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Utica College 2016/2017

Re: Utica College 2016/2017

Well, never expected to see this coming after that great start, but, hey, you can't win them all. Although they should've had at least 1 win in the last 3 *yikes*. In all due respect to Heenan, if he is "re-tooling", it's really not necessary at this point. Team seemed to have everything 'clicking' in the 8 win stretch. Not sure what happened after the Hobart win, but ever since then, team has gone down the slippery slope. IMO I feel it's best to just let the boys play, don't over-coach them or "re-tool". Yes I understand some aspects could use fine-tuning but not an entire re-working. This team seems to have a bunch of talent, just some shaky moments the last 2 weekends, especially against Cortland. Gotta throw in that Baggetta looked pretty solid in relief, hope to see more of him. Hoping they can get this turned around before the break or it's going to be a long 2nd half of the season.
 
Re: Utica College 2016/2017

Flat tires on the bus, looks like goaltending is the real issue.
 
Re: Utica College 2016/2017

sshablak said:
Plattsburg had a great weekend too.:D
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We all admit and said it from week two that Plattsburgh is not going to have a great season. They are very young and we will take any win we can get. I just cannot believe the skid that Utica is in. All I was saying is it appears to be getting worse, hopefully both teams will turn it around.
 
Re: Utica College 2016/2017

Birdwatcher said:
We all admit and said it from week two that Plattsburgh is not going to have a great season. They are very young and we will take any win we can get. I just cannot believe the skid that Utica is in. All I was saying is it appears to be getting worse, hopefully both teams will turn it around.
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fast starts are great,but its only a start,Oswego just dropped a tuff one to Buff St,the start is over, now both the U and the Lakers have to focus on the middle and the finish.
 
Re: Utica College 2016/2017

Not sure what is happening here, scary though after that start. I'm not sure if they are taking the non-conference games too lightly, considering their record conference-wise, which is not the thing to do. Either way, it seemed once Morrisville tied the game, things got really shaky. Seemed like everyone was hesitant to make a play in the offensive zone and same in the defensive zone. I feel like just keeping it simple and not being too 'fancy' is the way to go right now. Goaltending issue is mind-boggling after the great solid starts earlier in the year. Need a win this weekend to help get things going in the right direction again. If not, it's going to be a long winter break and long second half if they can't snap this skid.
 
Re: Utica College 2016/2017

UCfan30 said:
Not sure what is happening here, scary though after that start. I'm not sure if they are taking the non-conference games too lightly, considering their record conference-wise, which is not the thing to do. Either way, it seemed once Morrisville tied the game, things got really shaky. Seemed like everyone was hesitant to make a play in the offensive zone and same in the defensive zone. I feel like just keeping it simple and not being too 'fancy' is the way to go right now. Goaltending issue is mind-boggling after the great solid starts earlier in the year. Need a win this weekend to help get things going in the right direction again. If not, it's going to be a long winter break and long second half if they can't snap this skid.
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You and Shabby hit the nail on its head. The 'tending has been ghastly in the past three games, to the tune of an .845 save %. You can't win that way, even if you put 54 shots on the other goalie. (Although it would be helpful if maybe somewhat fewer than 50 of them weren't right into his chest. :p)

I would play Virtanen every night. He's been more consistent than Dill, who's been fairly awful half the time. Having said that, it would be nice to see a few more pucks go in on the strength of all those Utica SOG.

Still a believer in this UC team, though. If their goaltending can even get back to decent again, they'll make some waves. I haven't seen a single team out-skate them this season.
 
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Re: Utica College 2016/2017

Anything short of a two or three goal win Saturday night and UC's not going far.
 
Re: Utica College 2016/2017

Boy oh boy, did Utica need this win or what...

Morrisville is definitely the best 2-9 team I've ever seen by far, but the metrics only take W/L into account. You need to beat teams with bad records, or you're screwed.

Could still be a special season for UC. 9-4 doesn't suck at the break. (Probably ought to be 11-2 at worst, but what ya gonna do.)

Looking forward to the second half. And I'd play Virtanen every night, if I had a vote.
 
Re: Utica College 2016/2017

Fishman'81 said:
Boy oh boy, did Utica need this win or what...

Morrisville is definitely the best 2-9 team I've ever seen by far, but the metrics only take W/L into account. You need to beat teams with bad records, or you're screwed.

Could still be a special season for UC. 9-4 doesn't suck at the break. (Probably ought to be 11-2 at worst, but what ya gonna do.)

Looking forward to the second half. And I'd play Virtanen every night, if I had a vote.
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Nothing comes easy, huh? I was an angry elf the entire game until the GWG.
Virtanen is clearly the better half of the tandem at this point. Dill didn't dress tonight FWTW.
And, Dawes would be a healthy scratch every night, if I had a vote.
 
Re: Utica College 2016/2017

Glad they scraped out a win, they needed it. I'll admit Morrisville does have some decent talent but UC should've been able to easily handle them and not make it the close game it was. But, we'll take it, a W is a W, especially going into the winter break. I agree that certain players should be sitting out a few and give some other guys a chance, who knows what could happen. I also have noticed that Grose has started the last 2 and Szajner has been a scratch. I think it's a decent shake-up on defense, considering the streak, that I shall mention no more after this haha. On the goaltending side, good bounce-back game for Virtanen, score should've been in UC's favor earlier but an unfortunate bounce off of a UC player gave Mo'ville that advantage. Not much you can do about that. Very interested to see what the 2nd half has in store, hopefully they can get back on track after a good break and some good practices. Schedule doesn't get any easier after the break. Hope everyone has a good holiday. :)
 
Re: Utica College 2016/2017

jcase said:
Nothing comes easy, huh? I was an angry elf the entire game until the GWG.
Virtanen is clearly the better half of the tandem at this point. Dill didn't dress tonight FWTW.
And, Dawes would be a healthy scratch every night, if I had a vote.
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Dawes certainly has been invisible to me, too, except when I notice him a day late and a dollar short. I expected a good season from him, but this team is so fast that he seems to be left behind on the rush most of the time. If he has a place on this squad, it would be mucking things up with his huge frame right in front of the net. He does have good hands. Reminds me of Chlanda, both in terms of bad wheels and good dexterity.

Met his mother a couple of times last year, but have had very few parental insights this season. I wonder if he's fighting a nagging injury..?
 
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Re: Utica College 2016/2017

UCfan30 said:
Glad they scraped out a win, they needed it. I'll admit Morrisville does have some decent talent but UC should've been able to easily handle them and not make it the close game it was. But, we'll take it, a W is a W, especially going into the winter break. I agree that certain players should be sitting out a few and give some other guys a chance, who knows what could happen. I also have noticed that Grose has started the last 2 and Szajner has been a scratch. I think it's a decent shake-up on defense, considering the streak, that I shall mention no more after this haha. On the goaltending side, good bounce-back game for Virtanen, score should've been in UC's favor earlier but an unfortunate bounce off of a UC player gave Mo'ville that advantage. Not much you can do about that. Very interested to see what the 2nd half has in store, hopefully they can get back on track after a good break and some good practices. Schedule doesn't get any easier after the break. Hope everyone has a good holiday. :)
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We passed on the game at Morrisville (weather issues) but I haven't been vexed at the D nearly as much as I have been in years past. I haven't seen the numerous bone-headed own-zone mistakes that I was used to seeing for the first 12-13 years of this program.

One guy who makes me cringe with his bad pinches is Carter, though. Why not just play him at wing or center and be done with it?
 
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Re: Utica College 2016/2017

Fishman'81 said:
We passed on the game at Morrisville (weather issues) but I haven't been vexed at the D nearly as much as I have been in years past. I haven't seen the numerous bone-headed own-zone mistakes that I was used to seeing for the first 12-13 years of this program.

One guy who makes me cringe with his bad pinches is Carter, though. Why not just play him at wing or center and be done with it?
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Tell you what, I'd pay good money to see Carter play on offense haha. That'd be fun to watch, he has the skills for it.
 
Re: Utica College 2016/2017

UCfan30 said:
Tell you what, I'd pay good money to see Carter play on offense haha. That'd be fun to watch, he has the skills for it.
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Carter is a converted forward, hence his rush skills.
Elsewhere...
Dawes didn't like our comments and has moved on to UW-S. :o
Devin Warfield (F 5'8" 185, 1-5=6) comes in from the lame duck program at DWC.
 
Re: Utica College 2016/2017

Huh. Thanks for the news. I talked to his mother twice last year, and she said he really preferred lacrosse anyway. :p

It's not a loss for UC as far as how Dawes has played this season. As I've said before, he was too slow to keep up with his line-mates and was rarely in the play on the rush. Still, it's kind of shocking that he turned into such a non-factor, considering all the promise and production he displayed last season. He wasn't a great skater by any means, but he used his bulk and his hands to register points.

We're thinking of making the trip to Oswego, pending an improvement in the ghastly forecast of 2-3' of the white stuff there. UC needs a couple of quality wins, and badly. it's looking like a great field and a really fun weekend of hockey.
 
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Best of luck to Dawes, wish him well at UW-S. Tourney at Oswego should be a good one, considering the circumstances. The chance to play Oswego, who is currently on a 3-game skid or the chance to play Wisconsin Eau-Claire, who UC played in the '13 Frozen Four. Hesitant as well for making the trip considering the snow forecast, but I'll be watching wishing them the best. Hope they can get it going, schedule doesn't get any easier after this.
 
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