Plattsburgh State Hockey 2011-12 - The work and progress continue..

[CARDS_rule_the_Burgh]

As far as the game:

I'll start with the key penalties...

The hitting-from-behind major/ejection against Kaye was warranted. No real explanation for that, but Bob will be asking for one, I'm sure.

The fighting penalties were warranted. It started with the cross check by Matteau. Good call, the ref got it right away. Both players went down, Sollows got up first. Then Matteau tripped Sollows before he even fully got to his feet, thus the tripping minor. Sollows got up and confronted Matteau, starting the "fight". There were no punches thrown, but the players latched onto one another and it took the refs more than a minute to separate them.

Shoulder-to-shoulder contact at the end of a race to the puck on a waved-off icing somehow gets called contact-to-the-head elbowing? Or a player with possession of the puck who turns to escape the defender who's wrapping his arms around him gets called for interference?

In retrospect, I didn't really have a problem with the officiating until the 3rd period. Horrible calls against Plattsburgh, some huge missed penalties (which is not to they didn't miss some against Plattsburgh, too). One of there guy breaks his stick across Alex Jensen's spine with a good two-handed whack, prompting Jensen to immediately seek the trainer on the bench (which was, thankfully about 3 feet away), and the ref calls NOTHING?

Needless to say, I left extremely frustrated with the performance of the officials. Not a great way to inaugurate the 4-official system in SUNYAC play.




But the officials weren't the only ones on the ice...

USA: Pretty much exactly what I expected. They had size, speed, and talent. They started putting in some dirty shots towards the end as they got frustrated with how hard Plattsburgh was checking, but for the most part I was as impressed as I thought I would be.

Plattsburgh: Holy crap. This team played fantastic. They do have some kinks to work out, but they're starting from a good place. They skated fast and hard from the get-go; more than 3 minutes had passed in the 1st before USA had an offensive zone possession. Like loudhorns said, they weren't afraid to hit, either. And with the new big guys on the blue line, this is set to be a very physical team. Speaking of those new guys - I had been worried about the inexperience in defense after all that we lost, but I was pleseantly surprised with their defensive performance. The 1st-period goal was the only exception to that. Leis was fantastic the whole 1st period, with a lot of key saves. On the goal, he did a great job to kick out the legs to block the shot, but his D failed to cover the rbound, meaning an easy goal was to be had by USA. The 2nd period goal was just great powerplay execution by the USA on the 5minute penalty.

They have a little time now to work out the kinks, and to stop taking stupid penalties. But overall, I think this will be a good year for Plattsburgh.

[PSUChamps2001]

Emma's not to happy with last night that's for sure....

PLATTSBURGH — The U.S. National Under-18 Team lost to the University of Michigan, 3-1, earlier this season and was coming off a 2-1 victory over the University of Vermont Friday night.

The U-18 team already had eight games under its belt, while Saturday night's exhibition game at the Stafford Ice Arena was the Plattsburgh State's men's hockey team's first competition of the season.

So, one would think Cardinals' head coach Bob Emery would have been pleased with his team's performance in a 2-0 setback to the talented group of 17-year-olds.

No so.

Two five-minute penalties for hitting from behind and contact to the head, respectively, along with a five-minute major for fighting left Emery less than happy.

"I'd rather lose a game, 10-0, and play with class," he said. "The freshmen on this team are going to learn what Cardinal Hockey is all about. They will take a seat and I will play with 10 players if I have to.

"Discipline comes before winning. If the players don't show discipline, it ruins it for everyone."

The Cardinals, who are already without five veteran players who are out for disciplinary reasons, played a solid game.

The U-18 national team finished with a 27-26 advantage in shots on goal and all three Plattsburgh State goalies — Josh Leis, Sam Foley and Mathieu Cadieux — were up to the task while each playing one period.

"The team played hard and there were a lot of good things that came out of the game," Emery said. "I like our team to play tough, but they have to play smart."

The Cardinals were whistled for nine penalties and 43 penalty minutes in the physical contest.

The U-18 team took the lead for good with 6:55 gone in the first period when Nikolas Olsson put his own rebound low into the net. Nicolas Kerdiles and Miles Koules assisted.

It stayed that way until near the end of the second stanza when Koules scored a power-play goal from in close. Ryan Hartman and Frankie Vatrano got the assists.

Neither team scored in the third period, despite the Cardinals sending two shots off the post.

Jared Rutledge stopped all 26 shots he faced to record the shutout in net for the U-18 squad.

"They're good," Emery said. "They have good speed through the neutral zone."

The Cardinals return to the ice this coming Saturday when they hold their annual Red/White Game. The real season begins the following Saturday when Plattsburgh State opens its SUNY Athletic Conference campaign at Morrisville State.

From my count it looks like Taylor, Docking, Jobb, Farnan and MacLeod ??

[hey now]

Great job by Emery in scheduling this game. High flying group of youngsters, many of whom are going places in hockey. Great change of pace for the fans and lots of fun watching our guys hang with them for 60 mins (I think we outplayed them overall). I'll get behind DWI suspensions all day long; NOBODY should have to sit out for anything that happened in this game. That wasn't Cortland in there last night. Totally annoying watching Emery pouting towards the end like a kid who didn't get the right Christmas gifts. Its hockey Bob, not patty cakes. Says he play with ten guys if he has to in this morning's Press. The Card faithful just spent $120 on $78 face value Bob. Put the team on the ice and give the choir boy mentality a rest already.

[CARDS_rule_the_Burgh]

Great job by Emery in scheduling this game. High flying group of youngsters, many of whom are going places in hockey. Great change of pace for the fans and lots of fun watching our guys hang with them for 60 mins (I think we outplayed them overall). I'll get behind DWI suspensions all day long; NOBODY should have to sit out for anything that happened in this game. That wasn't Cortland in there last night. Totally annoying watching Emery pouting towards the end like a kid who didn't get the right Christmas gifts. Its hockey Bob, not patty cakes. Says he play with ten guys if he has to in this morning's Press. The Card faithful just spent $120 on $78 face value Bob. Put the team on the ice and give the choir boy mentality a rest already.

I disagree. Plattsburgh hockey has been about playing with class and discipline for a while now. And guess what, in this day an age... discipline wins you championships. Just ask Norwich and St. Norbert.

The college game is a different animal from the pros and the juniors. While all levels take skill, strength, and teamwork... at the college level, a small lapse in discipline is enough to lose you the game. So I say good on Emery for suspending who he needs to suspend to get the message across to the whole team, especially the large freshman class: You cannot play that style of hockey here and expect to win championships.

They need to learn that lesson well, for the betterment of the team as a whole. And if they can't get behind that idea, we don't want 'em.

[hey now]

Fair enough. But didn't they just have their first official practice Sat morning? Can't the Cardinal Hockey message be adequately conveyed in the two weeks leading up to Morrisville? And what's wrong with handling it with a pre practice muster tomorrow or a stern chat in the office? "Look boys. That was exhibition. You're new. That won't fly here or in DIII. Consider yourselves warned." Not to mention: You're twenty years old and you just got punched in the head by a 17 year old? I just hope Emma doesn't discipline himself out of a league win for some nonsense in an exhibition game. I also hope going forward that this US game can become an annual event. It was a very fun watch. Brings back memories of the occasional D1 and Soviet Spartak games from back in the day.

[Ozz]

The Plattsburghs of the world don't care about one league win...they care about NCAA wins and molding boys into men...

[PSUChamps2001]

The Plattsburghs of the world don't care about one league win...they care about NCAA wins and molding boys into men...

Exactly. Amen to that. There is no secret whats expected of a PSU Mens hockey player. It doesn't matter what your name is or how long you've been with the team. Wouldn't have it any other way.

[dmac1103]

I disagree. Plattsburgh hockey has been about playing with class and discipline for a while now. And guess what, in this day an age... discipline wins you championships. Just ask Norwich and St. Norbert.

The college game is a different animal from the pros and the juniors. While all levels take skill, strength, and teamwork... at the college level, a small lapse in discipline is enough to lose you the game. So I say good on Emery for suspending who he needs to suspend to get the message across to the whole team, especially the large freshman class: You cannot play that style of hockey here and expect to win championships.

They need to learn that lesson well, for the betterment of the team as a whole. And if they can't get behind that idea, we don't want 'em.

I agree the team needs to play with discipline and the Kaye penalty should not be tallarated, but with what happened with Sollows you left out something in your earlier statement. After the hit and trip Sollows was skating away when Matteau 2 handed him in the back that is when Sollows turned around and both players drop the gloves. If that happened to Emery during his playing days what do you think would have happened, I am willing to bet the same thing. Discipline is one thing but soon enough you have to stand up for yourself on the ice.

[hey now]

The Plattsburghs of the world don't care about one league win...they care about NCAA wins and molding boys into men...

Ok, I'll give you the NCAA vs. one league win. But we're talking college hockey here, not the Marine Corps. Boyz 2 Men was a crappy 90s hip hop group, nothing more. Also, just for $#!T$ and grins, go to Burlington Free Press and check out Sneddon's post Under 18 comments. Very different approach.

[hey now]

I agree the team needs to play with discipline and the Kaye penalty should not be tallarated, but with what happened with Sollows you left out something in your earlier statement. After the hit and trip Sollows was skating away when Matteau 2 handed him in the back that is when Sollows turned around and both players drop the gloves. If that happened to Emery during his playing days what do you think would have happened, I am willing to bet the same thing. Discipline is one thing but soon enough you have to stand up for yourself on the ice.

Got that right! As Houlie said in "The Beanpot Trot": "If you dare try me, I'll knock you on the pine!"

[bakdraft21]

as an outsider who listened to the game, good job to the birds, you have to stand up for yourself this is hockey NOT tidley winks....also good job in representing DIII, these U18s have been playing close and beating D1 teams and platty did well in their first game to stay with these top notch players, who as mentioned have played many games and have probably played together in U17's as well....so did any players for the birds standout?? I heard Constantines name a lot, and it seemed he got some PP time...also jensens bro got a lot of ice......

[NUProf]

Exactly. Amen to that. There is no secret whats expected of a PSU Mens hockey player. It doesn't matter what your name is or how long you've been with the team. Wouldn't have it any other way.

It's one of the things that I respect about the Plattsburgh program - Emery expects his troops to behave as gentlemen in the same way that Norwich and several other programs expect it. Be a jerk, and you can go somewhere else. Although I find Emery's bench deportment annoying (and others find McShane's annoying), I respect what he has done there. I love to beat them, but I admire their level of success and the way they've earned it.

[sticksnstones]

Ok, I'll give you the NCAA vs. one league win. But we're talking college hockey here, not the Marine Corps. Boyz 2 Men was a crappy 90s hip hop group, nothing more. Also, just for $#!T$ and grins, go to Burlington Free Press and check out Sneddon's post Under 18 comments. Very different approach.

This is how its been done for years...anytime there is a misconduct penalty, the player sits the next game. We start running around hitting people, not only do we look undisciplined, but its a stupid way to cause a potential injury. This isn't the pros, this is college hockey. Schooling is about youth growing into mature people in the real world. I think it is difficult to control yourself in a situation where someone is cross-checking you and hitting you, but I'm pretty sure Emery went over this with the freshmen before they hit the ice this season. I appreciate that I root for a team that doesn't goon it up at the end of games.

BTW, Boyz II Men was not a hip-hop group, more R&B or new jack swing, and they DEFINITELY were not crappy.

[PrezdeJohnson09]

It's one of the things that I respect about the Plattsburgh program - Emery expects his troops to behave as gentlemen in the same way that Norwich and several other programs expect it. Be a jerk, and you can go somewhere else. Although I find Emery's bench deportment annoying (and others find McShane's annoying), I respect what he has done there. I love to beat them, but I admire their level of success and the way they've earned it.

Couldnt have said it any better myself.

[CardsFan91]

Freshman skaters I was impressed with: Alex Jensen, Alex Brenton, and Jordan Gidaro.

Jensen - Played on the “first line” with his brother Nick and senior Ryan Craig. Was opportunistic with the puck by creating chances for not only himself, but for his teammates. Attains a good offensive awareness. Could potentially put up 10+ goals in his first year at Plattsburgh.

Brenton - He’s got the size and offensive skill of someone like Paul Dowe, but is WAY more physical. Extremely gritty. Not afraid to throw the body around. His game misconduct for contact to the head was questionable. He was solid on the PK. Disrupted the passing lane numerous times and blocked a couple shots. His wheels were going 100mph all night.

Gidaro - Quick to the puck. Won a lot of 50/50 battles. Another opportunistic forward. Exceptional stick handling skills. Not afraid to battle for the loose puck. Fired off a couple nice shots on net. Has good vision.

Thoughts?

[CardinalSin]

I was very entertained last night and taking everything into account , there was alot to feel good about .....except of course the goose egg on the score board.

Considering UVM scored only once but lost 2-1 we were equal to the task.

This is going to be a very good hockey team this year ,suspensions will be served and Im not sure who , but Ill bet one or two leave after December . With all of that taken into account hold on to your seats I think this team has a little swagger and after Emma decides how much they are allowed to keep we should be in for real fast paced and determined effort from a talented bunch of young men.

[dmac1103]

Freshman skaters I was impressed with: Alex Jensen, Alex Brenton, and Jordan Gidaro.

Jensen - Played on the �first line� with his brother Nick and senior Ryan Craig. Was opportunistic with the puck by creating chances for not only himself, but for his teammates. Attains a good offensive awareness. Could potentially put up 10+ goals in his first year at Plattsburgh.

Brenton - He�s got the size and offensive skill of someone like Paul Dowe, but is WAY more physical. Extremely gritty. Not afraid to throw the body around. His game misconduct for contact to the head was questionable. He was solid on the PK. Disrupted the passing lane numerous times and blocked a couple shots. His wheels were going 100mph all night.

Gidaro - Quick to the puck. Won a lot of 50/50 battles. Another opportunistic forward. Exceptional stick handling skills. Not afraid to battle for the loose puck. Fired off a couple nice shots on net. Has good vision.

Thoughts?

I agree Gidaro was one that I was looking forward to see since he was a Michigan Tech recruit but decided not to go there, one player I was reall impressed with was Mark Constantine. Coming from Prep Hockey I wasn't sure how he could deal with the difference in speed in the game from prep to college. But he surprised me played under control didn't try to dangle around everybody, which a lot of prep stars seem to try and do, played well in the defensive zone from what I saw.

[bakdraft21]

constantine played at the same prep school I did, we were know for team play,and very disciplined hockey, I would think he would fit in with this coaches, forgot his name, style in all aspects, good to see he impressed, wish him best of luck.

[mjmigliaccio]

Comparing the box score from the exhibition game to the tentative roster posted on gocardinalsports.net, these are the boys who did not play:

Kyle Taylor, Patrick Jobb, Matt MacLeod, Jared Docking, and Ryan Farnan.

I would think Emery has some big expectations of Jobb and Docking, and MacLeod is the lone Senior defenseman.

Anyone have insight as to why they didn't play?

[Derek Dunning]

Comparing the box score from the exhibition game to the tentative roster posted on gocardinalsports.net, these are the boys who did not play:

Kyle Taylor, Patrick Jobb, Matt MacLeod, Jared Docking, and Ryan Farnan.

I would think Emery has some big expectations of Jobb and Docking, and MacLeod is the lone Senior defenseman.

Anyone have insight as to why they didn't play?

I thought Docking was the best player on the ice last year in the Norwich/Plattsburgh NCAA Quarterfinal game.