Carvel SHOULD get COTY, but the Cleary Cup coach may upset the equation.. not that I agree with it, but there is a certain ECAC history in doing that.Of course I agree with Saints#1 about COTY going to Canton. That one seems painfully obvious.
You can't replace guys like Bodie and Ghostisbehere. They logged probably 30 minutes a night for you guys and were dominant at both ends of the ice. I would happily trade 5 winning seasons for one NCAA title. You guys were absolutely awesome last year. The biggest issue is team defense for Union. The younger blueliners have not stepped up to fill some big shoes and I don't think the forwards are playing a system that will enable them to win consistently. As good as Ciampini and Vecchione are, perhaps, too much emphasis on scoring. Also, just my opinion, but Nate Leaman was a good coach, a good recruiter and he absolutely worked his *** off recruiting the older guys on that team. In my mind, he is one of the hardest working head coaches. I like Rick Bennett, but I have to say that there are questions in my mind about him to be able to rebuild the way Leaman did. Still, a new season starts a week from Friday...SLU has been in that position a lot, there is no doubt you could surprise some people in the second season.
^this (edited down a bit)[...]The lack of depth at forward and especially the drop-off on the blueline have just been killer.[...] This year's team has too many players that don't have that base of defensive chops and some of the players seem to have assumed that the wide open style is the way to play. Forwards and d-men "jump the zone" and join the offense too quickly and are putting the young d-men on islands way too many times. The current set of defensemen are not real good defensively and don't have much size. [...]
The team D is tight because the forwards HAVE to get back and help, but its killing the offense. Tape to tape passes in the defensive zone rarely happen and U seldom gets any speed through the neutral zone, meaning the offense has to to work the puck in the zone and win battles in the corners & in front of the net - not an overall strength of the team. I do think that Stevens has been playing well lately and if at least one of Taylor/Gingras comes back the D could be better, but is hard to see U having any success this weekend or the weekend after. U is way too easy to play against - pressure the D into mistakes, get pucks on net & into the slot, don't let #17 or #21 beat you. Anything is possible and I hope there is a miracle turnaround, but am not expecting it.
The March 3, 1980 cover of Sports Illustrated ran without any accompanying captions or headlines. None were needed. Everyone on America knew what happened.
I'm certainly hoping that this ends up being a recalibration season where the players realize what incredible hard work it takes to reach the levels the team was at the past 4-5 years. If there isn't serious improvement from many of the returning players next season could be even worse.^this (edited down a bit)
Our D is learning, slowly but surely. Not fast enough in my opinion... Also, because of this style of play, the forwards get caught up ice often, and getting back is hard for some of them. Add this to the less than stellar passing, and we are where we should be in the league given our performance.
We keep getting better, slowly, it's encouraging. How long before the team clicks consistently... unknown. I hope that if our season ends early, the players will not forget what they learned this season. That would be the biggest downer for me.
Supinski is a little undersized (needs to get stronger) but seems to have very good offensive instincts, a bit like Wayne Simpson. Next year's class looks very good for forwards, though they will obviously need time to adjust. Maier & Supinski were recruited out of prep school and then decided to go BCHL route. BC is good league for offensive players and Supinski certainly landed in a good spot with a couple of high scoring teamates. USHL can be tougher on development of forwards because there are so many A1 kids that only a certain number on a given team will get 1st or 2nd line priority. Some good players don't even make it through tryout camp because of this. '16 recruit Ryan Walker is playing in USHL and has done pretty well. I've heard that his upside is big.Has anyone noticed that Union recruit Brett Supinski is second in overall scoring in the BCHL? Sounds like he will be a nice add. Also Cole Maier and Brendan Taylor are playing well for the BCHL Clippers and each have around 50 points respectively. It seems that the coaching staff has really focused on BCHL talent and less on USHL talent due to recent success with alums (Bodies, etc). Anyone have any comment on this? Seems like the makings of a good class next year...
I'm certainly hoping that this ends up being a recalibration season where the players realize what incredible hard work it takes to reach the levels the team was at the past 4-5 years. If there isn't serious improvement from many of the returning players next season could be even worse.
Supinski is a little undersized (needs to get stronger) but seems to have very good offensive instincts, a bit like Wayne Simpson. Next year's class looks very good for forwards, though they will obviously need time to adjust. Maier & Supinski were recruited out of prep school and then decided to go BCHL route. BC is good league for offensive players and Supinski certainly landed in a good spot with a couple of high scoring teamates. USHL can be tougher on development of forwards because there are so many A1 kids that only a certain number on a given team will get 1st or 2nd line priority. Some good players don't even make it through tryout camp because of this. '16 recruit Ryan Walker is playing in USHL and has done pretty well. I've heard that his upside is big.
we won !!!!!!!