I think the defensive numbers are a little deceiving, as there was a pretty big improvement in both overall defense and Sak's goaltending between the first and second halves of the season. The first couple months were very inconsistent defensively. The team gave up a lot of shots at times, were prone to terrible turnovers, and had some off nights in goal. Things tightened up considerably in the New Year, including an improved commitment to blocking shots. This seemed to coincide with players like Dufour, Burton, & ZachE being in the lineup more and the return of Campbell on defense. Sak also seemed to get in a groove and was at slightly over 2 goals per game GAA and 93% save percent over the last 2 months. Kupsky didn't fare quite as well, which hurt the numbers a bit. Not saying that defense and goaltending aren't concerns going into the post-season, but I think there is some reason for optimism compared with earlier in the season. One of the keys is whether Sak can get back in the groove. Not sure we exactly saw that in the last 4 games - that last goal against Cornell was of the big juicy rebound variety. Hopefully the bye week has Alex refreshed and back on his game.
Princeton is going to be a tough team to play. They have youth, talent & confidence coming off a very tight series with Gate. If U can get on top of them early, maybe can get the Tigers to doubt themselves a bit, but I'm overall expecting a tough physical series that could go 3 games. Other than the seniors, there actually isn't much post-season experience on the team and most of it is of the one-series-and-done variety, so I'm not sure U has a big advantage there. Where U does have the advantage is with 2 of the best forwards in the country, who hopefully can pull off some post season magic.
As for Hobey, I have to think that Veccs will be in the running and should be a finalist. There really isn't a player or two that put up Eichel or Johnny-Hockey like numbers, so its pretty wide open in my book. The most impressive stats out there might belong to Canisius goaltender Charles Williams with a 94% saves/1.83 GAA, but he has the double whammy of they don't usually go for goalies and AHA is seen as a weaker conference. Given the way Veccs (& Foo) carried the team early in the season and the mostly unexpected success the team had, may help his cause.
Also notice that Bennett is up for ECAC COTY along with Donato and Fogarty. I think all 3 are deserving, but have been very impressed with U's coaches this season and the improvement of so many players both off-season and during the season.
