Thanks to Mike for submitting a game report based on the NESN coverage. Let
me add a few points and disagree with Mike on one point.
UML lines:
Dartsch-Bullock-Sbrocca
Henderson-Daw-Mahoney
Donovan-Riga-Basaraba
Golden-Sandholm-Concannon
Campbell-Botto
Kriss-Nicholishin
Mayes-Barazzino
Lindsey
DISAGREEMENT: Mike wrote:
> In short, I think it could be a long season for Lowell if higher
> caliber opponents are able to stop Bullock and Sbrocca. They were
> allowed to do some things tonight that I don't think they'll be able
> to do night in and out.
While I certainly don't expect The Big Two to each pick up five points a game,
I don't see why it would be any easier to shut down this line than any other
school's top line. If they had some pylon out there with these two, I could
see them getting shut down. But add in Dartsch who had numbers comparable to
Sbrocca at a weak school and I think you have a line that will produce on a
consistent basis. Lowell *needs* lots of scoring out of that top line, but I'd
say that's true for any school with the possible exception of super-deep BU.
I think that in Dartsch and Sbrocca, Bullock has linemates that can roughly
approximate what Shane Henry and Mike Murray did for him last year. I don't
see how teams can "shadow" him any more this year than they did last. I fully
expect that Bullock will be among the HE scoring leaders and will fullfill
the expectations of being a preseason first-team HE All-Star.
Anyways, now that my lone disagreement is out of the way, here are my other
random observations:
* Christian Sbrocca tied the HE record for assists in one game (5) as Mike
reported. There was one particularly golden chance to take the record
when Ed Campbell rang the crossbar after a Sbrocca feed. "Lady Byng"
Sbrocca, who had apparently been listening to Mike's comments about the
need to stay out of the box, picked up his first penalty of the year 3:03
into the second period. But according to my stats that's 2 PIM in 2 games.
Seems like he's turned soft. :-)
* Out of the rookies, defensemen Mike Nicholishin clearly looks like the
one that will log the most ice time. I think there's a very real
possibility that he can do as a freshman what Ed Campbell did last year.
And I like Campbell *a lot*.
Beyond that I really like Shannon Bassaraba's speed. Although he scored
one goal, there was another rush that really showed his jets. That doesn't
always translate into goals, but he bears some watching. Henderson is
playing on the second line, so he's clearly shown the coaching staff
something (even though apparently I haven't seen it).
* By far the single most improved player is Jeff Daw. After a very promising
12-18-30 freshman season, he dropped to 6-12-18 in an almost invisible
last year. He's looking like a totally different player and his job in
the slot on the powerplays will put some scores on the board. Coach
Crowder's optimism about Daw this year seems very well founded.
* I was sitting with a friend and he commented that the second period took
longer than most of his relationships. None of the humor that followed is
appropriate for posting. :-)
* The powerplay unit consists of Bullock and Sbrocca on the outsides with
Jeff Daw in front of the net in Cam Neely and Adam Graves fashion. Ed
Campbell and David Mayes are on the point. (THe three or four people
who actually read my report about the Concordia exhibition may recall that
IMO Aaron Kriss was not a good powerplay pointman. Apparently I was not
alone in this assessment. :-) )
In any case, although this unit scored the first two goals I think they
still have a ways to go. I'm not one of these fans who is screaming for
a shot, any shot, five seconds into the powerplay but there were some
5-on-3 opportunities that positively begged for a shot.
* The shorthanded unit varied with Aaron Kriss out there with either
Barozzino or Nicholishin. Up front began with Donovan and Riga, but Daw
was also out there with Donovan.
* Craig Lindsey may have gotten the number three star of the game, but it
escapes me why. He really wasn't tested that much and the goal he gave up
was one that popped out of his glove and into the net. I'm not sure if we
know much more about him now that we didn't know going into the season.
Which was basically nothing.
* Paul "PMS" Botto has developed an *attitude*. In the Concordia exhibition,
during one tussle he ripped a player's helmet off and slammed it to the
ice. Then a few shifts later he ran the Concordia goalie big time. He
continued this chip-on-his-shoulder play for this game, perhaps feeling
that he needs to absorb some of the penalty minutes that Travis Tucker
(since graduated) picked up last year.
* UMA's Sal Manganaro got hurt right in front of me as he went *very* hard
into the post. My immediate reaction was that if he didn't break his
leg, he was very lucky. They seemed to be looking more at his knee,
though. In any case it didn't look good at all.
* Signs in the stands: "UMass-Lowell - a REAL HAWKey school". (RiverHawks?
Get it?) and "Minutemen - Always Shooting Blanks".
* Governor Weld was respendant in his blue sweater and jeans prior to donning
a Lowell jersey with the number 1 (Lt. Gov. Celluci got number 2).
* The crowd over over 3,000 people was basically a sellout. I saw that the
capacity was listed as 3,200 but when you don't see an empty seat and there
are people sitting in the aisles in the "endzone" seats, you've got to
figure they could not have fit more fans in. I could tell there were a few
casual fans, though. Hearing the question, "How many periods are there?"
helped bring me to that impression.
* My comments from last year about the UMass-Lowell Invisible Band
(alternately referred to as the Virtual Band) apply no more. There was a
full marching band for this game, and they said there'd be a pep band at
all future home games. There seemed to be a lot more spirit among the
fans, particularly among the students who were there in greater than normal
numbers. Whether this continues beyond the rivalry against "the other
UMass" remains to be seen.
DaveH
UML - "If we get 5th place goaltending, we've got a real shot at 3rd."
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