Re: Vermont 2013-2014 Season Thread : The Golden Year
This was VPR hockey preview
"UVM welcomes Notre Dame after knocking off Penn State 5-2 last weekend in the Hockey East-Big Ten Challenge in Philadelphia. Coupled with a loss and a tie at No. 5 North Dakota to open the season a month ago, the Catamounts are on solid footing to begin conference play.
Coach Kevin Sneddon, beginning his 11th season, knows his team must hit the ice skating in full stride, as the league schedule has been reduced from 27 to 20 games with almost half of those coming before the Christmas break.
“It’s the first weekend of November and we’re essentially entering the playoffs – that’s how we’ve presented it to our players,” Sneddon said. “There is going to be a lot of excitement, with this being our 50th season, a lot of alumni coming back, and welcoming Notre Dame into the league. But the bottom line is these are four important points.”
The larger question hanging over Vermont is whether it can duplicate the success that carried it to the Frozen Four in 2008-09 or are the Catamounts stuck in a down cycle that has seen them fall to 25-66-15 the last three seasons and become a non-factor in post-season?
“I’ve always believed in sustaining excellence, so these dips have been tough to take,” Sneddon said. “There were some recruiting mistakes and some coaching mistakes. But Vermont has a great fan base in a great college hockey town and we have everything in place to be successful.”
This season’s roster carries as many freshmen (10) as upperclassmen, but Sneddon likes the mix. Connor Brickley and Chris McCarthy turned down pro contracts to return for their senior seasons and provide both leadership and experience.
Newcomers Mario Puskarich, Brendan Bradley, Brady Shaw and Mike Stenerson were prolific scorers for their junior teams and should boost the Catamount attack immediately.
“We haven’t scored much and we’ve struggled on the power play (UVM is 2-for-23 with the man advantage this season),” Sneddon said. “These kids have had success and will contribute offensively immediately.”
Last winter a lack of depth in goal forced Brody Hoffman to play in all 36 games. He will return to action this weekend after missing the first month with an injury. In his absence, Vermont has found a capable alternative in freshman Mike Santaguida, who has stopped 93 of 102 shots in three games.
“There were times last year that Brody needed a break and we just couldn’t give it to him,” Sneddon said. “There’s no question that Santaguida gives us options we didn’t have before.”
Vermont was picked to finish ninth out of 11 teams in both the Hockey East coaches and media preseason polls. Sneddon understands the thinking, but doesn’t agree with it.
“I fully believe we can be a lot better than that,” he said. “I thought we took a little step forward last season (going from six wins to 11) and I think we can take a much bigger step this winter.”"
Interesting that Brickley and McCarthy were both offered pro contracts. Especially Brickley, since he hasn't put up stellar offensive numbers and has been hurt much of his career so far. That said, glad they decided to return. Cats need McCarthy to have a big year as well as Brickley.
Also, the article indicates Hoffman will see the ice this weekend. I have to think that Santaguida plays one game as well. His .911 s% looks good considering 2 of his 3 games have been against North Dakota where he face 33 and 36 shots by a top 5 team.
Have to realistically think the cats get swept this weekend but the optimist in me thinks we could see a split.
Atta boy Cats! Way to knock off the number 2 team in the country!