Colgate 2010-11

['Gate Radio]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

Just to clear up a couple things. The Lake State games were part of a home-and-home contract that began during the 2008-2009 season when Lake State came into Starr Rink. Colgate was going to have to travel up to the Soo at some point and early-to-mid October is probably the best time weather-wise. Plus, looking at the schedule, the second half of the year beginning with the first weekend of January is all conference games. So, there really wasn't another good time to go.

I wouldn't be surprised if we put together another home-and-home with Lake State in the future. It's out-of-conference games against someone you don't traditionally see every year and it's two guaranteed home dates for each school. I'd imagine Lake State's in the same boat as Colgate in terms of having a problem finding non-conference teams to come up to play in the Soo.

In regards to the bus, there's not really an easy way to get up to Sault Ste. Marie with a 31-person traveling party and all of that hockey gear. The team flew the last time it went up and I guess it was a nightmare. At least if you're on the bus then you have everything with you and can control the situation. The trip up was also spread out over two days with no more than 7hrs on the bus.

The Brock game was on the schedule as a way to at least play a game and not have the weekend off. Coach Vaughan talked about it on the first Coaches Show that the players wanted the schedule the way it was with little to no time off so that they could get into a rhythm I guess you'd say. This is as opposed to playing one weekend then taking time off, playing a single game, taking more time off, etc etc.

[Gaterrooter]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

Nice job on the recap GR. A couple of questions for you about the games.

What has been the deal with the line of Prockow-Mayer-Firman? Line has very good size, but listening to Saturday nights game I didn't hear their name much. Shouldn't this line be creating havoc on the other teams D down low?

How did Wade look in his 1st games back? I'm sure he was a little rusty, good to have him back. I would have never guessed this team would have given up 5 goals in a game all year, never mind the 3rd game of the year. Weren't a couple of the goals against on the PK.

What did you see with the line of Bartliff-Bourdon-Wagner on Saturday? Are they generating scoring chances and not capitalizing or are they just bottled up in the D end and neutral zone?

Great to see Day-Brisebois-Smith back together again. My only concern is that the next line mentioned above really doesn't have an experienced go to guy on it. I'd like to try a line of Day-Smith-Wagner and then Brisebois-Bartliff-Bourdon. Not sure this works out shot wise but, playing the off wing should be ok for Smith or Brisebois especially coming down on the rush with the stick on the inside.

I think the 4th line should go back to Long-Rivellini-McCann, they produced in the Army game and the Brock scrimmage. How did Hamburg look on Saturday?

And finally I think the Offensive D like Larkin, Mac and Wade need jump in the play a bit more if we can't get the other lines going on Saturday night. We need to come out fast with a full court press on Saturday against SH. GR, how does the ticket situation look for Saturday afternoon being parents weekend? Looking at the sports schedule, it doesn't look like there is a whole lot going on this weekend other than the game.

[sshablak]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

I still feel like we're at least a week behind everyone else. Here it is Nov almost and I haven't even seen them play yet..hmmm...hard to comment. What a brutal schedule.

Well, Sacred Heart comes roaring in this weekend...looking forward finally to some hockey !

[Gaterrooter]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

Shabby I am right with you. I can't believe that I miss STARR!

I want to see the team come out with a BANG.

[Woodstick]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

[QUOTE=sshablak;4907456]I still feel like we're at least a week behind everyone else. Here it is Nov almost and I haven't even seen them play yet..hmmm...hard to comment. What a brutal schedule.

Hopefully they aren't a week behind all year!

The Army/Brock/Game1 LSSU lineup had a third line of all left shots and a fourth line of all right shots. May make sense to adjust line 3 and 4 for a little balance. So far line 4 has out produced and has a better +- than 3 in that configuration.

[Rainman]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

I was at the Colgate Athletics website today, and is it really true that there is no live video for this Saturday's game vs. Sacred Heart??? If so, that's very disappointing, especially for someone like yours truly who lives 5 hrs. from Colgate and pays $10 a month to watch all home football and hockey games online.

According to the Colgate Raider Nation Facebook page, "reserved seating" (that is, the chairback side opposite where the students and pep band sit) is sold out. Hopefully this means a great home crowd for the home opener Saturday! Should be a good test for the team before starting the league schedule (in the North Country ... I still find it odd that we make that trip very early in the season this year).

['Gate Radio]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

Sorry that I've been MIA the past few days but I have been under the weather with what I guess is the flu. Thankfully I did manage to make it through the Coaches Show on Tuesday night though the week has mostly been a blur.

There should be a tremendous crowd on Saturday given that it's Family Weekend and football is on the road. I'd been hearing great numbers for the crowd last weekend so it's no shock to hear that the chair backs are sold out. While the team is home again in a few weeks for a four straight, keep in mind they're home just once after that (Dec. 11 - Saturday before finals) until mid January.

All I can say about the video schedule is that it was made well in advance of the season. Given the fact that every other men's hockey home game, as far as I know, will be on All-Access or Time Warner Sports, I don't have a problem with volleyball being on. As it is, I think only one or two of their last five home matches is being shown.

Quickly on some of the player-specific questions asked earlier in the week. I didn't see the McCann-Hamburg-Nasca line to form enough of an opinion. The first two periods were mostly a special teams parade and I think the actual line got maybe one or two shifts tops and then McCann went out with other wingers later in the game. It wasn't that the coaches didn't like Long and Rivellini on the ice, they just wanted a look at other players - Coach said this on the pre-game show.

The Firman-Prockow-Mayer line had its' moments and showed flashes but is still gelling from what I can tell. Each player had some nice chances but they didn't have that one "ah ha" moment. Obviously it's a big spot for Colgate because the Raiders need the secondary scoring of all three to be a solid team. Without that secondary scoring that they had last year, Colgate finished 10th in 2008-2009. All three have played a few years in college and I think once we really get rolling they'll be fine.

It's funny that the lines worked out the way they have since Day-Brisebois-Smith wasn't working as a power play unit but they played extremely well in the 5-on-5 on Saturday. That said, Day has been a beast this year and anyone on his line has done well. Wagner showed some good physicallity and definitely had some great chances for the weekend as did Bartliff and Bourdon. I think the top two lines will be fine and it's early so it wouldn't shock me to see some continued shifting around.

[Gaterrooter]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

Last tune up before league play. Hope to see us put a big crooked number up at home.

[Rainman]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

Nobody has posted about this afternoon's victory? Yes, I know we were playing against a cupcake opponent, but a 5-0 win at home? I'll take it. I didn't get to see/listen to the game, but based solely on the boxscore:

-We scored 5 goals, 2 on the power-play
-We had 55 shots on net ... no wonder we scored 5 goals! Are we the new Yale?
-Alex Evin records his 1st career shutout
-Billy Rivellini records his 1st career goal
-Day, Smith, Brisebois were all kept off the scoresheet ... and we scored 5 goals
-We only had 1 penalty
-Attendance was listed as 1758 ... usually this number is lower than the "visual" turnout at Starr ... that meant a great crowd (hopefully)

However, after all this, we are still 0-0-0. The season starts NOW, and next weekend's games are the ones that count. We CANNOT afford to have a slump in November like we did in 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09. Clarkson and St. Lawrence don't appear to be world-beaters so far, but we're playing them in their home arenas, and that alone is never a difficult task. While we may have not lost a regular season home game in Potsdam since 2003, we've only won ONCE in Canton in that same time span. Again, next weekend's games count, everything before that not so much.

[hockeyenthusiast]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

I've gotta say. The way it's looking, seems like Evin is solid this year. 5 of the 8 goals we've let in this year were last Saturday. Good to see he got his first shutout today. Hopefully it'll give him confidence for the North Country trip. Seems like Clarkson might be back and SLU is always tough in their turf and even more dangerous now that they're winless.

['Gate Radio]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

Nobody has posted about this afternoon's victory? Yes, I know we were playing against a cupcake opponent, but a 5-0 win at home? I'll take it. I didn't get to see/listen to the game, but based solely on the boxscore:

-We scored 5 goals, 2 on the power-play
-We had 55 shots on net ... no wonder we scored 5 goals! Are we the new Yale?
-Alex Evin records his 1st career shutout
-Billy Rivellini records his 1st career goal
-Day, Smith, Brisebois were all kept off the scoresheet ... and we scored 5 goals
-We only had 1 penalty
-Attendance was listed as 1758 ... usually this number is lower than the "visual" turnout at Starr ... that meant a great crowd (hopefully)

However, after all this, we are still 0-0-0. The season starts NOW, and next weekend's games are the ones that count. We CANNOT afford to have a slump in November like we did in 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09. Clarkson and St. Lawrence don't appear to be world-beaters so far, but we're playing them in their home arenas, and that alone is never a difficult task. While we may have not lost a regular season home game in Potsdam since 2003, we've only won ONCE in Canton in that same time span. Again, next weekend's games count, everything before that not so much.

Not as lopsided a game as it seems. Sacred Heart played pretty well in the early going and had Evan Mladenoff scored on a shorthanded breakaway in the first, we'd be looking at a much different hockey game. Colgate got off to a slow start in terms of grade A chances but threw a lot at the net in the first period.

Sacred Heart had more grade A chances in the first half of the game but that three-minute stretch late in the first that began with the third Colgate power play was the difference.

Colgate, while dominant in shots, still allowed some fairly good chances and Alex Evin had to be strong in goal because again, this could have been a much different game. The last two Colgate goals weren't scored until the final five minutes of regulation so this for all intents and purposes was a 3-0 game.

All four lines played well though the power play still needs to work on shooting the puck more. The combinations also reverted to their original form to start with Day-Smith-Brisebois and Bartliff-Bourdon-Wagner. I don't think Robbie went out with the first group at all but I could be mistaken.

More thoughts obviously in the game recap that will go up at some point tomorrow (Sunday). One quick note. I thought they vastly underestimated the crowd in the attendance. The building was completely packed aside from open seats in the chair backs (people with tickets that didn't show). I'd have more guessed around 1900-2000. That's the biggest crowd for an opener that I've seen. Hopefully they'll be back for Silver Puck on the 12th and 13th.

[sshablak]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

Haven't seen a crowd like that since Cornell....the chairbacks were sold out the ticket office told me. It was parents weekend though with no football game home.

GR you're right about it only 3-0 in the third but...with 55 shots on goal it could have been 8-0 very easily, their goalie was outstanding.

Powerplay needs work...I'll take 25% though anyday...and only one penalty against us. Several times we showed great restraint after a Sacred Heart penalty and skated away and didn't retaliate.

Lake Superior State tying the #1 ranked team Miami takes a lil sting out of the two very close losses last weekend. They're a decent team.

All in all we did what was expected.

[TheValleyRaider]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

It's probably because I only listened to the game, but Radio's description of the action is pretty accurate. It wasn't the prettiest, but it's hard to complain a great deal over a 5-0 win. Yeah, SHU was overmatched, as the shot totals indicated, but you still want the full 60 minute effort. Overall, though, winning by 5 goals is pretty good, and you could certainly argue that Evin earned his shutout, which was nice to see

On to the North Country. Never an easy trip, and Clarkson looks stronger than last year while SLU is still dangerous (and Appleton is a bloody house of horrors for us). Full 60 minutes for each night should get us out of there with some points. Hoping for 2 or 3 (but always rooting for 4!)

[vizoroo]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

For those of us who "live and die" for our favorite college hockey team, there comes a time when that is secondary. And that time came to Pioneer fans this weekend.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. — University of Denver center Jesse Martin sustained three neck fractures in Saturday night's hockey game at North Dakota and was transferred to a Minneapolis hospital this morning where doctors are deciding if emergency surgery is required to relieve swelling of the spinal cord, the player's father said.

Read more: DU's Martin facing emergency surgery for broken neck - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_...#ixzz13z0LjWRS

A new thread has been started
"Pass on your best wishes to Jesse Martin here"

[Gaterrooter]

Re: Colgate 2010-11

2 and 2 heading into league play and yet another road trip.

The team looked very strong against a very poor Sacred Heart team and although we scored 5, I would have to say the offense wasn't clicking. They will eventually get it together and start putting up good numbers. The 1st line did not get a point in a game where we took 55 shots and scored 5 goals, is the glass half full or half empty? I think half full. Also the D figured in the scoring on a few goals which is also great news. If we can get a W on Friday we will no doubt sweep up north and get out of there before the heavy snow falls.