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Colgate 2017-18

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  • Hopefully we can get some more offense from the defense next year. Austin and Cosgrove show great promise, and they can help improve the PP and lead to more goals. I liked what I saw from McKechney. It remains to be seen how much upside our freshman/sophomore forwards have.

    Barring early defections (Ryan Donato?), the teams above us in the standings, and Princeton, have good players returning next year. So it won’t be easy to get to the top 4, even with an improved offense.

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    • Re: Colgate 2017-18

      Before I get to the bulk of my end of season commentary I wanted to clarify that we finished tied for 5th in the ECAC not 6th. Which is a testament to the hard work of both the kids on the team and the coaching staff.

      However . . .

      I think if you honestly appraise the state of Colgate hockey, this is a high water mark for our program as currently constructed not a sign of tangible progress.

      First of all, there is the Point factor. He was so unbelievably good that I think it distorts our true place in the firmament. Stated another way, where does this year’s team finish without Point? I think bottom four without a doubt. And that’s not just idle speculation; look at our record when he didn’t play: 1-5-1 with a goals against of about 3.5. Or viewed through a different lens, go back to the two Princeton games, both Point starts. We tied 0-0 and won 4-0 with Point making over 70 saves in the two games. What was the likely result of those games with another goalie?

      But we will almost certainly have Point next year, people will say (with which I agree). Fair enough. That said, as amazing as he was this year, even if he is great again he will probably move back toward the mean. What is more likely statistically speaking, that he improves on 1.76 GAA/.944 save percentage or regresses from that? And what happens if he regresses (even nominally)?

      Or ask another question: what is more likely, that Point regresses or we suddenly start miraculously minting 15 goal scorers? Are any players on our current roster going to make a huge jump? McKechney maybe? Anyone else? I’m not seeing it. And to his credit, Panowyk put together a solid season so don’t discount his loss to graduation; I think he was one of our better forwards over the past two months.

      But what about incoming recruits?!? I’ve been paying attention to them all season. I have some hope for Jeffrey Stewart who has put together a nice season in Surrey in the BCHL (and who has improved his point totals three years in a row, a good sign). Maybe hope we hit with Griffin Lunn? He’s averaged half a point a game in the USHL which is pretty solid. And we nailed our USHL recruit this year in Nick Austin (who produced little at the USHL level) so maybe we strike lightning twice?

      So, that gives us two possibly decent recruits. Certainly not upper echelon talent like an Austin Smith or a Spink twin . . . or even a McMann. As for the other potential recruits, I can’t tell if Arnaud Vachon from Brooks in the AJHL is coming this year or next. But either way, his drop in goal scoring from last year to this is concerning. Jack Hoey? Is he going to come directly from Choate and start producing big time offense? There are a couple of offensive defensemen in the pipeline (Brendan Scanlin from Brooks and Liam Watson-Braun from Prince George in the BCHL) but they are scheduled ‘19-‘20 recruits.

      When I look at the totality of it, I just don’t see bushels of goals in our future.

      And as if this is not all bad enough, don’t forget that both Yale and Quinnipiac were down this year. I would reckon they are both likely to be better next season. And Princeton looks to be potentially ascendant. I would not be looking so much at moving into the top four as much as desperately trying to remain in the middle four; it’s not going to be easy.

      Lastly, several people have said that this was “a good season”. To that point I will certainly concede that the team played hard, was well coached and exceeded expectations. However, I would posit that if .500 denotes “a good season” we have our goals all wrong. Do we think Yale and Quinnipiac who both had similar records to us think they had “good seasons”? Simply being better than our predicted finish of last does not in and of itself denote a good season. Look at the overall makeup of our team. Is it one that we think is poised to become a perennial top four contender? Or are we more likely to slip back into oblivion.

      I will close with a point I feel like I make every season. And here I’ll just let the numbers speak for themselves:

      In DV’s first 13 years:
      8 winning seasons, 5 losing ones. 28 games over .500.

      In DV’s next 12 years:
      3 winning seasons, 6 losing ones, 3 .500 ones. 41 games under .500.

      Is this good enough?
      Last edited by Marmot; 03-13-2018, 06:19 AM.

      Comment


      • Re: Colgate 2017-18

        Marmot, hard to top your excellent and very objective analysis...I might also note one or two more things...this is somewhat of a "down" year for the ECAC (IF we had beaten Clarkson is game #3 on Sunday night the league was potentially looking at ONE NCAA bid) and I would expect some improvement next year. And Gate Radio was, of course, correct in stating that we are a young team. But several other ECAC teams are very young as well, most notably Yale. If my info is correct Jack Hoey arrives on campus next year (Yale apparently wanted him as well, but typically wanted him to do a year or two in the USHL). Gallant is very young (DOB 5/2000) so he's probably at least one year away (and maybe two). Vachon's #s have stagnated this year (arrival 2019?). Stewart and Lunn look like they will help. But the bottom line remains pretty much the same: scoring, scoring, scoring. You simply can't expect a .940 save percentage next year on a barrage of shots...

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        • Re: Colgate 2017-18

          For those looking ahead, here's what next season's league schedule looks like so far:


          Nov. 2 Brown
          Nov. 3 Yale

          Nov. 16 Princeton
          Nov. 17 Quinnipiac

          Nov. 30 @Harvard
          Dec. 1 @Dartmouth

          Jan. 4 @Quinnipiac
          Jan. 5 @Princeton

          Jan. 18 Dartmouth
          Jan. 19 Harvard

          Feb. 1 @RPI
          Feb. 2 @Union
          Feb. 8 St. Lawrence
          Feb. 9 Clarkson
          Feb. 15 @Yale
          Feb. 16 @Brown
          Feb. 22 Union
          Feb. 23 RPI
          Mar. 1 @Clarkson
          Mar. 2 @St. Lawrence


          As always, the games vs. Cornell are TBD. Hopefully they're at the end of January and not in November.

          For OOC opponents (not confirmed, this is based on recent OOC opponents reciprocating home/away series):
          -UNH (home x2)
          -Western Michigan (home x2)
          -Canisius (home x1)
          -Niagara (away x1)
          -6 other games/opponents TBD
          Colgate '09

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          • Re: Colgate 2017-18

            Not a shocker but Point was named a Hobey top 10 finalist!!!!

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            • Re: Colgate 2017-18

              congrats to Colton...he deserves it...as far as playing our traveling partner goes, since we're 4-22-7 in our last 33 games against Cornell I really couldn't care less when we play them...two points out of four would be just fine...

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              • Re: Colgate 2017-18

                Point got the most votes of all ten candidates from coaches and balloters.
                It all starts with the goaltending.

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                • Re: Colgate 2017-18

                  Point also named second team All-ECAC.

                  And Austin named to the ECAC all rookie team.

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                  • Re: Colgate 2017-18

                    This is not men's hockey related, but it is Colgate hockey related................HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Greg Fargo on being named NCAA Coach of the Year!!!! That is huge, well deserved and great for the program and Colgate!!! Go 'Gate!!!

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                    • Re: Colgate 2017-18

                      Originally posted by CU13 View Post
                      This is not men's hockey related, but it is Colgate hockey related................HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Greg Fargo on being named NCAA Coach of the Year!!!! That is huge, well deserved and great for the program and Colgate!!! Go 'Gate!!!
                      CU - I believe it was the AHCA Coach of the Year, not NCAA. Whatever, it's a great honor and well deserved. I'm trembling in my boots that he won't move away from Hamilton, NY
                      COLGATE HOCKEY:"Is this the year?"

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                      • Re: Colgate 2017-18

                        I stand corrected....thanks ColSkate. Go 'Gate!!

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                        • Re: Colgate 2017-18

                          I get BTN because I pay 9.95 mo. for a sports package with Spectrum. It's being streamed also. If you want to watch Cornell get beat you can stream it for free on channeleleven. Go to Quinnipiac 2018 offseason thread here and the addy is posted by Markeagle, just click on it. 4:00 PM

                          Go Lady Raiders tonight !!
                          It all starts with the goaltending.

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                          • Re: Colgate 2017-18

                            Originally posted by sshablak View Post
                            I get BTN because I pay 9.95 mo. for a sports package with Spectrum. It's being streamed also. If you want to watch Cornell get beat you can stream it for free on channeleleven. Go to Quinnipiac 2018 offseason thread here and the addy is posted by Markeagle, just click on it. 4:00 PM
                            Or just go here:

                            https://www.twitch.tv/elevensportsprime

                            Quinnipiac Bobcats
                            2023 National Champions
                            ECAC Regular Season Champions: 2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24
                            ECAC Tournament Champions: 2016
                            East Regional: 2013 (Champions), 2014, 2016 (Champions), 2023 (Champions)
                            Northeast Regional:

                            West Regional: 2015, 2021
                            Midwest Regional: 2019, 2022
                            Frozen Four: 2013, 2016, 2023 (Champions)

                            Pass complete. Lipkin has a man in front! Shot... SCORE!!!

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                            • Re: Colgate 2017-18

                              'Gate women up 1-0 after the first period. FYI, I found the game on channel 610 Directv in case any of you have Directv. Go Gate
                              COLGATE HOCKEY:"Is this the year?"

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                              • Re: Colgate 2017-18

                                Gate-Wisconsin women tied, 3-3. Going to OT...
                                COLGATE HOCKEY:"Is this the year?"

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