All Things Denver XXXVII

[Old Pio]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

A fitting end to an absolutely atrocious week of hockey. USA women lose in gut wrenching fashion to Canada. USA men lose to Canada. USA men **** in their pants in a blowout loss to Finland and go home with no medal. Pios get swept by a CC team that had a grand total of 4 victories coming into the weekend.

Am I sick in the head to be looking forward to baseball season starting and watching the Rockies??!!

Pioneer LAX may help you get your groove back.

[HoosierPioneer]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

Pioneer LAX may help you get your groove back.

A hat trick of hat tricks against Marist this afternoon.

[32 Degrees!]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

DU has no business going on to the post season. Because if they play like they did for the last 2 hours they played of ice hockey, they would get knocked out in the first game. So I just hope they play out these last few games as hard as they can, get a couple wins, let the Seniors leave with their heads high and call it a day; rather than squeaking into the tournament purely by some mathematical aligning of the planets.... only to lose to some team from the east that they've only played like 3 times ever before and then the DU team have to come back to Denver crying all summer. I wouldn't call this a failed season. And I think these guys will win a couple more games this season.

[A Shot and a Goal]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

The team's current position in the conference doesn't surprise me. Putting all modesty in my back pocket for a moment, before the season began a buddy of mine asked me to give him my assessment as to how the Pioneers would do in the 2013-2014 season. This is what I wrote.

===>As for the Denvers...too many questions to know what the team will do this season. Scoring up front looks thin and the team lacks size among the forwards. Scoring on the blue line looks good, but other than Josiah Didier no size or 'stay-at-home' defensemen, and I think the defense may be vulnerable because of that. Questions in goal unless Brittain plays like he did as a freshman. My uneducated guess is that the team might be as good as two or three games over .500, but could as easily be four or five under .500. I'll go out on a limb and say the "up" side for the record is 17-15-4 and the "down" side is 14-18-4 based on the 36 game regular season schedule. I see Denver as a bottom-half-of-the-NCHC team. I'll be surprised if Denver makes the NCAA tournament.<===

As it stands now the range of 14 to 17 regular season wins makes me look prescient for one of the few times in my life.

Is this club performing about where we expected before the season started? Our expectations weren't high. Certainly those expectations were lowered after the horrific start. Then improved a bit with a lossless streak. Now we've dropped both ends of a series with a team that notwithstanding the eyewash about "starting to put it together" is not a good team. Are we back to where we were in October? A meh season? Not quite the beginning of the Third Golden Age--yet.

I'll be self-congratulatory for a few moments. The team is performing precisely in the manner I said it would. The post of mine referenced above was made in a Quinnipiac thread on October 9th, two days before Denver began regular season play. There was no "past-posting" on my part. I thought Sam Brittain would play well, the defensemen would provide an unusual amount of scoring and that scoring from the forwards would be anemic. Frankly, I was and continue to be right on target. With four games to go in the thirty-six game regular season it's possible Denver could win all four games and exceed my call of 14 to 17 regular season wins, but I think a four game win streak at this point is a longshot.

With the team's loss last night it is now 1-3-1 on the current Road Warriors or Roadkill tour. It's on to Western Michigan next weekend to play a team which is 3-2-1 in its last six games. Denver is 1-4-1 in its past six games. Denver's play this season has not surprised me in the least.

[BigBossMan]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

Nice to see Monty upbeat and positive tweeting about Canada winning gold. You'd think he might be disappointed after his team got swept and lost the gold pan over the weekend.

[Old Pio]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

Nice to see Monty upbeat and positive tweeting about Canada winning gold. You'd think he might be disappointed after his team got swept and lost the gold pan over the weekend.

Sybil. So good of you to share your thoughts with us. Like Shirley McLain in Guarding Tess are you wanting to be recognized as a DU fan today?

[BigBossMan]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

Sybil. So good of you to share your thoughts with us. Like Shirley McLain in Guarding Tess are you wanting to be recognized as a DU fan today?

Sybil? Do you really think I'm the only DU fan that finds your remarks to be racist?

[A Shot and a Goal]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

Lacrosse final from Barton Stadium:

Denver 14
Canisius 3

Denver led 7-2 at half time and outscored the Golden Griffins 7-1 in the second half.

[Old Pio]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

Sybil? Do you really think I'm the only DU fan that finds your remarks to be racist?

But you're not a DU fan, are you sweetie? I've been trying to decide which of the Three Musketeers you are. I've got it. Pathos.

[Dmann]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

I hate to ask this question and I not trying stir up trouble but……. Do you think we would be having this kind of season if George were still our coach?

[A Shot and a Goal]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

Current lacrosse rankings.

Denver's next three games are against: Penn, currently ranked 12th; Notre Dame, currently ranked 4th and Penn State, currently ranked #3. The Penn State game is at home on Monday night March 10 in Barton Stadium at 7:00 P.M. Barring a foot of snowfall that evening--which in March [Colorado's snowiest month] is a distinct possibility--I expect a good crowd to be in attendance for that game.

[HoosierPioneer]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

I hate to ask this question and I not trying stir up trouble but……. Do you think we would be having this kind of season if George were still our coach?

I think it's a fair question (not that people respond to things fairly on message boards...). I was talking to MagnessMan about this over the weekend- we both agree that George probably wouldn't have gotten much more out of this team based on the personnel. Though it does seem like Montgomery is still getting to know this group, which is fair because it's not like he's known the seniors for 4 or 5 years. I think the biggest difference might have been that George could have had a better chance at keeping Jussi, Nick, and Mayfield around, but that's far from a sure thing.

All in all, for a first year, I would agree with 32 degrees that it's not a failed year. Just a frustrating one to watch. I do think that Montgomery has some potential once he has more of his own recruits in place and time to really implement the systems he keeps talking about, which should be fun to watch if they ever pan out.

I don't have much bad to say about Montgomery so far- sure, little things here and there but don't fans always find something that we're probably not qualified to complain about? He seems like a nice, hard working guy, who is willing to take the blame and recognize that he and his staff will always have to be searching for new solutions. I think I'd feel differently if DU hadn't fired Gwozdecky, though. There's a big difference between letting a contract expire and terminating it. I still miss George, I think I always will, but I don't blame Monty for that. I'm also willing to give him the few years he deserves before I really start passing judgment. Like he says, it's a process...

[du78]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

I think it's a fair question (not that people respond to things fairly on message boards...). I was talking to MagnessMan about this over the weekend- we both agree that George probably wouldn't have gotten much more out of this team based on the personnel. Though it does seem like Montgomery is still getting to know this group, which is fair because it's not like he's known the seniors for 4 or 5 years. I think the biggest difference might have been that George could have had a better chance at keeping Jussi, Nick, and Mayfield around, but that's far from a sure thing.

All in all, for a first year, I would agree with 32 degrees that it's not a failed year. Just a frustrating one to watch. I do think that Montgomery has some potential once he has more of his own recruits in place and time to really implement the systems he keeps talking about, which should be fun to watch if they ever pan out.

I don't have much bad to say about Montgomery so far- sure, little things here and there but don't fans always find something that we're probably not qualified to complain about? He seems like a nice, hard working guy, who is willing to take the blame and recognize that he and his staff will always have to be searching for new solutions. I think I'd feel differently if DU hadn't fired Gwozdecky, though. There's a big difference between letting a contract expire and terminating it. I still miss George, I think I always will, but I don't blame Monty for that. I'm also willing to give him the few years he deserves before I really start passing judgment. Like he says, it's a process...

I agree with what you say except I don't think Jussi, Nick or Scott stay even if George was here. Jussi was an older player who leveraged himself a pro contract off of a great season. Had he not had a similar year this year or got hurt, he doesn't get a contract. As a non-drafted player, his value would never be higher. Nick was a junior and it appears LA wanted him in their system. It is hard to say no to your future employer and playing 3 years in college as a top 6 forward is pretty much the norm for the Shore's. Scott's game is much more geared towards the pro game. What were penalties in college aren't necessarily penalties in the pros. He is having a very good year in the AHL and is on the Islanders radar. Now that the Isles are pretty much out of it, there are rumors he could get called up when they have their fire sale. The Isles are in need of big, physical defensemen. Scott brings that along with some good skating, passing and shooting skills. He doe not have the offensive skills of Donovan but is a much bigger physical presence that the Isles sorely lack on D.

[co14ers]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

Am I sick in the head to be looking forward to baseball season starting and watching the Rockies??!!

Haven't they already been mathematically eliminated from the post season?

[BigBossMan]

Re: All Things Denver XXXVII

But you're not a DU fan, are you sweetie? I've been trying to decide which of the Three Musketeers you are. I've got it. Pathos.

Of course I’m still a fan. Just because one idiot posts inappropriate racial, ethnic, and gender related comments doesn’t stop me from cheering for DU.