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| (above) Ferris State moved on to Tampa while DU headed home wondering what could have been |
From: Denver Post
by Adrian Dater
Of the nation's 58 NCAA Division I hockey programs, only 15 got as far as the University of Denver did in 2012.
Yet, after the Pioneers were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by a 2-1 loss to Ferris State on Friday afternoon, the question begged: Did DU overachieve or underachieve this season? [read entire article].
5 comments:
Thought it was interesting that Drew Shore had yet to decide on going pro or staying. I hope he wouldn't pass up the chance to come back as the senior captain and play with his 2 brothers.
Up and down season but a fun one. Hope we'll get to see both Zucker and Bennett back out there next season. Juho was huge between the pipes and I though Nick Shore and Joey LaLeggia had great seasons.
The Alabama Huntsville Game will go down as the low point. I mean come on there jerseys were screen printed and looked like a team in my rec league.
John Ryder will go down as one of my favorite Denver D men. The big hits and the chippy play. Great career at DU!
All of sudden, Adrian Dater in for Mike CHambers? What's up with that?
Chambers has been spending over 50% of his time covering the Avs and travelling with the team. When there was a conflict Dater would step in. Dater has covered the Avs extensively over the years, so he knows hockey.
Zucker wearing his DU jersey during the post game news conference is a pretty telling sign that he's leaving.
For the first time in many, many years DU doesn't have an elite goal scoring recruit waiting in the wings unless someone from the 2013 recruiting class is brought in early.
Interesting article, but I think the whole debate about whether DU underachieved or overachieved is a wild goose chase. Yes, DU had some bad losses, none worse than the Huntsville game, but the bottom line is the Pios made the tourney. DU didn't let the UAH loss (or any others) prevent an invite to the NCAAs. DU had a great run in the league playoffs and punched their ticket.
In the national tournament anything can happen. Ferris played a great game, especially defensively. DU had some great chances but couldn't make it happen. That's the way it goes. 58 teams start the season. 16 teams have a shot at the title. 15 teams go home disappointed.
Winning national titles is great, but is not the only measure of success.
DU was picked as a top 5 team this year and ended up 9th. Why? You take any top 5 team and strip them of their most gifted and highly drafted player (Bennett) their best two-way defenseman (Makowski), their top goalie for more than half a season (Brittain) and then see how they do. Chances are, they aren't a top 5 team.
DU did the best it could with what it had to put on the ice.
They made the NCAAs with a cobbled-together lineup. You can't really ask for more than that...
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