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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: NH
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Icebreaker Notes
SCSU 1
SLU 1 (SO WIN)
UNH 5
OSU 1
SCSU 3
OSU 1
UNH 4
SLU 2
The first thing that has to be said, is wow for penalties! It probably worked out so that one period or less than each game was played at even strength. The players didn't seem to adjust either, the mindset appeared to be "play your game, and we will kill off the penalties." And that is mainly what happened. UNH was the only team with a potent PP, so they won the tourny. Although it has to be said, and this is with me being totally objective, that UNH was BY FAR the most skilled team there, the wildcats fourth line forwards were making better plays than anyone else in the tournament, and more importantly they were the only team brave enough to use the middle of the ice, and not just dump it into the corners everytime, you could notice the difference right away.
The next thing that has to be said: HOW IN THE WORLD DID JOHN DOHERTY GET PICKED 140 PICKS AHEAD OF DREW BAGNALL????
well...Doherty's play aside, Drew Bagnall blew me away. He has to be without a doubt the best defensive D-man in the ECAC, and probably the best overall (noah who?). He combines offensive poise, with a punishing D game, he must have had 9 or 10 huge hits in the St. Cloud game alone, I thought he could make more of a difference in the UNH game by killing anyone who tried to come into the middle, but he wasn't as much as a factor, UNH hit him probably more than he hit them.
Overall all the teams looked rusty offensively (aside from UNH on the PP). I really liked the freshman classes that OSU and St. Cloud brought in, and I was for the most part impressed with them.
Team Notes:
St. Lawrence: See Bagnall comments above. Trevelyan had a decent tournament, but didn't do anything exceptional. Their best players are on defense, and it seems they will have trouble scoring. Hakewill (CGY) plays a rough game, but got called for too many penalties. Mckenna (NSH) was strong in net, the only goalie to play both games for his team. He came up big under pressure in the shootout as well. SLU has a very experienced team, with few Freshman and Sophomores in the lineup. They could be one of the better teams in the ECAC if they can put the puck in the net. My favorite players on SLU, and the only freshmen to mention were the flying Wallmann brothers who came down from the OCN blizzard. Seeing these brothers play will remind you EXACTLY of the two brothers from Mystery Alaska who sped all around the ice. Both these kids can fly, Mark Wallmann especially, since he plays forward, he also scored the only goal in the shootout to give SLU the win over SCSU.
UNH: Success will depend on UNH's large sophomore class. The seniors are established scorers, but cant do it all, and the freshman will chip in when they get ice time, but the season pretty much rides on the sophomores (Micflikier, Winnik (PHX), Ciocco, Doherty (TOR), Travis (FLA), Hemingway (COL), Murray, Vinz, Hutchins (SJ)). All the sophomores saw increased ice time, and they were the difference in the games, hence Hemingways 3 goals, and Cioccos game tyer in the SLU game. Both Pietrasiak (PHX) and Regan (BOS) proved that goaltending will be solid. Shows how good Regan is that Umile would start a freshman in the second game of the season, I don't know if that has ever happened. The rotation may just continue all year. Collins (COL) finally started to bury some of his million scoring chances when they needed him most. Aikins (CBS) was UNH's best player all weekend, what a graceful skater/stickhandler, he always makes the right play. The defense wasn't as shaky as it could have been with a lot of players seeing a lot of ice after seeing little to none last year. Hutchins looks much improved, Murray looks good, although the two of them, with the addition of Robbie Barker give UNH 3 very penalty-prone D-men in the lineup on most nights. Doherty (TOR) looked terrible, sorry leaf fans, but he has a lot of learning to do, all he would do is stand around and glide through the defensive zone with guys open all around him. He was so bad that he didn't even dress for the SLU game. Switzer (NSH) came in for Doherty in the second game and played decent, setting up the game tying goal.
St. Cloud State: Similar to SLU, their best player is a Defenseman. Casey Borer (CAR) played a great tournament. Always skates with his head up and makes the right play, strong skater, excellent defender, killed three or four penalties by himself by breaking up plays and or blocking shots that were on their way into the net. I really like their freshman class with Francis, Dey, Gordon (WSH), Brocklehurst, and Garrity etc... Francis flies all over the ice, and knows how to get into scoring position. Gordon isn't that strong of a skater, but can finish and plays a very physical game, more importantly, will put his body at risk to make a play. Garrity and Brocklehurst didnt make the trip. Anderson is a big D-man, but is an awkward big guy, not very scary. Very similar story to SLU, they have a great defense with Borer, Gens (VAN), Fletcher, Anderson, and McElroy, and their offense hasn't put it all together yet, although they have much better offensive players than SLU, so they should be OK, but playing in the tough WCHA, it may be a rebuilding year for St. Cloud, but once their good freshman class develops, and they get Goepfert in net next year, they should be solid. I liked what I saw from Mike Doyle the senior, he plays a strong game with an NHL body, will be interesting to see if he gets any looks.
Ohio State: Couldn't get anything going, which could be expected with so many freshmen in the lineup. A very young team, that may not do much since their prime scoring threats are freshmen. Tom Fritsche (2005) is a strong skater and good forechecker, who started to show some signs of being a scoring threat late in the SCSU game, he had a goal disallowed, and worked hard in the offensive zone. Negatives would be that he didn't have good balance, and wasn't as engaged in his own zone. Their most complete freshman forward is definitely McIlvane (OTT), he showed that he can really be a strong NCAA player, I liked what I saw from him. OSU has a very good defense as well, with Collins, Strachan (CAR), Desantis, Guenin (NYR), and Waddell, but their offense is basically JD Bittner and a bunch of freshman, I just don't see OSU as a tournament team this year. Keserich (COL) got the start in the first game, which surprised me, and played pretty well. Should be their main goalie in the coming years, but I think Caruso will remain the starter for now.
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