Yale Hockey 2010

[LTsatch]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

I prefer to remember the last two years against the Big Red myself. Yale makes it's living on the forecheck, I hope they can keep the pressure on NDU as they have done with most teams this year. Has anyone heard anything on Peel status? He is not the greatest defenseman but is offense minded and a good point shot. I think Alain will start Blase based on his performance against Brown, one fluke goal in the series, other than that he was pretty solid, and i attended all three games. The one thing Blase adds is goalie stick handling and passing, the other two hide in the net.

 

[flyund]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

it's UND NDU is the FAA designator for UND since the 1 plane Norte Dame owns was give UND for their filing procedures. Also it's too similar to NDSU North Dakota State University.

 

[GOPHER FREAK]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

Echoing what has been said upthread, UND is not your typical figure-skating contact-fearing WCHA team, they will absolutely play physically. Still, Yale's solid even without Backman (I think the loss to Brown says more about how on-fire Mike Clemente was than anything else) and hopefully you guys can pull it out.

I hope with every fiber of my being that Yale crushes UND. I hate them with the intensity of a thousand suns, but I was most impressed with their play this weekend at the Final Five. They will be tough to beat, but it is possible. Hell, they were only 3-2-2 with 5 home games against my lowly Gophers who had their worst season since 1976-77.

Go Bulldogs!

 

[tbodin23]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

Yale's a team that outshot Wisconsin 42-22 at the Kohl Center....of course that was with a healthy Sean Backman.

I think a healthy Yale team beats North Dakota, but taking Sean BAckman off of Yale is the equivalent of taking a Gregoire or Kristo off of North Dakota.

It's a huge loss!

I am absolutely gobsmacked by that Wisco boxscore. That's with Wisconsin having 6 power plays to Yale's 3. I personally think that Wisconsin might be the best team in the WCHA. Yale also lit up Ferris St. who gave up the second fewest goals in CCHA league play.

Hakstol should mention that to the team about fourteen times a practice every day until Saturday, "They outshot Wisco 42-22 with 3 fewer power plays. They outshot Wisco 42-22 with 3 fewer power plays." Repeat like a zombie.

 

[SJHovey]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

I think a healthy Yale team beats North Dakota, but taking Sean BAckman off of Yale is the equivalent of taking a Gregoire or Kristo off of North Dakota.

It's a huge loss!

It might even be like losing your best player. The captain of the team who is also one of only 3 seniors on the team and a pre-season favorite to make the final 10 in the Hobey consideration.

Good teams deal with it. Others use it as an excuse.

 

[brianvf]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

Yale's a team that outshot Wisconsin 42-22 at the Kohl Center....of course that was with a healthy Sean Backman.

I think a healthy Yale team beats North Dakota, but taking Sean BAckman off of Yale is the equivalent of taking a Gregoire or Kristo off of North Dakota.

It's a huge loss!

When Yale outshot UW at the KC, Yale had Backman, but UW was without Stepan, Gardiner, and Ramage (all at the WJC). I would still say that UW would have been outshot even with those three players though, given the lopsided total.

If Yale has Backman and UND has Genoway, which team wins?
Genoway was considered by many to be a pre-season Hobey contender and one of the best dmen in all of college hockey. The Sioux lost him to injury after 9 games. It took them awhile to turn things around after that...

 

[SJHovey]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

When Yale outshot UW at the KC, Yale had Backman, but UW was without Stepan, Gardiner, and Ramage (all at the WJC). I would still say that UW would have been outshot even with those three players though, given the lopsided total.

If Yale has Backman and UND has Genoway, which team wins?
Genoway was considered by many to be a pre-season Hobey contender and one of the best dmen in all of college hockey. The Sioux lost him to injury after 9 games. It took them awhile to turn things around after that...

Going in and getting a tie at the Kohl Center is always an accomplishment, no matter who is missing for the Badgers. The shot totals don't surprise or necessarily worry me though. The Badgers are the WCHA's equivalent of Cornell. They very much play a "rope-a-dope" style, picking their spots and killing you on the pp. Wisconsin put less than 25 sog on us too, iirc.

The UND-Yale matchup is certainly very intriguing. UND's defense averages about 24 sog/game against this season. I think Yale has been held to that total only once this year.

I think Yale put up 40 or more in something like 18 games this year. I don't remember the last time we gave up 40, but it probably wasn't pretty.

 

[brianvf]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

Going in and getting a tie at the Kohl Center is always an accomplishment, no matter who is missing for the Badgers. The shot totals don't surprise or necessarily worry me though. The Badgers are the WCHA's equivalent of Cornell. They very much play a "rope-a-dope" style, picking their spots and killing you on the pp. Wisconsin put less than 25 sog on us too, iirc.

The UND-Yale matchup is certainly very intriguing. UND's defense averages about 24 sog/game against this season. I think Yale has been held to that total only once this year.

I think Yale put up 40 or more in something like 18 games this year. I don't remember the last time we gave up 40, but it probably wasn't pretty.

Agreed.
This matchup reminds me of the Princeton/UND regional game at the KC from a few years ago. ECAC team heavily outshot UND (39-18), but ended up losing 5-1:

http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080329&vis=pri&home=und&gender=m

 

[TimU]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

Agreed.
This matchup reminds me of the Princeton/UND regional game at the KC from a few years ago. ECAC team heavily outshot UND (39-18), but ended up losing 5-1:

http://www.uscho.com/box/?date=20080329&vis=pri&home=und&gender=m

Princeton outskated and outchanced UND in that game, but the difference in scoring ability at forward was glaring. Princeton should have scored 6 in that game, and scored 1. They'd have three or four Grade-A chances and come up empty. Then UND would get one so-so sniff at the net and bury it with a laser-beam shot. Just incredible snipers, and that's really the one thing ECAC teams tend not to have.

 

[BigDEli]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

Princeton outskated and outchanced UND in that game, but the difference in scoring ability at forward was glaring. Princeton should have scored 6 in that game, and scored 1. They'd have three or four Grade-A chances and come up empty. Then UND would get one so-so sniff at the net and bury it with a laser-beam shot. Just incredible snipers, and that's really the one thing ECAC teams tend not to have.

i think this is a good analogy, although UND did score two empty netters in the third, and Hobey winner Ryan Duncan had a hat trick. I'm not sure UND has those sorts of snipers this year, but then again Yale doesn't have a Zane Kalemba between the pipes.

I wish I could be more optimistic about this one....maybe I'm setting the bar low after what happened against Vermont last year, but I just hate this matchup.

 

[GOPHER FREAK]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

i think this is a good analogy, although UND did score two empty netters in the third, and Hobey winner Ryan Duncan had a hat trick. I'm not sure UND has those sorts of snipers this year, but then again Yale doesn't have a Zane Kalemba between the pipes.

I wish I could be more optimistic about this one....maybe I'm setting the bar low after what happened against Vermont last year, but I just hate this matchup.

It's really not a good one for anyone right now.

 

[tbodin23]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

Princeton outskated and outchanced UND in that game, but the difference in scoring ability at forward was glaring. Princeton should have scored 6 in that game, and scored 1. They'd have three or four Grade-A chances and come up empty. Then UND would get one so-so sniff at the net and bury it with a laser-beam shot. Just incredible snipers, and that's really the one thing ECAC teams tend not to have.

Agree totally TimU. Princeton did outskate and outchance UND, but it was yet another example of the truism that the college game at the top level is about finishing. There is a thin minority of players who are top flight goal scorers, not shot takers. It should be called the T. Vanek theorem or something like that. He didn't hustle, finish checks, or contribute any particular intangibles that I could see. He just scored goals, which I read somewhere is the object of the game.

 

[klumpmypants]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

Has anyone heard anything on Peel status?

Peel got absolutely rocked by I think Zolnierczyk in the last game against Brown and didn't know who he was for awhile.

 

[LTsatch]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

I heard he ended up with a shoulder injury, any news on his status for this weekend?

 

[SJHovey]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

i think this is a good analogy, although UND did score two empty netters in the third, and Hobey winner Ryan Duncan had a hat trick. I'm not sure UND has those sorts of snipers this year, but then again Yale doesn't have a Zane Kalemba between the pipes.

I wish I could be more optimistic about this one....maybe I'm setting the bar low after what happened against Vermont last year, but I just hate this matchup.

I think I can state with a fair amount of certainty that UND does not have pure goal scorers like Ryan Duncan or Andrew Kozek on this year's team. Jason Gregoire has a pretty nice shot. Matt Frattin, and to a lesser degree Trupp and Hextall can get off some nice shots from the face off dot where Duncan and Kozek made their home against Princeton.

UND's strengths this year are primarily these. Very strong up the middle, with 3 or 4 guys playing center who are terrific on face offs and grinding in the corners. They try to put a lot of big bodies in front of the goaltender and are difficult to move.

Their primary strategy is to throw the puck in the corner and then work a 3 man cycle. When successful, after 30-40 seconds of cycling the defense gets out of position and a scoring chance presents itself, or a penalty is drawn.

On the pp they will work it back and forth at the top of the umbrella, usually between Kristo and Marto or Kristo and Blood, trying to get a clear shot past the defensive forward out top, with Gregoire, Vande Velde and/or Malone parked in front of the crease screening the goalie, looking for a tip or rebound.

Not a lot of variety, but when working, very effective.

 

[BleedGreen]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

Kozek had a wicked wrister but there is no way he can be called a pure scorer. He only had one ten goal season at UND. Gregoire and Kristo are definitely better scorers than Kozek and I would probably say Frattin is too.

 

[SJHovey]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

Kozek had a wicked wrister but there is no way he can be called a pure scorer. He only had one ten goal season at UND. Gregoire and Kristo are definitely better scorers than Kozek and I would probably say Frattin is too.

I guess what I was talking about, in response to a post about the UND snipers that took out Princeton, was that Kozek was one of those guys with a real good, accurate shot. Like Duncan, he could get himself into position on the side of the crease, or come down on a 2 on 1, pick a corner and hit it.

Gregoire and Kristo are both more prolific scorers, I agree. However, more of their goals come from either tips or screened shots or "greasy" goals, as Hak is fond of saying, then from sniping the corner.

 

[flyund]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

Just watch UND cycle the puck. or Kristo's pp goal against sccu

 

[Skate79]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

I think I can state with a fair amount of certainty that UND does not have pure goal scorers like Ryan Duncan or Andrew Kozek on this year's team. Jason Gregoire has a pretty nice shot. Matt Frattin, and to a lesser degree Trupp and Hextall can get off some nice shots from the face off dot where Duncan and Kozek made their home against Princeton.

UND's strengths this year are primarily these. Very strong up the middle, with 3 or 4 guys playing center who are terrific on face offs and grinding in the corners. They try to put a lot of big bodies in front of the goaltender and are difficult to move.

Their primary strategy is to throw the puck in the corner and then work a 3 man cycle. When successful, after 30-40 seconds of cycling the defense gets out of position and a scoring chance presents itself, or a penalty is drawn.

On the pp they will work it back and forth at the top of the umbrella, usually between Kristo and Marto or Kristo and Blood, trying to get a clear shot past the defensive forward out top, with Gregoire, Vande Velde and/or Malone parked in front of the crease screening the goalie, looking for a tip or rebound.

Not a lot of variety, but when working, very effective.

Having seen UND play a few games this year on the tube, I will add that they are also effective coming through the neutral zone. You have to get after them and not give them room to operate or they will start the cycle mentioned above once they get the puck deep. They don't just dump and chase, they can move it between the blue lines and Yale needs to be aware of that. Their D is also good at jumping up into the play in the offensive zone.

If Yale had Backman, I'd say that there chances were better than 60-40% to win the game. Without Backman, I don't like their chances unless they can get on UND and forecheck the hell out of them for 60 minutes. And I don't see that happening.

 

[Got 6 Want More]

Re: Yale Hockey 2010

I sure wish Yale had Backman who I think was the POTY in the league regardless of the actual voting results!

Win or lose (I hope for a couple of wins at least), I'll be rooting for Yale to make the league proud. This is a chance to redeem a season where you earned a trip to Albany in the RS but didn't make it there.

Speed wise Yale matches up well. Let's hope the Eli's can finish!