The fact of the matter is we DO have players that can
put the puck in the net on the power play. The other
fact is that we want everyone on the team to touch the
puck before the shot is sent on net. Hell, we bring
it over to the bench too and pass it around like a hot
potato. Then after we have wasted 3/4 of the power
play we decide to take a shot. There is one simple
fact to hockey and any sport for that matter that
involves scoring a goal or basket... If you don't
SHOOT the puck/ball you WILL NOT score. It is as
simple as that. Watching the powerplay at the end of
the game was more painful than having a wisdom tooth
pulled earlier in the week. I hope the fact that we
blew the last 20 seconds of the game by Hamilton
sending a pass with no defenders on him into the
neutral zone sends a crystal clear message to the
remaining players that we cannot waste powerplay
opportunities with excessive passing.
As a goalie I understand the importance of your
opponent getting traffic in front of you. HOWEVER, I
also know that the more the other team passes the puck
without shooting there are far fewer saves I have to
make to have a chance at winning the game. Maine
ended up killing their own power plays themselves.
Berkhoel is not Jimmy Howard material. Berkhoel is
not MVP material. We gave Berkhoel the MVP. Yes he
made some saves, but look at the shots we had.
Here is a blip from Dave Hendrickson's article on
USCHO.com "Denver, however, was nowhere to be found
in the nation's top defensive rankings. In December,
the Pioneers couldn't hold a 7-1 lead over Minnesota
State and lost, 8-7. A later rematch saw a 6-2 lead
evaporate into a 7-7 tie before a late goal and
empty-netter resulted in a 9-7 win. Those midseason
struggles rendered Denver only the fifth-best
defensive team in its own conference."
All I can say about that is Yikes...
So long and short of my rant: I am tired of seeing
tic-tac passing and no shooting on the power play. We
will NOT win championships going 1 for 22 in the NCAA
tourney and 2 for 50 for the entire post season.
Now for the good stuff:
With that being said this team accomplished far more
than they were expected to all year long. The seniors
demonstrated tremendous leadership and did not let the
players buy into the fate that the pre-season
expectations had written for them. The scoring was
pretty well balanced, every win was a true TEAM
effort. ALthough they did not achieve the title of
National Champions, they conducted themselves like
champions and played like champions all season long.
For that they can be proud.
On to next season!
Matt
--- Jeff and Tracy <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Exactly my point on this topic, and I know they get
> pp practice, be foolish to not practice it, we just
> need some players that can put the puck in the damn
> net!
> >
> > From: "Chesley, Clair" <[log in to unmask]>
> > Date: 2004/04/13 Tue AM 11:54:06 EDT
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Hard to complain
> >
> > He was probably waiting for the player to drop the
> puck down to his stick
> > which is what happens 99 times out of a 100. Once
> he threw it, and since it
> > was such an obvious "throw" there was only one
> call and it had to be made.
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Jeff and Tracy
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 9:41 AM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Hard to complain
> >
> > How about maybe the ref watched the play to see
> what the player would do.
> > He gave him the opportunity to bat it out, and he
> held it a second too long,
> > with his hand closing on it. The player was
> probably trying to get an
> > outside the zone faceoff to stop the pressure. A
> simple, smart play that
> > turned out differently than he planned, and it
> went against himself. We're
> > forgetting that in the heat of play, under tons of
> pressure, the mind and
> > hands have a "tape delay". The only thing we have
> to gripe about is our own
> > lack of offense and power play. We all admit we
> didn't think we'd get here.
> > This was a true blue heart breaker, even more than
> Metcalf's unsuccessful
> > attempt a couple of years ago. Tim was right on
> by saying that this is a
> > better team than last year, without the talent of
> last year. Thanks for a
> > great season. Congrats to Prestin for his
> signing. May he not visit the
> > bin as much in the AHL so he can show what his
> real talents are.
> > >
> > > From: [log in to unmask]
> > > Date: 2004/04/12 Mon AM 10:38:54 EDT
> > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: Re: Hard to complain
> > >
> > > In a message dated 4/12/2004 10:01:59 AM Eastern
> Standard Time,
> > > [log in to unmask] writes:
> > >
> > > > Re: Deron's mention of penalties that had to
> be called.
> > > >
> > > > the ref actually gave Maine a gift, and a huge
> one with the delay of
> > game
> > > > call.
> > > >
> > >
> > > I agree with Deron--it was a penalty that should
> have been called. The
> > > player didn't bat the puck forward, which would
> have been legal, he closed
> > his hand
> > > on the puck and threw it forward, which is a
> penalty. In addition
> > committing
> > > a technical violation of the rules, the player's
> action gave his team an
> > > advantage because he threw the puck out of the
> zone. That transformed a
> > "let the
> > > players play hockey" non-call into a penalty
> that had to be called.
> > >
> > >
> >
=====
------------------
Matthew R. Dewkett
[log in to unmask]
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