Re: UNH Wildcats-The Back Nine and Beyond!
Am I suprised at the success as of late...a little but as a reality check its really do to a really soft schedule. Umass Lowell isnt nearly as good as most thought....UNH should be Colgate, UMASS...tie vs Vermont is about right and splitting with Colorado was promising....all in all the real part of the schedule is coming up to really see what we have here.
I hesitate to respond, because while some people believe I enjoy discussing Tirone's shortcomings, in reality I do not. But since you may as well be talking directly to me...
The job of keeping pucks out of the net is getting done - however, the real stars of the process are Marks, Gildon, Wyse and Maass who have been excellent (with the exception of the UVM game) at retrieving pucks and clearing the zone. That is not something UNH defenders have been able to do in recent seasons.
I also think we will see, come later in the season, that this early season run by UNH will have come (with the exception of UML) against a few of the least productive/dangerous offenses in college hockey.
I'm not sure the early returns would be much different with any of the three goalies. In its four best games, UNH is allowing less than one GPG. In the remaining four, opponents are scoring nearly 3 GPG. Their success depends entirely on how they play in front of DT.
Unlike some, I do not think he has stolen many saves or games. He has been steady. He has been good enough.
However, massive kudos for him for not losing games, giving the team a chance every night thus far, for nearly eliminating all soft goals against (a couple in the win over CC not-withstanding) and exhibiting noticeably improved mental toughness (which is something he has said he worked on this off-season) in his ability to bounce back from goals against and ending the practice of giving goal for momentum away immediately. He has earned the right to continue playing big minutes in the weeks to come. I would rather they hashed it out in competition, but the result is the same - the goalie in the crease is playing well.
PT for Robinson is imperative, at some point, to help develop him moving forward and plan on a goalie for next season and beyond. So I hope they will coach deeper Umile's last stand and get the kid in there for a game or two soon...
Am I suprised at the success as of late...a little but as a reality check its really do to a really soft schedule. Umass Lowell isnt nearly as good as most thought....UNH should be Colgate, UMASS...tie vs Vermont is about right and splitting with Colorado was promising....all in all the real part of the schedule is coming up to really see what we have here.