The Official Thread of the Mercyhurst Lakers

[MICZamboni]

Originally posted by saj
thanks MIC -- do you know if the games in Niagara will be broadcast eitehr by MC or Niagara?

Image Sports is trying to get it done here in Erie. I talked with them today because todays game was televised and he said he is looking to get something like $6000 to do the game. I dont think Russo will do it but my fingers are crossed.

[MICZamboni]

I see Jackie Jarrell got 3rd star today. She did a great job today along with Nugent. I was glad to see her score her first goal (actually she scored 2). I think McDonald was an unsung hero today causing a lot of confusion in the Niagara zone. When Niagara pulled their goalie I leaned to my friend next to me and said McDonald is going to score an empty netter. 10 sec. later she buried it. Great game McDonald.

Desi Clark hasnt looked as sharp as I have seen her in the past. Hopefully she will look better next week.

Shirley and Marchese-DelMonte didnt exactly light the world on fire this weekend either, particullarly DelMonte. I would have thought she would have stepped it up against her old team.

Yesterday I blasted the freshman for their poor play but today they played much better.

Congrats to the 3 seniors who played their last home game today. I enjoyed watching you play over the last 4 years. Nice to see some points out of some of them today.

[Vine's_SIS]

Did Lindsay Vine get a game star?
She's one of the only forcese on the Niagara team!
She doesn't have much to play with

[MICZamboni]

Originally posted by Vine's_SIS
Did Lindsay Vine get a game star?
She's one of the only forcese on the Niagara team!
She doesn't have much to play with

O'Hara got the 2nd star. I was impressed with Vine though. Lots of hussle.

[Vine's_SIS]

I tought her everything she knows hahha
She's my little sister!

[dave1381]

Welcome to the board... it was a pleasure watching Niagara in the Frozen Four back in 2-0-0-2

[MICZamboni]

Great job to all the Lakers, particullarly to the 3 seniors. Way to own this league. It is real nice to see that the freshman played so well also.
Clark showed up and played a great weekend and we get two more years of her. I have some ideas as to who Mercyhurst may have signed for next year but when I get confirmation I will pass it along.
Celebrate girls, you deserve it.

[strapped]

... they choked down the stretch. The loss to Princeton was bad enough but dropping one to Niagara when they still had a slim shot at the FF (especially looking at what happened to Wisconsin) was inexcusable. No killer instinct!

It's easy enough to beat up on the Quinnipiacs, Findlays and Wayne States of the world but in the Princeton loss, Clark giving up 2 goals on 17 shots did them in. Then to allow 3 goals on only 20 shots vs the Purple Eagles.. it only shows they are more than a couple steps away.

Good luck to Harvard, Dartmouth, Minn & St. Larry... the class of Women's hockey.

[MICZamboni]

Originally posted by strapped
... they choked down the stretch. The loss to Princeton was bad enough but dropping one to Niagara when they still had a slim shot at the FF (especially looking at what happened to Wisconsin) was inexcusable. No killer instinct!

It's easy enough to beat up on the Quinnipiacs, Findlays and Wayne States of the world but in the Princeton loss, Clark giving up 2 goals on 17 shots did them in. Then to allow 3 goals on only 20 shots vs the Purple Eagles.. it only shows they are more than a couple steps away.

Good luck to Harvard, Dartmouth, Minn & St. Larry... the class of Women's hockey.

This was to easy!!! I knew I could bait you in. You won me $20.
You're Ohio State couldnt beat Findlay. Talk about pretenders.
Ohio State has the destinction of being the 2nd best team in Ohio right behind Findlay.

[franeepack]

Well said MIC YOu made some crazy comments this year, but the last comment was good. I don't think them outshooting Princeton and Niagara 40-20 and losing is choking, I think they played against goalies that stole the show. They may not be the best team in the coubtry, but they proved they can play with the best this year and should get considered for the fourth spot only because no team seems to be clearly the fourth best. St. law very good but some crazy loses, they can beat Dart and lock it up, but what if they lose?, Wisco very sloid , but only played minn as a dominate team then umd as a very good team some nights. UMD should have been a lock in the FF but b11 or 12 loses with the enormous talent on that team is too many, Mercy solid season 1 or 2 loses that really hurt and league members playing crappy schedules hurt, unh slow start big finish the numbers look good down the stretch but did they beat anyone good down the stretch? Minn locked it up with a conf win as Harvard might, but then what?

[LAKERBROTHER]

any thoughts about who will be the other alternate captain(s) for next season assuming Yule is captain and Dellow is an alternate?

[MICZamboni]

Originally posted by LAKERBROTHER
any thoughts about who will be the other alternate captain(s) for next season assuming Yule is captain and Dellow is an alternate?

My unofficial guess: Sara McDonald and/or Samantha Shirley.

[MICZamboni]

I like the schedule so far:
Sat 11/20/2004 Princeton (nc) 2:00 ET
Sun 11/21/2004 Princeton (nc) 1:00 ET
Fri 11/26/2004 vs Dartmouth (nc) (1)
Sat 11/27/2004 @ New Hampshire (nc) (1)
Fri 12/03/2004 Clarkson (nc) 7:00 ET
Sat 12/04/2004 Clarkson (nc) 4:00 ET
Sat 02/05/2005 @ Colgate (nc) 2:00 ET
Sun 02/06/2005 @ Colgate (nc)

Princeton on home ice and Dartmouth on neutral ice. I cant wait to see the rest of the schedule.

[dave1381]

the entire Mercyhurst schedule is up:
http://www.uscho.com/schedules/team.php?season=20042005&team=62&gender=w
other highlights are series @ St. L and @ Brown.

[LakersFan]

Two out the Frozen Four teams on the schedule is great. The fact that none of the three games are at home is a bummer, but that's the way it works sometimes. Boston College will make many of the people on campus happy (a fellow private Catholic school). I hope that the strength of schedule is good enought to keep us in the top eight if we have a good season. My gut feeling is that those games against St. Lawrence, Dartmouth, and Brown will be the key to the Lakers post-season hopes (but I guess that would be pretty obvious). I also have heard that the CHA tournament should rotate to Mercyhurst this year.

[MICZamboni]

To make it easier on everyone:

Sat 10/09/2004 Bemidji State (nc) 2:00 ET
Sun 10/10/2004 Bemidji State (nc) 1:00 ET
Sat 10/16/2004 Quinnipiac 2:00 ET
Sun 10/17/2004 Quinnipiac 1:00 ET
Sat 10/23/2004 @ St. Lawrence (nc) 7:00 ET
Sun 10/24/2004 @ St. Lawrence (nc) 4:00 ET
Fri 11/05/2004 @ Niagara 7:05 ET
Sat 11/06/2004 @ Niagara 4:05 ET
Sat 11/20/2004 Princeton (nc) 2:00 ET
Sun 11/21/2004 Princeton (nc) 1:00 ET
Fri 11/26/2004 vs Dartmouth (nc) (1)
Sat 11/27/2004 @ New Hampshire (nc) (1)
Sat 12/04/2004 Clarkson (nc) 7:00 ET
Sun 12/05/2004 Clarkson (nc) 4:00 ET
Fri 12/10/2004 @ Yale (nc)
Sat 12/11/2004 @ Yale (nc)
Sat 01/08/2005 Providence (nc) 2:00 ET
Sun 01/09/2005 Connecticut (nc) 2:00 ET
Sat 01/15/2005 @ Wayne State
Sun 01/16/2005 @ Wayne State
Sat 01/22/2005 Boston College (nc) 2:00 ET
Sun 01/23/2005 Boston College (nc) 1:00 ET
Sat 01/29/2005 Niagara 2:00 ET
Sun 01/30/2005 Niagara 1:00 ET
Sat 02/05/2005 @ Colgate (nc) 2:00 ET
Sun 02/06/2005 @ Colgate (nc) 1:00 ET
Fri 02/11/2005 @ Brown (nc) 7:00 ET
Sat 02/12/2005 @ Brown (nc) 4:00 ET
Sat 02/19/2005 Cornell (nc) 2:00 ET
Sun 02/20/2005 Cornell (nc) 1:00 ET
Fri 02/25/2005 @ Quinnipiac
Sat 02/26/2005 @ Quinnipiac
Sat 03/05/2005 Wayne State 2:00 ET
Sun 03/06/2005 Wayne State 1:00 ET

(1) - UNH Tournament

[Collegehockeynut]

Originally posted by LakersFan
I hope that the strength of schedule is good enought to keep us in the top eight if we have a good season.

Overall, I would equate the Laker's schedule equal to last years. The quality of non conference opponnets drops a little next year in that they do not play Minnesota like they did last year and have replaced these two games with 2 agianst Brown. Brown is a good team but obviously not the level of Minnesota. A plus for the Lakers will be that Niagara will be stronger than last year so I think if they can win 3 of 4 or 4 of 4 from the Purple Eagles, this will help them in the pairwise. What may hurt the Lakers is the addition of Qiunnipiac to the CHA. I do not begrudge them joining the CHA but I do not see them in the same "league" as the Lakers and I do not see them as a 500 team, thus wins against Quinnipiac will do nothing for the Lakers.

Bottom line is that overall, the quality of the schedule is that it is not much weaker than last years thus if they play like last year and hit a similar record, I would expect them in the Great 8.

[dave1381]

While I agree in terms of opponents' wins and losses Mercyhurst's schedule is a tad weaker, I think this schedule gives them a better chance of making the top 8, playing Brown instead of Minnesota.

Remember that the optimal opponent on your schedule is not the toughest - roughly speaking, it's the best opponent that you still have a reasonably good chance of defeating. If Mercyhurst has a 50% chance of beating Brown but only a 10% (or even a 25%) chance of beating Minnesota, then the expectated outcome will be better for Mercyhurst by playing by Brown.

In addition, think of who Mercyhurst's competition is going to be the at-large spots. It's not going to be Minnesota. It's going to be the 4th-5th place team from the ECAC, the 2nd-3rd place team from Hockey East, the 3rd-4th place team from the WCHA. By playing UNH/Providence/UConn once and Princeton/St. L/Brown twice I don't think Mercyhurst could possibly have a better nonconference schedule to be in control of its destiny. If they take care of business in the CHA and beat enough of these teams head-to-head, they'll get into an 8-team tournament.

[MICZamboni]

I agree Dave. It will help get into the top 8. I just don't think it will help if/when they get into the elite 8 to play the likes of Harvard, Minnesota, Deluth etc. Either way I cant wait until they drop the puck. I am going through withdrawals already.

[dave1381]

true... but Mercyhurst has a game against Dartmouth on neutral ice, so that's solid preparation there. I think you take it one step at a time, and if you make it to NCAAs next year you pick up the schedule a notch next year. I think this is just about right for now.