Archive for November, 2011

30
Nov
11

Carpe Fail

By bittym87 Leave a Comment
Categories: Basketball and Hockey
Tags: ,

That’s Latin for “seize the fail,” FYI.

For those of you who are new to UMass sports fandom, this past weekend probably felt like a massive stomach punch (although the rest of us, in hindsight, probably should have known better.) Hockey got positively smoked by Quinnipiac (?!) in a game that was nowhere near as close as the 4-2 final score would indicate. This coming mere days after squeaking out just one goal against Hockey East cellar dwellers Vermont in a lifeless 2-1 defeat. Actually, truth be told, the Mass Attack has now sleepwalked through four games in a row. Any semblance of offensive prowess that they displayed in the early stages of this season seems to have been lost during that less-than-stellar Northeastern win, seemingly all wasted on the 7-2 drubbing of Holy Cross that now feels like it occurred sometime during the 1940s. No, much like windmills, scoring DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!, but you know what I mean. At least in the NU and Maine games, the team looked like it cared a bit. Not so much on that three-game “road trip” to nowhere. QU, Lowell, and Vermont accounted for all six UMass victories last year. They’ve accounted for three consecutive losses and a distinct, familiar sinking feeling.

Obviously, fan discontent with this squad is reaching new highs (Christ, even Dick Baker is pissed), and being New England sports fans, everyone’s looking for a scapegoat. Last year, Marcou’s minus-a-billion plus/minus rating was an easy target, but he’s been distinctly less awful this season (though still not approaching Kublin levels just yet), giving credence to the theory that injuries played a big part in his struggles. The goalies have all been inconsistent, but each has shown flashes of brilliance. And then there’s Toot. Is the talent he’s recruiting simply not good enough to compete? Does the departure of Dennehy and his subsequent rise to glory playing in a high school rink telling us something? Is Toot’s “system” simply flawed, no matter what pieces he puts into it? All solid questions, all worth discussion, all of which will bring a variety of answers. (I’m going with maybe, absolutely, and its starting to look that way, respectively. But that’s just me.) But look, Toot’s not going anywhere. The guy’s a fixture, the longest-tenured by far of UMass’s “big three” coaches, and by all accounts, a great guy who does a lot for the community and for the school. He’s toyed with retirement as recently as last year, before signing his current deal which brings him through one more season after this one. Between that and getting rid of the Glenn Beck lookalike who was, ahem, “running” our football team for the past couple years in favor of an actual D1 football coach (hopefully), they’re not gonna pay to get rid of Toot now. I would be stunned if he was let go during this season, no matter how bad things may get. Now, if they miss the HEA Playoffs on the other hand…that’ll change our tune. There is no way this team should miss the playoffs in such a down year in the conference.

But, being the optimist that I am, I don’t foresee that being a possibility. Last year’s team improved markedly from first to second semester. They’ve hit a rough patch, and they do still have three dates with the #1 team in the country ahead, but I think they’ve got it in them to turn this around yet. It starts with actually giving a shit about these non-conference games. A game in shitty southern Connecticut on Thanksgiving weekend, I can sort of understand. But if you can’t get up for two Ivy League teams coming into the Bill (where, somehow, UMass remains undefeated, I should add) to close out the first half strong, you’re making a big statement on the team’s heart, regardless of how ultimately meaningless the games might be.

Let’s all take a deep breath for now and re-assess where this team stands in a week. Even then, there’s plenty of season ahead. It…gets…better?

—

Oh, also, bazkettaball. That’s what the Charleston game devolved to, by the way, after Chazketball was cut short by early foul trouble. The result was UMass hoops’s first really embarrassing loss of the season (I still believe in that Florida State team, despite how the rest of the Bahamas tourney went for them). I’m glad that the Battle 4 Atlantis (sigh) is over and the guys are back home and, you know, not playing three games in three nights of up-tempo ball. In less than an hour, they’ll tip off against the Towson Tigers, and since this is not lacrosse, it stands to reason that a return to winning ways is to be expected. Remember, UMass’s chances at an at-large bid are pretty reliant on winning a lion’s share of the shitty non-conf games (and, likely, one road win against a power conference team, like, say, Saturday at Miami) as well as a strong run through the conference schedule. The FSU loss didn’t hurt much, but Charleston might be a big blow later on. I’m getting way ahead of myself here, though. Let’s see how the guys fare tonight, back at home with a few days of rest under their belts and a god-awful opponent on the docket. This is the kind of gimme game (ahem, Maine) that can really derail a season, so it kind of sucks in that there’s so little to gain with a win and so much to lose with a loss.

So, uhh, win, please. I’d like to go back to that, k? Thanks.

 

-Max

 

 

21
Nov
11

‘Til the Echoes Ring Again

By bittym87 Leave a Comment
Categories: Basketball
Tags: ,

On paper, we should have seen this coming. Boston College came into tonight’s game with a narrow victory at home over UNH and a blowout loss at Holy Cross. The Minutemen cruised to three comfortable victories, albeit against some pretty awful teams, but games in which the team won by double digits despite not shooting particularly well. It would be easy for the doubters to point to last year and say “here we go again,” as UMass’s 7-0 start came off the rails starting with a loss to a not-so-great BC team. But this year, BC will be fortunate to end the year “not-so-great.” They were picked unanimously to finish dead-last in the top-heavy ACC. They feature an absurd nine freshmen on the roster. And they’re a program that, truth be told, has never really been all that successful, not as much as their football team and certainly not even close to what they’ve done on the ice. Whereas the purists will always see UMass as a hoops school, basketball has always played third fiddle on the Heights.

But damn…who could’ve seen this coming?

Despite shooting a pedestrian 47.8% from the field (which, over the course of a season, would rank 78th in the nation at this point), despite getting outshot at the free throw line by a staggering 25-7 margin, despite nobody on the team really doing anything you could describe as “going off” (Chaz led in scoring with 16), the Minutemen still completely dominated the final three-quarters of the basketball game, only falling behind early on a couple of quick threes and some nice free-throw shooting by noted Eurotrash flopper Patrick Heckmann. From there on, it was a clinic in pressure defense, controlling tempo, hitting shots in transition, and never taking the foot off the gas pedal – all of which are things the Minutemen have notably lacked in the first few years of the Kellogg era. Shit, we haven’t seen a good old-fashioned beatdown like this since – gulp – the Travis Ford days. So far, “going ahead by like 25 and then cruising to a modest 12-15 point win” has been as close to a blowout as we can get under Kellogg, whether we’re playing an A-10 foe or AIC. Until tonight, that is.

Look, let’s not start thinking we’re Xavier all of a sudden. The Minutemen benefited from plenty of awful, awful BC turnovers, missed open shots, and defense and rebounding that could best be described as “voluntary,” against a team that looks like it’d fit in much better on a soccer field if they were at all in shape (which they clearly are not, based on how gassed UMass’s pace left them by the middle of the 2nd half). I don’t know what Donahue is trying to do with this team, unless he thinks a squad of Jiri Welsches has a chance of competing in the ACC, but whatever it is, it’s a serious work-in-progress right now.

But give credit where credit is due. After playing down to some shoddy competition in the first half of the Northeastern and NJIT games, the Minutemen grabbed this game by the throat early and, save for a brief run that got the Eagles to the low teens, never really let go. The fun thing is that I still don’t think we’ve seen all this team is capable of, but we did see what happens when Jesse and especially Riley manage to put together even an average game shooting the ball. Both guys played with a lot more confidence and, yes, better shot selection. Most impressive of all, in my estimation, was Cady Lalanne, who showed off big-time with some blocks, quality positioning on rebounds, and even a nice shooting touch. He’s clearly the most polished freshman of the DK era, and until we actually see Jordan Laguerre on a basketball court, I might even argue the most exciting. Seeing how much guys like Farrell, Putney, Sampson Carter and Vinson have improved in two years, I can see quite a bit of potential for young Cady.

Between blowing out BC on the hardwood and sending Kevin “Glenn Beck” Morris packing, thereby clearing the way for the football team to bring in an actual coach to guide them into the FBS era, it’s been an absolutely stellar day for this athletics program – yes, even good enough to soothe the headache of Saturday’s debacle in Lowell. (By the way, I literally woke up with a headache Sunday and I think it had more to do with what happened in Tsongas than anything that transpired down the street at Lowell Beer Works that night.)

The rest of the week brings potential, with hockey looking to get back on track in Vermont tomorrow night (if you ignore games-in-hand, they could move into a points tie for home ice tomorrow night! *rolls eyes*). And then we get to see basketball – nay, Chazketball – on national TV for three days in the Bahamas tournament. Florida State is a huge test for this program, for sure, and for all we know they’ll go right out and get embarrassed and the hater bandwagon will be full once again.

We’ll cross that bridge when it comes. For now, bask in the glory of a blowout win over BC. It doesn’t happen every day.

- Max

20
Nov
11

Lowest

By bittym87 2 Comments
Categories: Hockey
Tags: , , , ,

Well, crap on a crap cracker.

The joy ride of a three-game win streak was halted quickly this weekend, as UMass managed just one of a possible four points over the course of two miserable, lifeless performances. Really, there’s not much to say about this weekend: the power play reverted to its evil ways Friday night against a team full of thugs that was all-too-eager to give away extra-man opportunities with dumb penalties, not to mention a bevy of hilarious turnovers. UMass did play well in the overtime period but Dan Sullivan stood on his head to save the day and force a tie. A point is a point, except when that point means a critical failed opportunity to gain two points on a conference rival, one who (stunningly) looks like it will be battling not for home ice but for a playoff spot.

Then there was last night. Hoo boy. My 12-0 prediction came a third of the way true as UMass truly didn’t look like they belonged on the same ice as the Reject Sonic-the-Hedgehogs. It really looked like the guys were assuming they were getting the awful River Hawks of a year ago and thought they could coast to a win, but a funny thing happened in Lowell this year – they decided to actually field a hockey team, and said hockey team – playing, no less, without its freshman sensation Wilson – thoroughly dominated every aspect of the game. There is literally nothing about this game that can be taken as a positive, other than that Mastalerz didn’t completely suck? It is an ugly loss to an ugly team that damnit I hate them all so very very much and…ahem. Yeah. This doesn’t sit well with us. Remember, until last night, UMass hadn’t lost to Lowell since we started the blog. It was a nice run, and it came to a crashing halt just like most good…cocaine…ah for crying out fuck, I don’t even feel like it anymore.

(Besides, if you exclude the actual game, Derek and I had a wonderful time in Lowell, one of the easiest and most fun roadtrips in Hockey East. Aside from the fact that it is now literally four times closer to where I live than Amherst is…parking is a breeze, the arena has improved significantly with recent renovations, Lowell Beer Works is right down the street, I can’t believe I’m typing these words, I can’t believe I’m saying these things, I’m gonna just go cry in the corner now. Oh also we met Monty of UML Hockey fame. Cool guy. Had the distinct pleasure of being directly adjacent to him for all four increasingly-awful goals UMass allowed. Yeah, we get it, sieve, we suck. Indeed.)

Anyway, Tuesday brings the last chance in a while for UMass to get back on track in Hockey East play before a stretch of five straight non-conference (read: basically exhibition at this point) games to get back on track (including a possible “non-conference” game against Maine, lol watch as UMass wins this time). UMass has played well in the Fieldhouse in recent years and this is possibly the worst Vermont team in a long-ass time. If those two points slip away…well, that’d be the worst of all possible timelines, wouldn’t it?

- Max

P.S. I don’t feel like awarding a Kubbie Point for this game, but if I have to, what the fuck, Mastalerz wasn’t terrible given that he had zero help in front of him the whole game. Also haha we will eventually get the Kubbie Kounter up and running. Maybe.

18
Nov
11

Quickie Weekend Preview

By bittym87 1 Comment
Categories: Hockey

So pardon me for not doling out the usual 1000+ word effort I’ve been falling into the pattern of lately – I have 20 minutes of lunch break time to write this. #firstworldproblems  Anyway, I’ll keep it brief, and if you’re looking for more X’s and O’s, I will defer you to Papa Triangle’s excellent (as usual) preview this week.

UMass followed its biggest win in years not with disappointment, but with a strong two-win weekend against two admittedly pretty awful teams. This is a better outcome than a letdown, for sure, but in order to keep it going, the Minutemen have a much more difficult task ahead this weekend.

First up is Maine, the team many UMass fans seem to think should be our “rival,” even though they’re a six-hour drive away and are already involved in Hockey East’s second-most famous rivalry already (with UNH). Still, the two squads have had a very entertaining series over the past decade, with UMass often getting the upper hand in the regular season and Maine stepping up in the postseason. The Black Bears are reeling after a sweep at the hands of Lowell, and should come in with something to prove. Given UMass’s winning streak, the fact that it’s the last weekend before Thanksgiving break, and the aforementioned belief that this should be a rivalry, I’m hopeful that a big crowd shows. The students have continued to show in big numbers, but the paid-ticket side of the ice has been tremendously disappointing compared to years past. Maine has always drawn a big crowd, though, so maybe this is the weekend a lot of you miserly locals have been waiting for. Somewhat hypocritically, I probably won’t be there (ending my season-long attendance streak, home and away) but Walsh will hopefully be able to give us some first-hand insight.

Saturday night brings a matchup with the woefully awful River Hawks, sitting at dead-last in the wait I’m sorry what now? Well, lookee here. It hurts my fingers to type this, but Lowell is clearly the biggest surprise in Hockey East, surely trumping Providence’s resurgence and Merrimack’s somehow getting even better without Da Costa. UMass has, of course, won the last five meetings, but  since all five were flukes, this game scares the everloving shit out of us. Lowell has clearly been the most talented team in Hockey East for nearly a decade, held back only by shoddy coaching, and they’ve finally cast off the shackles of oppression. Really the only question is whether Scott Wilson or Matt Ferreira should win the Hobey Baker. I say they should split it. Lowell will win this game 12-0. At least I’ll get to witness the glory of River Hawks hockey in person, though I can hardly say I’m worthy.

Alright, that’s all the time I’ve got for now. I’ll write something about baz-ketta-ball over the weekend (and yes, they reverted to baz-ketta-ball last night against NJIT, regardless of the margin of victory) and of course we’ll recap UMass’s epic clash with Maine and subsequent blowout loss to Lowell. See ya then!

- Max

13
Nov
11

Back to the Future

By bittym87 3 Comments
Categories: Basketball and Hockey
Tags: , ,

Winning?! What is this winning you speak of?

It was a perfect weekend for the UMass athletics program. UMass hockey won two games in a single weekend, one pretty and one ugly. Basketball, after a shaky stretch in the first half, flexed its muscle down the stretch and took over against Elon, as the Chaz Williams era began with a bang. If you want to take it even further, women’s basketball even got a win to start the year, and UMass football lost, which, for those following at home, is a victory for the future of the program.

We won’t equivocate on this: the level of competition was not high this weekend. Holy Cross looked a far cry from the squad that upset BU on Comm Ave earlier this year. Northeastern has officially taken Lowell’s throne as unquestioned worst team in Hockey East this year. And Elon is, well, Elon. But wins are wins, and the first step to escaping the “rebuilding” label is winning the games you’re supposed to win. Both teams did that in spades this weekend.

Friday’s double-header was a thing of beauty, especially on the ice. I wrote on Friday morning about the very real possibility of a letdown against Holy Cross in a virtual exhibition game (given UMass’s slow start and their weak non-conference schedule, an at-large bid is a major long shot). But the Crusaders looked like anything but spoilers on Friday night, managing to play a game that was ugly enough to match those hideous purple uniforms. UMass had exactly one true “blowout” win last year (our trip to Gutterson!) and so it’s good to get one of those at home to improve the students’ opinion of this program, even if it did make the second half of the game almost a little boring. It was also pretty cool that after not seeing a hat trick at home my entire time at UMass, we (and all of the freshmen, incidentally) have now seen two at home this year. Of course, Allen didn’t get credit for his trick until one of Guzzo’s goals was changed to him later in the game, which is funny because we were cheering the entire third period for Guzzo to get what we thought would be his OWN hat trick. Still, Stephen and the rest of the Minutemen looked solid from beginning to end and took care of business early and often. As Matt pointed out after the game, you can tell that Toot didn’t even have to yell at his team too much given how intact his voice was during the postgame interview with Brock Hines.

Last night’s game was a lot uglier, but the result was another win and, more importantly, two conference points and a clinch of at least a tie of the season series against the Huskies. Both teams came out kind of flat and played surprisingly poorly through two periods given the importance of the game for each team. Yet the Minutemen took control of the game in the third after a late power play goal by Mike “The Franchise” Pereira tied the game late in the 2nd off a nice rebound on a King Phillips shot (good to have him back!) and Gracel put UMass ahead for good in the third. The Huskies, to their credit, turned up the intensity at the end, including a scary minute where Mikey almost gave us all a heart attack at least three times trying to clear the puck with NU on the 6-on-5, but Syner’s empty-netter from his own blue line was a thing of beauty, the kind of game-clinching goal that UMass is finally, finally starting to get. Has the worm turned on their inability to close out close games? Fingers crossed. We’ll see what this team is made of with a pair against disappointing Maine and upstart Lowell next weekend…more on that later this week.

(Sidebar: Speaking of ugly, those two puck sluts I relentlessly tweeted about all game long. We’re talking the most disgustingly spray-tanned skanks you’ll ever see, beyond trashed, so completely clueless that they cheered for Northeastern’s first goal of the night. I’m only half-joking when I say that the Mullins Center staff needs to wash and disinfect the boards in front of Section S that these two were grinding on. I’m all for team spirit, but come on now, show the slightest bit of class. I think I’m asking for too much here.)

Lastly, some thoughts on the Rage at the Cage Friday night. I’ll certainly take a comfortable 18-point win any day of the week, no matter who they’re playing, especially how last season finished. It was disheartening to be down by four at halftime to a Southern Conference team, but when you consider one of our key players (Putney) got hurt and missed most of the game (and the team looked visibly shaken for several minutes, and who can blame them given how scary the injury was), and Riley and Morgan were a combined 2-for-2351 (give or take) from the field, putting up 85 points regardless was something I’ll gladly take. The pressure defense was a mixed bag – sometimes it looked stifling, other times it led to easy looks in transition that the Phoenix simply failed to make, but the guys played with a refreshing amount of energy.

Looking at individual players – there was a lot to be pleased with. The biggest story, of course, is the debut of Chaz Williams, who looks like everything we could have possibly dreamed of at point guard. Shooting, court vision, great hands on defense, even some rebounding for a little guy. The spark when he’s on the court reminded me of the Daryl Traynham era, only his game is clearly a step ahead of Daryl’s, plus his defensive strategy isn’t as…ahem…aggressive as Daryl’s. You gotta remember that this team hasn’t had a true point guard for a whole season since C-Lowe (sorry, Gary), and DK’s sloppy implementation of the dribble-drive definitely did not fit Lowe’s game at all. Now we’re finally seeing the benefits of several years of putting together a team and a system that fits the team, and Chaz appears to be the perfect man to quarterback this offense. Aside from that, his game is electrifying – even when UMass was winning early last year, they’ve rarely been fun to watch in the Kellogg era. Chaz is the most exciting player this team’s had since Tony Gaffney, and that’s a BIG plus when it comes to getting the attendance numbers back up.

Aside from Chaz, Terrell Vinson had some great numbers coming off the bench – it’s early, but if this is going to be the year he finally breaks through, this was certainly a good start. The other new guys – Esho and Lalanne – got some minutes, and though both seem pretty raw, they both look like they’ll bring good size. Cady got a longer look than Maxie, and while his awareness needs work, there’s surely some potential going forward. Really, the only negatives you can take from this game were the play of Riley and Morgan. Not only did the offense struggle mightily whenever Chaz left the court, but two of them (Freddy in particular) took some atrocious shots (we’re talking “contested, several feet behind the line with 33 on the shot clock” atrocious). I did think both of them looked a little better on the defensive end, but, well, it’s Elon – these guys weren’t hitting the broad side of a barn. The thing is, we know that both Freddie and Jesse are actually capable of catching fire and hitting these shots, but that doesn’t make it less cringe-inducing when they launch ‘em, particularly when everyone else is in a good rhythm. Moreover, if Chaz and Vinson (and to a lesser extent two guys who quietly had great games as well, Javorn Farrell and Sampson Carter) are going to fill the scoring void left by Gurley, the Minutemen can look at their 2-guards’ shooting as a bonus. Last year, UMass only rallied past Rider on opening night because Riley and Gurley caught fire on those kinds of shots. Friday proved that UMass can beat an inferior team without clicking on all cylinders, something that wasn’t necessarily the case the past few years. Hopefully the two of them can find their shot as the season goes on, because if they’re on, this offense looks pretty damn good.

Next up for the Minutemen – hey, how ’bout that – the Northeastern Huskies come to town tomorrow night. I don’t anticipate that the buzz of opening night will necessarily translate to a good Monday night turnout against an America East foe, but for now, I’m not concerned about attendance. I am a slightly bit concerned about Putney’s injury, and I doubt we’ll see him in this week’s games, but I’m actually confident that UMass can take care of business against NU and NJIT without him, and that he can be back as UMass goes for 4-0 at BC. Jinxes be damned – in Chaz we trust.

- Max

—

Kubbie Points for the weekend:

Max: DeAngelo (Friday), Phillips (Saturday)

11
Nov
11

A Somewhat More Perfect Union

By bittym87 Leave a Comment
Categories: Basketball and Football
Tags: , , , , ,

Just a week ago, the question for the Minutemen was whether they could put up a strong enough showing against UNH and BC to give them momentum going forward into the easy part of their schedule. Even the most optimistic of fans (ahem…this guy) couldn’t have predicted that, a night after getting smoked by the Wildcats, UMass would go out and make their biggest statement in nearly two years by knocking off the top team in the country. They played – finally – a complete 60-minute effort and they reaped the rewards.

Now the question is how they can deal with this newfound success. UMass teams in the past have had trouble with this concept. In 06-07, they followed up both of their wins over BC with losses (one by blowout fashion at home to the same Eagles the next night, the other with the most embarrassing of possible hockey outcomes – a loss to Lowell). The next year, UMass beat #9 BC and lost the next game at Gutterson; they later swept a three-game stretch against top-7 teams (including beating Notre Dame and Colorado College in the Lightning College Hockey Classic) – and proceeded to lose their next five en route to an epic collapse. Three years ago this weekend, UMass blew out then-#1 BU (their last win over a top-ranked team) and proceeded to get shut out by Lowell the next night (remember when UMass used to lose to Lowell? That was fun). Later that year, the boys looked like they were going to emerge from the Cahoon swoon after a tie against #7 UVM at the Gutt and a win over #3 Northeastern at home…and then they lost four straight. (To be fair, that team was a goal away from reaching the Garden, and they beat a top-3 Northeastern team three times including the playoffs. Alas…’twas not to be.)

I could go on, but you get the point – the problem this program has had in the Cahoon era isn’t getting signature wins, it’s following up on them. (That and a propensity for second-half collapses, but those things kinda go hand-in-hand.) Momentum doesn’t exist for this team – they could be speeding toward a wall, and then they’ll go and sweep Maine to end a season. They’ll be riding the highest of highs, then suffer the lowest of…ehh, I won’t even go there, Lowell sucks.

This weekend is a chance for the Minutemen to pick up what should – and I wish there were more things I could do to emphasize this text – SHOULD!!!!!!! – be two easy wins. Holy Cross is, of course, an Atlantic Hockey team, and while they now-famously have a win over BU on their resume, that same BU team has played badly enough that UMass should frankly be embarrassed to only have one point against them, before you even take into account how those games went down. But come on, we’re talking about a school that produced Bill Simmons* and wears purple. How good can they be?

Then there’s a rematch with Northeastern, the first time since 2006 that I’ll be at a home game with neither Matt nor Derek present. (Eerie.) The Huskies barely stole a point on opening night against UMass, but have been pretty bad since, and hopefully won’t get the luxury of spending the entire third period on the power play this time. As Papa Triangle pointed out in his preview this week, while the Huskies’ power play was horrible in that game, the Minutemen couldn’t put together any momentum to get the put-away goal on the board because, oh let’s think, they had one (or two) fewer guys on the ice for much of the second half of the game. I’m optimistic that the guys’ opening-night jitters are behind them and they play a much more disciplined game.

That said, history suggests UMass is in for a letdown after that BC series. If UMass has to come away with just two points this weekend, though, let’s get real here – the Holy Cross game, as much as it would suck to lose, is an exhibition at this point. UMass’s shoddy start to the year has once again put them into Hockey East-or-bust mode, although I’m much more confident about this team’s chances of competing for a trip to the Garden than I was last year (obviously). They’d need a pretty remarkable second half to be thinking about an at-large bid. If UMass loses to the Crusaders, I’d be okay with it – provided they beat Northeastern tomorrow.

(But don’t let that stop you from going to the Bill tonight, kids. And don’t forget, game starts at 6!)

—-

Oh, so hey, baz-ketta-ball starts tonight. As usual, I’m half-assing it with my whole “preseason preview” thing this year. Anyone who’s mentioned it to me lately should know, though, that I’ve been quite high on this team’s chances this year. Last year’s team was just not quite there yet. A lot of – ahem – “experts” think UMass might barely make the A-10 playoffs this year, but these are people who are looking at the stats, seeing Gurley’s points are gone, and predicting a fall-off. If anything, losing Gurley is the best thing that could happen to this team. Nothing against AG, he certainly had his moments and improved dramatically after a terrible first year in Amherst, but he’s the training wheels that this team needed to lose, the crutch that they kept falling back on. He led the team in scoring, but he took a remarkable number of shots to do it, and the team seemed to stand around waiting for him to do something far too often. This year, with DK finally seeming to concede that this team is better-built for a high-paced game rather than whatever the failed dribble-drive experiment had devolved to last year, I expect a much more balanced attack. I expect big things from guys like Putney and Morgan. I expect that having an actual point guard is going to facilitate a more potent offense. I expect Matt’s BFF Freddie Riley to finally break through. I expect Junkyard Dog Javorn Farrell will thrive now that he’s not forced to play out of position at the point. I expect one of the touted freshmen (Esho and Lalanne) to step up to the plate. I expect Terrell Vinson will come out motivated after a disappointing start to his career. And I expect that this team will breeze through a way-too-easy non-conference schedule and it will result in a team with a pretty good record that probably still has no shot at an at-large bid, but I’d be happy with a legitimate run in the conference tourney and a return to the NIT. I expect they’ll be good enough that even Derek, who loved UMass basketball but has sworn off UMass baz-ketta-ball, will be convinced to come to a game with us. Baby steps here.

Do I expect too much? Oh, of course. I’ve been burned by these guys before…we all have. But there are fewer question marks here than there ever have been in the past. Being away from campus, of course, I haven’t actually seen any of this team yet this season, so I suspect we’ll have a better grasp of what these guys are made of after tonight’s Cage match with Elon. Who, by the way, UMass should certainly beat, seeing as how they’re a reverse Nole(t).

See ya there.

- Max

* Nahh, Simmons is alright.

06
Nov
11

(Better Late than N)ever to Excel

By bittym87 6 Comments
Categories: Hockey
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Until last night, I had never seen UMass beat BC in hockey.

Now, that’s not to say that it hasn’t happened in recent memory. I vividly remember seeing a raucous Mullins Center, behind then-freshman goaltender Jonathan Quick, shock top-ranked BC on a NESN game, back when I was still a wee lad deciding whether or not to put myself in mountains of debt to go to BU or Syracuse (both with elite programs in hockey and basketball, respectively) or to suck it up and “settle” for, ahem, state school. Flash forward to my freshman year at UMass – stupid, foolish me decided “hey, I’ve got plenty of time left here” and decided to forego what woulda been my first ever BC-UMass game and, instead, celebrate my 19th birthday with some friends up at Southern New Hampshire U. Sure, good times were had, but finding out about an epic 2-1 win over the Eagles via text message, while welcome news, made me regret leaving campus just a smidge.

UMass would notch a couple of wins at Conte over the course of the next season-and-a-half, but the road-ready hockey fanatic of today was nowhere to be found. (Indeed, I think my first road UMass experience came at Agganis during my junior year; I didn’t venture inside Conte until the HEA Playoffs a year later.) Again, it was awesome how competitive the two programs had become, but damnit, I wanted to see a win in person.

My junior year, the day before a highly-anticipated showdown with the then-#4 Eagles on campus, I was hanging out in front of Brett with a few friends when I got the phone call that my uncle Timmy had passed away down in New York. I was in the basement of a family member I barely know, listening on a choppy radio feed, when Casey Wellman netted the game-winner in OT in what is possibly the greatest hockey game ever played at the Bill. I was there for the similarly-epic last-second comeback win against UNH (the “Boehm goes the dynamite” game), which to this day is my favorite memory in that building. But with all due respect to the Wildcats, it just wasn’t the same as beating BC, the school I’d hated as long as I could remember, first as a fledgling college hockey fan introduced through BU and then as the school that arguably gets the coldest of snobby shoulders from the elitists on the Heights.

After that, the well dried up. UMass played BC 12 consecutive times after that, including back-to-back Hockey East Quarterfinals, and almost every single game played out the same way: BC flexing its muscle, UMass sticking around, and the Eagles pulling out a 2 or 3 goal win without seeming to have tried. The exception, of course, was that infamous game at the Mullins a few years back where the Minutemen were ranked ahead of the Eagles, had the entire campus behind them, and came out and got positively waxed 7-1. It was the only time in that stretch where UMass clearly looked like the better team on paper coming in, and it was especially painful, but what hurt the most for this fan is that, after years of dominance, BC’s days of easy wins against this team finally looked to be over. But alas, 12-0-0.

Expectations yesterday were at an all-time low. Derek and I trekked over to Durham on Friday night to watch a miserable 60 minutes of hockey in which the Minutemen rotated in two different cardboard cutouts of goaltenders and couldn’t beat a dreadfully-shaky goaltender to save their lives. It was a fun trip to see Lake Whitt for the first time, and we (almost disappointingly) didn’t get shit from a single home fan, but then again, what would they say that we didn’t already know? UNH looked awful for long stretches of time, and they STILL managed to put up a touchdown. The offense scratched together three goals, but despite a “live free or die” approach from the officials (the first penalty came late in the 2nd period), there was no building of any kind of momentum except the negative for these guys. A nice pass here, a good move there, and then it was time to fire the puck directly into DiGirolomo’s chest and hope he somehow dropped it. Which he did, a few times, but the point was clear: after that falling-backwards goal by Henrion with 5 seconds in the period, the team basically signed out, just like it did last weekend when things started to go sour against what we now know (thanks, Lowell) to be an overrated BU squad. It made me question what all this Navy SEAL business in the offseason is actually accomplishing. The slightest bit of adversity, and this team falls apart at the seams – and remember, the point of that training, grueling as it looked, was to make the guys mentally tougher. They were anything but in the past two games.

(**Side note, because I don’t feel like talking about that UNH game ever again. Mastalerz started and looked pretty shaky. Then again, what the hell is Toot starting the kid in his first career game in one of the more intimidating venues in college hockey? Why not Tegs? And then what was with the goalie swapping? These are things I’m glad we don’t have to really talk about this week, but we can’t pretend they didn’t happen at all.)

Who could blame anyone for looking at Saturday night’s matchup and penciling – nay, penning - in an easy win for the Eagles? But hey, we’re masochists. You could even say UMassochists, although please don’t, what an awful pun I have made. It’s homecoming weekend, damnit, and we already had our tickets, and crazier things have happened, right? Though I wasn’t please to see Boyle starting in net, I had this funny feeling about this game, and I put myself in (ew) the shoes of a BC fan. “This is a reverse lock. This has ‘trap game’ written all over it.”

I was right.

The Minutemen played likely their finest game since the two-game sweep at Alfond Arena that temporarily rescued their season in ’09-10. The offense used its speed to mitigate those gigantic, skilled defensemen that BC has built their program around. The D, fueled by the spark of young Mike Busillo’s debut, the best game by far of Oleg Yevenko’s young career, and the continued strong play of guys like Hanley and Allen and Shea, smothered the BC offense, won battles for loose pucks, threw their bodies around and played the physical game I was hoping they’d play at Conte a few weeks back, and generally made life more difficult for the Eagles than it had been all season. And while I doubt we saw the best BC has to offer last night, I certainly don’t feel like they mailed it in at all either. The Minutemen legitimately outplayed them in key moments and did all the little things they’ve failed to do in weeks past.

The crowd had to be part of it, too. I’ve been effusive in my praise of the Mullins Maniacs this season, but it has to be said – they’re rounding in shape nicely. The fans are into the game all the way through, they generally know when to chant things, the guys at the front of the student section seem to be a rotating, rowdy bunch that is far more conducive to a loud student section than the typical “row of puck sluts that gets disinterested and leaves halfway through the 2nd” that we’re used to. I heard only one attempt at a “Fuck BC” that was quickly stifled. I’m cool with “I believe that we will win” just for its infectiousness and positive vibes, even if our Durham trip showed that we’re not even the only Hockey East school doing it. I’m psyched that Oleg finally played well enough to warrant singing “O-leg, O-leg-o-leg-o-leeeeg!” a la Martin Nolet, although he’s got a long way to go before he’s half the player Marty was. And hey, we didn’t get a Noise Meter until the very end, when everyone was loud anyway. I am sad that my strategy of singing a different White Stripes song (not “Seven Nation Army”) during BC power plays only worked for three successful rounds (“Apple Blossom” was the one that snapped the streak). And I’m just slightly concerned that a fellow alum (our good friend Matt, aka “Goggles”) was the catalyst for many of the chants (surely we can find some current students with loud voices, right?) But overall, the student section was the best I’ve seen it in some time, and they were rewarded. It was definitely surreal, and almost magical (yes damnit I said magical) that the Minutemen actually put a game away with an empty-netter, and the emotion in the air as Boyle was mobbed by his teammates is something I haven’t seen in a long time at the Bill. The last comparable moment for me as a UMass fan was Vinson beating Memphis a few years back at the Garden. That’s all well and good, but it’s creating endearing moments like this weekend that students will remember and will keep them coming back to games with positive attitudes. No matter how bad things may get, anything really is possible in sports. That’s why we’re fans.

So where does this put UMass going forward? In the big picture, it’s a 2-point weekend. The Minutemen are still 1-4-2 in Hockey East with 20 league games to go. But it sure as fuck beats being 0-5-2. And the road ahead finally gets a lot easier, with a very winnable stretch of Hockey East games on the docket, starting with a second chance at Northeastern this weekend. The Huskies are a prime example of a team that, just a year ago, started off terribly and finished strong to make a nice late run. The Minutemen need to model themselves after that path. Now, we all know the flip side of “anything is possible,” namely that the boys let this success go to their heads and come out flat again next weekend. But we’d like to think that this, their first win in their last 32 games against Hockey East teams not named Lowell or Vermont, is the springboard they’ve desperately needed.

So far I’ve witnessed two things this season that I never saw in my four years at UMass: a hat trick, and now a win over BC. You know what I did see when I was a student? Year after year of strong starts and horrid finishes. Maybe this is the year that we see the opposite. Hey, the “Wait a second…we WON?!” tag is out of retirement, and Little Dude invited us to a house party. You never know.

- Max

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Max Bitter (Communication/Journalism '10) created Fight Mass during his junior year. Born in Concord and raised in Leominster, he currently works and resides in Merrimack, NH. He is an avid Boston sports fan, plays guitar in his spare time, and is a fitness and nutrition enthusiast. Never try to tell him Shipyard Pumpkinhead is quality beer.

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