Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

[redhawkman10]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

JJFP- I usually agree with you, but here you are dead wrong. I guess its clean hockey to run our goaltender into the goal post friday night right? Goes both ways, you didn't hear any of us on here after friday ******ing and moaning about things that went on in fridays game. Its hockey, these two teams are rivals and the games were intense. It is going to be physical and it was both nights, but just because it is physical doesn't mean anything was malicious or a team was "gooning" it up. If your team can't handle big boy hockey, stay home.

I have said my piece and won't comment any more it is just embarrasing on your fan's end to make hypocritical comments about another team "gooning" it up. Good luck the rest of the season. Look forward to the matchup in South Bend.

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

JJFP- I usually agree with you, but here you are dead wrong. I guess its clean hockey to run our goaltender into the goal post friday night right? Goes both ways, you didn't hear any of us on here after friday ******ing and moaning about things that went on in fridays game.

There was nothing there to comment on. I never saw a penalty committed as Costello was on the other post from the goalie. Not that it matters, but I think the injury possibilities are worse when it comes to CFB as opposed to running a goalie.

[swedenflag_inSEC7]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

I was in Oxford both nights and it is not because I am a Notre Dame fan but Miami hockey is dirty. I am not sure if you all saw Spinell repeatedly throw Guentzel into the net and Notre Dame got a penalty near the blue line? A ref stood there and watched Spinell and never blew his whistle. I know for a fact some of the ND parents were not happy about calls on the ice. We know how to play "big boy hockey" if we didn't, we wouldn't have split with Oxford on the road. Maybe if Miami did not go head hunting up 5-2 we would not have this problem. After all, wasn't it around this time last year the CCHA or NCAA looked over boarding penalties because of teams like Miami. Going into the series ND had been charged with around 88 penalties..Oxford had 114, that has to say something for the Redhawks. They are not all tripping or hooking calls either, they have multiple boarding and CFB.

No worries though, we came out of the weekend 1-1. We came out of an 8 gamer versusing 5 top ranked teams 4-3-1. With dressing an average of 8 freshman a night, that is **** good.

Keep your heads up, boys. GO IRISH!

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

This weekend some of the teams make up ground on first place Miami. ND has the opportunity to regain first and put a gap in there if they come out of the weekend ultra-victorious. Of course, NMU may have something to say about that.

NMU has nearly as many freshmen on their roster as ND; however, only 5 have gotten significant playing time, and one of those is injured and out for the rest of the season. Erik Higby is their top new guy, and the current CCHA ROTW. NMU's top scorer overall and in the league is Tyler Gron. He's the only player averaging at least a point/game with 17 overall and 12 in the league.

ND is still (thankfully) dressing lots of new guys. Given that T.J. Tynan leads the team in scoring bodes well for the future. He has 20 points overall and 14 in the league. Others with at least a point/game include Ryan Guentzel (18 overall and 12 in the league) and Ben Ryan with 12 in league play.

NMU has a fantastic goalie in Reid Ellingson. He's got a 2.3 GA overall with a save % of .927. In the league, his GA is slightly better at 2.27 with a save % of .926. Oddly, he's only batting .500 as the team in front of him is averaging only 2.41 GF overall and 2.65 in league play. As a team, they give up 2.33 overall and 2.58 in league play.

I was shocked to see Steven Summerhays in net last Saturday. Barring a blizzard that buries him, I suspect Mike Johnson should start both games this weekend. His GA overall is 2.61 with a save % of .908. In the CCHA, he's got a GA of 2.46 with a save % of .903. ND is averaging 3.59 GF overall, but in the CCHA, they are only putting up 2.94 to help out the goalie. As a team, they give up 3.67 GA overall and 2.75 in the league. That's too close for comfort. I'd kill for a 6-1 win in the league.

NMU's best O comes early and late. They have pretty even D throughout the game. ND's D gets better as the game wears on. Can you say, "Conditioning?" Their best O typically comes in the last 2 periods.

I've noticed that many, many teams in the country have mediocre special teams. This must be the year for 5X5 scoring. NMU's PP is 14.7% overall and slightly better against league opponents at 15.7%. Their PK overall stinks at 76.7%, but is also slightly better in the CCHA at 81.8%. They have 10 PPG's for, but have given up a whopping 21 against. ND's PP overall is a dismal 13.5% and a little less dingy in the CCHA at 14.8%. Their PK is fairly good overall at 87.5%, but is a little more mediocre in league play at 85.7%. They have 12 PPG's for and have given up 10.

Against ranked opponents, NMU is 2-3-2. ND is 5-4-1 against ranked teams this season.

Remember that the games are Saturday-Sunday. You can skate with the boys after Sunday's game. Since I have to miss a women's league practice to attend the game, I'm trying to decide if I'll skate to get a little time on the ice. Of course, if 2000 other fans bring skates, I'll wait til my men's league team practice to get on the ice so there will actually be space to move.

He's makin' a list and checkin' it twice. He's gonna find out who's naughty and nice. Here's to "nice" this weekend.

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Vindication for Cap'n Lavin.

[Third Family Member]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Indeed, vindication. Let's hope that Miami manages to control their thuggery from now on, though I'm not holding my breath. Too bad these type of suspensions cannot be served the next time you play that team! I just hope that our team let's the matter go and just plays their own game the next time the 2 teams meet.

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Crud. Crud. Crud. The Northern fan I spoke with post-game was as shocked as I was that their netminder was not Reid Ellingson tonight. While that goalie made some stellar saves, had ND managed a little mustard, English, or just plain umph on their shots, he may not have looked as good. I counted 5 shots that on any other night would've gone in, but tonight ND players decided to shoot with a wet noodle instead of a hockey stick.

We also need to learn to respond better when the opponent scores first. A PPG would have been nice too. For that matter, not going 33% on the PK would have been as nice. Or not waiting until we get stuck in a deep hole late in a game before turning on the offense.

Kudos to the aforementioned NMU fan for being a class act as ND was skating off the ice.

Let's get 'em tomorrow boys. I bet you'd like to enter finals week on a good note.

[IrishHockeyFan]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Coreau simply wasn't human last night, because no human should be able to play that well.

Normally I am unimpressed by huge shot differentials, because its often the most misleading raw stat in a college hockey game. But last night Notre Dame had enough grade "A" chances to score a number of goals. There were a lot the typical ill advised shots as the game dragged on and shot after shot failed to produce a goal, but in each of the 3 periods Coreau made a jaw-dropping stop on a different ND skater.

A few things should be a huge concern right now. One, our power play is beyond bad. Northern skated and passed like an NHL team on the PP compared to what I saw out of Notre Dame. Just 4 PP goals in the last 9 games. We're moving the puck poorly, standing around watching Calle skate too often, and taking far too many low percentage shots to be effective. Two, our goaltending is suddenly average, at best. Johnson has looked only so-so in 3 of the last 4 games, and Summerhays simply hasn't shown me he is a capable back-up right now. The youthful defense may be an issue, but I expected that to be more evident in October than December. And last, our PK is starting to show cracks. Overall, still a fairly decent kill rate of 85%, but over the last 5 games it's more like 75%. We take our share of penalties so giving up a PP goal 1/4 of the time is a killer, especially with a non-existent power play of our own and average goaltending. On top of that we had 6 short handed goals in the first 11 games, but just 1 in the last 5.

Problems have solutions. The Irish need to start uncovering some to get this thing back on track.

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

NMU definitely has some killer goalies. Both made some outstanding saves this weekend and the games could have gone either way. Fortunately, ND did not get swept and earned a convincing victory today. Of the 15 points earned by ND players today, 11 different skaters got on the stats sheet, with 5 different goal scorers, including Stephen Johns ill-advised, but first-ever-in-an-ND-jersey career goal. I like how his captain counseled him after the risky goal, but then made sure to get the puck for his pupil.

Although the PK is still struggling, at least they managed a PPG. ND played well both nights, but today played with seemingly more urgency. So, first place is ours again, however short the reign may prove to be.

It was especially fun to watch the players skate with fans after the game. I sometimes forget that I'm old enough to be a mom to most of these guys, but was reminded during this post-game activity as most of the players played tag, raced or had snowball fights with the little fans on the ice. And they didn't shy away from us big fans either as they took lots of time for pictures, autographs and visiting while skating. Show me a college football team that interacts like that. I love this sport. For lots of reasons.

Merry Christmas.

[SteveP]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Riley Sheahan cut from Canada's World Junior team roster:

"I gave it my best effort," said Sheahan, who is from St. Catharines, Ont., not far from Buffalo. "I don't really regret anything.

"It's unfortunate, but it's something I'll have to bounce back from when I go back to Notre Dame. Maybe the role I played wasn't needed or something like that. I'm sure the coaches had a mindset of what they needed. I just wish them all the best."

[Third Family Member]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Riley Sheahan cut from Canada's World Junior team roster:

He was one of the last players cut, so he must have done quite well. And it will be nice to finally have a year where we lose none of our players to an extended World Junior Cup.

[IrishHockeyFan]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Canada's loss is our gain. By all accounts Riley did quite well, and I'm surprised he was left off the roster. Am I being too naive to say it didn't have anything to do with the NCAA ties? He could very well have been the most well rounded forward in camp. Oh well. I think the different perspective he got from the tryout at will help him where I am most concerned, and look forward to having him back here.

[SteveP]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

He was one of the last players cut, so he must have done quite well. And it will be nice to finally have a year where we lose none of our players to an extended World Junior Cup.

More from CBC

The biggest surprise was Sheahan, who put up a fierce battle to become the team's checking centre and had a goal and two assists in an exhibition game Tuesday night against a university team.

[Third Family Member]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

Canada's loss is our gain. By all accounts Riley did quite well, and I'm surprised he was left off the roster. Am I being too naive to say it didn't have anything to do with the NCAA ties? He could very well have been the most well rounded forward in camp. Oh well. I think the different perspective he got from the tryout at will help him where I am most concerned, and look forward to having him back here.

I was getting worried there, IHF. You didn't post your usual analysis of the Sunday game and I kept thinking "what if he lives in LaPorte and is one of the 70 cars stuck on SR 2??!!"

[Third Family Member]

Re: Irish hockey '10-11-Everyone bets on a sure thing, but it takes guts not to fold.

For those of you going up to the Shillelagh Tournament, some great rates to be had at the hotels along Barrington Rd./Golf Rd./Higgins Rd area of Hoffman estates. Hampton Inn seems to have the best offer right now, at $60 per night for a 1 bedroom suite, which includes 2 double beds and a pull out sofa. For those of you not familiar with the area, the Sears Centre is out in the middle of absolutely no bloody where, with the nearest hotel being the Marriott. It is at about a half mile walk to the Sears Centre from there, no sidewalks, no street lights and no nearby restaurants. The other hotels are roughly 4 miles away, grouped together, restaurants nearby. Best pub in the area is Ballydoyle Bloomingdale, about 4 miles south of the group of hotels, in the Stratford Sq. Mall.