It was way offsides.. I was basically sitting across from that blueline and even the little old lady with cataracts next to me saw it and was yelling. U's players also seemed to letup for a split second, I think waiting for a whistle that never came. The call on Scarfo was pretty brutal too, basically a bigger player hitting a smaller player "too hard". But that is the world of ECAC refs and should take nothing away from the fact that Quinny richly deserved to win that game. I don't know how many posts & crossbars they hit - must have been 4 or 5 - and many other Grade AA chances including multiple breakaways. It easily could have been 5-1 after the 1st and MUCH worse after the 2nd. U did show a lot of guts and played well & carried play for stretches of the game, but were mostly thoroughly outclassed.
And while I never like losing, I'm pretty much fine with that. There were 8 freshmen on the ice last night and only one upperclassmen on the blueline. The radio guys were saying after the game how U's just missing that little extra poise to win these 1 goal games, but I don't agree.. the difference is the loss of exceptional & experienced battle tested players from last season. This team is rebuilding and is mid-level ECAC and NCAA as a whole. There are a couple exceptional players on the team, but there is way too much inexperience on the blueline and not enough depth at forward beyond the top 4 of Vecks, Champ, Novak & Foo. U is in the same boat as a lot of mid-level teams in that they have some strengths, but also some glaring weaknesses. Coaching and continued development during the season may be able to partly correct some of this, but I think for some players they won't be starting to really "get it" until next season or later. With some luck and good goaltending, maybe the team can get close to challenging for top 4 in the league but is also just as likely could be fighting for home ice in 1st round. Hopefully if Gingras, Pontarelli & Cruice get back in the lineup things will start to gel more, but am not sure that will happen.
I am optimistic about the future though. In another season or 2 I think the D-corps will be fantastic and there is a lot of promise up front and with recruits coming in the next couple seasons. Foo is excellent and should only get better with a little more strength. I also really like the potential of Scarfo and Shier, you see short bursts where they look really strong & poised with the puck. Also thought that Brassard had a really good game last night and may have been U's best defenseman. He was quick on his skates and made a lot of really sharp accurate passes. Alex was also very good in goal, despite being left out to dry most of the night, and I think has a bright future. IMO this is going to be a different kind of ride this season..
