What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

Status
Not open for further replies.
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

Rick Bennett's credo is "Stay Humble". It may be tough with young kids, but I think if anyone can manage those emotions, he can. Besides which, he has an assitant coach lurking in the background, Mr. "Bench". Business at hand the next two weekends will hopefully keep everyone focused. I am guessing that a "the playoffs start this weekend" approach is in order.
 
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

Greetings All!

I have been lurking in these forums for a few years now and I finally decided to show my ugly mug to the masses......

I graduated Union in 1992, which, coincidentally, was Union's first year in D-I.

I had season tickets in Section K right at the blue line on the uppermost row in the lower deck, just before the aisle divider to the upper deck. I had these for 4 years before I left the Capital Region for the bright lights of Las Vegas.....

I have worked in Union's athletic Department and i am very familiar with the procedures and the general philosophies of the School......

This experience has given me insight as to why you won't see a new rink anytime soon, short of a major donor stepping up with a restricted donation.....

I also can enlighten any RPI folks on why the Route 7 rivalry is so intense and why we cheer every goal against RPI, even the empty net ones.....(nod to WithoutaPeer)

I get the Twitter updates on my phone and I occasionally listen to the radio broadcast over the internet since I live about two hours from the Pacific Ocean......

I am a huge supporter and fan of all Union Sports and especially Union Hockey, just ask Jim Teresco......

I have a lot of pride for the teams success both this year and last year and I hope that the only non-Ivy school with Ivy scholarship rules can continue to attract top talent and compete at this high level.....

Thanks for listening and I will chime in a lot more often with my thoughts......

Please feel free to ask any question or to critique my input......

Let's Go U!!!!!


Keith.
 
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

uniondutch21 said:
#2 in the INCH poll??? A tad aggressive??
Click to expand...

I agree. Either the poll is very biased or the Dutchmen have a lot to live up to.......

The boys have played some good games this year and the wins over Merrimack and Michigan were huge...

However, we couldn't dispatch DU or CC or UNH and last year, it seemed any time we were on TV, the offense would look like a deer in headlights and that left the D and the goalie hung out to dry.......

I want to think we are that good, however the proof is in the puddin'......

Until we win a few real ECAC tournament games and then post a win or two at Nationals, these polls make me cringe.....

Keith.
 
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

sshablak said:
#19 in KRACH
Click to expand...

Western Bias. :D

In any case, the formula is what it is. It helps that Union had a very strong showing vs. the CCHA (1-0-2, including beating UMAA), and given the CCHA is the league that is owning the majority of PWR slots at this point, it highly benefits Union. For the ECAC's sake, I do hope they can get in at-large and a make a good showing. The league is long since overdue.
 
Last edited:
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

FlagDUDE08 said:
Western Bias. :D

In any case, the formula is what it is. It helps that Union had a very strong showing vs. the CCHA (1-0-2, including beating UMAA), and given the CCHA is the league that is owning the majority of PWR slots at this point, it highly benefits Union. For the ECAC's sake, I do hope they can get in at-large and a make a good showing. The league is long since overdue.
Click to expand...

Good point. I knew that the quality schedule this year would pay dividends eventually......

The next goal for Union is to show up to at least the semi's in the ECAC tourney and then win a few NCAA tournament games......until then, the team will be always be just about hype to those outside the ECAC....

I hope there can be continued peaceful fan talk about hockey here in Union land...I obviously made a mistake trying to extend the olive branch after my admittedly brash "intro" in another thread.....;)
 
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

Actually, Union's strength-of-schedule ranks 39th! Good thing they did schedule those tough OOC games or it might have been worse. The killer this season is that there are 6 teams in ECAC with 10 or fewer wins.. What helps U in the PWR is having an excellent winning percentage (currently 4th in the nation) and a decent record against TUC teams. There is a lot of hockey still to be played and nothing is guaranteed, especially given the arcane PWR system and how it rewards the big 3 leagues.

However, I do agree that the team has an opportunity to do something really special. U has 2 things that COULD spell success in the post-season; great defense and a great powerplay. Amazingly, both are better than last year's team. Last Saturday was only the 2nd time this season that U has given up as many as 4 goals.. and frankly Stevens had a bit of a tough night. Allowing 3 goals or less gives you a great chance to win every night. And the PP is much more dangerous this season. Last year's PP was very predictable and in the last couple months of the season teams were devising strategies to defuse it. UMD certainly had no problems killing the 8 or so opportunities U had, and I'm sure the coaches thought long hard all summer about how to prevent that again. This year's PP is much more diverse and less predictable and has more passing & bodies down low to create traffic in front of the net. There were some growing pains early in the season with it, but it has really clicked the past month & half. They made Cornell's PK look stupid.. which is something I've never expected to see. I'm not saying that U is going to win the league championship and make it to the F4 - you need not only talent, etc. but also a certain amount of luck to do that - but the potential for this team is big right now.
 
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

I know we still have the playoffs, but can anyone believe the final regular season home games are this weekend? Just seems unreal... the pair of games vs Western Michigan seem like yesterday.

PS: check out the USCHO podcast: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/uscholive/2012/02/15/uscho-live-episode-15-leaman-sullivan.mp3

With former Union coach Nate Leaman (Union mentioned briefly) and later with USCHO columnist Brian Sullivan (lots of ECAC stuff).
 
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

uniontrack said:
Good point. I knew that the quality schedule this year would pay dividends eventually......

The next goal for Union is to show up to at least the semi's in the ECAC tourney and then win a few NCAA tournament games......until then, the team will be always be just about hype to those outside the ECAC....

I hope there can be continued peaceful fan talk about hockey here in Union land...I obviously made a mistake trying to extend the olive branch after my admittedly brash "intro" in another thread.....;)
Click to expand...

It's not a matter of "quality schedule". It's a matter of playing (and beating, or at least tying) the right opponents. As an example, last year RPI played and swept Alabama-Huntsville. They weren't necessarily a "quality opponent", but they had a victory over UNO, which gave a Pairwise Comparison (PWR) point over them when it comes to common opponents, and eventually helped RPI to make the tournament. In addition, we had beat BU that year, and they started kicking *** and taking names in Hockey East, which helped RPI with Pairwise all the more. In addition, the league's strong showing that year against the WCHA allowed for more COP rankings for the both of us (since Union also did very well in their non-conference play). This year, Union beat Michigan Ann Arbor. At this point, you want them to pretty much destroy the CCHA, because since the rest of the league didn't do all too well against that league (and you were the only ones in the ECAC to play UMAA), it gives you that many more chances to win Common Opponent comparisons. Obviously it doesn't help that teams like Ferris State and Miami did well against the ECAC teams, but if they lose to Michigan (Ferris lost both; Miami got a win and tie but lost to Colgate, so your game on the 25th will mean that much more in that comparison), that can give you a leg up.

When I come in here to post, I want to talk about Union hockey. After all, that's the subject of the thread. Because of my allegiances, most of my discussion points will be how Union relates to the rest of the league and country. Obviously I'll use some comparisons with my team here and there, because they always say that the best way to explain something is to associate it with something you know. There's no reason to woof, point fingers, or anything like that. We can save that for the game weekend threads. ;)
 
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

FlagDUDE08 said:
It's not a matter of "quality schedule". It's a matter of playing (and beating, or at least tying) the right opponents. As an example, last year RPI played and swept Alabama-Huntsville. They weren't necessarily a "quality opponent", but they had a victory over UNO, which gave a Pairwise Comparison (PWR) point over them when it comes to common opponents, and eventually helped RPI to make the tournament. In addition, we had beat BU that year, and they started kicking *** and taking names in Hockey East, which helped RPI with Pairwise all the more. In addition, the league's strong showing that year against the WCHA allowed for more COP rankings for the both of us (since Union also did very well in their non-conference play). This year, Union beat Michigan Ann Arbor. At this point, you want them to pretty much destroy the CCHA, because since the rest of the league didn't do all too well against that league (and you were the only ones in the ECAC to play UMAA), it gives you that many more chances to win Common Opponent comparisons. Obviously it doesn't help that teams like Ferris State and Miami did well against the ECAC teams, but if they lose to Michigan (Ferris lost both; Miami got a win and tie but lost to Colgate, so your game on the 25th will mean that much more in that comparison), that can give you a leg up.

When I come in here to post, I want to talk about Union hockey. After all, that's the subject of the thread. Because of my allegiances, most of my discussion points will be how Union relates to the rest of the league and country. Obviously I'll use some comparisons with my team here and there, because they always say that the best way to explain something is to associate it with something you know. There's no reason to woof, point fingers, or anything like that. We can save that for the game weekend threads. ;)
Click to expand...

Touche`

I am currently riding out a nasty 24-hour stomach flu bug that my step kids gave to me this weekend when they showed up for a visit...

Perhaps this experience is penance.......

I am all for a healthy rivalry between the schools, I just don't like when it gets nasty and lines are crossed that shouldn't be crossed, IMHO......

For example, I have a good friend from my high school who went to RPI for his master's. When I found out that he went to RPI and that he played in the pep band, I reached out to him to talk some college hockey. Initially, he was wary and wanted to trash talk, but i showed him a white flag and an olive branch and eventually we have gotten to have good discussions about the game, both about RPI and Union.....Now, he still ribs me about Union and I rib him about RPI and that's kind of natural, however I respect him fully and he respects me in return.....

For the record, I am not a young kid out fresh out of Union or still going there. I graduated in 1992 and this year is my 20th reunion, although I probably wont make the trip back east.....

I am glad you have brought your knowledge and opinions about hockey to this thread...You know your stuff and it shows....I guess I am hoping that this thread will come alive a little more like yours over there.....

Enjoy your week and i hope to be back to solid food tomorrow.

Keith.
 
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

uniontrack said:
Touche`

I am currently riding out a nasty 24-hour stomach flu bug that my step kids gave to me this weekend when they showed up for a visit...

Perhaps this experience is penance.......

I am all for a healthy rivalry between the schools, I just don't like when it gets nasty and lines are crossed that shouldn't be crossed, IMHO......

For example, I have a good friend from my high school who went to RPI for his master's. When I found out that he went to RPI and that he played in the pep band, I reached out to him to talk some college hockey. Initially, he was wary and wanted to trash talk, but i showed him a white flag and an olive branch and eventually we have gotten to have good discussions about the game, both about RPI and Union.....Now, he still ribs me about Union and I rib him about RPI and that's kind of natural, however I respect him fully and he respects me in return.....

For the record, I am not a young kid out fresh out of Union or still going there. I graduated in 1992 and this year is my 20th reunion, although I probably wont make the trip back east.....

I am glad you have brought your knowledge and opinions about hockey to this thread...You know your stuff and it shows....I guess I am hoping that this thread will come alive a little more like yours over there.....

Enjoy your week and i hope to be back to solid food tomorrow.

Keith.
Click to expand...

First off, I hope you feel better soon.

I'll just let you know now, at least from my perspective, what you had posted on the RPI board didn't seem like "an olive branch" and more along the lines of woofing, hence why I didn't take too kindly to it (not to mention my quoting of the movie "Demolition Man", only because your closing remark was "Be well" ;)). I'm happy that we can look past any notions of a rivalry and talk about hockey as it pertains to the respective organizations (at least for 49-51 weeks out of the year; game weekends are open season :D).

You'll find that quite a number of people across the board are very knowledgeable about the subjects at hand, most more so than me. This past year, I took on the task of putting together a spreadsheet of the national composite schedule in order to give myself a better idea of who plays who. We also have a few stat guys over in our group, and I would think, given your background and at least to get your board potentially talking more, that starting stuff like that from the Union perspective would be cool. Statistics like those are fun times. :)
 
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

ADK11 said:
There is a lot of hockey still to be played and nothing is guaranteed, especially given the arcane PWR system and how it rewards the big 3 leagues.
Click to expand...
Actually, a very strong case could be made that the PWR overvalues ECAC teams. Union is 9th in PWR but 19th in KRACH. Cornell is tied for 15th in PWR but 22nd in KRACH.

PWR places too much value on winning a few big games (TUCs, COps), so a weaker team has an opportunity to fool the system by getting lucky just a few times per season. This is much more likely than a poor team getting lucky all season which is what would be required to fool KRACH. A poor team who gets lucky all season is just another name for a good team! :)

Why do you believe that PWR favors the big 3?
 
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

LynahFan said:
Actually, a very strong case could be made that the PWR overvalues ECAC teams. Union is 9th in PWR but 19th in KRACH. Cornell is tied for 15th in PWR but 22nd in KRACH.

PWR places too much value on winning a few big games (TUCs, COps), so a weaker team has an opportunity to fool the system by getting lucky just a few times per season. This is much more likely than a poor team getting lucky all season which is what would be required to fool KRACH. A poor team who gets lucky all season is just another name for a good team! :)

Why do you believe that PWR favors the big 3?
Click to expand...

At least from what I can tell, it favors the teams that do well out of conference. Since that's generally the "big 3", of course they're going to seem favored. How did the ECAC get 3 teams in last year? They kicked some tail in the non-conference play! How did UVM make the Frozen Four a couple years ago despite almost not making the HEA playoffs?
 
Re: Union Hockey 2011-2012 Season Thread "We Can See Cleary Now"

FlagDUDE08 said:
At least from what I can tell, it favors the teams that do well out of conference. Since that's generally the "big 3", of course they're going to seem favored. How did the ECAC get 3 teams in last year? They kicked some tail in the non-conference play! How did UVM make the Frozen Four a couple years ago despite almost not making the HEA playoffs?
Click to expand...
Yes, insular scheduling is always a problem, even for KRACH. If there were only the ECAC and the WCHA and the only non-conference game was Union beating Alaska-Anchorage, Brown would still be rated above Minnesota.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top