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Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

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Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Almington said:
How any team starts the season has zero impact on which team is more likely to make the F4 or even win the NC given the number of 4 seeds that have advanced out of the regionals over the past few seasons. 4-5-1 is far from an insurmountable barrier to making the NCAAs and when you do that anything can happen.
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that's true. UW could go on a run and win something like 15 of the next 18 games and they could make some noise in the NCAA's, however I'm talking specifically of the body of work we have seen to date and in years past as we have no idea what the rest of the 13-14 season will bring

but...I would love it if for a change of pace if UW would start a season like

Minnesota 11-2-1
Michigan 9-2-1
Lowell 10-4
BC 8-4-2
St. Cloud 9-1-2

it seems like forever since UW has had a team that came out of the box winning, and with as hyped as this current team is/was you'd think they would have done better so far than 4-5-1
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Almington said:
How any team starts the season has zero impact on which team is more likely to make the F4 or even win the NC given the number of 4 seeds that have advanced out of the regionals over the past few seasons. 4-5-1 is far from an insurmountable barrier to making the NCAAs and when you do that anything can happen.
Click to expand...


True, but haven't we had enough of sweating out the pairwise at the end of the season?
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

solovsfett said:
it seems like forever since UW has had a team that came out of the box winning, and with as hyped as this current team is/was you'd think they would have done better so far than 4-5-1
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No one should be happy with 4-5-1, but they have played the second toughest schedule in the country to this point. That fact seems to be lost on some.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Gurtholfin said:
True, but haven't we had enough of sweating out the pairwise at the end of the season?
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The Pairwise doesn't care when the 4-5-1 type run happens in the season, just that it happened. UW fans know better the dangers of being on the bubble more than any other fanbase after the last 6 or 7 seasons and how Saturday's game could come back to bite them at the end of the year but it's far to early to write off the whole season just because of a lackluster start. It's important to remember that very few teams can go wire-to-wire as the number one team without some hiccup, although it is far easier to weather those hiccups (both as a fan and as a player) when you already have a track record of winning that season.

It's also completely unfair to place any of the blame for Sauer's final 8 seasons on Eaves. If you want to hang the man, at least have the decency to use his record while as head coach to do it.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Almington said:
It's also completely unfair to place any of the blame for Sauer's final 8 seasons on Eaves.
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Who's doing that?
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Chuck Schwartz said:
No one should be happy with 4-5-1, but they have played the second toughest schedule in the country to this point. That fact seems to be lost on some.
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We were supposed to be a good to great team this year. Good to great teams win regardless of the schedule.

That fact seems lost on the apologists.


Always with the excuses...
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

When it's THE YEAR, streaks like this only happen under wild circumstances (like when your Hobey Hat Trick goalie goes down and you have to plug in an untested freshman, for instance).

Not that 4-5-1 is horrible (beats last year's start by a lot), but the performances against high quality competition aren't indicative of the contender we thought we'd get.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

I really don't get the blow up on the program today after one conference series. Were you guys expecting to sweep Minnesota and Miami on the road? Because I sure wasn't. Especially considering they are probably statistically the two toughest places to play in the country.
We split Miami convincingly. Say what you want about Friday but yesterday we give the goofs 5 straight PP's and are tied ON THE ROAD with 30 seconds left. Nothing to be ashamed of there. So is it because Mersch turns over the puck and we lost? Is that what we're all fired up about?

Or is it still the Boston Massacre? Didn't see it, can't explain it. But it's getting late to be still be *****ing about it now.

I honestly don't get why today.

One of my favorite Badger teams, the '83 champs started 6-5-2 splitting the gophers and getting crushed by UND 6-2 and 4-0. (I'm partial to them because it was my first WCHA tournament, my older brother having been in college and taking me.) If I recall, consensus was strong that the Badgers were the third best team there. I've recounted how Chelios put us into the finals over UND elsewhere. We proceeded to blow away #1 Minnesota 5-1 and came back the next day to down them 3-2 in a packed St Paul Civic Center. We weren't the best team in November by a long shot, but we were the Champs by the end of March, which is all that matters.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Wisko McBadgerton said:
I really don't get the blow up on the program today after one conference series.
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Can't speak for anyone else, but for my part, it's the cumulative effect of year after year of slow starts or a myriad of other underperformance issues that have plagued this program over the past 20 years or so.

There's usually underperformance and there are always plenty of excuses.


Trust me, this is not about this one series or even just this season.


And I'm not advocating a blow up. I'm still hopeful and will be attending at least 6 more games.
 
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Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Gurtholfin said:
We were supposed to be a good to great team this year. Good to great teams win regardless of the schedule.

That fact seems lost on the apologists.


Always with the excuses...
Click to expand...

There's excuses and there's being realistic. Just because the record says 4-5-1 doesn't mean this team isn't good. Anyone with any hockey sense who watched yesterday's game should be able to comprehend this season is far from finished.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Chuck Schwartz said:
There's excuses and there's being realistic. Just because the record says 4-5-1 doesn't mean this team isn't good. Anyone with any hockey sense who watched yesterday's game should be able to comprehend this season is far from finished.
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Haven't seen anyone declare the season finished.


I wouldn't take too many moral victories out of last night either as the Gophers didn't play their best - and still beat us.

And anyone with hockey sense who watched Friday's game should be able to comprehend that the team wasn't there with sufficient effort or fire. They didn't show up ready to play. For some, this could raise some flags in regards to the leadership of this group.

Playing the number one team in the country and it's your biggest rival and you haven't gotten off to the best start? I would have hoped that they would have come out on fire.

I know though, it was hard because they were off the week before...


A veteran team should be acting like a veteran team.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

My assessment of this team is that it is a pretty good hockey team. Is it good enough to win in March? I have no idea. It's good enough to be in the mix, then things have to happen. Be injury free, not have weird things go against you. Be prepared...

On the last, I think in general this team is on schedule in development. I give a flying **** if we win the B1G or not. The point with this team is to get in the tournament and be ready to win when there. Everything else is secondary. That's the way Eaves approaches it in these years, and everything is geared towards that. Whether he or the team make the right moves and come along remains to be seen, but that is most certainly the thought process of the staff.
But very much like last February when I was pretty alone in saying "this team is good right now" I think team is doing just fine. Rumps is healthy which is big, and now we just need to catch up to everybody else in games played. We need ice time.

I am concerned about the third line... I'm not sure what needs to be done there, but it is concerning. With 20/20 hindsight it's easy for me to say that with Paape dogging Ambroz all weekend we might have been much better off. On the other hand, if Besse is going to come along, develop and contribute, he has to play...
Anybody have any suggestions as to how to shake things up there?
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Moving on, let me ask this...


Will there be any excuse in the world that makes dropping even a point to PSU acceptable?
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

I didn't see Fri's game, can't comment.

Saturday's game...WI didn't step on the Gophers' throats. They tried...but couldn't do it. Whether that is a credit to MN or a knock on WI is up to interpretation. However...WI not winning last night was a lost opportunity. A truly great team would have done so. WI looks to be good, although the results don't necessarily show it right now. And now I must douse myself in bleach for making that statement. ;)
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Wisko - I give a crap about winning the B1G also.

However, I'd like to have a good enough regular season that we are in the NCAA Tourney without having to win our conference tourney as that's a tall order to rely upon.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

To answer your PSU question seriously, there's no excuse. But by the same token we better not be taking them lightly judging by the boxes of their last two games. 1 goal losses to Lowell and Union. They take plenty of shots.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Wisko McBadgerton said:
To answer your PSU question seriously, there's no excuse. But by the same token we better not be taking them lightly judging by the boxes of their last two games. 1 goal losses to Lowell and Union. They take plenty of shots.
Click to expand...

From what I've heard and (in the box scores) seen...PSU has nothing to lose. That is why they are dangerous. They can play all willy-nilly, b/c they are expected to lose.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol. XXVIII: This could be a banner year, but how would we know?

Gurtholfin said:
Moving on, let me ask this...
Will there be any excuse in the world that makes dropping even a point to PSU acceptable?
Click to expand...

Depends on how the team plays. Generally though...no.

Gurtholfin said:
And anyone with hockey sense who watched Friday's game should be able to comprehend that the team wasn't there with sufficient effort or fire. They didn't show up ready to play. For some, this could raise some flags in regards to the leadership of this group.

Playing the number one team in the country and it's your biggest rival and you haven't gotten off to the best start? I would have hoped that they would have come out on fire.

I know though, it was hard because they were off the week before...


A veteran team should be acting like a veteran team.
Click to expand...

I won't disagree with any of this. I thought both teams lacked fire on Friday to be honest.
 
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