The University of Denver jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Saturday night at Magness Arena, but North Dakota responded with six straight goals to split the weekend series.
Anybody know why LaLeggia left the ice with the trainer a couple minutes before the ending? For God's sake - between Mermis' summer vacation, his brother's glorious contract and all our game misconducts....DU can't handle and injuries right now. Pretty soon they'll be dressing the Ushers to fill the bench. I'll be happy to split with the Goofers next week - then hopefully sweep the Seawolves.... but one good thing is, when DU plays Alaska, in terms of standings they'll know exactly what they need to do, and know where they stand and what's on the line for that series.
I heard the coach say on the radio that the seniors need to hold the reckless underclassmen accountable for dumbass penaltys. That troubles me, because it more or less sounds like the coaches have given up, trying to train/coach/mentor/motivate their students..... like Mayfield and Didier for instance. And right now - I don't see Mr. Phillips suddenly "flipping a switch" and becoming this great leader, and changing these guys' in 3 weeks. Too many dumb penalty infractions. Reckless behavior. It's a long long way to the frozen four.... just sayin
A little bit of grit in front of the opposing goalie during the power play instead of dumb penalties at the end of the game. We made the prima donna Kristo look like a star tonight.
Giving up eleven goals in two games and still coming away with two points is an accomplishment in itself.
I don't see Noth Dakota going anywhere in the playoffs either. Their goal tending is suspect at best.
Ugly game for DU last night. After the good start the wheels fell off and it turned into a beatdown. Unfortunate way to end the series. UND was clearly the better and smarter team last night.
Another big challenge looming against Minny next weekend. DU has to find a way to get at least one W.
DU never puts guys in front (occasionally on Friday, which was a treat). Saunders left some juicy rebounds right from the start on Saturday. A wise, hard working team would have taken advantage of it.
Though I won't go as far as to say UND won't go anywhere in the playoffs. Kristo, Grimaldi, Knight and crew are way too good for that. Rowney's forecheck on the PK Saturday night was monstrous. Probably a FF team, but I hope they do the usual Hakstol-led choke in Pittsburgh.
- While no goal scorers in top 50 (although I think Nick is technically tied for 50th at 28 points); we have 12 guys with at least 10 points and 6 guys with at least 20 points. Overall, pretty nice scoring balance. Normally, I'd say this is really favorable because it's indicative that if your top line is having an off night, the role players will fill in the gaps. However, this year it seems that either everybody is scoring or nobody is scoring. But, the potential is there.
- 4th overall offense in nation at 3.35 goals/game. A Shot and a Goal on USCHO posted an interesting stat this weekend where DU basically wins every game when they score 4 or more, and loses every game when they score 3 or fewer.
- 34th in nation in team GAA at 2.81, while Jussi is 16th in nation in Save %.
- 6th in nation on the PP
- 20th in nation on the PK.
- #1 in nation for penalty minutes.
I think all of these stats say basically what we already know. Defense, penalties and consistency are our problem. Luckily, the only hardware given for consistency is the MacNaughton. I can't say that I would bet on this team making a deep run in the playoffs, but they have shown that they can be damn good at times and I wouldn't put it past them. Obviously, the next 5-8 games will decide whether we even get a chance to roll the dice.
11 comments:
Ouch.
Very classy at the end too.
Anybody know why LaLeggia left the ice with the trainer a couple minutes before the ending? For God's sake - between Mermis' summer vacation, his brother's glorious contract and all our game misconducts....DU can't handle and injuries right now. Pretty soon they'll be dressing the Ushers to fill the bench. I'll be happy to split with the Goofers next week - then hopefully sweep the Seawolves.... but one good thing is, when DU plays Alaska, in terms of standings they'll know exactly what they need to do, and know where they stand and what's on the line for that series.
I heard the coach say on the radio that the seniors need to hold the reckless underclassmen accountable for dumbass penaltys. That troubles me, because it more or less sounds like the coaches have given up, trying to train/coach/mentor/motivate their students..... like Mayfield and Didier for instance. And right now - I don't see Mr. Phillips suddenly "flipping a switch" and becoming this great leader, and changing these guys' in 3 weeks. Too many dumb penalty infractions. Reckless behavior. It's a long long way to the frozen four.... just sayin
A little bit of grit in front of the opposing goalie during the power play instead of dumb penalties at the end of the game. We made the prima donna Kristo look like a star tonight.
Giving up eleven goals in two games and still coming away with two points is an accomplishment in itself.
I don't see Noth Dakota going anywhere in the playoffs either. Their goal tending is suspect at best.
A fan of a team whos goalie just let half a dozen in saying another teams goal tending is suspect?
that's rich. Tell me another one, I like to laugh.
Ugly game for DU last night. After the good start the wheels fell off and it turned into a beatdown. Unfortunate way to end the series. UND was clearly the better and smarter team last night.
Another big challenge looming against Minny next weekend. DU has to find a way to get at least one W.
DU never puts guys in front (occasionally on Friday, which was a treat). Saunders left some juicy rebounds right from the start on Saturday. A wise, hard working team would have taken advantage of it.
Though I won't go as far as to say UND won't go anywhere in the playoffs. Kristo, Grimaldi, Knight and crew are way too good for that. Rowney's forecheck on the PK Saturday night was monstrous. Probably a FF team, but I hope they do the usual Hakstol-led choke in Pittsburgh.
Anybody else noticing a letdown at the end of the period?
Last night, 4 of the 6 goals came in the last two minutes of a period. 3 were in the last minute.
To me, this shows mental weakness and quitting before the buzzer sounds. I've noticed this in previous games too.
What's up with this?
It's funny (or sad): The Pioneers are about where we thought they'd be before the season opened. We just took the hard way to get there.
Pioneers have not a single player in the top 50 scorers in the country....and now the goaltending is more inconsistent. At least, CC is worse!
Some other interesting stats:
- While no goal scorers in top 50 (although I think Nick is technically tied for 50th at 28 points); we have 12 guys with at least 10 points and 6 guys with at least 20 points. Overall, pretty nice scoring balance. Normally, I'd say this is really favorable because it's indicative that if your top line is having an off night, the role players will fill in the gaps. However, this year it seems that either everybody is scoring or nobody is scoring. But, the potential is there.
- 4th overall offense in nation at 3.35 goals/game. A Shot and a Goal on USCHO posted an interesting stat this weekend where DU basically wins every game when they score 4 or more, and loses every game when they score 3 or fewer.
- 34th in nation in team GAA at 2.81, while Jussi is 16th in nation in Save %.
- 6th in nation on the PP
- 20th in nation on the PK.
- #1 in nation for penalty minutes.
I think all of these stats say basically what we already know. Defense, penalties and consistency are our problem. Luckily, the only hardware given for consistency is the MacNaughton. I can't say that I would bet on this team making a deep run in the playoffs, but they have shown that they can be damn good at times and I wouldn't put it past them. Obviously, the next 5-8 games will decide whether we even get a chance to roll the dice.
Post a Comment