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

[IrishHockeyFan]

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

I'm into diners, drive-ins and dives!

I recall a diner on the east side of N. Michigan near the Interstate that served a pretty good breakfast. Ate there a few times when I was in town.

American Pancake House?

[SteveP]

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

American Pancake House?

Ate there too -- good food and it reminded me of the Waffle Shop here in State College.

Through the magic of the internet, I found the one I was referring to -- Elias Restaurant.

[IrishHockeyFan]

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

The Swedish flag may be coming down once Calle Ridderwall graduates, but one of the flags flying over Lefty's Rink in the coming seasons apparently will be an Austrian one.

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

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

You hear that sound? Know what it is? It's the sound of skate blades hitting the ice. It's the sound of tape-to-tape passes. It's the sound of a team working together for a common goal.

Get it? Common goal...

Okay, I recently took a high stick to the face. Thank goodness for facemasks...

In almost exactly 48 hours, the Irish take the ice to start the last full season at the Joyce. I know, I know. It's not a game that counts in any standings, but it's hockey nonetheless, and I'm excited.

The University of Guelph Gryphons have played 5 games already, one of which was also an exhibition game. They are 3-2, with one of those losses coming in OT. They're averaging 4 goals for/game with an average GA of 2.4. They have outshot their opponents, by a wide margin, in all of their games.

Their big guns include Justin Gvora, Matt Lyall, Ed Gale, Zach Lillie and Thomas Kiriakou. They've employed all 3 goalies, but two have seen more ice time than the 3rd string. I'll take a stab that Cody St. Jacques will be in goal, and if time is split in net, Andrew Loverock could be between the pipes Sunday also.

My guess as to who will be in net for the opponent is more of a sure thing than trying to figure out who will dress for Notre Dame. Maybe I could guess as to how many seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen will dress as opposed to who will dress. How about 4 seniors, 4 juniors, 4 sophomores (including a goalie) and 9 freshmen (2 of which are goalies).

How's that for just vague enough?

Don't forget, season ticket holders, the DTP event starts are 3:45. If you ever wanted to know exactly how many of us have been with the team through thick and thin (I mean you, Lou Nanni), start counting heads.

Here's to a successful and injury-free year, boys. Man, do you deserve one.

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

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

Here's a nice little update on Ian Cole trying to crack the Blues NHL lineup. It also is virtually a lock that Christian Hanson will stay with the Leafs rather than start out the season with the Marlies. Erik Condra is still postponing med school and Mark Van Guilder and teammate Ryan Thang have each found the back of the net for the Milwaukee Admirals in this pre-season. As the Columbus Blue Jackets are relegated to "Other sports" in their hometown paper, it's difficult to find info on Theo Ruth, but he's dressing for Syracuse tonight.

[SteveP]

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

Christian has been sent to the Marlies.
http://site.qwapi.com/siteserver/site?t=Smm a6JqeJb7aHFynN9VujA&sid=tsn

[StillaLeafsFan]

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

Christian has been sent to the Marlies.
http://site.qwapi.com/siteserver/site?t=Smm a6JqeJb7aHFynN9VujA&sid=tsn

Aaaaaaaand...
******* width="480" height="385">****** name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ob8mRjm_f5w?fs=1&hl=en_US">****** name="allowFullScreen" value="true">****** name="allowscriptaccess" value="always">****** src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ob8mRjm_f5w?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385">
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last night the Irish showed promise for the upcoming season. A nice effort from the freshmen with a combined 4 goals (of the 5 scored) and 5 assists, 3 of which belonged to TJ Tynan, in a 5-3 win over the Guelph Gryphons.

[goldy_331]

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

Who will impress? Who will lead? Who will stand between the pipes? Who will have a break out season?

Look for Anders Lee to have an impact as a freshman. He is a tremendous athlete and a great competitor who has always produced.

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

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

Look for Anders Lee to have an impact as a freshman. He is a tremendous athlete and a great competitor who has always produced.

Yeah, I was impressed by several freshmen yesterday. Shane Taker is the one who fed Lee on the breakaway, Stephen Johns had several big hits (although I think he left his feet on one...) and Jeff Costello carried the puck well. If pressed, I'd say I was more impressed with the freshmen than any other class. That probably needs an asterisk as it was only an exhibition game and there are 98 freshmen and only a few in the other classes...

I was even impressed with Coach Jackson in the DTP talk. He looked relaxed and even used quality humor in his talk.

Lastly, thank goodness I said "virtually" where Christian Hanson is concerned. Rats.

Now on to the real thing...

[SteveP]

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

It also is virtually a lock that Christian Hanson will stay with the Leafs rather than start out the season with the Marlies.

Here's Burke's explanation of why Hanson was sent down to the Marlies.

Brian Burke claims some Maple Leafs players are on a very short leash. Or, as he refers to it, a “chihuahua leash.”

Count John Mitchell as being one of those.

Mitchell was outplayed at training camp by fellow forwards Luca Caputi and Christian Hanson. Yet, when the team announced which players were ticketed for the American Hockey League Marlies Monday, it was Caputi and Hanson who were headed to the farm, not Mitchell.

In this particular case, Mitchell’s previous service with the parent club went into the team’s decision.

“He got a call from the governor on this one,” Burke said. “He got a reprieve. He’s going to get a chance to show us what he can do.

“He hasn’t earned that this time around, but he earned it with his past contributions.”

Burke said the choice came down to “a balancing act.”

“You want to be fair to the players involved,” he said. “There’s a ‘body-of-work’ concept that we employ, too.

“I don’t think Mitchell has played as well has he can or should have. But we’ve seen what Mitchell can do for a couple of years.

Unlike Hanson, Caputi and Nazem Kadri, Mitchell would have had to clear waivers in order to report to the Marlies and was a likely candidate to be snapped up by another team.

As well, Burke said he did not want Hanson and Caputi playing six minutes a night, a scenario that may have very well played itself out had they remained with the parent club.

“Sometimes, if you’re a new guy, you’ve got to be better than the incumbent,” Burke said. “If you go the way training camp went, I think Caputi and Hanson could both make a real good argument that this isn’t a fair result.”

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

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

It's odd how last season seems both so far removed and yet like it was just a few weeks ago. But this season is upon us now.

ND meets Holy Cross at 6:30 our time Friday with BU and UW set to start approximately 3 hours later. I wanted to go to these games, but with the Blues hosting the Flyers Saturday night I didn't want to have to stay 2 nights in a hotel for this tourney. Sunday's games are at 1:00 and 4:00, give or take, our time with ND meeting either BU or UW.

ND and BU are the only ones of the quartet to have played a game so far (BU blew out their Canadian opponent), so there are no stats on Wisconsin or HC and ND's and BU's are stats that don't count anyway.

Still, I'll be paying attention to several Irish freshmen. Anders Lee, Jeff Costello, Shayne Taker and Stephen Johns got my attention Sunday. Remember, ND has more freshmen than any 2 other classes combined. I expect Nick Larson and Riley Sheahan to lead the way for the sophomores, while Patrick Gaul, Sean Lorenz and Billy Maday will be the hotshot juniors. Seniors will be represented by the captains.

I've been wondering who will be in net for ND. Assuming Steven Summerhays sets his alarm all week, I was thinking he might be in net Friday to be followed by Mike Johnson Sunday. That's something I can't get used to...wondering about starting goaltenders. I guess if Summerhays is as good as touted, that's a happy conundrum.

Holy Cross is pretty experienced having only 5 freshmen this season and 15 players who are juniors or seniors. Rob Linsmayer is the sophomore to watch. Third year studs include Mike Daly, Matt Clune, Jay Silvia and Matt Gordon. Seniors are led by Everett Sheen and Mark Znutas. Thomas Tysowsky saw the most time in net last season, so I assume he'll see most of the time this season.

BU is pretty balanced with their experience. They have 8 freshmen, 2 of whom had stellar appearances in their exhibition game. Charlie Coyle recorded an equal opportunity hat trick over the weekend: he had a PPG, an even-strength goal and a shortie. Adam Clendening is another newcomer to admire. Their sophomores are led by Alex Chiasson and Max Nicastro. David Warsofsky and Corey Trivino are the juniors of note, along with goalie Kieran Millan (the goalie who backstopped them to a NC 2 years ago). I assume he'll be in net for the weekend, although Coach Parker has employed Grant Rollheiser on several occasions. BU has only 2 seniors, led by Joe Pereira.

UW lost a lot last season. They are the 2nd youngest team this weekend behind ND. They have 10 freshmen and only 9 3rd and 4th year guys. The sophomores of note include Craig Smith and Justin Schultz. Juniors are led by Jordy Murray with seniors represented well by goalie Scott Gudmandson and Patrick Johnson. And yes, his pedigree is that Johnson family.

It's interesting to note that the last three Frozen Fours have been represented by 3 of these 4 teams, one in each year. Actually, the championship game in the last 3 FF's has been represented by 3 of these 4 teams. I like that my team is one of those three.

Pythagoras said it best, "The beginning is half the whole." Here's to a successful beginning.

[ND Hockey]

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

It finally hit me just how many freshman are on this team. Jackson expects that he will be dressing about ten frosh every night. 8 of the 18 skaters will be freshmen as well as 2 of the 3 goalies. On any given night, half the team will be rookies.

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

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

For $10 you can watch all 4 games from St. Louis this weekend. Go to hockeyprimetime.com to buy Internet PPV tix.

[Sec2, Row 13, Seats 5,6,7]

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

Great, now all I have to do is figure out how to hookup my computor to my flat screen. Wish me luck!!
Don

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

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

Impressions after the first real game of the season:

1. Stephen Johns is a big boy who has big boy hits. That check at the blue line was monstrous. Unfortunately, he was later called for boarding that became a major... It was definitely boarding, but I question the 5" version.

2. Anders Lee can score. And score. And score. Trivia question: who was the last Irish player to record a HT (and his was Texas style) in his first game?

3. I saw the Irish (especially the freshmen) work harder, skate faster, hold the puck in and keep control of the puck more tonight than in more than half of the games last season.

4. Ryan Guentzel finally has some linemates he apparently can click (and earn points) with. Nice dishes.

5. Did anyone else realize that of the 10 different players registering points tonight, half of them were not in an Irish sweater one year ago.

Here's to high hardware hopes.