COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Well, that sucked. 5-0 final. Let’s get at it.
(Warning: This won’t all be about UMD hockey or the NCHC. I’ve got something to get off my chest.)
8 THOUGHTS
1. No point in sugarcoating this. That first period was not at all good from UMD, and the Bulldogs paid dearly for every mistake. UMD gets an early power play and can’t score. Jesse Jacques got beat in a race, took a penalty, and Colorado College scored less than 20 seconds later for a 1-0 lead.
After a second UMD power play comes up empty, Colorado College takes advantage of a UMD defensive zone turnover. 2-0. Then comes another CC power play. Bad net front coverage from UMD, and it’s 3-0 on a rebound.
Then a turnover and just like that UMD is down 4-0.
The Bulldogs had some scoring chances, but more on that later.
2. The Bulldogs have to get better defensively. It’s something Sandelin talked about on Wednesday. And basically every time he and I have spoken, that end of the ice has come up.
Look, I get it. As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, UMD has a lot of new guys and guys in new roles back there. It’s lots of adjusting and learning.
But the mistakes, man. And they’re not just coming from young guys. The second goal was a turnover after a pass from Wyatt Kaiser to Darian Gotz on a breakout. Quick shot, Zach Stejskal lost the puck, and Stanley Cooley of Colorado College got to it before anyone in maroon located it. Third goal was poor coverage by UMD with three veterans on the ice (I’m not going to point the finger at any of them specifically, as I’m not sure who the big offender was on the play after re-watching it).
The fourth goal was a disaster. Kyle Bettens lost control of the puck in the neutral zone, chases it down in the UMD zone, and then got thrown to the ice (arguably should have been a penalty after I got a second look at it, the CC player literally reaches out, grabs Bettens, and throws him to the ice). Noah Laba beats Derek Daschke to the front and stuffs the puck through Stejskal’s five hole to end his night.
It wasn’t good from Stejskal, and it wasn’t good for the skaters. The Bulldogs came out flat, weren’t hard in any zone, got out-worked, and got beat from the hop.
The fifth goal came off a UMD turnover as well, then Laba danced around two UMD players — neither was a freshman, by the way — and ripped a shot by Matthew Thiessen to cap the scoring.
The Bulldogs are too often falling into bad habits in their own zone. We’ve talked at length about it. UMD is a north team. Get possession and head towards the adversary’s goal. Clean exits mean you get to your offensive game more efficiently. Bad exits, which we saw a lot of on Friday, mean extra time chasing and defending, which is no fun for anyone, anywhere, anytime.
3. Colorado College freshman goalie Kaidan Mbereko picked up his first career shutout with 34 saves. He’s a very good goalie who has a bright future ahead of him. Watching him in the World Juniors this past summer, it’s clear he is highly regarded in USA Hockey circles, and justifiably so.
We’re taking nothing away from him, but this shutout could not possibly have come any easier for Mbereko. Part of the credit goes to a Tiger team that blocked 13 shots and was much more efficient on zone exits than UMD was.
But UMD has to get some love here, as well. Too many unscreened shots at a squared-up goalie that hit him square in the midsection to stop play. It’s a combination. There were plays where Bulldog players were driving toward the net, but shots came in too quickly. There were plays where Bulldog players were set up to screen the goalie, and someone held a puck too long, allowing defenders to clear out the goalie’s line of sight or block the shot.
Mbereko made a couple nice stops along the way, but if the Bulldogs are to rebound Saturday, they will have to do a better job generating traffic and making the freshman uncomfortable.
4. We saw a few different line combinations as Friday wore on. In the third period. Dominic James was centering Isaac Howard and Blake Biondi, while Carter Loney was between Ben Steeves and Luke Loheit. Jesse Jacques worked with Quinn Olson and Tanner Laderoute, and Jack Smith, Kyle Bettens, and Cole Spicer were on the fourth line.
Steeves finished with seven shots, Howard had six in his return from a two-game suspension. Steeves had a couple quality looks. But the rest of the team combined for 21 shots. Biondi had zero, as did Loney and Gallatin, all three power play mainstays in a game where UMD had five power plays. None of the three even attempted a shot, according to the official stats. That isn’t necessarily a reflection on any of them individually, as much as it’s a sign that the power play just isn’t clicking.
Does this lead into Saturday? Great question. I can’t imagine things stay as they were. Perhaps players who were scratched Friday will play Saturday. We’ll have to see.
5. Again, coaches hate excuses, but I do not. I mentioned the struggles for guys who are main cogs on the power play.
But, by my highly unofficial count, this was only the fourth of nine games where UMD had all its power play personnel available. Steeves missed the MSU series, Kaiser sat out the Saturday Wisconsin game, and Howard missed last weekend. Yes, injuries and suspensions are different circumstances, but absences are absences.
So while the power play isn’t clicking, it’s hard to deny the available talent on both units. Now, it’s hopefully just a matter of time before some good things start happening there.
6. The NCHC had a weird Friday. Miami had two guys tossed for hitting from behind as Western Michigan speedbagged the RedHawks 7-1 at Lawson. The double major came into play at Omaha, where UND’s Ty Farmer was ejected for a hit from behind late in the second, then Omaha’s Cameron Berg was given the gate for head contact at the same timestamp after a North Dakota challenge. Five minutes of four-on-four hockey in a game UND ended up winning 4-1.
Then Denver took a late lead over St. Cloud State, only to have Zach Okabe score an even later equalizer for the Huskies. SCSU had to kill a penalty at the start of overtime, but it was Veeti Miettinen scoring in the extra session for a 4-3 Huskies win in the Mile High City.
7. Tough overtime loss for the UMD women Friday after a nice comeback at Minnesota. The Gophers jumped to a 2-0 lead on a goal by former UMD defender Lizi Norton in the first, but the Bulldogs rallied. UMD got a second-period goal from Gabby Krause, then Nina Jobst-Smith tied it in the third on a power play.
It was 2022 Patty Kazmaier winner Taylor Heise scoring for Minnesota 15 seconds into overtime for a 3-2 win. Good point for UMD on the road, especially after trailing 2-0, and another game the Bulldogs played against a top team that could have gone either way. That’s five of those in a row, and while UMD would assuredly like more than one win in that stretch, Maura Crowell has plenty of reason to be pleased with how her team is playing.
2pm Saturday for the rematch at Ridder.
8. The big hockey story of the day had nothing to do with what you just looked through.
The Boston Bruins on Friday signed defenseman Mitchell Miller to an entry-level contract. If that name rings a bell, well it’s probably for a good reason. Let’s go to the relevant facts as we understand them on the story of Mitchell Miller.
- Miller and another eighth-grader were convicted in an Ohio juvenile court in 2016 of bullying and abusing a Black, developmentally disabled classmate at a junior high school in Sylvania, Ohio.
- Miller and his classmate were punished by the school with suspensions; Miller’s punishment was greater, per a police report obtained by The Athletic in 2020 and first reported by The Arizona Republic, because he lied repeatedly to school administrators, who confirmed the reports of other students by using the school’s security cameras.
- At least 10 NHL clubs took Miller off their 2020 draft lists, and Miller provided all 31 teams with a letter of apology, saying he had “extreme regret” for the incidents and that he had changed.
Also not in dispute: This was a long pattern of behavior, one that began when the kids in question were in the second grade. In other words, six years before anything was done about it.
Miller had started college at North Dakota when the depths of his behavior were unveiled to the world by the Arizona Republic’s original report. UND administration quickly worked to move Miller out of the men’s hockey program, and he chose not to remain enrolled in school there.
He spent last season with Tri-City of the USHL, where he scored 39 goals and was named the USHL Player of the Year. His coaches in Tri-City spoke glowingly of his time there, on and off the ice. But his USHL eligibility expired, and no NCAA program would take him, so turning pro was the last real option.
Look, I’m a fan of second chances. And I’ve said repeatedly on multiple forums that I do not believe in giving up on young people. Even after what Miller did, I’m not in favor of him never getting a chance to pursue whatever career he wants.
But second chances are earned. They aren’t handed out. And when it becomes clear that Miller was only going to do the bare minimum in order to try to keep his hockey options open, it’s difficult to see him getting such a high-profile opportunity.
Guy Flaming of The Pipeline Show reached out to the victim’s mother, who says Miller only contacted her son via a direct message on Instagram a few days ago. There has never been any effort to arrange an in-person meeting/apology, and when Miller reached out to the victim, he claimed his doing so had “nothing to do with hockey.” Come to find out the Bruins and Miller’s representation had already been in contact, and a deal was already being negotiated.
Scott McLaughlin, who works for WEEI in Boston, had some interesting tweets with quotes from Bruins GM Don Sweeney. These take the cake.
Sweeney says they considered walking away multiple times, but kept coming back to the fact that it was in eighth grade and Miller has taken full responsibility and owned up to it.
Sweeney has said repeatedly that this is "not about forgiveness" or "deserving" a second chance.
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) November 4, 2022
This is one where, if you don’t know if you’re doing the right thing, it’s best to walk away and let someone else take the chance.
Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron spoke with Elliotte Friedman.
"I was on the fence."@FriedgeHNIC sat down with Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron and asked him about the team's signing of renounced Coyotes draft pick, Mitchell Miller. pic.twitter.com/3fUHWDJWkc
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 5, 2022
This is a huge mistake by Boston. Miller has shown zero remorse for what he did, only apologizing in writing when ordered to by a court of law, and only apologizing via an Instagram DM after it was clear he had to reach out to the victim if he ever wanted a shot at the NHL.
He might regret what he did. I sure hope that’s the case. But is he truly remorseful if the only times he’s ever tried to apologize are when he was forced to? Check out this helpful reading on remorse from people who know more about the subject than I do, and conclude for yourself.
Maybe someday, Miller will be the model citizen who is speaking up for the bullied and oppressed in our society, and using his experiences to teach others to do good. But that day has not come. Instead, the Boston Bruins decided they wanted Mitchell Miller — warts and all — because Mitchell Miller might be able to help them win a Stanley Cup. The Bruins decided that’s all that matters to them, and they’ll deal with whatever scorn comes their way if he helps them reach that goal.
In case you’re wondering, the Boston Bruins, who definitively signaled by this move that they do not believe hockey is for everyone, will celebrate Hockey Is For Everyone Night on Feb. 18. Hopefully they have the good sense to leave Miller in the AHL until at least the 19th.
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