Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

[klumpmypants]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

(Actually, if Quinny wins out and we only get two points, we'd be tied with them in the standings and in the season series so I'm not sure what the next tie-breaker would be)


If we sweep this weekend though, we are guaranteed to get a bye because:

1. If RPI/St. Lawrence wins out, we would be tied with them and we have tiebreaker against both of them.
2. Sweeping this weekend would mean that we beat Quinny this weekend which would mean that even if Quinny won this Friday AND next weekend, they would have 26 points to our 28.
3. Colgate would still be able to catch us and get the third spot if they win out but that would mean we would get the four spot which is still a bye.

Second tie-breaker is wins, QU would beat you on that one.

Also, if you get 4 points Colgate cannot catch you because they can only get to 27 and you would then have 28. 4 points total for the rest of the season clinces Union no less than 3rd place.

 

[Dutchfan]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Thanks to Ken Schott for blogging on Greg Coburn's latest medical status, a dislocated hip, but "no major damage". He will miss the rest of the regular season but could be ready to go in the post season, especially if U gets a bye.

http://cms.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2010/feb/17/no-major-damage-for-coburn/

Great news that there is no damage. Union's had some bad luck with hips in the past few years with Christiansen and Ekstrom, glad to see that Greg won't be needing surgery and may even be back for the playoffs.

 

[aweise]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Let me put it this way: It would be extremely unlikely for Union lose the bye if they get just 2 more points.

How long have you been watching ECAC hockey?

Seriously, I don't disagree with you, but this really is the ECAC. Except for Cornell finishing in the top 4, I don't put money on anything in this league (heck, I would have even lost that bet a couple of years ago).

 

[Wholin1]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Great news that there is no damage. Union's had some bad luck with hips in the past few years with Christiansen and Ekstrom, glad to see that Greg won't be needing surgery and may even be back for the playoffs.

"Only" a dislocated hip. Kind of makes me cringe to think about. It still must be a tough injury particularly for a hockey player. Hopefully Greg is on the mend. As far as his return, he may not be in "game shape" right off the bat making a playoff appearance problematic, but I'm obviously just speculating. The main thing is he should be ok long term.

 

[ADK11]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

"Only" a dislocated hip. Kind of makes me cringe to think about. It still must be a tough injury particularly for a hockey player. Hopefully Greg is on the mend. As far as his return, he may not be in "game shape" right off the bat making a playoff appearance problematic, but I'm obviously just speculating. The main thing is he should be ok long term.

Yeah.. I was going to say that a dislocated hip does not sound like "good news" to me. Personally, I hope he is not rushed back this season too soon at the risk of further damage down the line. IMO he should be one of the top 2 d-men on the team in the next 3 seasons.

In the short haul, I guess this takes away any questions of Wakita being benched more. Not sure what is going on there, as I seem to recall a recent game where someone else wore the "C". This also means that a new QB for the 2nd PP unit will be needed, which I would assume will be Matheson. And with the goaltending looking a little vulnerable lately, will definitely put more pressure on the whole d-corps.

 

[SlyFoxMan7]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

How long have you been watching ECAC hockey?

Seriously, I don't disagree with you, but this really is the ECAC. Except for Cornell finishing in the top 4, I don't put money on anything in this league (heck, I would have even lost that bet a couple of years ago).

Well I guess you're right, if any team can **** the bed in such spectacular fashion, it would be Union but I'm still banking on a bye.

 

[SlyFoxMan7]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

"Only" a dislocated hip. Kind of makes me cringe to think about. It still must be a tough injury particularly for a hockey player. Hopefully Greg is on the mend. As far as his return, he may not be in "game shape" right off the bat making a playoff appearance problematic, but I'm obviously just speculating. The main thing is he should be ok long term.

Plus once you dislocate a joint, it seems like it is much more prone to additional dislocations in the future.

 

[GreatLakerMohawk]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Plus once you dislocate a joint, it seems like it is much more prone to additional dislocations in the future.

I will vouch for this. It's true with shoulders and I can't imagine the pain of doing this to one's hip.

 

[Wholin1]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Looking at our d-men what has become of Reid and Bergeron? Neither has made the lineup this season though I think Bergeron may have played in the US U-17 exhibition, IIRC.

 

[UnionHockeyRadio]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Just a reminder, tonight's game against Princeton will also be televised on TWCS throughout upstate NY.

It is White Out night, 2000 free Tshirts will be given at the door, but if you don't want to wear the free one, try to wear something white Tomorrow night is Sr. night, so following the game the Seniors will be honored.

As always, both games can be heard in Schen on 89.7 WRUC and on the internet, www.teamline.cc - search for Union College Athletics.

Couple of notes:

Coburn's injury will definitely hurt, but this is where the new found depth of the team will come into play. No, they don't provide the same presence as Coburn, but Ryan and Nolan have both played well this year, and Nolan has showed some offensive spark as well - so I think the lineup will be ok. Let's hope for Coburn's long term health.

A lot of numbers being thrown around, but if Union gets one win this weekend, it would be very very difficult for them not to get the first round bye.

However, looking at the Pairwise rankings, Union would need to go at least 3-1 with a win against Cornell to be back up where they want to be. Obviously, the tiebreaker for Cornell could be big. We all know about the Starr curse, so hopefully Union takes care of business against teams they've already beaten. Both teams have been playing better of late though, Princeton's beaten some tough opposition - And Qpac has been a Jekyll and Hide, but you know they have the firepower. No easy W's in the ECAC.

Let's Go U!

 

[unionbob]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Radio matt..........few questions.....

Why is there such a delay in the broadcast?...i use to like bringing headset to game to listen to interviews and listen to game but the 10 sec or so drives one crazy.....
and also while listening to away games over the internet the live stats or even Ken in his blog will post something (ie: goal) and the radio still is calling the play showing the delay even more pronounced....

finally two weeks ago while driving to the game a lil late (approx 7pm) turned on WRUC but the game wasnt on the radio portion...and in tuning in the station was playing some vulger music with multiple four letter words....great when u have kids in the car......just giving u a heads up...

thank you in advance

 

[UnionHockeyManiac]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Big win! Team looked good tonight against Princeton, especially Kinkaid (other than the softie he let in). The up to the minute standings look like this:

Yale 28 13-4-2 17-6-3
Cornell 28 13-4-2 16-7-3
Union 26 11-4-4 17-8-6
Rensselaer 22 10-7-2 17-13-3
St. Law 20 8-7-4 14-12-6
Colgate 20 9-8-2 12-13-6
Quinnipiac 18 9-10-0 15-14-2
Harvard 17 7-9-3 7-16-3
Brown 15 6-10-3 8-15-3
Princeton 14 6-11-2 10-13-3
Dartmouth 12 5-12-2 7-17-2
Clarkson 8 3-14-2 7-21-3

The only way we can lose the bye is if we lose out and Colgate wins out. Let's go U! Senior night tomorrow!!!

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Good win tonight, guys.

I can now definitively say that the Engineers (up to 28th in RPI) becoming a TUC would put Union in the at-large discussion for sure. RPI becoming a TUC immediately flips UC's comparisons with Michigan State, UMass, and Colorado College (each of which have lousy TUC records) and moves the Dutchmen into 12th place in the Pairwise, well within the tournament field (in fact, it's a low #3 seed).

So, keep winning and keep rooting for RPI to win, and you'll be getting much, much closer to guaranteeing a slot in the tournament!

I think it was UHM who was asking about the Cornell game next Friday in terms of the Pairwise. I can definitely say now that a win would be a big boost specifically in terms of the comparison with the Big Red, especially if RPI is a TUC since that isn't one of the instantly flipped comparisons but it makes it very close. Cornell wouldn't have enough TUC games to count.

 

[ADK11]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Big win! Team looked good tonight against Princeton, especially Kinkaid (other than the softie he let in). The up to the minute standings look like this:

Yale 28 13-4-2 17-6-3
Cornell 28 13-4-2 16-7-3
Union 26 11-4-4 17-8-6
Rensselaer 22 10-7-2 17-13-3
St. Law 20 8-7-4 14-12-6
Colgate 20 9-8-2 12-13-6
Quinnipiac 18 9-10-0 15-14-2
Harvard 17 7-9-3 7-16-3
Brown 15 6-10-3 8-15-3
Princeton 14 6-11-2 10-13-3
Dartmouth 12 5-12-2 7-17-2
Clarkson 8 3-14-2 7-21-3

The only way we can lose the bye is if we lose out and Colgate wins out. Let's go U! Senior night tomorrow!!!

Actually tonight's win CLINCHES A BYE!!!!! Because RPI & Gate play each other, there is no way both can finish higher than Union!!! Great effort tonight and congrats to the coaches & players!!!!!

YES
U
CAN!!!!!!!!

 

[aweise]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Actually tonight's win CLINCHES A BYE!!!!! Because RPI & Gate play each other, there is no way both can finish higher than Union!!! Great effort tonight and congrats to the coaches & players!!!!!

YES
U
CAN!!!!!!!!

Nice!! It didn't hit me that RPI-Colgate playing each other actually clinches it until I saw Ken Schott's blog this morning...

http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2010/feb/19/union-clinches-first-round-bye/

A few of us in Section 3 discussed this last night...now that the bye is clinched, is there a question about resting players, a la the Indianapolis Colts? Do we sit out a few of the top-liners over the next three games or keep everyone on the ice and go for first place?

If I was Nate Leaman, I'd keep everyone out there and keep playing as if they were fighting for the bye. They're only 2 points behind Yale & Cornell for first place, so I say keep the boys together. I wouldn't be surprised to see a few of the 3rd or 4th line players sit, but I think the Lareau-Buote-Bodie line might be clicking a little too well to break up right now.

 

[Red Cloud]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

A few of us in Section 3 discussed this last night...now that the bye is clinched, is there a question about resting players, a la the Indianapolis Colts?

No way. Keep fighting for that #2 or #1 spot. You get up there, you have a better chance of ending up with a team you can clown in the 2nd round, since there's usually an upset or two in the 1st round, and the team that delivers the upset is almost always in over their head in the 2nd.

 

[Wholin1]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

No way. Keep fighting for that #2 or #1 spot. You get up there, you have a better chance of ending up with a team you can clown in the 2nd round, since there's usually an upset or two in the 1st round, and the team that delivers the upset is almost always in over their head in the 2nd.

Dead on, RC.

BTW, the Times Useless this a.m. wrote that Union still needs one point to clinch the bye. Sheesh.

The bye is awesome, but lets get greedy. 3rd (or higher) is a lot better than 4th because if we remember back two years ago, we finished 4th and then faced the best of the rest of the league, that year, Cornell, and couldn't get past them.

That being said, congratulations to Union players, coaches, and yes the fans too.

 

[ADK11]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

No way. Keep fighting for that #2 or #1 spot. You get up there, you have a better chance of ending up with a team you can clown in the 2nd round, since there's usually an upset or two in the 1st round, and the team that delivers the upset is almost always in over their head in the 2nd.

Absolutely.. finishing 4th could get U a matchup with RPI or SLU, so the higher the better. And BTW, one more point clinches no worse than 3rd.

Was very impressed with Kinkaid last night. He was really on his game and making tough save look easy with NO rebounds.. something he's struggled with lately. If he keeps that up, U could go far..

 

[union07]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the ye

In the Times Union's defense, it seems like there was some confusion last night as to whether Union had clinched a bye.

http://unionhockey.tumblr.com/post/400597870/how-we-missed-it-and-figured-it-all-out

 

[aweise]

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

Re: Union College Hockey 2009-2010: Playoff series win? Check. Albany? This is the year.

No way. Keep fighting for that #2 or #1 spot. You get up there, you have a better chance of ending up with a team you can clown in the 2nd round, since there's usually an upset or two in the 1st round, and the team that delivers the upset is almost always in over their head in the 2nd.

I agree 100% with RC, ADK, & Wholin1 about this - just thought I'd bring it up for discussion's sake. In fact, we thought about the point that ADK made - a 4th-place finish could result in a QF series wth SLU, RPI, or Colgate...none of which we want to see until Albany.