2023-24 PSU Men's Ice Hockey Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Great kid, but other than a short stretch at the end of last season, he had not met expectations. I remember Guy talking about him, before we knew his name, that he would be a program changing goalie. That has not happened.
Sorry that I missed this post. Not sure what to say. This seems to have been a bit of an unusual year for both teams.
Minnesota has some scorers. Jimmy Snuggerud, Pitlick and Oliver have been explosive. The first and forth lines can score in bunches. What hasn't been as solid as usual is the defense. They are decent, but inconsistent.
Close (Goalie) has been solid, but has been left exposed.
While I think the Gophers have an edge, I would not be surprised to see a split. The team just hasn't played a complete weekend of hockey yet. Last two weekends have been better, but incomplete and both were splits.
74 shots without 1 finding the back of the net? How is that even possible. Yikes.
My statement is solely based on highlights and audio from the game. The offense seems to sometimes shoot too quickly. Defenders seemed to not protect Souliere's line of sight. They also got beat trying to create scoring chances.
I think they could still make things interesting.
Here for game 2 vs. Michiganistan.
a five game sweep through the end of the regular season probably won’t matter in the Pairwise. Only a tournament run to the title likely gets the Lions into the dance.
Just hoping to beat this crap school tonight.
Lions carried the play early, but gave up an early breakaway entry pass which Souli couldn’t stop. A quick PP for the Lions yielded the equalizer. Playing much better tonight, but have given up three breakaway entry passes up the middle by my count. PSU has had three PP opportunities, with the latest broken over the first and second periods. 1-1 thru 1.
Well played second period by both teams. Michigan was strong thru most of middle of period, but PSU picked up pace late in period. A Gratton goal with about 2 minutes to go put the Lions in front, and they kept the pressure on thru the end of the period. 2-1 Guy’s guys.
UM carried play early and scored the equalizer. Lions have come back and taken a 3-2 lead courtesy a Dowiak goal. 3-2, 8:30 to go. Michigan keeping pressure high on Souli.
Dumb elbow to head by Dowd, UM on 5 minute AYCE PP. 8:21 to go. PSU also challenging a hit. Turned out both teams guilty of five minute majors. Still 5 on 5.
A slash on UM brings up a PP for PSU. 7:20 to go
4-2 empty netter for Laubach, his second. 1:54 to go
Final, 4-2! Nice win
a five game sweep through the end of the regular season probably won’t matter in the Pairwise. Only a tournament run to the title likely gets the Lions into the dance.
Just hoping to beat this crap school tonight.
Lions carried the play early, but gave up an early breakaway entry pass which Souli couldn’t stop. A quick PP for the Lions yielded the equalizer. Playing much better tonight, but have given up three breakaway entry passes up the middle by my count. PSU has had three PP opportunities, with the latest broken over the first and second periods. 1-1 thru 1.
Well played second period by both teams. Michigan was strong thru most of middle of period, but PSU picked up pace late in period. A Gratton goal with about 2 minutes to go put the Lions in front, and they kept the pressure on thru the end of the period. 2-1 Guy’s guys.
UM carried play early and scored the equalizer. Lions have come back and taken a 3-2 lead courtesy a Dowiak goal. 3-2, 8:30 to go. Michigan keeping pressure high on Souli.
Dumb elbow to head by Dowd, UM on 5 minute AYCE PP. 8:21 to go. PSU also challenging a hit. Turned out both teams guilty of five minute majors. Still 5 on 5.
A slash on UM brings up a PP for PSU. 7:20 to go
4-2 empty netter for Laubach, his second. 1:54 to go
Final, 4-2! Nice win
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Thoughts on Michigan? We got destroyed by ND on Friday night at their place, and limped out with an OT win on Saturday. I ask because we play them this weekend.
Offensively, Minnesota and Penn State have many similarities. Hoping we can learn from Penn States series. Thoughts?
Considering we didn't score in 120 minutes at your place on the big sheet (where we normally score a couple per game), I'm not seeing any similarities. And we had a seven minute PP with 4 minutes of 3x3! Nope, no similarities to these eyes.
UM played big and physical at our place. Friday night they were up 4-0, including 2 goals in the first minute, before the Lions bothered to wake up. Goaltending has been wildly inconsistent this season. Your goalie will keep you in most games. UM did commit a bunch of penalties, so get them flustered and they do dumb things.
It does seem likely that we will see you guys again on the big sheet for the B1G playoffs. Maybe we can score a goal or two then? Good luck vs. Michiganistan!
Thanks for the comments. Sounds promising vs Michigan. Not looking forward to seeing you guys again this season. Though Close played well in that series, the defense appeared to help him. That and Penn State had some hit the post and the rebound wasn't able to be played.
BTW I don't know if you knew this, but they remodeled (Mariucci Arena) The Gophers no longer have a big sheet of ice.
I miss that. Seeing both of our programs get up and down that ocean of ice was a thing of beauty. Penn States offensive speed can often be outstanding!https://gophersports.com/news/2023/...ridder-arena-to-undergo-facility-improvements
https://www.therinklive.com/mens-di...an-to-shrink-3m-arena-at-mariucci-ice-surface
I did not know about the shrinkage at Mariucci. I was listening a few weeks ago on the radio. Many thanks!Thanks for the comments. Sounds promising vs Michigan. Not looking forward to seeing you guys again this season. Though Close played well in that series, the defense appeared to help him. That and Penn State had some hit the post and the rebound wasn't able to be played.
BTW I don't know if you knew this, but they remodeled (Mariucci Arena) The Gophers no longer have a big sheet of ice.
https://gophersports.com/news/2023/...ridder-arena-to-undergo-facility-improvements
https://www.therinklive.com/mens-di...an-to-shrink-3m-arena-at-mariucci-ice-surface
You're welcome! It's fun to talk hockey. Helps pass some of the time till football begins.
It's still a bit wider, but nothing like it used to be. Variation of rink size is one of the many unique things about hockey. The closest I can think of is basketball arenas with an elevated floor.
