Re: Yale Hockey 2010
Looks like we get Brown this weekend.
Probably couldn't have asked for better matchup.
Will be interesting to see how team responds without Backman and who gets starts in goal.
Honestly, I would say Yale's chances would be the same against any of the teams they could have wound up playing next week. I saw Brown at RPI this weekend and they are playing as well as anyone right now. They have two very good forward lines (their weakness against Yale will be depth which as Yale's greatest strength in a 3-game series is hurt by loss of Backman but Balch will step into lineup and be better than some Brown regs anyway) and their goaltender can be very good with a lead. The key for Yale is to score first and not fall behind like they have been. Eventually they won't be able to come back if they keep that up.
I would expect Allain to start both Maricic and Blase and/or be quick to pull either for the other. If Yale dominates on offense, I look for him to feel each of them out for when we get to single elim.
Except they are attributing it to an article in the New Haven newspaper in which the words "at practice" are conspicuously absent.
The
USCHO article is up. Note the words "at practice."
I want to clarify this as the person who broke the story for USCHO (read: saw it on message board and told editor to post a story) but did not actually do the write-up. I told the editor that the story was broken by the YDN, where the article does imply it was "at practice" - (scroll to bottom and read the correction part -
http://www.yaledailynews.com/sports...-hockey-first-round-bye-leaves-elis-waiting/). Why they chose to quote it as from the NHR, I don't know. Nevertheless, the "at practice" part is not confirmed in any way. However, I also have an audio file from after the QU game where Allain says, "we'll skate tomorrow, but we won't lift," which confirms they did in fact practice Sunday, which is odd given it was the first day of two weeks off after two games in a row.
It will be tough without backman but just look at what they accomplished last year without Digs. After that injury to Dignard last year the team really came together and played their best hockey. guys like Matzack and Martin really stepped up last year and I think this year some guys will really step up and theyll fight through the injury. By the way where has Matzack been - is he injured too? I think that with the injury they can still keep up there level of play and guys like limbert, langaniere, and miller could really step up. After all the best part about this team is their depth.
I admire your optimism, and Dignard is the third best offensive defenseman in program history (after Giroux and Bassegio in no particular order), but come on. He was a junior last year; Backman is a senior which makes it hurt the team on an even deeper emotional level because he is the undisputed leader. Donald is the captain, but Backman is the guy that has charted the path to success with everyone trailing in his wake. In my mind, he HAS to be on the bench in a suit basically as an assistant coach. I plan to ask Coach Allain this week if that will be the case and I will get back to you all.
As to Matzack, I know he at least was injured at the time he first came out of the lineup. The same rules applied then so Allain wouldn't comment on the nature of it so it's possible he is still hurt. He wasn't anything special while he was in there this year and it is very possible that freshman Colin Dueck has simply played his way into the lineup ahead of him to add more size to the D which does not need to be relied on as much on O.
I agree people will step up, and they should be motivated to not let Backman down. I am sure he will do all he can to motivate them vocally without being on the ice. Sean needs to put what obviously must be tremendous personal disappointment behind him and be there 100% for his team. I also agree with the names you mentioned in Limbert and Laganiere. There might be a temptation to move either Anderson or Mason to that line because they play with those guys already on the PP unit, but I like their chemistry and wouldn't want to split them up. I see Allain rotating Laganiere, Limbert, Ziegler, and maybe Balch with O'Neill and Miller until something clicks. One thing the loss of Backman doesn't hurt is the great chemistry O'Neill and Miller have with each other even without him which comes from the time they played together in Chicago. They have a few really effective give-and-go plays they work nicely on the rush and whoever plays with them should be made to look really good.
Without Backman we will still score plenty. In end we aren't going far unless we get better play from D men and goalie. With the fire power on this team I still have plenty of faith that a Frozen 4 is within reach. Will be interesting to see how we play next week.
Yale needs to continue to control the pace and not allow themselves to play playoff style hockey. If they continue to score as they can, they will win. If they get bogged down in a defensive battle, it might be all over. Brown is the most physical team in the league which makes them a much better playoff team than reg season team. RPI plays a similar style to Yale (you saw it at Ingalls this year albeit in a game Yale did not play well) and Brown won the two games that were grinders.
Don't hate so much on the Yale goalies. Can't we at least save that for when they start losing? Sure no one has great stats. But the bottom line is they win games. They are good when they need to be. Look as Blase at Cornell and Maricic at Wisconsin. I was lucky enough to be at both of those but I certainly understand if some of you were not. It's not like Yale is losing a lot of close games. When Yale scores 7 goals on 50+ shots and they only see 18 or 20, it can be hard to stay in a game completely as a goalie. Allain will tell you that.
The view is also distorted by how well opposing goalies play against Yale. It just makes our guys look worse than they really are and its the flip side of the coin. When you allow five or six goals to Yale, you still look great because you also made 50 saves and a lot of those were on top notch chances. Goalies play better when they get into it by facing more shots and obviously step it up against the nation's top offense.
This was probably the first thing I thought about after hearing we'd be without Backman. I wish I could just hear that one more time. It would be worth more than all 40 something other times he's said that.