Re: Wisconsin Hockey 2018-2019: We can have a witty thread title when we start winnin
This is team is 2 special teams away from contending for the B7 title. If only they had a pp and a pk that was slightly above average.
In the B1G picture, this is correct. A 25% pp and 85% pk would be a +22 goal differential for this team. It's not a stretch to think that could mean 6-7 more wins given the number of ties and OT losses. That many more wins would probably have them in the tourney and still in contention in the conference.
Now I know much has been made of the great job Donny did and the lousy job the staff is doing now on special teams. I would point out though that putting 2 first round F's (and current NHLer's) on the ice to pk and to goose the pp would likely make anyone a better coach. Kunin and Frederic had 37g and 14 ppg's between them and drew all the attention. Plus they pk'd constantly with Hughes and Wags, who as upperclassmen, were better F's than anyone on the roster this year. Which is not to say some of these freshman won't be as good or better in the future, they just aren't yet.
Incidentally, I think perhaps Hughes was always underrated by a lot of fans since he came in as a very undersized 17 year old (he's only a year older than Sophomore Tarek Baker is right now for example) but he did so many little things well. He had to grow physically, but his real ability is now showing as he's currently 2nd on the P-Bruins in points and making a strong case for himself in the AHL as a rookie.
At any rate, when your pk F's can see the play coming, pressure, and keep the shots to the outside, your D can just concentrate on blocking shots and clearing out, which also makes your goalie a heck of a lot better. When the F's are always chasing the play, you get a pk like the Badgers have had this year. You can teach them but you can't see the ice and skate for them. It takes time and experience and ability.
So I suppose this begs the question, Why aren't there better F's on the ice in this staff's 3rd year? Half of the team are Granato's guys right? Well, yes and no. Mostly no. When Granato was hired in 2016, 95%+ of this year's top 100 freshman were already committed by 2015. So what this year's (and last year's) Freshman F class is composed of is, Eaves commits, plus what the staff could dig up from the leftovers. So the Dhooghe's, Ahcan (from Burnsville, where Oz and DG won a title playing for Oz Sr.) Linus from Sweden, and flipping Brock Caufield from OSU. Plus they pulled the trigger on Gorniak who kind of came out of nowhere. (A decision I really questioned but is proving to be the correct one as he is really getting better every week.) These guys are good players, and I think they did quite well given what was available. But these are 4 year guys that have to continue to develop.
Think how long it's been since Oz was at OSU. Then consider that last year's 5 OSU Frozen Four Sr.'s were Oz recruits. Plus, he was in on recruiting this year's 8 seniors before he and OSU split. Next year's class is the first TG class that they actually went head to head on an open field of mostly all uncommitted recruits. Now those guys have to make it to school yet, so I'm not going to say it's a guaranteed deal, but if they all come in, it will likely be the best class of F's in the
Entire History of the program, which should speak for itself. And it doesn't stop there as there are more terrific players committed who are 15, 16 and 17 years old right now that will displace some of the current 18 and 19 year old commits in the future.
Maybe the naysayers are right and Tony can't coach. (I doubt that.) But either way, it's funny how great players can make any coach look like a genius and young or poor players can make any coach look like a chump.
I am disappointed that the upperclassmen haven't been able to contribute more on this year's team. I am pleased with what the Freshman have been able to do, especially the Mersch line, which has been very good, often getting lots of minutes vs. opposing top lines. Overall I thought .500 was realistic, and a bit over would be a really good achievement given the difficulty of the B1G and the NC schedule. They're still a bit inconsistent, (last Friday was a huge disappointment) but 5x5 this is now a pretty decent team that often gets the better of play vs. anybody. They take too many penalties and can't kill them, and while they now can get the puck in consistently on the pp, they are not executing in zone. God knows they've tried a lot of different lines and schemes to get it going, but it just isn't there yet. If special teams get there, they'll still be pretty dangerous. If not, they likely won't be. Either way the strong foundation is there for next year. Just add the instant offense that's on the way and they will be a real contender. So I'm not jumping off the TG bandwagon on the brink of what could be some of the best teams the Badgers have had in years.
When everyone is committed 4 years out from their freshman year it takes time to turn the corner on a program. The rules are changing to alleviate that somewhat this year, but if people don't understand this, no wonder they are so unhappy with the lack of progress thus far.
