College hockey's midseason Christmas break can't come early enough for the University of Denver hockey team. A depleated forwards corps is showing its limitations late in games during a six-game winless streak. The University of North Dakota rolled Denver 6-3 on Saturday night in Grand Forks adding to the Pioneers recent woes.
Despite the recent troubles, DU remains in first place in the WCHA by one point over Minnesota.
Despite the recent troubles, DU remains in first place in the WCHA by one point over Minnesota.
14 comments:
Plane and simple the bleeding continues for DU, no wins since CC week and the team just seems to fall apart all round. Gwoz needs to find a answer quick.
Where is all the shit talkers now?
I believe the proper grammar is, "Where ARE all the shit talkers now?"
Consider LetsGoDU as an opportunity for the unwashed masses to work on spelling, grammar and reading comprehension skills.
All things being equal, coming out of North Dakota with one point this weekend was actually a pretty good result.
Stealing a point and denying North Dakota that point should come in handy at the end of the season.
PioNation can thank Jussi Olikuora for an amazing game on Friday.
DU is still in first place and has two games against Bemidji State next week to pad the lead.
I was glad to see Denver goals being scored while on a power play, and happy to see Scott Mayfield produce.
It is an accomplishment to get one point considering Denver was badly out played both nights
UND has two games in hand and is 3 pts out of first. I am fine with that. Anyway you slice it, these two teams are headed in different directions. UND's direction is the right path. DU has either been dominated or hasn't put together a complete game since the CC series. DG....I know your glasses have a crimson tint to them, but I wuold be worried.
Yes, DU is struggling. But hey, it's a long season, and thankfully there's lots of time to rebound. First on the agenda: win a game, & get some confidence brewing again! It has been WAY too long since the last victory.
Well, even with the recent struggles the Pioneers have had, they are still clinging to first place as the midway point of the season approaches. Time to turn the page and get back on track, boys!
I wonder if the staff will consider biting the bullet and bring in a player or two early, for the second half of the season? Need some depth...
Gotta give the Fighting-Whatever-Their-Name is credit. They took it to the Pios and showed that their offensive skill players are better than ours. I was pretty impressed with how they play and they are deep, too.
I actually liked our puck movement in the second game, we just couldn't finish. We just need to get a bit of confidence and we should be alright.
Juho Olkinoura - but any way you spell it, he was stellar Friday night in GF.
Another rough weekend for the Pios, but amazingly, they are still in 1st. After the 9-1 start it's been an ugly 0-4-2 stretch. Need to right the ship and go into the break on a good note with a sweep against BSU.
DU was really lucky to eek out the point on Friday, as UND dominated the latter half of that game. Great effort by Juho--he saved the bacon against a very good UND team. I thought UND's depth was the difference over the weekend.
Going forward, I think DU needs to work on 2 things: (1) crashing the net. Create some screens and get traffic in front of the other team's goalie. (2) DU has to be tougher in the corners and along the boards. It's tough to maintain puck possession without more physical play in those areas.
The scoring issues that were predicted preseason have reared their ugly head. Jussi is making a run at becoming the #1 goalie. It's been a dismal couple weekends for DU. Time to see what's under the tree and what 2013 has in store.
PS I hate Danny Kristo....
I think Jussi deserves some time at #1 with 2 starts a weekend. Sam was looking like he could make a run for that a few weeks ago, but has not looked sharp since perhaps the CC series. Rycroft made a great point a few weeks ago about the goalies not being able to get into a groove only playing once a week. It's not George's way though, and he is always very committed to the platoon approach.
I would agree with Twister on crashing the net- it seems like DU rarely puts a man in front of the net to just camp out, and we rarely capitalize on rebounds or screens as a result. Been this way for years- no appreciation for the dirty goal. It counts just the same as a pretty tic-tac-toe. And over the past 3 weeks, offensive possessions have rarely lasted longer than 20 seconds or so- one shot and done.
0-4-2 since winter break started. I think given the potential shown in the first part of the season, and the composition of this team going into this season, it all comes down to coaching. I thought that a lack of superstar power would provide a platform to spread scoring out and be more committed to a team-centric style of play. Given things like the goalie rotation, are the coaches really putting us in the best position to win? I'm not sure.
Three weeks ago, people wanted Great Brittain to get all the starts. These things ebb and flow and no school in college hockey spends the money, coaching and the time on goaltending than DU.
Getting one point last weekend was HUGE. We were badly out-manned and they boys displayed a ton of heart.
Bemidji doesn't like us very much. They think they should of received an invite into the NCHC because of their beautiful facility. Needless to say, CC, UND and the original three others are as much at fault as DU. And the truth be told there's eight other schools heading into the WCHA, who would of been a better fit than Bemidji.
After breaking even in the 1st season in the new Arena, BSU just fired their AD & revealed a $250,000 loss last season.
That being said, DU needs to take it one game at a time this weekend. Take the series lightly and DU will get smoked. Bear down and the Pioneers should get the job done.
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