As UMD prepares for a big, big weekend of college hockey, you’ll undoubtedly hear coaches on both ends of the UMD area at Amsoil Arena talk about the importance of eyes being on the target.
Yeah, the UMD women got a WCHA standings point out of Columbus and played two very tough games — both of which could have gone either way — against the defending national champions. But Maura Crowell doesn’t want her team going into afternoon games this weekend against Wisconsin thinking about the little things that might have cost them against Ohio State.
Onward.
And it’s easy to get caught up in the negative down the hall with the men. Yeah, things haven’t gone great. UMD hasn’t scored an even strength goal since Oct. 2, a span of nearly 265 minutes, a drought of more than four full hockey games. UMD has only led going into an intermission once in 12 tries. But dwelling on any of that will get the Bulldogs nowhere.
Onward.
8 THOUGHTS
1. While goal-scoring is a problem, there are other things that UMD men’s coach Scott Sandelin is honed in on right now. And there’s a chance that fixing those things will help lead to more goal scoring. Heck, Sandelin was pretty clear on this topic after the first Wisconsin game, a 5-2 loss. He felt that game could have ended 6-5 had UMD buried chances that were there.
Number one on Sandelin’s list: Consistency, which is a hallmark of UMD’s program.
“Consistency allows predictability,” said Sandelin. “When it’s inconsistent, it’s not predictable, right? Whether it’s a breakout, knowing where people are, making a play under pressure because you know that person is there, whether it’s a chip on a line rush, knowing someone’s going through a seam.
“Offensively, where a lot of plays are dying is just losing battles and forcing plays. Again, that goes back to developing trust. If you retrieve a puck, know what your options are, where your outs are. Maybe it’s low, maybe it’s high, maybe three attack the net. There’s so many things that go into it, right? That tends to lead to some inconsistencies and struggles.
“Then you compound it when we’ve chased most of the games. You’re playing from behind. It changes your mindset, you expend more energy, you play differently.”
I’m not going to go through the current roster and identify consistent and/or inconsistent players. But I will say this: Up front, UMD’s two biggest losses after last season were Noah Cates and Kobe Roth. And those two were — for four and five years, respectively — two of UMD’s most consistent and predictable players. Especially Cates. Those were major losses, and not just from a production standpoint.
This doesn’t change the fact that the Bulldogs need players to play at a higher level than they’ve displayed so far, but it gives you an idea that the problems we’re seeing — while correctable — are numerous and might take some time to flesh out.
2. Speaking at his normal Wednesday press conference, Sandelin talked about the Wisconsin series, saying he thought the team played harder Saturday than it did on Friday.
“But I’m not sure we played smarter,” he added. “Trying to get those together might help a little bit.
“You know, it’s not like guys aren’t trying. It’s just right now it’s a little bit off, and it’s that little hestiation maybe, again going back to knowing where to put pucks, putting pucks there later. Defensively, we’ve got to get a lot harder. Falling off checks, giving teams too much space.
“But I think those all go hand in hand. If I do my job, I know someone else is going to do his job. Right now, that’s what we’re trying to find.”
3. Sandelin saluted his leadership group during a tough stretch for the Bulldogs.
“They’re guys who know what is. They want to win. They’re saying the right things. I think they’ve led by example. Luke Loheit’s having a great year. Tanner (Laderoute) is playing Tanner hockey, never take a shift off. Quinn (Olson) is trying, just the pucks aren’t going in, but those guys are doing their part on the ice. That’s all I’m asking them to do. Be our hardest workers, try to be our best players.
“It’s everyone else needs to start to follow. The hard part of losing is a lot of s**t creeps in, a lot of stuff creeps in, and it goes back to the mental toughness part. It goes back to staying together. It goes back to working hard and try to work yourself out of little slumps that you’re in or frustrations that you’re in.”
4. With Isaac Howard suspended for the weekend series, we know there will be at least one line change up front. Add in the debuting Jack Smith, and we’ll see a couple moves with the forward lines for this weekend. Sandelin wasn’t sure if Smith would play both games, given the amount of time he missed (lower body injury). And remember, Smith only played 10 games last season in the USHL due to injury.
What other changes will be made? That’s a good question. Smith likely draws in on the fourth line. That leaves a hole to fill in the top nine to replace Howard. There are sane arguments to keep the James Gang together, but it’s felt like they’ve been destined to get a new bass player, if you know what I mean. We’ll see if this is the weekend where that happens, or if Sandelin chooses to wait for Howard’s return next week in Colorado to construct the lines a little differently.
There are pieces of lines that have worked, so I don’t think we’re going to see the lineup go fully in the blender. IF that were to happen, again it’s more likely to wait until Howard returns next week in Colorado Springs.
5. Did you think this was going to get easy?
Well, I have news for you. That would be wrong.
Yeah, Cornell hasn’t played a game yet, and longtime coach Mike Schafer knows there’s a possibility things happen fast for his team in the first period Friday. But the long-standing, arguably archaic Ivy League rule that forces its hockey teams to wait this long to play games that count isn’t going anywhere, and Schafer’s danced this dance. A lot.
The Big Red feature nine seniors off a team that went 18-10-4 and missed out on the NCAA Tournament after a three-game ECAC quarterfinal series loss to Colgate. These seniors have endured the 2020 NCAA Tournament cancellation, which came with Cornell sitting at No. 1 in the PairWise, and the full cancellation of the 2020-21 season for all the Ivy League teams.
Schafer has long wanted to play UMD (he told me he is “getting up there,” and wants to visit as many different places as he can before he’s done), and he and Sandelin finally have made it happen.
Sandelin compares Cornell to recent and more well-known opponent Minnesota State, saying the Big Red will play very well defensively and go hard to the net on offense.
Cornell returns plenty of talent from last season, including leading goal scorer Ben Berard (14), points leader Matt Stienburg (29), and 6-foot-6 sophomore Ondrej Psenicka, who had 12 goals in an impressive freshman season.
6. Besides Loheit, who Sandelin has been consistently complimentary of in the early going, another player drawing praise is Maine transfer Matthew Thiessen. The senior goalie has been sharp through two starts, and it stands to reason he’s earning more ice time. Thiessen has posted a .949 save percentage through three total appearances, playing 136 minutes and stopping 56 of the 59 shots he’s faced so far.
“It’s a big reason I wanted a veteran goalie here,” said Sandelin. “I thought he played good his first game, it was good to get him in there the first weekend. It’s good. We need the competition there, too. I think there is. Zach Sandy’s back and healthy now, lost him for a bit with an injury. We need Zach Stejskal. We need both of those guys or whoever’s in there to play really good. It might start there, we might need them to steal a game for us, to get some momentum or confidence.
“I was pleased with the way he (Thiessen) played (Saturday). Wish we could have gave him some run support.”
7. The UMD women are optimistic heading into a key series against Wisconsin. Crowell has found plenty of positives to take from the Ohio State games as the Badgers march in for games Friday and Saturday.
“The (overtime) point we got on Friday night was well earned,” she said. “We came from behind to get it. The tough part about Saturday was we had the lead going into the third period and halfway through the third. So, that’s frustrating to not come away with anything. But when you sit back and look, those are two one-goal games against the best team in the country, currently. I think we’re pretty good. I think we learned a lot about ourselves. I’m encouraged, I’m excited about the weekend.”
The Badgers bring a little different team to Duluth than what the Bulldogs faced in Columbus.
“I think their dynamic offense,” said Crowell about the Badgers. “That’s always been Wisconsin’s game. Yes, they’re good defensively. But this year’s team has really good depth up front, some youth in the back end, and new goaltending. I think what we’ve seen on tape is a little different than we’ve seen in the past. But good depth at all positions.”
It’s a weekend where Crowell can deploy the Bulldogs’ depth a little differently than she did against Ohio State, which doesn’t have Wisconsin’s depth up front.
The Badgers still have the likes of Casey O’Brien, Sophie Shirley, Britta Curl, and Maddie Wheeler up front. Lacey Eden returns after a stint with the U.S. Olympic team, and Jesse Compher joined as a transfer from Boston University. She’s made an immediate impact for UW.
On defense, Nicole LaMantia and Natalie Buchbinder are back, but it’s the youth taking headlines. Caroline Harvey was great for Team USA at the World Championships, and Vivian Jungels is off to a strong start.
UMD will try to match this with its group of fifth years, including captains Ashton Bell, Gabbie Hughes, and Kylie Hanley. The Bulldogs’ depth down the middle is as good as it’s been in years, led by Hughes, Hanley, and Mannon McMahon. Maggie Flaherty is Bell’s defensive partner, while Emma Soderberg is as good as it gets in goal.
Join us on the radio for this series, or even better, get your butt to Amsoil for 3pm starts Friday and Saturday. This stands to be a great series.
8. The NCHC opens its tenth season of conference play with one series this weekend, as defending national champion Denver travels to Miami. The Pioneers had a nice rebound last weekend, sweeping Providence at home after the losses at UMass the previous weekend. Miami is off to a nice 4-1-1 start, but the RedHawks will be tested big-time this weekend.
The rest of the league action is non-conference, highlighted by three home-and-home series and a mega-destination game. St. Cloud State and Bemidji State go home and home, starting Friday in Bemidji. Western Michigan and Michigan do the same, starting in Ann Arbor (no, Michigan isn’t required to bring back Mel Pearson so he can take his lumps from the Lunatics). Colorado College hosts Air Force Friday before hitting the Academy for a return game Saturday. Also, North Dakota plays the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game against Arizona State in, welp, Las Vegas. I hope someone warned the fine people of that city. Finally, Omaha visits Long Island for two games. Hopefully everyone’s nice in the handshake line.
Omaha vs Alaska, hockey’s greatest rivalry pic.twitter.com/16FsVtVLew
— ᴀʀᴅᴀ Öᴄᴀʟ (@Arda) October 24, 2022
Join us on the radio this weekend for all four UMD games. The women play at 3pm Friday and Saturday, with Saturday’s game preceded by football as UMD hosts Minot State at Malosky Stadium. Men’s games are at 7pm Friday and Saturday.
Back between games Friday with lines.
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