You fail the test of the true fan. One could call you a dilettante.
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Wisconsin Women's Hockey 2021-2022
- Thread starter Timothy A
- Start date
You fail the test of the true fan. One could call you a dilettante.
robertearle
Well-known member
It's tough to tell when watching on the video stream, but as best I can tell, UW is using different D pairings today than they did yesterday. I haven't seen Helgeson at all, I've seen Posick way more often than Toft, Bowlby is maybe double-shifting, and as a result, the defensive play has been not at all good. Still suffering from the absence of Kendra Nealey.
robertearle
Well-known member
I hadn't really thought about it in these terms until today, but...
Before Nealey's injury, Wisconsin was 13-0-1 (though Nealey missed two of those prior to her 'big' injury)
Since her injury, they're 5-2-2 (and likely to be 5-3-2 by the end of the day)
Some of that is 'quality of opponent', but still....
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FiveHoleFrenzy
Well-known member
I'm wondering if Northeastern will get voted in as the new No.1.
FiveHoleFrenzy
Well-known member
Yeah, that was noticeable, especially today as Blair wasn't given the best support on Minnesota's last three goals. I think Blair would like to have the first goal Minnesota scored back as that seemed like a shot she would normally save.
robertearle
Well-known member
I'm pretty sure that it was forward-playing -defense Maddie Posick that screened her. I'm not looking to slam Posick here, she's being asked to play a position she has not played before, but she got beat on that one. Emblematic of the UW's problem right now.
Timothy A
Let's go RED!
Timothy A
Let's go RED!
This is great insight. MJ knew he had issues on the backend coming into the season, that's why he pursued Nealy. They were supposed to have Buchbinder and Harvey back there. Nealy was playing well enough for them not to miss Buchbinder and be able to spot play the 3rd pair in favorable matchups. With Nealy out, this is reminding me of the last Olympic cycle where UW just had enough to chug along but not enough to close the deal. UW is in real danger of not even getting home ice in round 2 of the ncaa's. There's enough opportunities for quality wins with OSU and UMD coming up to write the ship, plus the WCHA tourney, but I don't feel confident. The only hope is that the D continue to improve as the season's 9 regular season come up, plus 3 to 4 wcha playoff games. Their play can only improve as far as their talent come bring them.
A couple things strike me after watching both games this weekend:
- In her last 8 games Sophie Shirley has 1 goal and 0 assists. I believe the first 3 years she played a lot with Britta Curl. I wonder if not having Britta has really impacted her opportunities. Coming into the season I would have thought she would be one of the best players in the WCHA
- The Badger power play is really disappointing. Seems to lack puck control lately and haven't had as many opportunities as one would expect with such talented offensive players. The PP ranks 5th in the WCHA which is not where it should be
- It seems to me that the Badgers don't have as much traffic in front of the net as other top teams. The Gophers got a goal from a deflection in front yesterday. Rarely lately have we had traffic in front of the net for screens, tip ins, rebounds etc.
- Kennedy Blair has not played her best hockey against the Gophers. From the puck handling errors in the series in Madison, to a couple of soft goals this weekend she hasn't been at her best.
Only a 1 point difference and you would have been spot on. Other posters speculated about Northeastern taking over the number 1 spot. Really close vote, with 130 for NE, MN 129, 125 for both Ohio St. And Wis. Next week will show what the Gophers are made of, as the big showdown is in Columbus. Gophers have an easy February schedule, Wisconsin plays both Duluth and Ohio. Very exciting finish lining up for the WCHA finals. Unlike some posters(poseurs?) I will back our WCHA winner through to the end.
robertearle
Well-known member
Next week, I'm hoping for a poll with two teams at 128 and two at 127. Or maybe three teams at 128 and one at 126. Sadly, no way to get a four-way tie.
Timothy A
Let's go RED!
I don't know Watts to think about her. Didn't she play with Watts and Pettet all last year? She is not strong on the boards. To me it seems like her hands are just not wanting it enough, they don't seem very quick. Is she hurt? A gimpy shoulder would affect her this way.
At any rate, Curl was a digger/puck getter/setup person and right now does UW have a grit player (Roque/Pankowski/Curl/Mauermann) on the roster? (I think Eden showed some grit last year). That could be the missing piece of the puzzle along with depth a D.
Blair was yapping about revenge prior to the MN series, maybe she just was not properly focused.
FiveHoleFrenzy
Well-known member
Timothy A
Let's go RED!
Yep, unless you want to live in a van down by the river someday. I'd like to live in a van down by the lake someday, I'm not much of a river guy.
FiveHoleFrenzy
Well-known member
You probably already know this but Chris Farley was born in Madison and grew up in Maple Bluff which is by a lake...
robertearle
Well-known member
Is there anywhere in Madison that isn't "by a lake"? LOL
It always struck me as odd that he lived in Maple Bluff, but went to high school at Edgewood, near west side, maybe a mile from Camp Randall Stadium. That's a long 'commute'.
His funeral was at a church about a mile from where I live now, near west side; and he's also buried on the near west side.
There is also a Farley Ave, near west side, that runs directly into the cemetery where he's buried. I don't know if the street is named after a Farley family farm or anything like that.
(There is a Kessel Court in Madison, named for the Kessel family farm that Amanda and Phil's grandparents (?) owned.)
Timothy A
Let's go RED!
STOP! My eyes! Oh my eyes!
Timothy A
Let's go RED!
I am in a bad place right now. The men's team is complete total garbage after a spark of hope early in this calendar year and the women's team is just a giant mystery as to the lack of performance. The feeling of being the 3rd or 4th best team in the wcha sucks with as much talent as this team has at forward with a mega experienced goalie.