WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

[Chuck Schwartz]

HUGE win over #8 Miami tonight. 7 wins in a row, unbeaten in their past 11.

All this after starting 1-7-2. Nic Kerdiles' 10 game NCAA suspension. Injuries to Zengerle, Zulinick, and Lee. Assistant coach Bill Butters quitting in the middle of the season. John Ramage breaking UW's LENGTHY dry spell in OT WCHA games last weekend with not just one OT goal, but OT goals on back-to-back nights!?!

I've never seen a year like this before. I don't know what to expect next.

 

[WisconsinWildcard]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

What a game tonight! It was nice to see Miami play and they were as every bit as good as I expected. Great game by both teams.

Anyone with Time Warner in Milwaukee know if the FSWisconsin alternative channel is carried? I always seem to fail to find it....

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

First off, good & gritty win over a quality opponent. A win is a win and this should help come NCAA time if we get ourselves into the bubble area.

Rumpel had a very solid game and played with urgency and passion. He made a HUGE last instant kick save on a way-too-wide-open-opportunity-considering-the-stage-of-the-game from the slot with about 20 seconds to go. Watched it develop right below me and it was easy to see it in the back of the net, but NO, Rump shuts the door!

Our defense played a really solid game and only gave up a few high quality opportunities.



Second... that was quite possibly the most dreadfully boring hockey game I've ever been to.

In listening to Posick, Cerniglia and then Eaves gushing about the tilt afterwards, I thought I must have been at a different game. They were trying to sell tomorrow night's game as more of the same, which should make people want to come out and see it. Sorry dudes, that doesn't sell to the general public.

Numerous times I watched as Miami carried out of their zone against one passive forward while our other 4 players were lined up pretty much across our blue line. The nearly half-empty KC was falling asleep. Hate to tell them, but I'm a defenseman and a coach - I LOVE great defense - and I found our style very hard to enjoy.

I mean, play solid in our zone, but how about a little pressure so we can create turnovers and get opportunities in transition?

Miami, for their part, was extremely adept at taking away time and space. Every frickin' time that one of our players looked up, there was a Redhawk right in his face. They blocked or at least got a stick on a bunch of shots also. They really are a solid, SOLID defensive team, although we get an assist with our passive attack.

On our one PP, they played quite possibly the most aggressive kill that I've ever seen at the college level. They would have 3 players attacking our 2 on the half boards leaving only 1 guy in front of their net. It happened every time that we got the puck down low, so it was obviously intentional. I've never seen that before and I wonder if they always PK that way or if they fear our anemic PP so little that they are just doing this against us. Miami fans could answer?


Like I said, I'm grateful for the win and the streak that we're on is great. It shows that our players have a lot of character and pride. They could have given up on the season and they didn't.


Couple other random thoughts...

- Disappointingly (although not surprising anymore) small crowd considering the quality of the opponent.

- The top line really didn't generate much of anything. They really don't appear to have any chemistry at all. Even Zengerle didn't show any individual flash.

- Thought Rammer had a really solid game. Nice to see him putting it all together this season.

- Again, Rumpel was really good tonight.

- Blasi is a little person. Looked like a child in a suit on their bench. What is he, 5'?

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

I would generally agree with Eaves and the radio guys, there was good pace tonight. Good hockey game to watch. Of course I'd like to see UW get the puck to the net more, but there was good speed all over the ice.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

I would generally agree with Eaves and the radio guys, there was good pace tonight. Good hockey game to watch. Of course I'd like to see UW get the puck to the net more, but there was good speed all over the ice.

I'm the most surprised guy in the world that you agree with the company line. Shocked I am. SHOCKED!


People were moving. There was effort. Both teams played their defensive style and played it hard. I guess that could be called pace.

Nothing was happening though.

Pace but no flow?


Hey. Eaves' strategy worked in the end. Take zero risks and wait for your opponent to make a mistake or wait for one of your guys to make and end to end rush and have the goalie miss a save that he should make.


Again, good win. The ends in this case justify the means. But I was there and the place was a morgue. Boring game.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

I'm the most surprised guy in the world that you agree with the company line. Shocked I am. SHOCKED!


People were moving. There was effort. Both teams played their defensive style and played it hard. I guess that could be called pace.

Nothing was happening though.

Pace but no flow?


Hey. Eaves' strategy worked in the end. Take zero risks and wait for your opponent to make a mistake or wait for one of your guys to make and end to end rush and have the goalie miss a save that he should make.


Again, good win. The ends in this case justify the means. But I was there and the place was a morgue. Boring game.

Multiple times during the game I mentioned that I was impressed with the pace in the game. I had no idea what Eaves or the radio guys were saying. I mean these are two of the top 10 defensive teams in the country, I expected it to be extremely sluggish but I thought it was quite the contrary.

Just because the (few) fans that were there weren't into it didn't mean it wasn't a good game to watch. It was a hell of a lot more exciting than the games last weekend against Minnesota State, or the ones previously against Anchorage.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

Just because the (few) fans that were there weren't into it didn't mean it wasn't a good game to watch. It was a hell of a lot more exciting than the games last weekend against Minnesota State, or the ones previously against Anchorage.

If the people who are there aren't into it, are you saying that the product is good and the flaw lies within the 9000 people who wanted to be entertained?

Maybe it just looked better on TV, from the press box and from the bench than it did from the other seats in the KC?


Luckily those 4 games weren't on TV. They sounded okay on the radio and the results were good, so I enjoyed them. Of course I was also doing other things while I listened, which probably helped.


It's getting old not having any atmosphere at the games. Whether it's the lack of fans, the lack of an entertaining product or the lack of entertained fans in attendance doesn't really matter. It's quite depressing, even with a win. I hope it can come back. I miss the buzz.

There were only maybe 6 rows of students.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

If the people who are there aren't into it, are you saying that the product is good and the flaw lies within the 9000 people who wanted to be entertained?

Maybe it just looked better on TV, from the press box and from the bench than it did from the other seats in the KC?


Luckily those 4 games weren't on TV. They sounded okay on the radio and the results were good, so I enjoyed them. Of course I was also doing other things while I listened, which probably helped.


It's getting old not having any atmosphere at the games. Whether it's the lack of fans, the lack of an entertaining product or the lack of entertained fans in attendance doesn't really matter. It's quite depressing, even with a win. I hope it can come back. I miss the buzz.

There were only maybe 6 rows of students.

That game with a full student section, and 14,000 building would leave you with a different impression.

Regardless, this is stupid that we're even discussing this. Another huge victory for Wisconsin should be the topic.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

That game with a full student section, and 14,000 building would leave you with a different impression.

Regardless, this is stupid that we're even discussing this. Another huge victory for Wisconsin should be the topic.

Well then, let's get another one tomorrow.

Nighty-night!

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

FWIW, Wisconsin is tied for 19th in the PWR. It's almost not even fathomable how far they've come.

Said they had to go 16-6-4 to give themselves a chance at the tournament. They've gone 8-0-3 since then. 8-6-1 gets them close, although they might have to even be better. Crazy.

 

[bigus]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

Some thoughts:

Having the students on break and only 1/4 to 1/8 of a student section really killed the atmosphere. I think the "grown up" fans, me included, depend too much on the students to drive energy.

I saw a comment somewhere about how well both teams played. I don't agree. I think the Badgers played pretty poorly the first two periods, especially with the failure to make simple up-ice passes, and with some defensive turnovers. I strongly suspect that Redhawks fans weren't satisfied with their team's performance in failing to make more out of the opportunities that they had.

Williams played well. Rumpel played extremely well and was the difference. The only goal was soft.

That being said, I do think there was plenty of flow and plenty of chances, and if anyone was falling asleep maybe they either A) don't recognize chances when they see them or B) are only titillated by chances generated by excellent offensive play rather than counterattacking. I was in Denver and the game tonight looked very similar.

Still, I believe in the streak, despite the inner cynic saying they ain't that good.

Disclaimer: I've been drinking and I reserve the right to change opinions in the harsh light of the morning.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

The view from my green Lazy Boy....Miami controlled large stretches of the 1st and 2nd periods. They didn't get a ton of great chances out of it, but they had more puck possession than UW did. They had 1 great chance in the first where the F had the whole center to far post open close in and shot it into Rumpel's glove. They did do a great job or not giving UW players much time to think with the puck. The 3rd period was UW's. Not again in shots, but territory and time of possession. Lee did ring the crossbar. Miami kept icing the puck and getting offsides, they couldn't get much flow going in the 3rd. The number of SOG don't do justice to the great flow and tempo of the game. I personally thing it was a very entertaining game for a 1-0 tilt. It was a well played game from a lack of penalties standpoint.

Lee had a creative game, he made some deft passes in tight to create scoring chances. Zengerlee just looks lost out here, he hardly touched the puck. Maybe Zengerlee just can't get a feel for the 3 1 1. I thought Barnes played pretty well.

Petersen tonight or does Eaves ride the Rumpelmobile?

 

[bucky15]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

I thought Miami was a pretty quick team. The game was very enjoyable to watch....except the guy next to me who screamed shooooot! everytime the Badgers crossed the blue line with the puck. He did encourage/call Lebate's goal, but that's not saying much. If we had scored on every shot he would have called them all.

It is pretty amazing how far this team has come. In regards to the style comments, this team is playing the way they need to to win games. It seems they have bought into the system that they need to play to win, at times it isn't pretty but seems to be working on the scoreboard.

I would guess tonight the first team to 2 goals wins.

Rumpel or Petersen....just glad I don't make those call.

 

[Buck 'em]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

I personally thing it was a very entertaining game for a 1-0 tilt. It was a well played game from a lack of penalties standpoint.

Absolutely, I was on the edge of my chair pretty much for the whole 3rd period. Just seemed like one of those games the recent Badgers team would lose in a heartbreaker. It was sure nice to be in the winning side for a change. Momentum is definitely on our side!

My daughters, who were there, thought it was boring. So I guess it was one of those made-for-TV games.

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

I'd agree that this is one of those games where you were watching a good, well-skated game of hockey, but it just happened to be "slow" and "boring" simply because the defenses were both so good.

The atmosphere was flat, though. I blame the old people for being too dependent on the student section, the students for not getting back in time for a home hockey series and for the KC management (who play music over the PA because they don't want the fans to cheer or the band- I don't care if they're a replacement alumni band or not- to play).

 

[Timothy A]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

I'd agree that this is one of those games where you were watching a good, well-skated game of hockey, but it just happened to be "slow" and "boring" simply because the defenses were both so good.

The atmosphere was flat, though. I blame the old people for being too dependent on the student section, the students for not getting back in time for a home hockey series and for the KC management (who play music over the PA because they don't want the fans to cheer or the band- I don't care if they're a replacement alumni band or not- to play).

I thought I heard canned music on the tv and I was appauled. UW really needs to schedule games with a sensitivity to when the students are on campus ( I don't know what kind of control over that they really have). Maybe with the little 6 they'll be able to influence that a bit more since with only 20 league games they can work with their n/c foes to play on the road in early/mid January and even late Dec. Or maybe they should discount the tickets more during that period if they are going to be home to encourage loud cheering tight wadded old farts like me to come.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

Posting this in both UW threads because I'm not sure if anyone besides me reads the recruiting one. If you're interested, future Badger Grant Besse will be playing live on FS North at 1:30 vs Grand Rapids on Hockey Day Minnesota.

 

[Almington]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

My daughters, who were there, thought it was boring. So I guess it was one of those made-for-TV games.

It seemed to be a more "Made for hockey fans" type of game than a "Making of hockey fans type of game" from my TV viewing of the game.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

It seemed to be a more "Made for hockey fans" type of game than a "Making of hockey fans type of game" from my TV viewing of the game.

Exactly.

 

[WisconsinWildcard]

Re: WISCONSIN Hockey Vol. XXIV - Craziest Season Of All Time

It seemed to be a more "Made for hockey fans" type of game than a "Making of hockey fans type of game" from my TV viewing of the game.

+1 Maybe it was the fact that the last two games I watched were against UAA but I thought it was a **** fun game to watch. There was sloppy play at times but I think that was more of a result of two solid defensive teams than poor play.