that relies on Harry Quast to play 15-20 minutes is going to have a ceiling on what they can accomplish. I like that Cleland's first instinct at the opposing blue line is to step up instead of step back (the latter being another historical UNH d-man characteristic), and he made the right decision pretty much every time. It's clear his presence on the first pairing with Pesce is not an accident.
Tonight was my first extended chance to observe Salvaggio and McNicholas, who played on the 4th line with Jamie Hill, and I thought they did a really tidy job as the 4th line. Keep it basic, with good effort and good discipline, got some quality minutes and kept things fresh for the top two lines. I like the edge the munchkins (Willows and Kelleher) bring with their games, and while a guy like Willows would probably only been a 3rd liner in the good old days, it was exactly that kind of player UNH could have used back then to get some positive energy out of the lower lines. And Kelleher is already better than Willows, so that's another bright spot for the future.
Reality check ... this was only UConn, and based on their second half form, they are not the 9th best team in HE - they are the worst, and UNH is fortunate to have avoided UMaine (regardless of how UMaine fares against UVM this weekend). UNH should be able to take care of this tomorrow night. Hopefully it's only me (and NOT them) who is thinking that when UNH takes the ice tomorrow, or this is the kind of series UNH has always managed to make tougher than it really should be. A win tomorrow night gets UNH to the .500 mark, and who would have ever seen that happening back in December? Major kudos to Coach Umile for not giving up on the season and just going with the kids (although that IS still happening anyway). The move to 100% Tirone really cannot be questioned any more by folks like me. Technique-wise, the kid is a mess (and a lefty!) but he gets the job done, and the team plays better and wins. And that's the bottom line, isn't it? If Pesce sticks around for his senior season, it's hard not to be excited about UNH's prospects for next season.
Serious question: does anyone know if the playoff brackets "re-seed" after the first round? Ultimately, with Merrimack up a game on NU and UMass into double OT (at least) with the idiots from South Bend CC, it's *possible* UNH could get out of this round as the 7th or maybe even 6th best team in the HE quarters. So ... is a date with BU written in stone if UNH advances, or might they slide up and get a BC, Lowell or PC instead IF things fall their way?This brave new world of "everyone qualifies" tournaments confuses me.
I'll probably babble later this weekend about how things look off the ice at UNH, which at least for me was far less optimistic than what I saw ON the ice tonight. I mean, it's hardly the first time a half-full house was present for the first round home HE playoff games, so that's less of the issue. It's what's happening (or to be precise, what's NOT happening) in the seats with the chairbacks that screams out the gradual decay and erosion of the UNH fanbase. Which is truly too bad, because this year's team is an enjoyable team to watch, yet no one out there seems to have gotten the message. Again ... I'm going to leave it until the offseason, but it's hard not to be very impressed with what Coach Umile has done with this team this season ... and likewise, it only amplifies (at least to me) that other folks around this program simply aren't pulling their weight. Hint: XXXV+I(I).
FWIW - when leaving the arena for the walk back over the tracks to the lot, the tone among the fans was really upbeat, and talk was about how much fun they had at the game. That's a message that needs to permeate beyond a 10-15 mile radius around Durham (a/k/a "Boomtown on the Oyster River" with all of the downtown construction). And that's NOT Coach Umile's job. JMHO.
Hope your on oxygen after this post. Don't fool yourself, take away the power play goals and power play shots and it's a pretty even game. One point from your novel is correct, Uconn does not have the firepower (10 scholarships to UNH's 18), however if they don't penalize themselves, they'll attack the puck equal to any team in this league. UNH is a solid 8th place team, but no more than that.
