Bleacher Report Looks At DU Injury Ramifications

(above) The Bleacher Report takes a look at life without Sam Brittain early next season
DU Alumnus Adam Odekirk ('06) has started a column in the Bleacher Report dedicated primarily to the University of Denver hockey program.  Odekirk takes a no-holds barred look at Sam Brittain's recent knee injury and the ramifications for DU next year and in coming seasons in goal.

12 comments:

Aluuum said...

Another "expert" giving up on Adam before the first game puck is dropped. Young men in their early development years many time improve year to year, many time significantly. I'm getting tired of all you experts,most of whom have never played any serious hockey, already washing Adam down the drain. I saw him play some (no all) but some solid goalie last year.

Anonymous said...

Exactly how much "serious" hockey did you play?

Aluuum said...

None!! just like the rest of you experts. What does me just playing high school hockey have to do with anything?
My comments are about all of you "experts" prejudging Adams future performance.

Anonymous said...

Where is Swami when you need him. Swami was every bit the "expert" as described. Oh wait, he never played high school hockey.

Aluuum said...

Swami was probably the only real expert on this site,
other than our own D.G. of course. Too bad he left us.

dggoddard said...

I'm no expert.

Its very difficult to ascertain what is going on behind the scenes or at practice unless you have direct contact with the coaches or players.

I have neither.

Anonymous said...

Well, there is no prejudgment involving Adam Murray, it's all based on what everyone has seen the past two years. There has been basically nothing to inspire confidence, that is all there is to it.

He hasn't played fundamentally soundly -- too many rebounds, bad angles, weak glove, loses sight of the puck too much, etc...he has many obvious holes in his game which need to be patched prior to him instilling confidence into us.

AOdekirk said...

Well I am flattered by the title of "Expert" but I think avid follower and novice journalist is more accurate.

I want to see Adam Murray succede as much as anyone but the statistics and the "eye" test so to speak do not support that at the moment.

Maybe with some consistent time between the pipes Adam becomes a solid goaltender who benefits from the talent in front of him.

What I was getting at more was that Gwozdecky brings in a star goalie about every three to four years. Brittain is clearly that goalie and still will be when he returns.

I really appreciate the reads and the comments and I will have you all know that I scored two goals in the intramural championship game against Theta Chi fraternity in 2005! How much more serious can it get?

Seriously, though I know that Murray is a great kid and deserves the full support of all DU fans. I hope he shines in his opportunity.

Anonymous said...

You don't need to be any kind of hockey expert at all to see that Adam's DU career to date has been disappointing. The numbers are what they are -- he is 9-7-1 all time (mediocre), a 3.6 GAA (mediocre) and a career saves percentage around .876 (poor). These are mediocre-to-below average numbers, no matter how you slice it. He was pulled from the starting rotation last year, and he's been given many chances to be the starter, and he's just hasn't taken advantage of opportunities. He's been very inconsistent in his play, and you don't need to be an expert - just watch the guy play.

If the coaches didn't want him to be a starter last year, how can you expect the DU fans to remain optmistic about a player whose DU career has been more bust then boom so far?

I would love to see Adam become a star, but so far, we've seen little evidence of it. The NHL passed on Murray, the US National Junior team program also passed on him and DU has shunted him to the bench for much of his career so far.

He needs to prove himself soon.

Pioneer Man said...

Swami was once paid full time for years for his hockey knowledge and expertise at the collegiate, international and NHL levels.

He knows what he is talking about.

I miss his insights here.

Aluuum said...

Anon:3:42 AMEN!

Anonymous said...

I love that that the Jon Cook (dad not son) threatened to beat the crap out of Swami last season.