Monday, February 02, 2009
Ugly night in the Garden
BC came into Beanpot hoping to turn things around and get hot for the stretch run. That fell apart in the second period. The boys allowed some ugly goals and then let the frustration boil over in a scuffle to close the 20 minutes. Ugh. Not a good night on what is becoming a season to forget. Hats off to Northeastern. Not only did they dominate the 2nd, but they also kept BC from mounting any sort of comeback in the 3rd. As always share your thoughts in the comments.
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4 comments:
I'm certainly not a hockey expert, but I remember saying back on November 8th - "Irish Hockey looked pretty good on Friday night - and BC fans typically say "it's only Novemeber - see you in March". I thought something was missing on our side for sure - Gerbe :-) But maybe even more.
I also thought at the time that we can't always count on this team to get it cooking in February and March leading up to the tournaments. Perhaps we've been so spoiled with our own success that we fail to see that this team has many weaknesses.
I hope they keep giving it the old college try and don't just mail it in the rest of the way.
I was there. Awful. The offense pushed all night, but could not get it done. The defense effort was miserable, especially from Muse, who gave up two goals as a result of getting away from the net. This team is still drunk from last year and doesn't seem ready to play this year.
I've been following the team since my freshman year in '97. I played hockey my entire life, so I know a little bit about how the game is played.
I've lost count of how many BC hockey games I've seen over the years, but I can say without question that last night's performance was the worst I have ever seen by a BC squad.
Besides a short stretch at the beginning of the second period, the level of effort put forth was quite low. Players didn't keep their legs moving, nearly every battle for a loose puck was lost (even when we had the numerical advantage), and we even looked like we gave up on face-offs.
More importantly the team effort was terrible. There were too many individuals trying to make things happen on their own (ex. Petricki carrying the puck with a man on him instead of passing; poor shots from the wing), and just not enough team work.
The other factor playing into this is the lack of experience on the blue line. Our defensemen are still young and are clearly not capable of handling the forechecks of the better teams in the league. Our forwards aren't doing enough to help them by covering their man/zone tightly and collapsing to the net when needed. Overall, Muse and the defensemen need to get on the same page. There were way too many communication breakdowns in that game (i.e. Muse playing the puck with a man on him; one D cycling it behind the net to no one)...ugh.
Without strong defensive zone play and a strong breakout, the entire flow of our offense is disrupted which takes away our speed advantage. Unless something miraculous happens, I don't expect the team will turn it around this year.
Good posts NickP and Eagle1. The truth hurts - but it will also set us free.
I hope our team can rally and build for a better day. Will they achieve the playoffs this year? Doubtful - but hopefully we'll see progress from this point forward. I think Coach York can look at his notes and find some areas where the team can actually make some improvements. Without those easy goals (I didn't see the game) perhaps its a different outcome. The big thing I noticed in Novemmber was the defensive problem so well articulated by NickP - we still have the same problem in February. Plus there does seem to be a problem with the team effort vs. the individual effort at times.
Hats off to the Northeastern Huskies. Go Huskies - beat BU!!!!!
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