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.....