WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

[aktick]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

http://www.uscho.com/stats/team-ove...-hockey/season,20092010/team,uw/gender,m.html

From the "stats don't lie" department, Johnson is basically the only forward without a point (Lee and Thurber have played in 3 games combined)...that coupled with the fact that he isn't really a great defensive forward tells me he should be sitting.

 

[TUSCHWI]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

I don't want to see Brendan Smith out there anywhere late in the game with a small lead. The guy scares the crap out of me.

Agreed! They guy is a great offensive talent but every time he's the last man back with the puck, my blood pressure goes up.

 

[uwbadgers14]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Why not Smith....he needs to work his way back into the line up.


Or Patty?

I think Lee, Podge, and Dolan should dress over him, but I am not at any of the practices.

I didn't understand why podge didn't dress saturday but now i kinda understand, even though his play has improved from last year and I love to see him in the lineup creating chances like he has so far this year, Him and Dolan have turned into the same type of player, you don't gain or lose anything with either of them, as far as line chemistry i don't see any difference know matter who they play with, they are the type of players that can be effective know matter who they are playing with. The Bottom line is we are just so deep, that I think that the 4th line is going to shuffle week by week for most of the year.

the Big Question this weekend is does Eaves stay with the Bennett friday and goody sat. rotation in this Big series or if Bennett puts on another solid showing, does he get the go on saturday to get the sweep.

I have a feeling this last weekend was patty Johnson's last chance to make an impact, I have a feeling he will be sitting against minnesota. He was given every opportunity by playing on the top line and he still couldn't make things happen. So even though he has had some success against the gophers, and truely approaches these games with the attitude I would like to see out of everybody else on the team, I think Patrick Johnson sits out this weekend... IMO

 

[Timothy A]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Why not Smith....he needs to work his way back into the line up.


Or Patty?

I think Lee, Podge, and Dolan should dress over him, but I am not at any of the practices.

From seeing the 1st 4 games on the year, Smith was making an impact, and had he not done what he did, he would have not lost his spot to Lee.

If Ratty stays in the line-up, then maybe Bendickson goes? I really don't know.

McD on the pp, totally agree he should not on it.

I too love Rhino. The most underappreciated and under-rated Badger of all time. He made Heater and Huckalo look mighty fine.

 

[bucky15]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

I didn't understand why podge didn't dress saturday but now i kinda understand, even though his play has improved from last year and I love to see him in the lineup creating chances like he has so far this year, Him and Dolan have turned into the same type of player, you don't gain or lose anything with either of them, as far as line chemistry i don't see any difference know matter who they play with, they are the type of players that can be effective know matter who they are playing with. The Bottom line is we are just so deep, that I think that the 4th line is going to shuffle week by week for most of the year.

the Big Question this weekend is does Eaves stay with the Bennett friday and goody sat. rotation in this Big series or if Bennett puts on another solid showing, does he get the go on saturday to get the sweep.

I have a feeling this last weekend was patty Johnson's last chance to make an impact, I have a feeling he will be sitting against minnesota. He was given every opportunity by playing on the top line and he still couldn't make things happen. So even though he has had some success against the gophers, and truely approaches these games with the attitude I would like to see out of everybody else on the team, I think Patrick Johnson sits out this weekend... IMO

I was surprised as well that Podge wasn't playing Sat. night. I thought he played well Friday.

Patty has been paired with the top line with two scorers and has been kept off the score sheet. He has been given his chances no question about that. Time for a change.

 

[uwbadgers14]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

From seeing the 1st 4 games on the year, Smith was making an impact, and had he not done what he did, he would have not lost his spot to Lee.

If Ratty stays in the line-up, then maybe Bendickson goes? I really don't know.

McD on the pp, totally agree he should not on it.

I too love Rhino. The most underappreciated and under-rated Badger of all time. He made Heater and Huckalo look mighty fine.

I don't know if i could sit Bendickson with his speed and his ability to get after it on the forecheck, he plays like a smaller grotting.

 

[bucky15]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

From seeing the 1st 4 games on the year, Smith was making an impact, and had he not done what he did, he would have not lost his spot to Lee.

If Ratty stays in the line-up, then maybe Bendickson goes? I really don't know.

McD on the pp, totally agree he should not on it.

I too love Rhino. The most underappreciated and under-rated Badger of all time. He made Heater and Huckalo look mighty fine.

I agree he was making a impact, but after a hit like that and the outcome of the hit. He needs to know his spot in the line up is not a given.

 

[VarsityWisconsin]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

the Big Question this weekend is does Eaves stay with the Bennett friday and goody sat. rotation in this Big series or if Bennett puts on another solid showing, does he get the go on saturday to get the sweep.

I think if Bennett plays well on Friday, Eaves will stick with the hot goaltender and ride him out Saturday possibly giving Gundy the start on the following Friday against the Seawolves.

 

[WisconsinWildcard]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

I think if Bennett plays well on Friday, Eaves will stick with the hot goaltender and ride him out Saturday possibly giving Gundy the start on the following Friday against the Seawolves.

I agree completely. This is a very important series to continue our momentum and a sweep would be huge (always tough against the rodents though). If Bennett is solid on Friday I would like to see him back on Saturday. That said, I do not think either goalie has lost the position yet (which, at this point, is what the final decision is going to come to IMO). I still want to see more of both goaltenders before we put the workload on one guy.

Side question
How long do you think we can be employing a platoon of goaltenders? At what point does Eaves have to make his decision?

 

[blockski]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

I think Eaves can and will platoon them until a) one asserts himself as the clear starter, or b) we get later in the season.

Even with the platoon, I wouldn't be surprised to see Eaves give one guy both starts on the weekend, and then give the other both starts the next weekend and see how they handle back-to-back games.

 

[Badger Abroad]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

I think Eaves can and will platoon them until a) one asserts himself as the clear starter, or b) we get later in the season.

Even with the platoon, I wouldn't be surprised to see Eaves give one guy both starts on the weekend, and then give the other both starts the next weekend and see how they handle back-to-back games.

What's so wrong with keeping the platoon all season long? It seems to me that if we have two goaltenders that are of similar quality there would be no reason to hand all the workload to one.

 

[blockski]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

What's so wrong with keeping the platoon all season long? It seems to me that if we have two goaltenders that are of similar quality there would be no reason to hand all the workload to one.

Well, that's kinda what I was saying. Ride both of them for a while.

The reason, however, you want to settle on a #1 guy is for the playoffs. Granted, he'll likely have a short hook with a capable back-up, but you still want one guy in that situation.

I've only seen one game in person, and that was with Bennett against CC. He had one soft-ish goal in that game and a couple others where he was hung out to dry by the defense, but I thought he played pretty well. Very aggressive in handling the puck - can see that coming back to bite him sometime, but I can also see him with an outlet pass that catches an opponent napping on a line change...

Anyone got thoughts on Goody? Both guys have good stats so far - the save percentages are encouraging.

Name, Yr 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	GA 	MIN 	GAA 	SH 	SV 	SV%
Bennett, Jr	3	2	1	0	4	179	1.3373	1	54	.931
Gudmandson, Jr	3	1	1	1	5	184	1.6328	0	76	.938

Goody's seen a little more rubber so far - not surprising when he's the one on the ice to help kill two 5's in a row.

 

[WisconsinWildcard]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

From all the games I have been at or watched (all but the Saturday game against MSU), neither goalie has made many major mistakes. Both have played relatively solid and I feel comfortable with either in net. However, back to back games have not been played by either goalie, so I am hoping to get an opportunity to see that in the near future.

Eventually, I think you have to settle on one guy. From my experience (albeit only high school hockey), a goalie who consistently gets the start gains confidence knowing that the coach is comfortable putting the team on his shoulders. I do not know how this translates to the college level however. Since I am no where near an expert on the issue, have any other teams have had success (NCAA tournament wise) implementing a platoon? I mean I know it is common knowledge that riding a hot goaltender is invaluable for a championship run, at any level.

Either way, I am very confident that whoever ends up being the guy, we will have a very competent backup behind him.

 

[blockski]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Well, as far as confidence goes, I don't see an issue with the rotation so long as it's a set rotation.

I'd imagine Eaves has a long term plan for how he'd like to see this play out over the course of the season, and I'm sure he's conveyed that broad plan to the players. Come playoffs, you want to go with the hot hand.

For this weekend, however, I see no reason to disrupt the rotation. There's consistency in that, as well. If Bennett knows he's going out there every Friday, regardless, that can be the same kind of certainty that you get knowing you'll start every single game.

So, we'll see how this shakes out. Neither guy has been particularly peppered with shots yet, either.

 

[bucky15]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

From all the games I have been at or watched (all but the Saturday game against MSU), neither goalie has made many major mistakes. Both have played relatively solid and I feel comfortable with either in net. However, back to back games have not been played by either goalie, so I am hoping to get an opportunity to see that in the near future.

Eventually, I think you have to settle on one guy. From my experience (albeit only high school hockey), a goalie who consistently gets the start gains confidence knowing that the coach is comfortable putting the team on his shoulders. I do not know how this translates to the college level however. Since I am no where near an expert on the issue, have any other teams have had success (NCAA tournament wise) implementing a platoon? I mean I know it is common knowledge that riding a hot goaltender is invaluable for a championship run, at any level.

Either way, I am very confident that whoever ends up being the guy, we will have a very competent backup behind him.

Denver won the second of their titles with a platoon. I don't remember what happened once playoffs came around. If they played just one or switched off. I am sure a DU fan would remember. If my memory is correct though Mannino took over towards the end


http://www.uscho.com/stats/team-ove...eam,32/season,20042005/gender,m/sort,PTS.html

 

[blockski]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Denver won the second of their titles with a platoon. I don't remember what happened once playoffs came around. If they played just one or switched off. I am sure a DU fan would remember. If my memory is correct though Mannino took over towards the end


http://www.uscho.com/stats/team-ove...eam,32/season,20042005/gender,m/sort,PTS.html

If you look at the game by game box scores, they were platooning right up into the NCAA's. They split the first round series against Michigan Tech, Fischer got the Friday Final Five game (UND) and Mannino got the Final Five championship (CC).

Fischer then started the 1st round NCAA game against Bemidji, in which he let in 3 goals on 25 shots and DU needed OT to get past the Beavers. Mannino then started the remaining three games on the way to the title. Mannino faced a lot of rubber in those last three games, too.

FWIW, their rotation was similar - Fischer on Fridays, Mannino on Saturdays.

 

[RedFreak]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

There have been times when platooning was considered the norm. I remember people musing whether a single goalie could play most of the games in a season or if he'd wear out.

Consider three years that the Badgers did pretty well:

80-81
Behrend 15 games
Kleisinger 16
Gremore 10

81-82
Behrend 25 games
Kleisinger 22

82-83
Behrend 19 games
Kleisinger 18
Baxter 10

 

[uwbadgers14]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Some interesting stats I came up with.

Thru 6 games last year GF-18, GA-30 =-12
Thru 6 Games this year GF-21, GA-9 = +13

Our Defense +/- thru 6 games
McDonagh +3
Gardiner E
Goloubef +5
B.Smith +3
Ramage +6
Schultz +1
Springer E
Combined - +18
gotta be the best in the country or close to it, far improvment from LY

More Balanced Scoring:
Forwards Scoring - 16G 15A (31pts)
Defensemen Scoring - 5G 19A (24pts)
Forwards Scoring (PP) - 4G 4A (8pts)
Defensement Scoring (PP) - 2G 7A (9pts)
-UW has 13 different Goal scorers on the season already, that is difficult for teams to defend, you can't just try to shut down 1 or 2 lines.

UW so far this year has been a very balances team both on O and D. I think if things are this good now i think this team can do some special things this season if the continue to progress. The only lagging stat I could find was the PP numbers which is at 16%. I think getting that clicking, specially this weekend is going to be very important, scoring 5 on 5 is important but with the amount of penatly's we are forcing teams to take we could be a very nasty team to play if the PP gets going. Thoughts?

 

[blockski]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Well, yeah, but the first six games last year were a bit of an outlier in terms of results, no? I mean, it'd be hard to do worse than last year's defensive start.

 

[uwbadgers14]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Well, yeah, but the first six games last year were a bit of an outlier in terms of results, no? I mean, it'd be hard to do worse than last year's defensive start.

very true, i was just making the point of the improvement right off the bat, a good sign for a team that in recent years has not come out of the gate very well on offense or defense, I'm encouraged more by the offensive success and balance so far...