Special teams were awful. Incredibly passive on PP and PK. Lost so many puck battles. Hate to say it, but Mack looked more prepared, better coached, and more aggressive.
Thank you for noting “more prepared and better coached”. This is what I expected in the Quinn era I thought we were getting better then that with Albie. No one will say it here but Albie’s start is an utter embarrassment for a guy who waited his whole life for this opportunity. Only surpassed in ineptitude by the steadily declining career of Oettinger
Thank you for noting “more prepared and better coached”. This is what I expected in the Quinn era I thought we were getting better then that with Albie. No one will say it here but Albie’s start is an utter embarrassment for a guy who waited his whole life for this opportunity. Only surpassed in ineptitude by the steadily declining career of Oettinger
I know I should expect this extreme perspective, but I will point out that Quinn also was swept by Mankato last year (at home no less) and while losing to Merrimack is never expected, it does happen on occasion, especially in their own barn. More importantly, while the team needs to improve, Merrimack's goalie played one helluva game. I would be more concerned if we only got 20 shots.
And is the win over a team that has beaten Michigan, Notre Dame and Harvard completely dismissed???
And is the win over a team that has beaten Michigan, Notre Dame and Harvard completely dismissed???
Well, yeah. It didn't count.
And while one player doesn't make or break a team, I really feel they need Krys back. Though Brady Tkachuk could've been on the team last night as well as Krys and I don't think it would've mattered. Literally nothing went their way last night. It was pretty miserable.
Coach of the 4-0-1 non-scholarship, 2,200 student school that just swept Northeastern at Matthews? Time for a do-over already?
The coach who won a title with a team laden with upperclassmen recruited by Leaman. The coach who, since Leaman's recruits graduated...
- Has made one NCAA Tournament and lost that game
- Has zero ECAC Tournament titles and one shared regular season title
- Has multiple .500 seasons
Time for an overreaction already?
Last edited by brassbonanza; 10-21-2018, 09:11 PM.
I know I should expect this extreme perspective, but I will point out that Quinn also was swept by Mankato last year (at home no less) and while losing to Merrimack is never expected, it does happen on occasion, especially in their own barn. More importantly, while the team needs to improve, Merrimack's goalie played one helluva game. I would be more concerned if we only got 20 shots.
And is the win over a team that has beaten Michigan, Notre Dame and Harvard completely dismissed???
Saying that Quinn also got swept is pretty much making my point for me. Yes I expected the team would come out hard for a new coach. They haven’t.
Saying that Quinn also got swept is pretty much making my point for me. Yes I expected the team would come out hard for a new coach. They haven’t.
My opinion is that the issue is not that they aren't "coming out hard" - I thought the effort was there against Merrimack (I didn't watch the Mankato games). The problems were: 1) out of synch, which in my opinion is not unheard of for teams with so many freshmen 2) Merrimack's goalie had a very strong game, certainly stronger than ours, though I wouldn't have called Oettinger's performance poor.
Maybe it is the coaching, but I am not concerned yet. And I don't care if Albie wins 10 games this year, I will always consider the decision not to hire Union's coach a good one.
My opinion is that the issue is not that they aren't "coming out hard" - I thought the effort was there against Merrimack (I didn't watch the Mankato games). The problems were: 1) out of synch, which in my opinion is not unheard of for teams with so many freshmen 2) Merrimack's goalie had a very strong game, certainly stronger than ours, though I wouldn't have called Oettinger's performance poor.
Maybe it is the coaching, but I am not concerned yet. And I don't care if Albie wins 10 games this year, I will always consider the decision not to hire Union's coach a good one.
It didn't help that BU played a hard-fought game the night before and Merrimack didn't play Friday. Merrimack was noticeably quicker in the first period than BU. That said, there were definitely some strategic missteps on Saturday. I can't figure out how Cloonan is on the second line with Bobo when he hasn't scored a goal in three years. He was a significant liability in the one game he played in Mankato, so I'd argue he has to earn his lineup spot - which can't be on the second line. The PP looks disorganized, especially the second line which is suffering without the presence of Krys. The PK isn't great right now either. Pretty much everything that could go wrong Saturday night did go wrong. Their goalie made zero mistakes and overperformed his expected ability, we whiffed on some wide open chances, the puck bounced over sticks other times, and our freshmen had a lot of trouble adjusting to the tiny rink. That style of play was a complete 180 from the wide open run and gun game on Friday. Hopefully a useful learning experience for everyone on the BU bench, but I'm not sure it's time yet to say the sky is falling.
Judging by some of the overreaction, one might think the criticism is more towards DQ's lingering fingerprints on the program, with Albie as an extension of that by association.
How many of us *realistically* thought BU was going to get off to a 3-0 start? And look like world-beaters doing so? And attributing all of it to the coaching change?
They're a talented but a young, immature (from a hockey standpoint) team lacking depth. Starting the season w/ 3 road games vs. 2 older, mature, physical teams was a tough task, and proved that this BU team is even more so a work in progress than many of us thought. But to point the gun at a head coach 3 games into the season is a bit extreme, IMO. Even if that HC was Rick Bennett and not Albie.
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