Winning Time!

Sorry for the delay between posts. Just started a new job so things have been a little hectic.

Not much to say that hasn’t been said about the two BU games. Very gritty point in the first game (I was at a wedding and couldn’t attend), and a tough loss in Amherst (continuing the bad streak of televised games for the Minutemen). Listen, we knew this team was going to have a learning curve, and I do have questions about them. But so far, there are things to be excited about, even offensively, where we all thought they would struggle. I couldn’t be giddier about Branden Gracel, who is such a ball of energy out there. The offense hasn’t quite found it’s rythm, but they are quick and young, and all you can hope for is steady improvement.

That said, I do think this is a big weekend. If the Minutemen are going to make the Hockey East playoffs (about as realistic goal as you can hope for with a young squad), they are going to have to tae care of business against the weaker teams in the league. That means you Providence. It’s going to be a struggle to get points from the big boys, so it’s essential the Minutemen get at least three points this weekend, and probably four. Can they do it? I think so. Providence can be tough defensively, but this team has shown the mental fortitude thus far that I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt against the worst team in Hockey East.

I will do my best to get a recap up at some point on Sunday. Hopefully, I’ll be talking about the first two UMass wins of the year@

The Future is Bright!

I’m going to start by saying…….sorry I hadn’t posted in awhile.  Had been very busy, and last season took a lot out of me.  That said…….I couldn’t be more excited to have college hockey back.

Normally, for a team that historically peaks in the first half of the year, opening the season by getting swept would have my in a foul mood this morning.  This year, nothing could be further from the truth.  Obviously nobody likes to get swept, but I find tons of reasons for optimism after the first two games in the land of 1000 lakes.

First, this is a young team.  I have almost no expectations of them.  My only hope for them is that they improve steadily throughout the year, rather than starting fast and fading down the stretch.  So losing early, well, isn’t exactly the worst thing in the world.

Now we all know there were lots of defections last year, and one of the big questions (aside from the youth) was where the offense was going to come from with the team losing it’s top 5 scorers.  Offense was certainly not the problem in Minnesota.  Mike Perreria looks like the real deal.  TJ Syner and Danny Hobbs appear to have taken steps forward.  I was very impressed with Branden Gracel and Connor Sheary.  I don’t think offense is going to be as big a problem as we thought.

Defensively was a bit rough, but that’s to be expected with the amount of youth on this team.  I honestly think we can expect the defense to steadily improve as the year goes on.  I’m pretty excited to see what this team looks like in January, and super excited to see what they will be in two years.  The future here is very bright I think.

UMass got down in both games, but you saw some grit and mental toughness out of this club.  They refused to quit, clawed back into each game with chances to tie it late.  Maybe the Navy Seal mentality is paying off, because it would have been easy for a young team on the road to get down on themselves falling behind by 2 and 3 goals.  But they didn’t.  That might be the most encouraging sign of the weekend.

Obviously it would have been nice to steal a win.  But short of that, I really see more reasons to be optimistic about the future here.  After last season, it’s refreshing to see a team with some determination.

Let’s just hope it translates into some wins!

Whirlwind!

..that’s the only word the comes to mind at the moment.  I had planned on doing a season review, and still will, but that has to wait for now.  As I’m sure you have all read by now, Casey Wellman is gone, Matt Irwin is all but gone, and the departure of James Marcou is imminent.  So much for losing to BC being the worst thing to happen to this team!

I’ll start with tCasey.  Quite frankly, he had to sign that deal.  He gets 900k for three weeks of work, gets a taste of the NHL, and gets another 900k next year.  If I were in his spot, I would have taken that deal.  Sad to see him go, though as Fear the Triangle alluded too, he didn’t exactly light it up the second half of the season.  The silver lining here is that UMass just had the most high profile free agent get signed, and it got a lot of publicity.  If he has some success in Minnesota, it’s actually a good thing for the program, putting them on the map and helping attract high caliber recruits.  So best of luck to Casey.

Next I’ll tackle Matt Irwin.  Leaving after your sophomore year for 100k?  Really?  And I don’t know what San Jose is watching, but this kid is not ready for the pros.  Irwin is a solid Hockey East defensemen right now, that has a very solid slapshot and is an asset on the power play.  But he’s still raw.  If he developed for another year or two, I think he could be a legitimate NHL prospect.  But he’s not at the moment.

And now to James Marcou.  I don’t want James to go, and that is totally selfish of me.  I think he is pro ready.  He is undersized, but that’s never going to change.  I don’t know how much another year of development will improve his NHL abilities.  Now there is a case to be made about leaving his mark on college hockey history, and being the undisputed greatest player to ever lace up the skates for Massachusetts.  But I can’t kill him for leaving if he does go, which seems like a certainty at this point.  If he does leave, well, then all I have to say to James is I’ll miss you most of all scarecrow (a Wizard of Oz reference!).  Thanks for the memories.  I truly loved watching him play, probably more than any other athlete I’ve seen at UMass.

Now what does all this mean for next year?  Well, we are going to see just how good this incoming recruiting class is.  By all accounts there is a lot of talent coming in.  It would have been great to let them develop with Marcou/Wellman etc, but there is no use crying over the spilled milk.  The defense is going to be suspect, but the incoming recruits are going to get a trial by fire.  Maybe with them all getting significant time in year one, they can compete for Hockey East home ice in year two or three.  We shall see.    Season review coming in a day or so!

Good night and good luck

So with that, the once promising UMass hockey season has come to an end.

The last two nights at the very least, revealed some heart and effort.  The sad reality is B.C. is one of the best teams in the country, and beating them is going to be tough for any team.  What stings is, if this team showed this type of determination and grit in the month of February, they would never have been playing the Eagles in the quarterfinals.  At worst they’d have drawn them in the single elimination semi-finals or finals, which would have been much more favorable.

There will be time for a post-mortem later in the week, and I plan on doing that.  But what’s dissappointing now (and it was mentioned at Fear the Triangle), is that just of a month ago, this team was closer to landing a number one seed in the NCAA tournament (and were a 2 seed in plenty of USCHO bracketologies) than they were to not being in the tourney at all.  In the end, they didn’t get home ice in their own conference tourney (which they almost didn’t make!) and became the only team in the first round to get swept (see, my reverse jinx didn’t work at all…it was like a reverse reverse jinx…UMass gets swept, every other series goes to three games).

There is plenty of blame to go around, but that’s for later in the week.  Instead, I want to thank Justin Braun, Brett Watson, Martin Nolet, Dan Meyers and Will Ortiz for getting to watch them over the last four years.  Not the way I wanted to see them go out, but I’m happy to have had the pleausre of watching them play.  And I don’t even want to think about what their sub-par defense is going to look like next year without them, yeeeeesh.

And away we go…

Well, we have at least two more hockey games to watch this season.  And since the Hockey East playoffs are starting up, I figured now would be a good time to break down the Hockey East playoffs.  If you haven’t already, go check the preview at Fear the Triangle, which I read this morning and was excellent.

#1 UNH v #8 Vermont.  UNH 2-0.  I’m sure UNH wasn’t thrilled to see Vermont find it’s way into the 8 seed, but nonetheless, I think this series won’t be too competitve.  Maybe Vermont makes a game of it for one of the nights, but I just don’t see them having the firepower to hang with the Wildcats, especially without the services of Justin Milo

#2 Boston College v #7 UMass.  Trust fund babies 2-0.  Kills me to say it.  I do think the Mass Attack will hang tough, and I hope I’m wrong.  (And if you thinking I’m trying to pull the reverse jinx, well, you’re right).  But BC has been great the whole second half, and the Mass Attack hasn’t.  They were great last weekend,  but against a Maine club that had some serious goaltending issues.  Just don’t see them being able to hang with (in my opinion) the best team in the conference.

#3 Boston University v #6 Merrimack.  Terriers 2-0.  Merrimack is much improved and all that jazz, but last I checked, the Warriors have to play these games at Agganis, and they are horrendous on the road.  If these games were at Lawler, I would honestly pick the ‘Mack to sweep.  But alas, BU moves on to take on BC (gaaaaaaag me)

#4 Maine v #5 UMass-Lowell.  Riverhawks 2-0.  I thought about making this 2-1 just so I wouldn’t have every series ending in a sweep.  Then I thought about the goaltending of the Blackbears minus Scott Darling.  Maine is 1-9 when he’s not in the lineup.  Make that 1-11. 

Feel free to discuss (or tell me what an idiot I am……because I am!)

Postpone the eulogy

I went to North Carolina last weekend with my fiaance to visit with our niece on her 1st birthday.  To be honest, I assumed that when I got back, I’d be writing a season post-mortem.  The team was cooked, and had played one good game in basically a month.  There was no reason to think this team had any magic left in the tank.

Well here we are today, and UMass has an outside shot at an at-large bid!  It’s not a great shot, but the fact they are even in the discussion is enough to make me do backflips. 

So now they have a bit of business ahead of themselves with the looming Hockey East quarterfinal matchup with B.C. on the horizon this weekend.  Can they win?  Hard to say.  They played the Eagles very tough in two of the three games this season (minus the drubbing in Amherst), but the bottom line is…they lost all three.  But they can hang with this team, and if you need evidence, look no further than two weeks ago when they took the Eagles to the limit in overtime.

I don’t know if they have enough offense clicking to get it done.  Yes they scored 8 goals this weekend against Maine, but Maine was without Scott Darling, and their defense was shaky anyway.  At the very least, maybe it built up some offensive momentum heading into the Heights.

I am excited about the defense.  They only gave up five goals this weekend, and three of those came with the Black Bears on the man advantage (and they have the best PP in the country).  Doug Kublin is back, and all of the sudden this team is, for the most part, keeping the puck out of the net. 

Is it a lot to ask to assume this team can make a legit run now in the tournament, and perhaps into the NCAA’s?  Yes, probably.  But there was a time this year when they played like a world class hockey team.  And for the last three games, they have looked more like the team that went 9-2, instead of the team that crumbled down the stretch.  So who knows.  At the very least, we have one more weekend of hockey to look forward to.

Dog Fight

Been awhile since my last post, so here are some passing thoughts.

Fantastic effort by UMass at Conte Forum.  It’s a loss, yes, but still they looked like a hockey team that cared for a change.  Ironically if they had played like that the five games prior to the BC game, we would be sitting here today talking about which home ice spot they would be wrapping up this weekend.  Instead, we are talking about whether or not they will even make the Hockey East playoffs, since they are currently on the outside looking in.

If they don’t get in, it will be a real shame.  This season started with some real promise, and NCAA tournament hopes.  Those hopes are gone.  Now they need to beat a tough Maine squad in order to even get the 8 spot in Hockey East.  This team was competeing for first place in Decemeber.  It’s mind boggling to think about how we got here.

I’m sure people will be calling for Toot’s head if they don’t make the tournament.  I may be one of them.  But we’ll have plenty of time to discuss that later.  Right now my hope is just that they come forward with the same effort that took BC to the limit.  They are going to need it in order to have more than two games left on the schedule.  Here’s hoping!

B.C. Preview

…well, kind of.  I’ve done a few previews, but to be honest, right now it’s just depressing.  There is no way you can twist the numbers and come to a conclusion other than Eagles-a lot, Mass Attack-a little (or none).  So instead of doing that, I’m going to give a wish least, from most realistic to least realistic.

Wish 1- A Minuteman lead.  Seems pretty realistic, except that I’m pretty sure they haven’t lead since the Providence game.  So maybe this should be further down the list.  But I think a lead, any lead, would be a good start as far as rebuilding their shattered confidence.

Wish 2-A solid first period.  This team has been pretty bad in the first period all year long.  When they were dominating the third period and winning games, this was ok.  Now?  Not so much.

Wish 3-Keep the game close.  This is two fold.  Firstly, it’s embarassing to keep getting embarassed.  Second, I’m going to B.C. Friday for this game, and quite frankly, I don’t feel like hearing it from lame-o “superfans” who come to the game five beers deep.  (Did I do this in college?  Guilty.  Now, as punishment, some meatball drunk kid decides to pick on me at almost every road venue I’ve been at this year.  It may be because I’m decked in enemy gear.  I think it’s because karma is paying me back for my college years.  Probably a little column A and column B, but I’m rambling).

Wish 4- A goal for Casey Wellman.  Since it’s been like, well…it’s been awhile.  Too long for a guy this talented.

Wish 5- A solid defensive effort on the road against a good offensive team.  I swear to god I wrote that without laughing.  Or most of it without laughing.  But in all seriousness, it would be nice to give the goaltending a little help, and not give up six goals.  Just a though.

Wish 6- A WIN.  Novel concept, I realize.  But really not likely considering the directions of the two teams.  But a boy can dream. 

With that said, you will see me at the Heights Friday night, cheering on the Mass Attack, and probably giving some lip to some Superfrauds.  Let’s just hope UMass helps me out.

…..Ouch

“You used to love to drive me wild girl, but lately now you get your kicks on just knocking me down, down, down…”-Bruce Springsteen

The final three games (maybe more, if they make the Hockey East playoffs…and that is a big IF, at this point) are a formality.  This team is dead in the water, a once promising season washed away.  They have had four semi must win games to right the ship, and they fell flat on their face in all of them.  They are mentally defeated before they take the ice.

I could get into the games this weekend, how they scored once lousy goal (and it took a 5×3 to get it), and how mind-bogglingly awful they have played on defense, but that is really beside the point.  This is a team that has no mental toughness, that doesn’t respond to adversity, and who expects the worst to happen to them.  It’s now a self-fufilling prophecy.

The only person I can blame for it is Toot.  This team has pretty consistently folded down after Christmas break.  It’s very much a trend at this point, almost to be expected.  I never really blamed him before, because in the past, at least to me, it seemed UMass was not among the most talented teams in the league.  They were over-achievers, who battled hard, but ran out of gas late in the year as more talented teams hit their stride.

This is absolutely, positively not the case with this team.  This team has talent.  They have a great first line of scorers, some talented defenseman who move the puck (though you wouldn’t know it lately), and at the very least, average goaltending.  And yet, the second half skid remains in tact.  This one among the worst?  Why is that?

In my opinion, it’s a culture thing.  Paul Dainton said earlier in the year something to the effect of “People are wiating for us to collapse, but it’s not going to happen this year,” after the Merrimack win in Amherst.  At the time, I loved the comment.  I thought maybe this team was going to be a little different.  That they could succeed where other Mass Attack clubs have failed.  But now,  I have an issue with it.  My issue is….before the Christmas break, when the team was still playing relatively well, this team was thinking about a second half collapse.  I hadn’t seen anywhere in print, radio or any other form of media, anybody anticipating an epic fall for this team.  But inside the Minuteman lockerroom, they were already thinking about it.  It’s a part of the culture there, and that falls on the coach.

Maybe that’s not fair to Toot, but I honestly believe at this point the only way this team will become a national power and majore player in Hockey East is to change that culture by removing the coach.  Maybe I’m wrong.  I hope I’m wrong.  But I don’t think I am.

If you think I’m crazy (and it’s been suggested), let me know.  I’d like to get a dialouge going about this.  This could be an emotional reaction, but I think I’m being pretty rational about it.  But let’s get it going.

-Josh

And Down the stretch they come…

“Giddy-up.”-Kramer from Seinfeld

Regardless of how great UMass played early, or how bad they’ve played late, one fact remains.  The Mass Attack has found themselves in a dogfight for Hockey East tournament positioning, and has a shot to make the NCAA.  Would I like them to be playing better?  Yes.  But they still have a chance, which starts tonight in a must-sweep series at Merrimack.

Merrimack does three things of note.  They can score, they give up a lot of goals, and they don’t lose at home.  Offensively they are lead by Freshman sensation Stephane Da Costa and Chris Barton, the Warriors answer to Wellman/Marcou.  They other lines are not very deep (nobody else on the team has more than 20 points), but this line is formidable, and presents a pretty stiff challenge to a strug-a-ling Minutemen defense.

Merrimack watches the puck find its way into their own net plenty, giving up well over three goals a game.  They don’t have a starting goalie, as they rotate Andrew Braithwaite and Joe Cannata the way UML does with Hutton/Hamilton.  The only difference is, Hutton/Hamilton don’t suck.  Braithwaite/Cannata….not so great.  At the very least, they don’t scare me.  Could be just what the doctor ordered for a strug-a-ling Mass Attack offense.

Tonight’s game is at Lawler Arena, where Merrimack has been awesome.  They are 10-2 there, which is the best home ice advantage in Hockey East.  It’s a tiny rink, which plays to their advantage, as it hamstrings the quicker and more talented teams.  If UMass wins tonight, I think this becomes an easy sweep.  If they don’t, who knows how dejected they will feel.  But I can’t pick against the Warriors at home.  It’s foolishly optimistic for ANY team to expect a win there this year, let alone a team who is scuffling.  So while the Minutemen desperately need this game….it’s going to be tough.  But who knows, because everything up to this point is now irrelevant.  It’s a 5 game season, and time for UMass to get busy living, or get busy dying.

Hopefully the former.

-Josh