Mark my words, it's only a matter of time before someone chimes in with the obligatory "Well, it's a down year for the conference after all, someone had to step into the vacuum" etc.
Random thoughts and musings after my first trip of the season to Lake Whitt:
* It's been over 20 years now, and the grounds around The Whitt have matured nicely. I still can't help but think they can do something more imaginative than the bare bones ivy stuff on the main exterior concrete wall facing Main St. Still atop my wish list is improved access from the A Lot over/under the right of way to the arena. I'm 90% certain I wouldn't have missed the opening goal last night if I wasn't forced to add a quarter mile walk, plus the up and down from the summit of Mount Overpass. Which brings me to the following ...
* Revolutionary, fan-friendly (albeit expensive) solution to this and many other issues would be to temporarily move the field hockey pitch for a year or two, install a multi-level underground parking garage on the site, which would be available not only for sporting events on both sides of the street, but also for additional student parking needs, commuter parking with easy access to the adjacent Downeaster station, and eliminate my constant whining about the over-and-back to the A Lot. Then you top it off with the return of the field hockey pitch. And you'd also have a legitimate basis to charge ALL of the aforementioned users for the privilege of warm underground parking between November thru March. Not to mention what a nice perk that might be to offer it for reduced rates to STH's. Perhaps you could even have direct access from the underground garage into the arena lobby (allowing the rec facility's users to be paying users as well), the train station at the other end ... or even with a more lengthy tie-in to the new stadium across the street? With pretty much all of the rest of the field complex having been built out in recent years, this could be the crowning jewel to put a bow on it all. Oh yeah, and just one more reason to bring the hoops teams back over into The Whitt, and allow BS35+5 to finish up the other side of his stadium. Y'know, being a visionary is tough work, but someone's gotta do it around here ...
* The beer thing is definitely working in the arena. For the first time in a lot of years, there seemed to be more noise in the building last night, and I'm not talking about the stupid pre-programmed crap coming out of the PA, or the pedestrian as always pep band. More chatter and more interaction with the on-ice play ... or maybe that's just the improved quality of play, and the recent outbreak of winning hockey. Remains to be seen, but the lights are a little brighter too - no doubt courtesy of the "Thomas Alva Edison 2017 Man of the Year Award" recipient, a/k/a Coach Umile's soon-to-be-former boss;
* Oh yeah, the on-the-ice stuff ... sorry to digress. Anyway, Tirone looks good so far, and certainly hasn't provided any fodder for the "he wanders/scrambles too much" crowd yet. I sat near a bunch of kids who seemed to know Robinson and they seemed to be resigned to the fact that their pal was not expecting to get into much action this year, but they seem to think he is Plan B (not Clark) if something does go wrong. FWIW last night, Tirone did get lucky a few times; as another poster mentioned there were a couple of open net chances missed, and a couple of clangers that otherwise beat him, too. I thought he could have done better on the first goal, but the last two were just down to poor defending. There were a few too many close calls, which brings me to the next point ...
* The defense was pretty soft in front of the cage, and Colgate was able to get traffic in front of Tirone fairly easily, while not getting moved out. There were several screens and deflections that seemed to miss by inches, which on another night could make for an ugly evening. The potentially scary thing to me was, I didn't think Colgate's forwards were that huge. In fact, I thought they were faster and more mobile, and there were several times that they made Wyse (not his best one) and the 3rd pairing (which scares the bejeezus out of me BTW) look like proverbial traffic cones. Glidon looks like a future Hockey East first team talent (if he stays around long enough, hopefully to play with his younger bro) but even he seemed to struggle with the physical side of things. Maass made a very good first impression, while Glidon commands the game. Surprised but not shocked to see Dawson relegated to 4th line forward last night, reprising the role of Tim Horst from back in the glory days. When you choose your 7th/8th best defenseman as your captain, this is what happens;
* It looks like the McNicholas/Salvaggio/Kelleher line is back to its old tricks.
Good to see Vela back in action, playing well, he was missed for long stretches last season ... and Eiserman seems to be this year's probable recipient of the Austin Block/Casey Thrush senior breakout scoring honors winner. Nice finish in traffic for a huge goal late in the second period to re-establish the two goal lead, went off for a bit, but was back in action in the third. Can't say anything about the BvR goal but heard it was nice.
Salvaggio's first that rang off the top corner and in, highlighted how UNH was fortunate to get some of the breaks, but winners make the most of their breaks, and losers whine "What if?" on their close calls. Eric MacAdam is going to be a player I really like going forwards, and I thought Fregona worked hard at both ends last night.
* I think the part that made me happiest about last night's game is that UNH never trailed, and once they took the lead, they never gave it up. Especially after Colgate scored about midway through the 3rd period, it seemed UNH really closed up shop in a very mature and effective way. They seemed to open up a little too much in the second period, and that's the danger for this team if they get out too far over their skis. But the fact that they recognized it, adjusted, persevered, and earned another early W is a very good reflection not only on the players, but also on the coaches.
I'll explore the current situation behind the bench in the next installation of
The Quest so stay tuned ...
