"No question, our defensive corps really, really struggled," DU coach George Gwozdecky said. "The second period alone we gave up five 2-on-1s. I feel bad for Adam Murray. You hate to put him in that position, where guys are continually breaking down in front of him."
Gwozdecky has options. Third-year sophomore John Ryder was the seventh defenseman Friday and scratched Saturday. Junior Chris Nutini was scratched both games. The Colorado natives have the immediate ability to plug holes.
"We do have great depth," Gwozdecky said. "No question, you want to be able to throw the younger guys into the fire right away and see what they can do, what they need to work on. We found that out pretty evidently this weekend, and we go back to the drawing board Monday with everybody."
Mike Chambers of the Denver Post spoke to coach Gwozdecky after the game on Saturday night. For those of you fluent in "Gwozspeak," this type of cryptic message usually means a teeth-rattling practice on Monday and a lineup shakeup on Thursday night against Ohio State.
7 comments:
First things first--the Catamounts are the real deal. I didn't see any of Saturday's game, but they sure as hell impressed me on Friday. They deserved a split this weekend.
I must admit--I watched their d-men with a tinge of envy. They are big and physical and tough to play against. I wish DU had more of that. There seems to be a lot talent offensively from our d-men, but Ryder aside, our guys need to assert themselves physically, knock the opposing forwards off the puck, and be more difficult to play against. Vermont was able to cycle the puck too easily, at least in portions of Friday's game. I want our guys to be a little nastier.
Next up: 2 tough road trips. It will be interesting to see what lessons the Pios take from the Vermont series.
Our D needs to man up.
Gwoz can patch the leak anytime he wants with Nutini & Ryder or double shifting Wiercioch.
The Freshmen have a huge upside. Donovan was the best player on the ice for most of the weekend, except when getting toasted on a few breakaways.
The obvious solution is to mix and match the vets with the New Kids until everyone is up to speed. Of course, playing from behind for 85% of the weekend is not the best way to mold a defense. :-)
Ohio State has been beaten by Western Canada and Quinnipiac in the past three games. Lets see how DU does against Ohio State. I'm guessing a lot better. :-)
I've seen other teams in the wcha focus on recruiting mostly skill players...............(throat clearing inserted hear for affect)..............gophers....
Skill only does not cut it. Sorry to drop a bombshell here DU fans, but your defensive core is suspect. As I said on a different post, outscoring your opponents will not lead to consiscent winning. Just the facts.
Good point on the skill players but DU had "walk-ons" who played significant roles last season and are expected to contribute this season. Salazar, Vossberg, Nutini, Ryder.
Minnesota was 5-3-2 after 10 games before winning the National Championship in 2003.
DU was outscored by North Dakota 21-6 in four regular season games before winning the National Championship in 2004.
DU was 5-5-0 after ten games before they won the National Championship in 2005.
Michigan State started off 7-7-1 before winning the National Championship in 2007.
Talk to me in April. :-)
Those are great facts about teams being average in the beginning and finishing strong. You are correct, it is a long season. However, it still does not negate the fact that the D-core at DU is suspect. Furthermore, Chevy is not exactly battle tested. He's going to need a stong D-core to make him look good.
Once again on the subject of "skill players";
Two years ago I watched the whole DU team stand around while one of their fellow players got pummeled. Frankly, I dont see much change in this current team. I'm sorry, but I don't see alot of "grit" in the DU lineup.
"our defense really, really struggled" Gwozspeak for "maybe I should have played more veteran defensemen who won't get rolled at the first sign of a tough game?"
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