UNO Hockey Exhibition Thoughts

Since Cassy mentioned me as a source for analysis, I figure I should probably do so.  

UNO played Manitoba.  Manitoba was a 3-7 Canadian College Hockey Team.  We can’t draw too much from this.  That said, the Mavs looked good in my opinion.  Love to see a clean sheet (there goes my soccer side..), and the penalty kill looked good (even if it was out there all night).

Here’s what I do want to draw on. The following players saw their first ever action for UNO: Defensemen Matt Smith, Defensemen Kyle Ensign, Forward Jordan Willert, Forward Jake Skjodt, Forward Ryan Kretzer, Forward John Kemp, Forward Alex Hudson, and Goalie John Faulkner.  That’s 8 freshman to break in!  

These players started their 2nd season: Defensemen Alain Goulet, Defensemen Nick Von Bokern, Forward Rich Purslow, Forward Joey Martin, Defensemen Eric Olimb, and Forward Matt Ambroz.  That’s 6 more underclassmen, bringing us to 14 and 6 of those are defensemen.

This year’s team has 7 Juniors (Goalie Jeremie Dupont, Defensemen Eddie DelGrosso, Forward Jeric Agosta, Forward JJ Koehler, Forward Nick Fanto, Defensemen Mark Bernier, and Forward Dan Swanson).  These 7 are some big names on this team, and this year will need to step up and start leading.  

There are only 4 Seniors, a Trio of Forwards (Tomas Klempa. J.P. Platisha, and Dan Charleston) and a Goalie (Jerad Kaufmann).  These guys are great and will be good leaders.  The job of these 11 upperclassmen though will be to lead the underclassmen.  To get the Freshman adjusted to college hockey and make sure the Sophomores keep getting better.

On the Blue Line (defensemen) is where this could be the biggest impact.  There are 2 Juniors, 4 Sophmores and 2 Freshman.  The Sophomores are going to be expected to contribute heavily, and are somewhat prepared after getting experience last year.  But we will see some mistakes, make no mistake about that.  The Blue Line will make you groan a few times this year…

Looking at the Forwards we see a trio of seniors and 4 juniors.  They will be expected to bear the brunt of the scoring burden.  The sophomores and freshman will be able to fit nicely into the plan and work hard, but won’t have the same pressure as the defensemen.

Between the pipes, Dupont and Kaufmann are both experienced.  One of the two will play well, if not both (as I expect).  Faulkner will get some time I’m sure, but is there to help spur these two on and learn.

Now what does this mean?  UNO is young.  Very young.  IF, and this is a big if because with the schedule this team has… they have a chance to do some damage, pull some upsets and have a good year, the team struggles this year… don’t fret too much.  This team is built for the future.  For the next few years.  This year is a bit of a building year.  We can see some big results this year as well I think thanks to a great schedule, but this isn’t the year we worry about.

P.S. Sophomore defensemen Mike Phillippi will redshirt and focus on his grades.  A very good idea I think.  I applaud Coach Kemp for making the right choice here and putting Student before Athlete in this case.

UNO Hockey Schedule Released… my Thoughts

Mon, Oct 13 Manitoba ^ Qwest Center Omaha
Fri, Oct 17 American International – Mutual of Omaha Stampede Qwest Center Omaha
Sat, Oct 18 Mutual of Omaha Stampede Qwest Center Omaha
Fri, Oct 24 Mercyhurst Qwest Center Omaha
Sat, Oct 25 Mercyhurst Qwest Center Omaha
Fri, Oct 31 Bowling Green * Bowling Green, Ohio
Sat, Nov 1 Bowling Green * Bowling Green, Ohio
Fri, Nov 7 Western Michigan * Kalamazoo, Mich.
Sat, Nov 8 Western Michigan * Kalamazoo, Mich.
Fri, Nov 14 Ferris State – Parents’ Weekend * Qwest Center Omaha
Sat, Nov 15 Ferris State – Parents’ Weekend * Qwest Center Omaha
Fri, Nov 21 Michigan State * Qwest Center Omaha
Sat, Nov 22 Michigan State * Qwest Center Omaha
Fri, Nov 28 Ohio State * Columbus, Ohio
Sat, Nov 29 Ohio State * Columbus, Ohio
Fri, Dec 5 Alaska * Qwest Center Omaha
Sat, Dec 6 Alaska * Qwest Center Omaha
Fri, Dec 12 Lake Superior State * Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Sat, Dec 13 Lake Superior State * Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Mon, Dec 29 Yale New Haven, Conn.
Tue, Dec 30 Princeton Princeton, N.J.
Sat, Jan 3 Minnesota State, Mankato Mankato, Minn.
Fri, Jan 9 Northern Michigan * Qwest Center Omaha
Sat, Jan 10 Northern Michigan * Qwest Center Omaha
Fri, Jan 16 Alaska * Fairbanks, Alaska
Sat, Jan 17 Alaska * Fairbanks, Alaska
Fri, Jan 23 Miami (Ohio) * Qwest Center Omaha
Sat, Jan 24 Miami (Ohio) * Qwest Center Omaha
Fri, Jan 30 Ferris State * Big Rapids, Mich.
Sat, Jan 31 Ferris State * Big Rapids, Mich.
Fri, Feb 6 Western Michigan * Qwest Center Omaha
Sat, Feb 7 Western Michigan * Qwest Center Omaha
Fri, Feb 13 Michigan * Ann Arbor, Mich.
Sat, Feb 14 Michigan * Ann Arbor, Mich.
Fri, Feb 20 Notre Dame * Omaha, Neb. (Civic Auditorium)
Sat, Feb 21 Notre Dame * Omaha, Neb. (Civic Auditorium)
Tue, Feb 24 Minnesota State, Mankato Qwest Center Omaha

Thoughts, first on the non conference:

Manitoba again… woo. Good to know we’ll have that exhibition this year instead of having the first game of the Stampede not count. Also that means the Red-White game is probably the 5th of October? Yay! That’s barely 4.5 months away.

The Stampede blows. Seriously. American International and then Union or Quinnipac. Umm I’m sooooooo excited. Wow! Quinnipac! YESSSSSSS. They need to start getting good teams into this or stop doing it. I give them one more year, if next year’s lineup blows again it’s time to scrap it. Also, tickets are still at a premium price for this game as far as we know. Great. Are we wearing pink again this year?

Mercyhurst! Oh yes! I’ve been wanting to see them for years!!!!! Home of the Laker Lunatics (their version of the Bullpen). They almost made the NCAA Tournament last year, losing 5-4 to Air Force in the title game of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. They are also a D2 school, so this could be alright.
Yale and Princeton return trips this year. That’d be fun to go to. I wish I could do it.

Mankato on a Saturday night! SWEEEEET. The Bullpen is THERE! Make your plans now.

Mankato at home on a Tuesday night. That’s okay I guess. The night is also not during finals week this time. That’s a plus. Better end to the year than the USA and my conflicted interest too.

Conference thoughts:

Good to see we get 3 of the big 4 at home this year (Michigan State, Miami, Notre Dame) and only one on the road (WEASELS). We do play them on Valentine’s Day (which is a Saturday… so make sure you are free for your girlfriends men) so maybe they will go easy on us. But seriously, having 3 of the 4 at home and not having to play any of them twice is a HUGE advantage.

Our double plays… Alaska, Ferris State, Western Michigan. They finished 9th, 5th, and 12th respectively. Alaska fired their coach as well. Don’t forget Ferris was only 2 points ahead of UNO as well (who finished in 8th) and split the season series at the Qwest last year.

Other home games… Northern Michigan. Good to see them back after not seeing them last year.

Other road games… Bowling Green (sad to not get to play the perverts at home. Have fun in Bowling Green on Halloween boys. I’d lock the doors….), Ohio State (I believe a road trip is happening last I heard…. Eryn?), Lake Superior State.

Civic Game: Notre Dame. I wonder if the student section will be in the upper deck again…. Argh. Last regular season home series. I foresee a situation where the great UNO Mavericks are two wins away (against Notre Dame) from knocking the Irish out of a top 4 finish and claiming a first round bye. All that separates them is needing to take 2 points that weekend. Everyone’s excited, the Civic will be packed, the Mavs are gonna do it. It’s a sellout. But will they do it? I’m sure we’ll get stuck in the upper deck and not be able to taunt the goalie like we’d like to… but we’ll do whatever we can.

In summary: This schedule kicks some butt I think. I really do. They don’t have a real tough road schedule (1 of the top 4, 3 of the top 8 from last year). They have their toughest road series last (Michigan) They play the four worst teams from last year on the road. They will have to take care of business at home this year though. They need to take 6 points from the 6 games against Miami, Notre Dame, and Michigan State (they’ve taken 3 points in their previous 8 home games against those teams). They need to take care of business with dominating weekends against weaker teams (Alaska, Western, Ohio State, Lake State). They need to play well and win some games against the middle of the pack (Northern, Bowling Green, Ferris). But by and large I think the schedule sets up well. Now whether this team is capable of it is a whole other story. I don’t know enough to talk much about the team at this point… but let’s hope the Freshman boys became Men. They’ll have to step up big.

I’ll try and post about the Football, Soccer, and Volleyball Schedules that are also up sometime.

And finally what do people think of another very weak Non-conf schedule? It doesn’t bother me a ton as we know the CCHA will provide us with a very tough schedule. That said, I’d like to see ONE name series a year. Maybe Yale/Princeton is that… but I’d love to see a series with Denver, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Colorado College, Maine, New Hampshire, BC, Boston, etc. I’m not sure what those teams would gain from playing UNO though. Oh well. It’s a little more important to try and get some games like that though I think in a D1 sport vs. D2 where it’s very regional based and you more or less try to get some rivals and seem to fill the rest with whoever works.

Oh!  And no Sunday afternoon games!  YESSSSS.  Let’s hope that sticks.  No Thursday night road games either.

Saturday January 5th Preview

Alright… it’s a big day tomorrow.  Our latest edition of the NFL playoffs kicks off.

First up is Washington going to Seattle.  Washington has finished extremely strong, and come together after the tragic death of Sean Taylor.  But can they go to Seattle and win on the road in the playoffs?  I don’t think so.  Washington is starting Todd Collins at QB.  That Todd Collins.  The one who is famous (infamous) for being the player with the largest gap between starts in NFL history at over 10 years.  There is a reason for that.  Good QBs don’t go 10 years without starting by accident.  Todd Collins is not capable of leading this team to a road victory in the playoffs in my opinion.  I’m taking the Seahawks 28-10

So the Jaguars are going into the Steel City, where they won a few weeks ago.  Can they do it again?  I think so.  Pittsburgh is in trouble with Willie Parker, the leading RB in the NFL at the time.  The Jaguars are built to win in situations like this.  I don’t buy into David Garrard as a good QB for the playoffs yet, but I think he’s good enough to beat the Steelers.

Jaguars win 27-17.

The Maverick hockey team has a big series at Western Michigan.  UNO, struggling all year, is still “in it” technically for a top 4 seed (trailing Michigan St. by 7 points with 2 to play (a sweep at MSU makes it 3 points… but MSU still has 3 extra games more than UNO).  They would need to go on a run unlike anything we’ve seen at any point this year though to pull that off.  Trying to get a 5-8 seed is much easier.  The 5th place team (Bowling Green) has 12 points while UNO is back in 8th with 11.  Ferris State, Northern Michigan, and Alaska are also right there with 12, 12 and 10 respectively.  UNO travels to Northern and Alaska over the next month or so, and has an opportunity to put some ground on those teams.  The Mavs can definitely get that first round home game if they play well down the stretch.  It won’t take a great stretch of wins, just picking up wins over teams they should beat and maybe a few surprises.

Anyways, back to this weekend.  Western is in 2nd to last with just 4 points and a 2-8-0 record in conference, but we tied last place Lake Superior State for their only 2 conference points (0-9-2) at home in our last conference action… so who knows if this is gonna be doable on the road.  UNO really needs to sweep.  Western is not a good team.  The return of Juha Uotlia was key last weekend.  He added some more depth and some much needed experience to the blue line.  The Mavs need someone in goal to step up.  Jerad Kaufmann struggled Friday night, and Jeremie Dupont did the same Sunday night last time out.  I’m not sure who’s starting this weekend.  Kaufmann, Dupont and Aarnio all have the potential to step up and win games, but until one of them steps up and establishes himself as the go to goaltender down the stretch, this team is doomed to struggle I fear.

Bryan Marshall is silently having a spectacular season and career.  He now has 8G and 20A in 20 games on the year, giving him 135 points in his career.  That’s only 9 behind David Brisson for 2nd place (behind Mr. Mav Hockey Scott Parse’s 197).  So don’t forget when you’re watching him play how great he really is.  Marshall is 3rd in the NCAA with his 28 points, only 3 behind Michigan’s Kevin Porter.  His 20 assists are top in the NCAA.  Mick Lawrence’s 7 PPG goals places him 4th in the NCAA.

Also, UNO’s opponent for next weekend, Miami, lost to Bowling Green 4-2 tonight, meaning UNO will not be hosting the #1 team after all.  Doh.  Our favorite goalie Jimmy Spratt was featured on the front page of USCHO.com… I can’t wait til the perverts come to the Civic… GET YOUR SHARPIES READY!!!!!

Creighton Basketball faces a tough road trip to Springfield Missouri.  The team is desperate for a win now having started Valley season 0-2 (okay so 14-4 is sounding unlikely for our conference record now…)   The Jays, 9-3 on the year, take on the Bears of Missouri St. (8-6 on the year) at 7 on Saturday.  Creighton’s starters aren’t gonna change and we need to accept that.  I don’t think it will cost them games.  The team can come back if they get down early.  The 0-2 conference record is CU’s worst start since 93-94 (Pre-Dana). That team went 0-7 to start.. yikes. This team is gonna have to look to Dane Watts to lead them.  He is the only player in the conference in the top 7 in points and boards.  He is going to have to have a big game against Missouri St.  Josh Dotzler is gonna need to take care of business.  No sloppy turnovers, good passing, hard defense.  He can’t force shots either.  Chad Millard needs to step up and shows us something as he’s been a bit of a disappointment at CU so far.  Nick Bahe and Pierce Hibma need to use whatever minutes they get effectively.

Off the bench, P’Allen Stinnett will be playing a big game.  In an interview with 590’s Matt Perault, Dana Altman said if P doesn’t stop complaining about foul calls to the refs, he will sit him.  This is going to be interesting to see, how does he respond?  P has loads of talent, but he hasn’t totally bought into the system yet and he’ starting to draw the ire of the coaches it appears.  Casey Harriman, Cavel Witter, Booker Woodfox, Kaleb Korver all need to play their roles.  I’d like to see some 3s out of Casey, to see Cavel stay under a bit more control, and for Booker to continue his hot shooting. Maybe some 3s out of Korver ?  Kenny Lawson and Kenton Walker will hopefully get some time to continue their development.  How well these two do could play a big difference in this team’s season.

Defensively the Jays will worry about the Bear’s Deven Mitchell who leads the league with 16.9 points per game. Blake Ahearn is finally gone though!

Booker Woodfox’s shooting has finally come around.  Earlier in the year the coaches talked about him needing to get some confidence and start knocking down some shots.  Well, it’s happened.  He now leads the team with 17 3s and 42.5% shooting.  He’s 13-21 (61.9%!!!) the last 5 games.  Does Altman think about starting him anytime soon?  He is a junior and he’s playing very well lately.

I’m not gonna take the Jays to win in Springfield.  I hope they do, but I’m taking the Bears 74-69.  Jays will stop the losing at home next week… but it continues Saturday night.

Finally, the Republicans and Democrats have a big debate Saturday night.  It’s gonna be in prime time on ABC.  I will be taping it so I can watch sports and then the debate.  New Hampshire is coming up on Tuesday so this is the last chance for many of the candidates to get their message out to the state as a whole.

Republicans from 6-7:30 CST..

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, R-NYC
Former Governor Mike Huckabee, R-Ark.
Senator John McCain, R-Ariz.
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex.
Former Governor Mitt Romney, R-Mass.
Former Senator Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

Democrats from 7:45-9:15 CST…
Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
Former Senator John Edwards, D-N.C.
Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill.
Governor Bill Richardson, D-N.M.

I’m looking forward to the first debate for the Democrats where the marginal candidates are gone.   These three can now turn to each other (Richardson is around… oh well) and we’ll see what they have to say.  As far as the Republicans go.  This is a big debate as these all are still in it (though Paul has 0% chance I still believe).  Don’t be fooled by Gulliani’s poor showing so far.  He’s focusing on Super Tuesday, not these early states.

So there’s your Saturday preview.  A big fun day coming up!