I will say this to be nice to the opponent - they've lost some tough games to quality opponents. Lost to Penn State 3-2 and 4-2. Lost to Umass 4-1. Beat Sacred Heart. It's not like they were a 1-12 team that was losing 7-1 every game.
OK now that the compliment is out of the way to the 60th ranked team in the country lets look inward.
Our goaltending tonight was just dreadful. Tyler being on his rear end looking into the net to see if the puck was there only to have the puck then knocked in because it was in front of him was something special. He's had some nice moments to the year and his overall stats are good but man, Losing Tung after one-half of a year is absolutely a killer.
What the hell is going on with Jake Richard? Last year 15 goals and a plus 26. This year 2 goals and a minus 3.
Ryan Tattle - last year 18 goals. So far this year, 4.
Whatever it is, the coaches have not been able to identify the issue and/or fix the issue. I know Schandor is gone but teams lose seniors all the time and the best of the leftover players aren't supposed to just hit rock bottom the next year.
Muldowney had 5 goals in his first 6 and just 1 in his next 6. Not sure what is going on with him healthwise - still concussion or shoulder issues??? We need him back in the lineup pronto. Thank god for these 10 off days coming up so he can suit up for merrimack.
The passing is dreadful. It's either too weak or too far off its target. Way too many times. Do we lift weights enough? Might want to spend the next 10 days constantly in the gym working on upper body strength. Way too many passes that look like they are being made by an 85 year old whose body is being ravaged by arthritis. We also seem to have a problems at times handling a pass if it is on target. Everything just seems like a mess.
Speaking of passing our power play needs to be put into a cannon and shot into the heart of the sun. If i watch one more PP where we pass it for 30 seconds around the perimeter looking for the perfect shot only to evenutally be stolen and sent down the ice, I'm going to lose it. put the puck on the net and if it doesn't get through the goalie you have at least 1 guy there to try to clean it up.
Also, what year did a slap shot from the point get banned from the sport of hockey? Ohh the forward may block it. So what. They already steal one of our 10 straight passes around the perimeter and clear the zone. I'd rather if they are going to get the puck, it's going to come with a bruise. Over the course of the game that forward will stop being brave. At the very least mix it up and use the slap shot once in awhile.
Faceoffs. We won 35 and lost 30. Not good enough against a team like Stonehill. You should be OWNING them on the faceoff circle. There was a stretch with 4-5 minutes to go where i think we lost 3 out of 4 faceoffs in their zone. Great job.
Is there a reason we schedule a game with a Stonehill? It's a game that does not benefit us at all - only harms us. What's the point?
Lastly tough game for the Hartford faithful to have to watch. Not only are you left with very few games and one of them being a crap opponent on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving but it ends in a crap results. At least it was good to see an announced crowd of 4.1K. Feel bad for the folks that lost a lot of hockey access with this program since Toscano went up. Two more Hartford games to go. Crowds will hopefully be in the 5-6 K range if not more.
