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Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

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Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

FiveHoleFrenzy said:
And that ultimately got you to this point... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7zDl_2W_kg

I bet you could get some Clarkson supporters to take you up on your invitation to replay that...;)
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At some point I would like to re-watch the game. I hated my seats at the game but the kids like to sit low behind the net so I did. The replays were for **** at the game too. I really have little idea how the flow of the game went and the types of chances generated by both teams.
 
Timothy A said:
At some point I would like to re-watch the game. I hated my seats at the game but the kids like to sit low behind the net so I did. The replays were for **** at the game too. I really have little idea how the flow of the game went and the types of chances generated by both teams.
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I can't find it on BTN2Go.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

Wisconsin carried the play overall, which was reflected in the shot totals and specifically, Sarah Nurse was not able to capitalize on some outstanding changes to put the puck in the net because... Shea Tiley was the best player on the ice for both teams.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

FiveHoleFrenzy said:
Wisconsin carried the play overall, which was reflected in the shot totals and specifically, Sarah Nurse was not able to capitalize on some outstanding changes to put the puck in the net because... Shea Tiley was the best player on the ice for both teams.
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Also, that was Sarah Nurse in a nutshell. Scary as can be, a great player, but could not get the puck in the net like you want a really great player to be able to do. I.E. Brandt or Pankowski or such.

I'm not criticizing her, because she was the scariest Badger of all to me the last four years and I hate to think what if...if she finished more of her chances :eek:
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

KTDC said:
Also, that was Sarah Nurse in a nutshell. Scary as can be, a great player, but could not get the puck in the net like you want a really great player to be able to do. I.E. Brandt or Pankowski or such.

I'm not criticizing her, because she was the scariest Badger of all to me the last four years and I hate to think what if...if she finished more of her chances :eek:
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Undefeated champions for sure last year, eh? She had always perplexed me with her "lack" of scoring. Scoring on that breakaway against Clarkson could have changed that game. Oh well.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

Timothy A said:
Scoring on that breakaway against Clarkson could have changed that game.
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I believe if I'm remembering it (and seeing it) correctly in the highlight she didn't even get the shot on net. Agreed, scoring there, could have been enough to have planted a bit of doubt in Tiley's mind.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

An October 2002 birth date... Announcing a verbal commitment to a college at 14 years old. :eek:

This insanity has to be the result of Russian hacking, right?
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

GopherBadger said:
http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/120416aaa.html

They couldn't get out of the building fast enough!
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IMO, that game and the UW blowout of UMD really highlight the mystery of the 2016-17 Badgers. They could be the #1 team in the country for long stretches with nobody really that close as the second team. But neither of those games were part of series sweeps. They would let teams that weren't as good hang around in games like at the WCHA Final Face-Off.

What was the issue? I'd say it was that even though they had a great offense statistically, the best offensive threats didn't rise to the challenge in the way that Bauer, Duggan, Knight, or Decker would. The special players have a knack for being able to score when the team most needs it. It's hard to win a championship without at least one player and better two who can produce on demand. Instead, the Badgers were best when their depth could tire teams out and scoring could come from many people.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

ARM said:
IMO, that game and the UW blowout of UMD really highlight the mystery of the 2016-17 Badgers. They could be the #1 team in the country for long stretches with nobody really that close as the second team. But neither of those games were part of series sweeps. They would let teams that weren't as good hang around in games like at the WCHA Final Face-Off.

What was the issue? I'd say it was that even though they had a great offense statistically, the best offensive threats didn't rise to the challenge in the way that Bauer, Duggan, Knight, or Decker would. The special players have a knack for being able to score when the team most needs it. It's hard to win a championship without at least one player and better two who can produce on demand. Instead, the Badgers were best when their depth could tire teams out and scoring could come from many people.
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I agree 100%, though even Knight/Duggan/ lost in the ncaa's, the point is vaild. Nurse, Clark and Pankowski needed to make it happen and they did not. I can't wait to see who the next stars are for UW and if they have the "it" factor.
 
Timothy A said:
I agree 100%, though even Knight/Duggan/ lost in the ncaa's, the point is vaild. Nurse, Clark and Pankowski needed to make it happen and they did not. I can't wait to see who the next stars are for UW and if they have the "it" factor.
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Clark and Pankowski have another shot at it while Nurse doesn't. The 2016-17 Badgers were a great team but when it really mattered they couldn't get it done.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

ARM said:
What was the issue?
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I'll go beyond what you said, and state that Wisconsin's offense just wasn't very good. The two blowouts you mentioned came against Minnesota and UMD teams that were far below their optimum level due to injuries, Olympic qualifying, and a psychological meltdown. Aside from those two games and the WCHA final victory over a UMD team that played double overtime the night before, after Dec 1 they had exactly one game against a team with a winning record in which they scored more than 1 goal: the NCAA quarterfinal against Robert Morris. They averaged just over 2 goals a game against a North Dakota team that was almost .500 and was desperate to give the Badgers a 60 minute power play.

They ran up the score against hopelessly overmatched teams. It's odd, because usually the ability to do that correlates with an ability to score against good teams, but not in this case. I don't think it's a case where you had good offensive players who just couldn't score on demand, because they didn't score at all against good teams unless they had some sort of advantage external to their own actions. I have no idea why a bunch of players who had been good at scoring in the past forgot how to be good, but they did.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

Eeyore said:
I'll go beyond what you said, and state that Wisconsin's offense just wasn't very good. The two blowouts you mentioned came against Minnesota and UMD teams that were far below their optimum level due to injuries, Olympic qualifying, and a psychological meltdown. Aside from those two games and the WCHA final victory over a UMD team that played double overtime the night before, after Dec 1 they had exactly one game against a team with a winning record in which they scored more than 1 goal: the NCAA quarterfinal against Robert Morris.
They ran up the score against hopelessly overmatched teams. It's odd, because usually the ability to do that correlates with an ability to score against good teams, but not in this case.
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No matter what UW's injuries/missing players have been, they have never been embarrassed like the rodents were on the Sunday. The excuse-O=meter just blew up. UMD was a 2 trick pony and that doesn't fly in the face of a deep team and/or when you are missing a pony.

You are missing the obvious answer to the lack of scoring against good teams......good teams have better players and therefore it's harder to score on them. ;) A great team whoops the wimps and beats or even loses to the tough opponents in hard fought games. That's what UW did.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

Timothy A said:
No matter what UW's injuries/missing players have been, they have never been embarrassed like the rodents were on the Sunday. The excuse-O=meter just blew up. UMD was a 2 trick pony and that doesn't fly in the face of a deep team and/or when you are missing a pony.

You are missing the obvious answer to the lack of scoring against good teams......good teams have better players and therefore it's harder to score on them. ;) A great team whoops the wimps and beats or even loses to the tough opponents in hard fought games. That's what UW did.
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UMD was more than a 2-trick pony, but the tricks you are thinking of, plus four other players, were missing when you blew them out, so you don't actually have any idea whether it would work against a good team. As for the Gophers, you misunderstand. I'm not making excuses; they melted down and it took almost two months for them to right the ship. That's on them. But, from the Badgers' perspective, beating them 8-2 wasn't as impressive as it looks, because Minnesota wasn't actually a good team at that point.

Yes, you score less against good teams. But, if you can't ever score more than one goal against them without a significant handicap in your favor, it means that your offense isn't good. Wisconsin's offense wasn't good, unless you think beating up on teams with sub .400 records is the mark of quality.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

Timothy A said:
You are missing the obvious answer to the lack of scoring against good teams......good teams have better players and therefore it's harder to score on them. ;) A great team whoops the wimps and beats or even loses to the tough opponents in hard fought games. That's what UW did.
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Last year the Badgers had 8 games where they scored less than twice. That's a high total for a great team, especially a great team that features a powerful offense. When the Gophers started their winning streak in 2012, they went the next 99 games scoring two or more goals. As superb as Wisconsin was defensively, it is harder to post Ws if you need to shut the other team out to have a chance to do so. None of Minnesota's NCAA Championship teams had a year where they had more than four games where they scored fewer than two goals.

I disagree with Eeyore, in that I think that Wisconsin had the pieces to be great offensively. Ultimately, the Badgers weren't great in the offensive end, but I'm still not sure why they weren't. At least Nurse was always visible, making things happen -- she just didn't put enough of her prime chances on net to rack up points at the rate that her talent suggested she should. Much lesser players than Nurse have finished with more than 137 points in a career. Pankowski can snipe as well as anyone, but she seems to disappear at times, and I have no idea why that is. The rest of the team put a lot of shots on goal, but I couldn't tell if they were shooting to score or just shooting for the sake of shooting.

Last season wasn't an isolated problem. Wisconsin has had trouble finishing for a number of years. It just stood out more last year because the talent level at forward looked to be higher than it has been in a while, and the Badgers dominated play so much of the time, yet managed to hit so many scoring droughts.
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

ARM said:
The rest of the team put a lot of shots on goal, but I couldn't tell if they were shooting to score or just shooting for the sake of shooting.
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A problem shared by one other team I can think of, unfortunately. :o
 
Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2017-2018

ARM said:
I disagree with Eeyore, in that I think that Wisconsin had the pieces to be great offensively.
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I think we're mostly on the same page. I agree that, on paper, they ought to have had a good offense. The Badgers had a goodly number of players who had been quality scorers in previous seasons. In practice, though, it was not a good offense. I have no idea why, and I think we're mostly disagreeing on semantics.

The one part where I disagree is that it didn't surprise me at all that Nurse didn't pick up a lot of goals. From her freshman year, she struck me as one of those players who, if only she could shoot, would have been a Hall of Famer. She does everything else well, including mesmerizing speed. But she never had much of a shot, and that's the kind of player whose numbers we would expect to fall off if her teammates' scoring goes south, because she's a complementary player. A ****ed good one, but a complementary player nonetheless. There's a reason a good shot is a coach's most coveted ability: it's both critically important, and rare.
 
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