Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

[Fishman'81]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

(Another Utica MIA..? Well, I hope he shows up on the roster tonight just the same.)

Cortland's record is pretty dismal, but no SUNYAC school I've ever seen has been truly a pushover... UC has to show up for this one; a loss or tie will look very bad on their resume.

Curry looks better than Cortland on paper, but certainly appears to be beatable.

In the net, I'll be disappointed with fewer than 2 wins this weekend, especially since I had to use some vacation-time to fit these games in.



Edit: UC worked like mules in the first half of tonight's game, then kinda took its foot off the gas. Therrien was spectacular at times, which was a good thing, as the Dragons never quit playing. Gonna take a more sustained effort tomorrow to defeat Curry, IMO. (And Morton didn't dress yet again, but his name still appeared on the roster.)

 

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

Saturday night's alright for <strike>fighting</strike> pushing and shoving.

Safe to say UC and Curry won't be exchanging any valentines next month.

Missing Morton had some ice time tonight, I believe.

 

[UCBadger]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

Missing Morton had some ice time tonight, I believe.

He is credited with the game winning goal tonight.

I feared for a fight between coaches after the game tonight. Pretty sure that Curry's coach gave Heenan the finger just before he started yelling at him. The refs had to separate the two!

Its going to be a long two weeks for Curry.

 

[bakdraft21]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

He is credited with the game winning goal tonight.

I feared for a fight between coaches after the game tonight. Pretty sure that Curry's coach gave Heenan the finger just before he started yelling at him. The refs had to separate the two!

Its going to be a long two weeks for Curry.

well I guess Oz will get 2 peeed off teams this upcoming weekend, or coaches at least

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

He is credited with the game winning goal tonight.

I feared for a fight between coaches after the game tonight. Pretty sure that Curry's coach gave Heenan the finger just before he started yelling at him. The refs had to separate the two!

Its going to be a long two weeks for Curry.

Nice goal for Morton, too... Good to see him back in the lineup.

Didn't see the post-game stuff, but I'm not surprised to hear that no love was lost. That was a chippy game. Curry, to its credit, didn't take any s%!tt, and neither did UC. Nothing really got out of hand; the refs did a pretty good job whacking knuckles, when necessary.

Heenan is a very good coach, truly. I watch a ton of "big-time" D-1 hockey, and I often marvel at how lesser coaches accomplish much less with far better talent...But he's just not a D-3 coach anymore, IMO.

His considerable ego and his acumen (in no particular order) make him better-suited for a plum D-1 job, where nobody will expect him to be likeable, but just to win a lot.

I don't want to see him go, but I do think that his destiny lies somewhere else, in a place where nobody cares if one is a nice guy or not.

 

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

Nice goal for Morton, too... Good to see him back in the lineup.

Didn't see the post-game stuff, but I'm not surprised to hear that no love was lost. That was a chippy game. Curry, to its credit, didn't take any s%!tt, and neither did UC. Nothing really got out of hand; the refs did a pretty good job whacking knuckles, when necessary.

Heenan is a very good coach, truly. I watch a ton of "big-time" D-1 hockey, and I often marvel at how lesser coaches accomplish much less with far better talent...But he's just not a D-3 coach anymore, IMO.

His considerable ego and his acumen (in no particular order) make him better-suited for a plum D-1 job, where nobody will expect him to be likeable, but just to win a lot.

I don't want to see him go, but I do think that his destiny lies somewhere else, in a place where nobody cares if one is a nice guy or not.

Heenan has a tremendous drive for getting results, unfortunately in D-III some of those results just might not be possible. I wonder how many good players have been driven away in the quest for those results. If Heenan were to coach a D-I team, it would be well oiled <s>killing</s> hockey machine, no doubt.

On an unrelated note, if anyone has been to the last two home games early enough for the warmups, you've seen UC take their net and face it to the corner for a scrimmage of sorts. Seems like a great way to send an errant puck towards the opposing team in the midst of their warmup, or up into the stands above the scores table.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

Heenan has a tremendous drive for getting results, unfortunately in D-III some of those results just might not be possible. I wonder how many good players have been driven away in the quest for those results. If Heenan were to coach a D-I team, it would be well oiled <s>killing</s> hockey machine, no doubt.

On an unrelated note, if anyone has been to the last two home games early enough for the warmups, you've seen UC take their net and face it to the corner for a scrimmage of sorts. Seems like a great way to send an errant puck towards the opposing team in the midst of their warmup, or up into the stands above the scores table.

I never get there early enough to see the warmups, but what you described sounds like a scenario Heenan might concoct, just to draw the opposition into taking cheap shots when the game is actually on.

The guy is obviously smart, he looks for every advantage, and he has taken UC from absolutely nowhere into a state of National D-3 recognition... But his occasional antics are still an embarrassment.

He went public in talking his way out of the Union-assistant job a few years back, and probably burned a few bridges in the process. Perhaps the statues of limitations regarding that situation will expire soon; I don't know how those politics work.

I just think that he has to make a choice between being a gallant D-3 coach, vs. going for the throat against the big boys. He's doing neither right now, but I can certainly envision him riding herd on a contending D-1 team in the future.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

If the lake-effect thing isn't looking too severe,The Warden and I will see the Oswego game in person tonight.

If I had to bet my life on the outcome, I'd certainly pick OSU to win that one, but stranger things have happened... Utica has a pretty good team.

 

[OSU2010]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

Not snowing now, you should be fine coming up tonight

 

[sshablak]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

U was 0-12 on the PP ?? Is that a misprint in the box score ???

 

[bakdraft21]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

U was 0-12 on the PP ?? Is that a misprint in the box score ???

dont think soooo......

 

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

U was 0-12 on the PP ?? Is that a misprint in the box score ???

No misprint. You woulda thought St. Louis was reffing.

Also, good to meet vcxc last night.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

There were 28 penalties called for 86 total minutes... In a 60-minute game.

Glad that it was snowing with sufficient vigor in Rome that I bailed on that fiasco.

 

[vcxc3200]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

What i found strange last night was that the game was not as chippy as the first meeting this year. or many previous meetings. But there were still a boatload of penalty minutes being handed out like lollipops at the doctor's office.

I'll bet you not even 10 minutes of that game were played at even strength because they were absolutely not light on the whistle. I joked aloud before the game was over that we got our money's worth because we got screwed multiple times for 8 dollars. I got a pretty good ovation from the fans in the next section.

But whistle heavy or otherwise, that does not erase the underlying problem with this team. Discipline. I know full well that gary was preaching to the choir about it during that second intermission (mostly because i saw his whiteboard real quick). It's been the prevailing theme in every one of our road losses this season. Beatable teams have crushed us because we've been racking up penalties from the moment the puck drops and it quickly digs us a hole we cannot get out of. Heck, i walked into the ice casino late to find us down 3-0 because we were picking up wholesale PIMs. We were certainly lucky to escape the first scoreless last night.

I'm not going to point fingers because that is not my job or my capacity to be doing so, but if this team wants to make a run, Discipline absolutely MUST improve. Rapidly. Less Flyers, more Red Wings. There is no more time to find ourselves as a hockey club. Nonconference is basically over. the streaky Powerplay unit has to improve as well. 0-for-12 is a head scratcher, to be sure. We're better than this.

Now, as far as the upcoming schedule goes, If this team can stay out of the bin and bury a few more PPs, i have reason to believe they can win every single one of their remaining games. They're capable. They're as live as any squad in the country at even strength. Ask Castleton, who got doubled up on shots. Ask Neumann. Ask Anyone. But the second we go on the PK, the energy just drops off as with any other club. Elmira's looking more beatable in the second half of the season, Manhattanville isin't very consistent, Hobart's a bit down this year, Time to move up.

Neumann is that team to beat right now i believe, losing to them by one goal at Iceworks was huge, Swing the momentum in our favor at the AUD and i think it's certainly possible to win both games that weekend.

That said, are we out of the running? No. Have the walls began to cave in on us a bit? Yes.
It all has to start on friday, and although it's become a bit tougher lately, i still believe in this club.

 

[OSUPBPMike]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

Looks like UC had 9 PPs to OSU's 12, actually. There were 28 penalties called for 86 total minutes... In a 60-minute game.

Glad that it was snowing with sufficient vigor in Rome that I bailed on that fiasco.

I just wanted to set this straight as I was keeping track in my scorebook. Utica had 13 powerplays, Oswego had 12.

 

[Get-tha-puck-outtahere]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

That's funny that you call the PP unit "streaky" as we have in fact only scored three times in the last
fortyeight attempts. That is 6% and is seriously broken, not the least bit streaky. All three were against
Babson so currently no PP markers this year. On the season the unit is 14% so the direction currently
is down. The unit has allowed as many shorties as it has scored in that span. If we'd scored on only one
of those 12 attempts Saturday night and not given up the shorties we'd be lookin large.

 

[OSU2010]

That's funny that you call the PP unit "streaky" as we have in fact only scored three times in the last
fortyeight attempts. That is 6% and is seriously broken, not the least bit streaky. All three were against
Babson so currently no PP markers this year. On the season the unit is 14% so the direction currently
is down. The unit has allowed as many shorties as it has scored in that span. If we'd scored on only one
of those 12 attempts Saturday night and not given up the shorties we'd be lookin large.

Yes, IF you had stopped Oswego from getting 2 goals and scored one more goal yourself you would've tied them.

Thats a big IF though

 

[smbenny]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

I still think Elmira is the team to beat in the ECAC WEST. They are 5-0 in conference and six points ahead of second place!

 

[vcxc3200]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

That's funny that you call the PP unit "streaky" as we have in fact only scored three times in the last
fortyeight attempts. That is 6% and is seriously broken, not the least bit streaky. All three were against
Babson so currently no PP markers this year. On the season the unit is 14% so the direction currently
is down. The unit has allowed as many shorties as it has scored in that span. If we'd scored on only one
of those 12 attempts Saturday night and not given up the shorties we'd be lookin large.

Should have chosen that word a bit better. It was late. Good post, good post.

 

[vcxc3200]

Re: Utica College Pioneers 2011-2012

I still think Elmira is the team to beat in the ECAC WEST. They are 5-0 in conference and six points ahead of second place!

Right now, you guys are in first and don't get me wrong, you've played very well in conference. However, they just haven't been the dominant club that we've come to expect as of late. (See: Fitchburg, Brockport, Geneseo). Those are the games i look at and go, they need to right the ship if they're going to have a chance to play in march because in a non-auto league, those games will kill you. They can do the job, but they will have to be far more consistent in this second half and the pressure is on with Neumann looking better and better. It's a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde scenario for elmira. If they get the undefeated Ecac West team, they're in remarkable shape. If they get the team that lost to Brockport and Geneseo as they resume conference play, they're in some trouble.

It's realistically a three horse race. Utica, Neumann, and Elmira all have a shot at this. They've all lost between 4 and 5 games this year and have managed to do pretty well even with more than a few moments that make us scratch our heads collectively.

It's going to come down to consistency and which one of these teams will be the most consistent, they've all had issues but i don't think you can pick a clear winner right now, although being 5-0 certainly helps.The shoe can realistically fit Utica if the special teams improve(Big IF). If it doesn't, we're probably looking at Neumann and Elmira to lead us the rest of the way.

As good as Ausserhoffer has been for Hobart, i don't think they have the guns to win it. Manhattanville is too unpredictable for me to say that they can win this thing, although it's not completely impossible.

Also worth noting: 4 of the 5 utica losses have come to higher ranked teams(Manhattanville was the exception). two were one-goal games, the other three losses have been primarily a result of lopsided special teams and overall, a lack of discipline. (Oswego, Castleton, Manhattanville).