11/5/94 BU 7, at Mass Lowell 7 (ML wins shootout, 2-1)
Haven't seen this score posted yet, so there it is. I only caught the
end of the third, the OT and the shootout on tape after getting back
from Providence.
My first thought upon hearing this result is, what the heck is up with
BU? Last year they had an easier time with Lowell. I am not
surprised that BU scored 16 goals in two games vs Lowell, but allowing
14?!? Has Crowder figured out the Terriers' defense? Is BU's defense
much worse than we thought?
If I were BU, I might reconsider that WABU deal :-)...BU has given up
13 goals in two WABU games (one an EX).
Before this season, I questioned whether Bullock would be able to
repeat his performance of last season without the players like Murray
and Henry that he had last season. I also wondered whether he might
suffer from the sophomore jinx that plagues so many players. I think
that after this weekend, those questions have been answered, and I am
happy to say I was wrong. This guy is on his way to putting up
Kariya-like numbers. 2-3--5 in his first HE game vs Mass Amherst,
then a repeat 2-3--5 against BU Friday according to Neil. I don't
have his totals for tonight, but with 7 more Lowell goals, he had to
have added to his totals.
Lowell won the shootout, 2-1. Having seen all four of the HE
shootouts thus far between being at the game or watching on tv, here
are a few thoughts.
There is a whole strategy to the shootouts that I never realized
before watching them closely. For one, the order you pick for your
shooters is very important. You need to send your best shooters
first, rather than save them for last, for several reasons:
* If the shootout is tied after five rounds (this hasn't happened
yet), the sudden death format means you could lose before your best
shooters get to go again, if you saved them for last. This is because
after five rounds, the order starts all over again, with the first
shooters going sixth. If tied after the sixth round, then the second
shooters go. And so on.
* By sending your best shooters first, you can open up a lead and put
the pressure on the other team's later shooters, who aren't likely to
be as good as the first players who went.
* Your best shooters can put you in a position to win before all five
rounds are completed, and you may not even need to go to your last
shooters. This happened when the Maine-BU shootout lasted only 3
rounds with BU winning 3-0. Maine could not tie at that point and the
last two rounds were canceled, BU being declared the winner.
A team also isn't going to necessarily send its five best goal
scorers. Some players just don't convert breakaways well. And some
players seem to be able to solve certain goalies better than others -
from game to game, a coach has to be able to determine who the right
guys are to take part in the shootout. Different goalies have
different strengths and weaknesses, and you need to know which players
are better at exploiting those weaknesses in a breakaway situation.
And individually, we've already seen many different styles used by the
players in their attempts. Some go straight in; some go off to the
side. The Maine players seemed to almost all veer off to one side and
try to cut in, forcing the goalie to stay with them and move across
the crease to make the save. And Maine lost both of its shootouts.
That might tell you something.
My view is that in a situation like this, you should try to force the
goalie to make a great save to stop you. The players who have come in
tentatively and seemed to be waiting for the goalie to make a mistake,
have been the ones who have fared the worst. Often these players find
themselves without an opening at the last moment and shoot it wide.
The prettiest shootout goal thus far goes hands down to Greg Bullock
of Mass Lowell. He skated in, then turned a 180 and showed Herlofsky
his numbers, and lifted a backhander past him. Herlofsky seemed
unprepared for this move and frozen for a moment, just long enough for
Bullock. But with the game tonight being on tv, I have to think that
1) all the other coaches saw it, and 2) he's going to have trouble
doing this again. When teams prepare for Lowell, coaches will work
with the goalies to make sure they know what to watch for. It will be
interesting to see if Bullock has a repertoire of nifty moves to use
throughout the season.
There have been 12 HE games played thus far, and 4 went to shootouts -
33%. In those 4 shootouts, the home team won each time. A total of
36 shots have been taken and 12 goals scored - a save pct of 0.667 for
the goalies involved. Twice, shootouts have been won on the last shot
(not including Maine-BU in which BU's 3rd goal of 3 attempts ended the
shootout early).
The teams' performances in shootouts:
SHOOTERS
1 Northeastern 3/5 .600
2 BU 4/8 .500
3 Mass Lowell 2/5 .400
4 Maine 2/8 .250
5 Merrimack 1/5 .200
6 Providence 0/5 .000
GOALIES
1 Merrimack 5/5 1.000
2 Mass Lowell 4/5 .800
Providence 4/5 .800
4 BU 6/8 .750
5 Northeastern 3/5 .600
6 Maine 2/8 .250
I can say that my opinion has been changed after watching the results
so far. I used to be against the shootouts; now I like them. All of
the strategy involved brings a whole new dimension to the game which I
find interesting. I will say that I'm still with those people who
argue that the game should be decided the way it was meant to be
played. I would never support shootouts in a playoff game, but from
talking to HE commissioner Bob DeGregorio, I don't think there's any
danger of that happening.
The way I view it is that even in the current format, shootouts don't
decide a game. The game goes into the books as a tie. The shootout
exists to decide an additional point. I really didn't like the fact
that a team could win a shootout and earn the same number of points
for the game as a team which won outright. The new point system
increases the value of an outright win such that it is now much better
to win a game before it gets to a shootout. That's enough to sway me.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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