- Joined
- Aug 29, 2016
- Messages
- 4,660
- Reaction Score
- 9,524
I have waited to post this to let my thoughts settle and get caught up on my sleep.
The record said this team is the best in UConn history but I wanted to see why. I had not seen the UConn men in quite awhile, so this was really a treat. As soon as the puck dropped I understood why. Skills, speed, ability to dangle and anticipate, rotation to new positions as if it was automatic, and work rate. Just their ability to catch a pass when it wasn't tape to tape was astounding. In each instance that I thought they would fail to control the puck, they invariably did control it. I had to completely recalibrate as the game went on. Muldowney winding up for that first period one-timer and then stopping his follow through so the puck stayed on the ice completely fooling Sergeev who went down a splt second too late. I was totally impressed.
That said, it looked to me as if UConn was pursuing the narrative that if you could get to Sergeev early, he would lose his composure. They got the early goal from Joey Muldowney and so for the rest of the period forechecked with two and had the center crash down low whenever they got the puck near the crease. The result was that often they coughed up an odd man rush the other way when the puck popped out of the scrum. WAY too many odd man rushes to my liking, but they persisted with this tactic and leaned on Tung to stone the attackers. Which he did until late in the period. I think I counted three successive UConn rushes which generated three on twos the other way. I am sure that the staff was aware of the risk (they've got eyes), but they apparently felt that Sergeev was on a hot streak and they would have to use extraordinary tactics to beat him. UConn never did get the second goal that period which might have put it away. Penn State, by contrast, always defended the UConn rush with at least three, and waited for counter attacking opportunities. PSU badly outshot UConn in the period and probably should have led by three, but Tung kept UConn in it.
The second period was much more even in shots. UConn got the second goal early and then gave the lead right back back in less than a minute. That happened right in front of me and Tung had no chance. The shot from a step or two in from the half boards just caught the upper 90 on the long side. Perfect wrist shot. Tung was completely screened. UConn seemingly had decided to curb their enthusiasm for playing run and gun and the odd man rushes allowed were reduced. But both teams had some Grade A's.
A lot of people have written about UConn's dominating performance in the third period and OT. Since this isn't really a game account, I won't go into it. But I did want to mention the pregame function that I found awesome. The 75 F temperatures as advertised did not materialize but the weather was OK. The number of people from back in the day who showed up were incredible. I talked to a lot of players who played for the early coaches, Chapman, Kirtland, Marshall, and Berard. Joey Ferris who had played in the famous game against BC in the XL Center, the first UConn Hockey East home game (a UConn win) and his teammate (whose name I have forgotten) introduced themselves. They knew exactly which Krygier had worn #18 and we took a pic to send to Todd. Todd had coached Joey in Michigan juniors. I also met VietVet and JeannoCT as well as some of their friends. I'll tell you, for $20 to get a drink, chicken wings, a place to socialize and to cheer with the Band, I could not believe the bargain.
Two final things, I talked to a LOT of folks who played for Bruce Marshall whom I knew well enough that I could call him up on occasion. His tenure at UConn has drawn some criticism on these pages. I heard not a single unkind word. His players were unanimous in their praise and grief at how his career and his life ended.
And finally, college hockey is full of ironies and breaks with previous form. The fact that almost all the B1G teams got knocked out, that almost all the HE teams got knocked out, with its lone surviving contender for the title being a team that UConn had recently beaten by three goals, in no way reflects on the strengths of the conferences. I think that those of us who thought UConn got a fortuitous bounce when their first round opponent was Q rather than PSU were correct in their thinking. Someone said that PSU are a legitimate contender for the natty. They certainly are and I think BU may find that out soon.
The record said this team is the best in UConn history but I wanted to see why. I had not seen the UConn men in quite awhile, so this was really a treat. As soon as the puck dropped I understood why. Skills, speed, ability to dangle and anticipate, rotation to new positions as if it was automatic, and work rate. Just their ability to catch a pass when it wasn't tape to tape was astounding. In each instance that I thought they would fail to control the puck, they invariably did control it. I had to completely recalibrate as the game went on. Muldowney winding up for that first period one-timer and then stopping his follow through so the puck stayed on the ice completely fooling Sergeev who went down a splt second too late. I was totally impressed.
That said, it looked to me as if UConn was pursuing the narrative that if you could get to Sergeev early, he would lose his composure. They got the early goal from Joey Muldowney and so for the rest of the period forechecked with two and had the center crash down low whenever they got the puck near the crease. The result was that often they coughed up an odd man rush the other way when the puck popped out of the scrum. WAY too many odd man rushes to my liking, but they persisted with this tactic and leaned on Tung to stone the attackers. Which he did until late in the period. I think I counted three successive UConn rushes which generated three on twos the other way. I am sure that the staff was aware of the risk (they've got eyes), but they apparently felt that Sergeev was on a hot streak and they would have to use extraordinary tactics to beat him. UConn never did get the second goal that period which might have put it away. Penn State, by contrast, always defended the UConn rush with at least three, and waited for counter attacking opportunities. PSU badly outshot UConn in the period and probably should have led by three, but Tung kept UConn in it.
The second period was much more even in shots. UConn got the second goal early and then gave the lead right back back in less than a minute. That happened right in front of me and Tung had no chance. The shot from a step or two in from the half boards just caught the upper 90 on the long side. Perfect wrist shot. Tung was completely screened. UConn seemingly had decided to curb their enthusiasm for playing run and gun and the odd man rushes allowed were reduced. But both teams had some Grade A's.
A lot of people have written about UConn's dominating performance in the third period and OT. Since this isn't really a game account, I won't go into it. But I did want to mention the pregame function that I found awesome. The 75 F temperatures as advertised did not materialize but the weather was OK. The number of people from back in the day who showed up were incredible. I talked to a lot of players who played for the early coaches, Chapman, Kirtland, Marshall, and Berard. Joey Ferris who had played in the famous game against BC in the XL Center, the first UConn Hockey East home game (a UConn win) and his teammate (whose name I have forgotten) introduced themselves. They knew exactly which Krygier had worn #18 and we took a pic to send to Todd. Todd had coached Joey in Michigan juniors. I also met VietVet and JeannoCT as well as some of their friends. I'll tell you, for $20 to get a drink, chicken wings, a place to socialize and to cheer with the Band, I could not believe the bargain.
Two final things, I talked to a LOT of folks who played for Bruce Marshall whom I knew well enough that I could call him up on occasion. His tenure at UConn has drawn some criticism on these pages. I heard not a single unkind word. His players were unanimous in their praise and grief at how his career and his life ended.
And finally, college hockey is full of ironies and breaks with previous form. The fact that almost all the B1G teams got knocked out, that almost all the HE teams got knocked out, with its lone surviving contender for the title being a team that UConn had recently beaten by three goals, in no way reflects on the strengths of the conferences. I think that those of us who thought UConn got a fortuitous bounce when their first round opponent was Q rather than PSU were correct in their thinking. Someone said that PSU are a legitimate contender for the natty. They certainly are and I think BU may find that out soon.
Last edited:
