WCHA Awards Thread

[SJHovey]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

Good God Almighty!

How does UNO finish 3rd in the league, is currently 6th in Pairwise, have a woeful representation like this? It defies logic.

John Faulkner of UNO as the 3rd team goalie is a beautiful example.

Here is a guy that leads not only the WCHA in shut-outs, but the entire nation, who has taken a shut-out into the 3rd period of 13 of UNO's games, all while playing teams and players he's never seen before in a bunch of building's he's never been in before!!!

Third team? You have got to be kidding me!

I don't think you can take it as a slight against Faulkner or UNO. Who does he replace? There will be a lot of good players left off this list, or put on the 3rd team.

 

[Tipsy McStagger]

Good God Almighty!

How does UNO finish 3rd in the league, is currently 6th in Pairwise, have a woeful representation like this? It defies logic.

John Faulkner of UNO as the 3rd team goalie is a beautiful example.

Here is a guy that leads not only the WCHA in shut-outs, but the entire nation, who has taken a shut-out into the 3rd period of 13 of UNO's games, all while playing teams and players he's never seen before in a bunch of building's he's never been in before!!!

Third team? You have got to be kidding me!

Yeah! He had one stat that he was number one in! Just because his other numbers showed him as a middle-of-the-pack goalie, doesn't mean he isn't being totally dissed by being on the 3rd team

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

Good God Almighty!

How does UNO finish 3rd in the league, is currently 6th in Pairwise, have a woeful representation like this? It defies logic.

John Faulkner of UNO as the 3rd team goalie is a beautiful example.

Here is a guy that leads not only the WCHA in shut-outs, but the entire nation, who has taken a shut-out into the 3rd period of 13 of UNO's games, all while playing teams and players he's never seen before in a bunch of building's he's never been in before!!!

Third team? You have got to be kidding me!

I can't wait until the actual team is announced and there is only 1 UNO player on the three teams (Olimb).

There are a lot of very good players that don't make all-conference. Only 9 forwards (out of 144+ in the league) make all-conference. Only 6 defensement (out of 72+) make all-conference. It's an honor. It also doesn't matter where you finish in the league. The fact that there will probably only be 1 Omaha player on the all-conference team will make Coach Blais' performance this year look even better.

 

[SCSU Euro]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

I can't wait until the actual team is announced and there is only 1 UNO player on the three teams (Olimb).

There are a lot of very good players that don't make all-conference. Only 9 forwards (out of 144+ in the league) make all-conference. Only 6 defensement (out of 72+) make all-conference. It's an honor. It also doesn't matter where you finish in the league. The fact that there will probably only be 1 Omaha player on the all-conference team will make Coach Blais' performance this year look even better.

And its not like we're saying UNO was just an amazingly coached bunch of scrubs, its just that they were so well-balanced. Its not like when SCSU had Goepfert and one line and we finished second, I'd be looking at it from the positive side.

 

[Dirty]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

And its not like we're saying UNO was just an amazingly coached bunch of scrubs, its just that they were so well-balanced. Its not like when SCSU had Goepfert and one line and we finished second, I'd be looking at it from the positive side.

I am. UNO blows donkey balls.

 

[Red Cows]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

I can't wait until the actual team is announced and there is only 1 UNO player on the three teams (Olimb).

There are a lot of very good players that don't make all-conference. Only 9 forwards (out of 144+ in the league) make all-conference. Only 6 defensement (out of 72+) make all-conference. It's an honor. It also doesn't matter where you finish in the league. The fact that there will probably only be 1 Omaha player on the all-conference team will make Coach Blais' performance this year look even better.

I'll personally be shocked if Faulkner doesn't finish at least as high as you have him.

By the way, I don't necessarily think Eric Olimb deserves the recognition you've given him, either. I'm not very enamored with the defensemen on our team at all. IMHO, the defensemen on our team are the Achilles heel of the team. Olimb is just the best of the lot. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to disparage the guy. But, as a group, they are a big part of why our power play has stunk lately. It says a lot when, on senior night, two of your senior defensemen are scratches (Skarica and Von Bokern), both guys who have started in or played in a ton of games over their careers.

Its funny to me how a lot of people in the USCHO forum seem to pooh pooh actual results in favor of whatever opinion they happen to favor as it pertains to their team or an individual player's given situation. That fact is, Faulkner leads the nation in shut-outs. In front of a what I feel is a somewhat marginal defense corps, too. I'd sure like everybody to explain to me what they value in a goalie more than the ability to stop the other team from scoring. I know his other stats are middle of the road. I'll put my question another way, in a statement, instead. If John Faulkner is the goalie at North Dakota, this season, he's the landslide goalie of the year in the WCHA. I think Faulkner's somewhat middling stats belie his true value this year as a goalie. On a better defensive or a better team overall, he'd shine like he really has, anyway, here, but even more so. Certainly, nobody is trying to say that he led the nation in shut-outs by accident? Anybody that does this, with stats that are otherwise "middle of the road" must be doing something right. Taking 13 shut-outs into the 3rd period of more than 1/3 of UNO's games is not something that happened by accident. It's borderline phenomenal.

Obviously, I agree that Coach Blais deserves the Coach of Year nod. Considering that UNO has 11 freshmen this season, 10 of which have gotten significant playing time, our season has exceeded my expectations, certainly. Do not underestimate the star power and resume's of UNO's assistant coaches, either. They deserve credit for, and, are big part of what is going on here.

 

[SCSU Euro]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

I'd sure like everybody to explain to me what they value in a goalie more than the ability to stop the other team from scoring. I know his other stats are middle of the road.

Wow. Ok, that second sentence answered the first. But let's pretend for a second it didn't...

We value lots of things, but unfortunately its not easy to measure them. See, we like someone who stops the puck a lot considering the number of times it would have been a goal if he didn't. Wait... they DO have SV%. Ok, how about a way of measuring how many goals he gives up a game? Wait... they DO have goals GAA. What if we figured out, most importantly, how often the team wins when the goaliie is in net. Wait... we DO have winning percentage. And he's behind Dell, Patterson and Brittain in all three (and with GAA and winning percentage, that's really bad when you keep mentioning that UNO surrenders far less shots than they take).

Never have I seen a more open and shut case for three goalies to make the three teams. Do you have ANYTHING besides most shutouts? And thirteen shutouts going into the third? That's awesome, and if the game was only two periods long, that'd be swell, but its not. So you're saying he giveup more goals in the third? Isn't that anti-clutch?

 

[Runninwiththedogs]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

Obviously, I agree that Coach Blais deserves the Coach of Year nod. Considering that UNO has 11 freshmen this season, 10 of which have gotten significant playing time, our season has exceeded my expectations, certainly. Do not underestimate the star power and resume's of UNO's assistant coaches, either. They deserve credit for, and, are big part of what is going on here.

Your "freshmen" are geriatric. One of them is 22. Only two of them are 19, and one of the 19 year olds is a goalie who played like 68 minutes total. Of course you've gotta give Michael Young playing time. By his senior year the games will be past his bedtime and he'll be demanding the team meal be wherever there's an Early Bird Special.

Dean Blais can't be coach of the year. He has that horrible gap in his teeth. Ugh.

 

[SCSU Euro]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

You wanna know how little Red Cows is making sense? I wanna give Runnin' positive rep for ripping him.

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

I'd sure like everybody to explain to me what they value in a goalie more than the ability to stop the other team from scoring. I know his other stats are middle of the road. I'll put my question another way, in a statement, instead. If John Faulkner is the goalie at North Dakota, this season, he's the landslide goalie of the year in the WCHA. I think Faulkner's somewhat middling stats belie his true value this year as a goalie.

Here is what I value in a goalie...(in no particular order)

Goals Against Average:
1. Aaron Dell 1.97
2. Kent Patterson 2.31
3. Kenny Reiter 2.32
4. Sam Brittain 2.40
5. Scott Gudmandson 2.46
6. John Faulkner 2.54

Faulkner is more than a 1/2 goal/game behind Dell, and 1/5 goal/game behind Patterson and Reiter. While that may not seem like a lot, that's an extra goal given up every 5 games.

Save Percentage:
1. Kent Patterson - .926
2. Sam Brittain - .920
3. Scott Gudmandson - .917
4. Mike Lee - .915
5. Kenny Reiter - .914
6. Dan Bakala - .912
7. Aaron Dell - .912
8. John Faulkner - .910

You mentioned the poor defense being a reason why Faulkner's other stats may not be so good. Patterson and Faulkner made the exact same number of saves (689). Patterson allowed 55 goals to Faulkner's 68.

Shots faced/minute played:
1. Genoe - .5739
2. Cook - .5350
3. Patterson - .5217
4. Lee - .5176
5. Bakala - .5093
6. Brittain - .5000
7. Howe - .4947
8. Gudmandson - .4930
9. Faulkner - .4710
10. Reiter - .4484
11. Gunderson - .4389
12. Crandall - .4300
13. Dell - .3729

This stat goes a long way to show just how good the goalie's defense was in front of them. This stat is also one of the main reason's why I have Patterson at first team, and Dell on the second team. When Patterson was in the nets, he was seeing about 31 shots/game. When Dell was in the nets, he was seeing about 22 shots/game. When Faulkner was in the nets, he was seeing about 28 shots/game, and when Brittain was in the nets, he was seeing about 30 shots/game.

Winning Percentage:
1. Dell - .812 (As a team .768)
2. Crandall - .773 (As a team .625)
3. Patterson - .674 (As a team .554)
4. Brittain - .659 (As a team .661)
5. Faulkner - .630 (As a team .643)

This is the most important category, but the one in which the goalie has the least control over. What is interesting though, is that both Brittain and Faulkner have lower Winning Percentages than their team in Conference play.

Given these four categories, Brittain ranks higher than Faulkner in every single one. Why did I put Faulkner over Brittain then on the third place team? Brittain is a freshman, and voters typically overlook freshmen. Also, Faulkner did play the most minutes and overall faced the most shots. Brittain wasn't too far behind. Faulkner does have more shutouts as well. Given all that, I put Faulkner on the third team. I wouldn't be surprised though if he is left off the third team and Brittain gets that spot instead.

What I'm left to wonder, is why you think Faulkner deserves better? All goalies make spectacular saves at this level, especially the higher end ones. Dell, Patterson and Brittain all have made wonderful saves like Faulkner. Faulkner isn't even in the top 5 in goals against average, or save percentage. He doesn't face all that many shots compared to the rest of the goalies in the conference, and his winning percentage is 5th. This has NOTHING to do with the fact that UNO is in its first year in the WCHA. It has everything to do with the fact that there are other good (very good) goalies in this league.

 

[HoosierBBall_GopherHockey]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

Here is what I value in a goalie...(in no particular order)

Goals Against Average:
1. Aaron Dell 1.97
2. Kent Patterson 2.31
3. Kenny Reiter 2.32
4. Sam Brittain 2.40
5. Scott Gudmandson 2.46
6. John Faulkner 2.54

Faulkner is more than a 1/2 goal/game behind Dell, and 1/5 goal/game behind Patterson and Reiter. While that may not seem like a lot, that's an extra goal given up every 5 games.

Save Percentage:
1. Kent Patterson - .926
2. Sam Brittain - .920
3. Scott Gudmandson - .917
4. Mike Lee - .915
5. Kenny Reiter - .914
6. Dan Bakala - .912
7. Aaron Dell - .912
8. John Faulkner - .910

You mentioned the poor defense being a reason why Faulkner's other stats may not be so good. Patterson and Faulkner made the exact same number of saves (689). Patterson allowed 55 goals to Faulkner's 68.

Shots faced/minute played:
1. Genoe - .5739
2. Cook - .5350
3. Patterson - .5217
4. Lee - .5176
5. Bakala - .5093
6. Brittain - .5000
7. Howe - .4947
8. Gudmandson - .4930
9. Faulkner - .4710
10. Reiter - .4484
11. Gunderson - .4389
12. Crandall - .4300
13. Dell - .3729

This stat goes a long way to show just how good the goalie's defense was in front of them. This stat is also one of the main reason's why I have Patterson at first team, and Dell on the second team. When Patterson was in the nets, he was seeing about 31 shots/game. When Dell was in the nets, he was seeing about 22 shots/game. When Faulkner was in the nets, he was seeing about 28 shots/game, and when Brittain was in the nets, he was seeing about 30 shots/game.

Winning Percentage:
1. Dell - .812 (As a team .768)
2. Crandall - .773 (As a team .625)
3. Patterson - .674 (As a team .554)
4. Brittain - .659 (As a team .661)
5. Faulkner - .630 (As a team .643)

This is the most important category, but the one in which the goalie has the least control over. What is interesting though, is that both Brittain and Faulkner have lower Winning Percentages than their team in Conference play.

Given these four categories, Brittain ranks higher than Faulkner in every single one. Why did I put Faulkner over Brittain then on the third place team? Brittain is a freshman, and voters typically overlook freshmen. Also, Faulkner did play the most minutes and overall faced the most shots. Brittain wasn't too far behind. Faulkner does have more shutouts as well. Given all that, I put Faulkner on the third team. I wouldn't be surprised though if he is left off the third team and Brittain gets that spot instead.

What I'm left to wonder, is why you think Faulkner deserves better? All goalies make spectacular saves at this level, especially the higher end ones. Dell, Patterson and Brittain all have made wonderful saves like Faulkner. Faulkner isn't even in the top 5 in goals against average, or save percentage. He doesn't face all that many shots compared to the rest of the goalies in the conference, and his winning percentage is 5th. This has NOTHING to do with the fact that UNO is in its first year in the WCHA. It has everything to do with the fact that there are other good (very good) goalies in this league.

{standing ovation} No way in h-e double hockey sticks I could have said that better myself.

 

[RinkPig]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

Frat Party Frattin is the most overrated player the WCHA has seen since Ryan Duncan.

Frat Party lights it up against the Mich Tech's and Kato's and does nothing against the good teams.

As far as elf boy Duncan...everyone knows he only won the hobey because he had that ugly canuck Toews and that Fat kid Oshie as his linemates...he didnt do anything after those guys left!

 

[breed]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

WCHA Awards go to individuals not teams (with possible exception of Coach) and as individuals UNO has no one (yet) that compares with Scott Parse, Greg Zanon or Dan Ellis of years gone by. Teams like UND, UMD, Denver and St Cloud have tons of NHL draft pics who all have great individual stats. UNO has two or three.

What UNO does have is a lot of skill guys who play as a team and who play hard and who usually play smart and they have a coach who knows how to maximize the talent that is there.

I don't give a flip if UNO has no one on the first three teams as long as the go deep in the the Conference championship and the NCAA's.

 

[state of hockey]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

You mentioned the poor defense being a reason why Faulkner's other stats may not be so good. Patterson and Faulkner made the exact same number of saves (689). Patterson allowed 55 goals to Faulkner's 68.

Irrelevant. The next thirteen shots on Patterson could have been goals.

 

[willythekid]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

Frat Party lights it up against the Mich Tech's and Kato's and does nothing against the good teams.

failpig again comes to the rescue right when we think there might be some intelligent life in the goofer fan-base...

 

[johnnyredshoes]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

Here is what I value in a goalie...(in no particular order)

Goals Against Average:
1. Aaron Dell 1.97
2. Kent Patterson 2.31
3. Kenny Reiter 2.32
4. Sam Brittain 2.40
5. Scott Gudmandson 2.46
6. John Faulkner 2.54

Faulkner is more than a 1/2 goal/game behind Dell, and 1/5 goal/game behind Patterson and Reiter. While that may not seem like a lot, that's an extra goal given up every 5 games.

Save Percentage:
1. Kent Patterson - .926
2. Sam Brittain - .920
3. Scott Gudmandson - .917
4. Mike Lee - .915
5. Kenny Reiter - .914
6. Dan Bakala - .912
7. Aaron Dell - .912
8. John Faulkner - .910

You mentioned the poor defense being a reason why Faulkner's other stats may not be so good. Patterson and Faulkner made the exact same number of saves (689). Patterson allowed 55 goals to Faulkner's 68.

Shots faced/minute played:
1. Genoe - .5739
2. Cook - .5350
3. Patterson - .5217
4. Lee - .5176
5. Bakala - .5093
6. Brittain - .5000
7. Howe - .4947
8. Gudmandson - .4930
9. Faulkner - .4710
10. Reiter - .4484
11. Gunderson - .4389
12. Crandall - .4300
13. Dell - .3729

This stat goes a long way to show just how good the goalie's defense was in front of them. This stat is also one of the main reason's why I have Patterson at first team, and Dell on the second team. When Patterson was in the nets, he was seeing about 31 shots/game. When Dell was in the nets, he was seeing about 22 shots/game. When Faulkner was in the nets, he was seeing about 28 shots/game, and when Brittain was in the nets, he was seeing about 30 shots/game.

Winning Percentage:
1. Dell - .812 (As a team .768)
2. Crandall - .773 (As a team .625)
3. Patterson - .674 (As a team .554)
4. Brittain - .659 (As a team .661)
5. Faulkner - .630 (As a team .643)

This is the most important category, but the one in which the goalie has the least control over. What is interesting though, is that both Brittain and Faulkner have lower Winning Percentages than their team in Conference play.

Given these four categories, Brittain ranks higher than Faulkner in every single one. Why did I put Faulkner over Brittain then on the third place team? Brittain is a freshman, and voters typically overlook freshmen. Also, Faulkner did play the most minutes and overall faced the most shots. Brittain wasn't too far behind. Faulkner does have more shutouts as well. Given all that, I put Faulkner on the third team. I wouldn't be surprised though if he is left off the third team and Brittain gets that spot instead.

What I'm left to wonder, is why you think Faulkner deserves better? All goalies make spectacular saves at this level, especially the higher end ones. Dell, Patterson and Brittain all have made wonderful saves like Faulkner. Faulkner isn't even in the top 5 in goals against average, or save percentage. He doesn't face all that many shots compared to the rest of the goalies in the conference, and his winning percentage is 5th. This has NOTHING to do with the fact that UNO is in its first year in the WCHA. It has everything to do with the fact that there are other good (very good) goalies in this league.

How dare you use actual stats and facts to combat the "this guy plays for my team and he should be all-conference because I cheer for him" argument.

Great post.

 

[SJHovey]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

I'd sure like everybody to explain to me what they value in a goalie more than the ability to stop the other team from scoring. I know his other stats are middle of the road. I'll put my question another way, in a statement, instead. If John Faulkner is the goalie at North Dakota, this season, he's the landslide goalie of the year in the WCHA. I think Faulkner's somewhat middling stats belie his true value this year as a goalie. On a better defensive or a better team overall, he'd shine like he really has, anyway, here, but even more so.

I have a couple of questions for you regarding these statements.

First, if the most important stat for a goalie is stopping the other team from scoring, and Faulkner has the 6th best goals against average in the league this year, how are we slighting him by naming him 3rd team goalie?

Second, ignoring the goaltenders, do you believe UNO's team is better than Minnesota's this year? I do, and I suspect a fair number of other people do as well. And if so, then isn't the job Patterson did, putting up better stats than Faulkner, even more remarkable?

Edit: By the way, I've never been a big fan of the argument you're making here. When a goaltender gives up a boatload of goals, he's playing behind a crappy team, but when he gets the shutout, it's all because he's brilliant in net.

 

[Red Cows]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

WCHA Awards go to individuals not teams (with possible exception of Coach) and as individuals UNO has no one (yet) that compares with Scott Parse, Greg Zanon or Dan Ellis of years gone by. Teams like UND, UMD, Denver and St Cloud have tons of NHL draft pics who all have great individual stats. UNO has two or three.

What UNO does have is a lot of skill guys who play as a team and who play hard and who usually play smart and they have a coach who knows how to maximize the talent that is there.

I don't give a flip if UNO has no one on the first three teams as long as the go deep in the the Conference championship and the NCAA's.

I'm down with this.

By the way, here's how our local paper had it:

http://www.mavstoday.com/article/20...one-lowly-writer-s-voting-for-all-wcha-honors

 

[SCSU Euro]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

I'm down with this.

By the way, here's how our local paper had it:

http://www.mavstoday.com/article/20...one-lowly-writer-s-voting-for-all-wcha-honors

Matt White over Jaden Schwartz for all rookie team?!? Are you kidding me? What you've proven is that Chad Purcell's head is too far up his *** to know a thing about WCHA hockey.

In conference play, Matt White had 9G 5A for 14pts. Jaden Schwartz had 10G 15A for 25ts, in NINE less games. Your guy's argument is he didn't put in as many games as White; if White then was more productive, then fine, but Schwartz still had 11 more points. Christ, his 1.47 points/game was almost THREE times more than White's 0.5.

Just because you found someone as big of a homer as you doesn't mean you're both right.

 

[ts8801]

Re: WCHA Awards Thread

I'm down with this.

By the way, here's how our local paper had it:

http://www.mavstoday.com/article/20...one-lowly-writer-s-voting-for-all-wcha-honors

If you are down with that, what is your responce to FS 23?

EDIT: Also if Faulkner is so great how are his stats that much worse. His shutouts should go a LONG way to lowering his GAA and SV% but he is still ranking very poorly. This to me shows a streaky goalie, not a good one.