I figure I will go ahead and post this to the list for the benefit of all those
who may have an occasion to play this team from Columbus or for those so rabid
about hockey to actually care even though they will never see this
team...perhaps a good thing when you come right down to it.
 
As most everyone is aware, this is not the most talented team in the CCHA, but
they are more talented than their record indicates.  They are certainly more
talented than the way they have played over the last three weeks, managing just
one win in seven contests.  Granted, two losses were to Miami, a clearly more
talented team, but the others were to Bowling Green, Ferris State, UIC, and
Notre Dame--all are teams that OSU has the ability to beat.  This team did
manage a tie against LSSU earlier in the season, so they are not stiffs.
 
The problem has been that they are playing like stiffs (hence the title of this
post).  They are having the same problem last year's team had when playing
against beatable teams (or almost any team really).  They are being outworked
and outhustled.  I never really realized what a pleasure it was to watch the
discpline and work-ethic of McCutcheon-coached teams until I watched OSU.  Even
the lack of defense at Cornell this year can't be compared to the bonehead
plays these guys make.
 
Against OSU, teams come up with all the loose pucks, they get breakaways
because forwards and defensemen fail to hustle back.  They get caught in bad
line changes because players carefully swing first one leg and then the other
over the boards and then take their time in getting into position.  When 5 on
5, OSU can often appear to be man-down because they stand still and allow the
opposition to form and close a box around them.  This is not a top 20 team, but
they do have the skills and talent to be a .500 team and to be competitive in
every game, but they simply do not work hard enough.  In the last weekend
before Christmas break, playing Notre Dame and UIC, they looked like a team
incapable of beating Scranton.  No discipline, mental lapses, confusion about
positioning and just an overall lack of heart were very evident.
 
The vast majority of these problems can be coached away...assuming you have a
good coach.  Jerry Welsh is in his 18th season with a career mark of
315-316-48, and a CCHA mark of 202-238-36.  The Bucks have never won a CCHA
title under Welsh, even in the early 80's when they won 30 games, had a #1
ranking, and had a Hobey Baker candidate in Paul Pooley.  In how many other
programs in Div. I would this man still have a job?  Certainly not at anyplace
like Minnesota or Wisconsin, or even Cornell.  You know that at OSU, if he were
football or basketball coach, he would have been fired long ago.  Obviously,
few people care...but then again, if they hired someone else, that person might
demand that the university actually devote resources to developing the program.
 
The game programs refer to Welsh as the winningest coach in OSU history and it
notes that he ranks 21st on the all-time NCAA win list.  If you stick around
long enough, anything can happen.  Being the winningest hockey coach at OSU is
kind of like being the winningest hockey coach in Ecuador.
 
This is a very young team, and if they continue to dress both Kurt Brown and
Tom Askey (Senior Jim Slazyk is now the third goaltender) the skating roster
will feature about 9 frosh out of 20 players.  You expect some degree of
confused play and bad decisions from them, but there has been no improvement
over the course of 15 games (4-10-1), and for the most part, things have only
gotten worse.  Additionally, the upperclassmen are making as many of the dumb
moves as the freshmen are.
 
Now, about the Cleveland Tournament.  You cannot take OSU lightly, and if Maine
does, and OSU decides to show up with their heads and hearts in the game, Maine
could get quite a surprise...just ask Clarkson about last year's Syracuse
Invitational title game.  This is a team capable of shocking a good team which
is complacent..and in fact, could conceivably win the tournament if the other
three teams (Maine, COrnell, BGSU) are napping.
 
Here is why we will not see a repeat of last year's surprise win by the Bucks
in the Syracuse Tourney (beating Colgate and Clarkson).
 
1. Shawn Walsh, Jerry York, and Brian McCutcheon.  Jerry York knows Ohio State,
and if they meet in the tourney, the Falcons will be ready.  McCutcheon
andWalsh would never allow their teams to take OSU lightly, and the work ethic
and talent of both teams would be able to beat even an inspired OSU team.  All
three coaches wouldn't even let Welsh be an assitant.
 
2.  Unlike last year, OSU has no snipers, no go-to men on offense.  Last year,
OSU could look to Robb Schriner, Dave Smith, or Brian Loney to make something
happen offensively when the game was on the line.  There is no one on this team
with a nose for the net, no one who makes you think "Now let's see what
happens" when he touches the puck.  Freshman Randy Holmes is a good set-up man,
but he has no one to set up.  Ron White, Sacha Guilbault, Steve Richards, and
Joe Sellers have all shown themselves to dangerous on occasion, but their play
has been inconsistent and they are not the kind of players you look to come up
with the big play when you need it.
 
3.  Young, stupid defensemen.  Anytime a player who is covering the man in the
slot while on penalty-kill goes chasing after the puck at the point, leaving
the slot uncovered, I call that player stupid.  I also call his teammates
stupid for not realizing that his presence at neutral ice meant no one was
covering the slot.  Forwards do not hustle back to cover for defensemen pinned
in the zone...just no hustle from anyone, anywhere.
 
4. Inconsistent goaltending.  Kurt Brown and Tom Askey have good skills, but
they are no Mike Bales.  Bales kept OSU close in many of the games they
eventually won last year.  He prevented them from having a 10 GAA as opposed to
the 6 GAA they wound up with.  Bales also carried them in the SIT last year.
Neither Askey or Brown play well enough often enough to believe they will be
able to do the same. Brown did get the 4-0 shutout against Ferris and has
looked much more confident than Askey, although I still believe Askey to be the
technically better goaltender.
 
5. Rob Peters--6'6", 217lbs. of a talentless wonder.  You never know what will
happen when he is on the ice, but it probably won't be good.  I think I
described him once before as being similar to Cornell's now-departed, Marc
Deschamps only with less talent, less skating ability, a less accurate shot,
slower, and with poorer judgement.  Yes, Cornell fans, Peters can be that much
of a disaster.  He was moved from defense to forward near the end of last year,
but frankly, I thought he was less dangerous to OSU as a defenseman than as a
forward.
 
Cornell has a history of playing poorly over the holidays, so my predictions
are as follows:
Maine 7, OSU 1
BGSU 5, Cornell 3
 
then the next night:
Cornell 6 OSU 4 (both have questionable defense, but Cornell has better
goaltending and a less-anemic offense)
Maine 5, BGSU 2
 
 
--
Dave [log in to unmask]
Cornell '91 OSU Med '95
Far above Cayuga's waters.....