Road Warriors win a pair
Game(s) of the weekend: Women’s soccer found the back of the net and captured two big road wins to start Summit League play. On Friday afternoon, DU traveled to Western Illinois and took down the Leathernecks 1-0 on a goal by midfielder Riley Welch at the 29th minute. Then, on Sunday Denver slipped by IUPUI on the road, 2-1. Denver got one goal each from Jessie Dancy and Hannah Adler. Denver overcame their season-long scoring drought and captured two big confidence building road wins to start league play. The Pioneers upped their record to 5-7-0, 2-0-0 Summit.
Next Match: October 9th vs. South Dakota State, noon, CIBER Field
Women’s Volleyball Rebounds for Hoosier state split
DU netters went to Indiana for a weekend double-header. They were bushwhacked 3-0 by Fort Wayne in-front of a rowdy crowd. They held close for the first two sets 27-25, 27-25 but were swept away in set three – 25-8. Then, they traveled to Indy and dropped the first set to IUPUI. Rather than getting swept, the Pioneers stormed back winning three straight sets 25-15, 25-22 and 25-14 to take the match. They stand at 10-5, 2-1 Summit.
Next Match: Friday, October 7th, vs. South Dakota State, 7:00 PM, Hamilton Gym
Canuckleheads Fall
In a Saturday night exhibition game at Magness Arena, the visitors committed dangerous boarding and hitting from behind penalties to start and end the game. In-between the unnecessary roughness calls, Mount Royal University was thoroughly outplayed by the quicker and more skilled Denver Pioneers 4-1. The ultimate guest-shaming was administered Sunday night when the visitors were shutout by Colorado College 3-0 in the Springs…na, na, na, na, hey, hey….GOODBYE!
Next Game: IceBreaker Tournament Friday, October 7th, vs. Ohio State, 7:30 PM, Magness Arena
I posted this on another web site, but I think it bears repeating here. It’s hard to draw serious conclusions from a single exhibition game, especially one where coach Montgomery was always moving people into different line combinations, as well as playing guys who won’t play much in the regular season.
Vets: We know the sophomores to the seniors pretty well already. Yes, losing Moore and Heinen to the pros is going to hurt, at least for a month or two until they guys get more comfortable with new roles and increased ice time. Dylan Gambrell was the best player on the ice last night, and he showed us that he will be the go-to-guy this year, scoring twice and and assisting on a third goal. I thought Matt Marcinew played with senior level of confidence, and Logan O’Connor surprised me with a quality scoring move I wasn’t expecting. However, guys like Janssen, Lukosevicius and Romig need to do more than they showed Saturday night if DU is going to be really elite. I really liked the power play for the Pios against Mount Royal- converting at a higher rate this season could really help relieve some of the pressure to score 5 on 5. The power play shortage last year is what kept DU from advancing in the Frozen Four.
Rookies: All eyes were on Henrik Borgstrom Saturday night, and for good reason. He’s big, he has amazing hands, good hockey sense and excellent speed for his size. He looks like the NHL First Round draft pick he is, and he’s going to help DU fill the Moore/Heinen scoring gap. He was very solid Saturday night, but he’s also got some defensive issues, as well as a tendency to float/sporadic work rate, much like Joe Colborne was when he arrived at DU as a freshman. I also liked Conley’s motor and McLellan and Fear’s passing ability both surprised me. Finley can clearly handle the puck, but he’s going to need to be better on his skates at this level.
Overall, I like DU’s defense most. The offense will become good in time, and the Pios can be really helped by strong special teams play, as they were very strong for an exhibition game on pp/pk.
We’ll know where DU stands after next weekend, when they aren’t playing Ham-and-Eggers from Canadian Universities.
An interesting game on Sat, to say the least. The game had a little of everything–tough physical play, special teams, good skating, and some controversy at the end. Definitely an entertaining way to start the season. At times, MRU seemed content to just take runs at DU and not really play a decent game. Then they would have some quality spurts of play, especially in the second period. I didn’t get a good view of the hit on Plant in the first period, as it occurred at the far end from where I sit, but it definitely looked illegal. The one on Conley at the end of the game happened just across from me. That was a bush-league, chickensh** hit. Bad way to end the game. I don’t blame Monty for being upset. He was not happy as he spoke with the MRU coach and I don’t blame him for pulling his team off the ice.
Overall, I liked what I saw from DU, aside from some penalties. Gambrell looks like he is on the cusp of big time stardom. Looking forward to seeing what he can accomplish this year. Hoping Troy Terry can take a big step forward this year. Romig is an interesting player–not big, but strong and physical. He can lay the lumber when he wants to. If he can chip in a bit more offensively, it will be a big bonus. McLellan’s pass to O’Connor was a thing of beauty. I liked Conley’s grit and like the size Fear and Cole bring to the table. Borgstrom almost looked like bigger version of Heinen to me at times. Smooth, great hands, and good vision.
I posted this on another web site, but I think it bears repeating here. It’s hard to draw serious conclusions from a single exhibition game, especially one where coach Montgomery was always moving people into different line combinations, as well as playing guys who won’t play much in the regular season.
Vets: We know the sophomores to the seniors pretty well already. Yes, losing Moore and Heinen to the pros is going to hurt, at least for a month or two until they guys get more comfortable with new roles and increased ice time. Dylan Gambrell was the best player on the ice last night, and he showed us that he will be the go-to-guy this year, scoring twice and and assisting on a third goal. I thought Matt Marcinew played with senior level of confidence, and Logan O’Connor surprised me with a quality scoring move I wasn’t expecting. However, guys like Janssen, Lukosevicius and Romig need to do more than they showed Saturday night if DU is going to be really elite. I really liked the power play for the Pios against Mount Royal- converting at a higher rate this season could really help relieve some of the pressure to score 5 on 5. The power play shortage last year is what kept DU from advancing in the Frozen Four.
Rookies: All eyes were on Henrik Borgstrom Saturday night, and for good reason. He’s big, he has amazing hands, good hockey sense and excellent speed for his size. He looks like the NHL First Round draft pick he is, and he’s going to help DU fill the Moore/Heinen scoring gap. He was very solid Saturday night, but he’s also got some defensive issues, as well as a tendency to float/sporadic work rate, much like Joe Colborne was when he arrived at DU as a freshman. I also liked Conley’s motor and McLellan and Fear’s passing ability both surprised me. Finley can clearly handle the puck, but he’s going to need to be better on his skates at this level.
Overall, I like DU’s defense most. The offense will become good in time, and the Pios can be really helped by strong special teams play, as they were very strong for an exhibition game on pp/pk.
We’ll know where DU stands after next weekend, when they aren’t playing Ham-and-Eggers from Canadian Universities.
An interesting game on Sat, to say the least. The game had a little of everything–tough physical play, special teams, good skating, and some controversy at the end. Definitely an entertaining way to start the season. At times, MRU seemed content to just take runs at DU and not really play a decent game. Then they would have some quality spurts of play, especially in the second period. I didn’t get a good view of the hit on Plant in the first period, as it occurred at the far end from where I sit, but it definitely looked illegal. The one on Conley at the end of the game happened just across from me. That was a bush-league, chickensh** hit. Bad way to end the game. I don’t blame Monty for being upset. He was not happy as he spoke with the MRU coach and I don’t blame him for pulling his team off the ice.
Overall, I liked what I saw from DU, aside from some penalties. Gambrell looks like he is on the cusp of big time stardom. Looking forward to seeing what he can accomplish this year. Hoping Troy Terry can take a big step forward this year. Romig is an interesting player–not big, but strong and physical. He can lay the lumber when he wants to. If he can chip in a bit more offensively, it will be a big bonus. McLellan’s pass to O’Connor was a thing of beauty. I liked Conley’s grit and like the size Fear and Cole bring to the table. Borgstrom almost looked like bigger version of Heinen to me at times. Smooth, great hands, and good vision.
The other thing I liked on Sat night was the Pios seemed more intent on crashing the net and making life more difficult for the opposing goaltender. Would love to see that continue into the regular season.
Nationally, there seemed to be several chippy games between CIS schools and NCAA schools. Besides the DU game, I read BC, Bowling Green, and Merrimack all played games that had some bad blood. I don’t remember this being an issue in the past, but maybe I’ve had my head in the sand. The only somewhat contentious exhibition game I can remember between DU and a CIS school was years ago between Calgary and DU. A Dino crushed Rakshani with a hard but clean hit.
The Canadian University teams are full of older players, as those schools don’t offer athletic scholarships as NCAA D-I schools do. Those players go back to school in Canada after their Major junior (or in some cases, minor league pro) careers are over. Canadian universities aren’t as expensive as US schools are, and in some cases, the players get some tuition assistance from their junior teams. All of these players have grown up in junior or pro systems that allow fighting, and the fact that Canadian University players are on the downside of their hockey careers vs NCAA players who are on the upside of their careers, plus scholarship jealousy and national prides, makes for some chippy play. The reason NCAA teams play these games is that they get exempted from the NCAA overall game limit by virtue of these games being “international”. Up until the late 1980s, these games vs Canadian teams counted in the game limit and in the overall statistics, too.
I’m sure different NCAA schools have different perspectives on this depending on their experiences, but might these exhibition games with CIS become a thing of the past? I watched an interview with the Merrimack coach after their exhibition against New Brunswick and seemed very disgusted.
I doubt things will change. The NCAA game limit issue is a complex one, and is decided at a whole different NCAA level above the sport of hockey, having to do with all sports, practice dates, calendar season limits and the voting from 350+ schools, the majority of which do not sponsor ice hockey.
Additionally, NCAA teams still want some kind of exhibition game that does not count against the game limit. The US Under 18 team is an exempt option, too, but they can’t play the first game of the season against 60 different NCAA teams. Hence, the Canadian teams solve this issue…
The other thing I liked on Sat night was the Pios seemed more intent on crashing the net and making life more difficult for the opposing goaltender. Would love to see that continue into the regular season.
Nationally, there seemed to be several chippy games between CIS schools and NCAA schools. Besides the DU game, I read BC, Bowling Green, and Merrimack all played games that had some bad blood. I don’t remember this being an issue in the past, but maybe I’ve had my head in the sand. The only somewhat contentious exhibition game I can remember between DU and a CIS school was years ago between Calgary and DU. A Dino crushed Rakshani with a hard but clean hit.
The Canadian University teams are full of older players, as those schools don’t offer athletic scholarships as NCAA D-I schools do. Those players go back to school in Canada after their Major junior (or in some cases, minor league pro) careers are over. Canadian universities aren’t as expensive as US schools are, and in some cases, the players get some tuition assistance from their junior teams. All of these players have grown up in junior or pro systems that allow fighting, and the fact that Canadian University players are on the downside of their hockey careers vs NCAA players who are on the upside of their careers, plus scholarship jealousy and national prides, makes for some chippy play. The reason NCAA teams play these games is that they get exempted from the NCAA overall game limit by virtue of these games being “international”. Up until the late 1980s, these games vs Canadian teams counted in the game limit and in the overall statistics, too.
I’m sure different NCAA schools have different perspectives on this depending on their experiences, but might these exhibition games with CIS become a thing of the past? I watched an interview with the Merrimack coach after their exhibition against New Brunswick and seemed very disgusted.
I doubt things will change. The NCAA game limit issue is a complex one, and is decided at a whole different NCAA level above the sport of hockey, having to do with all sports, practice dates, calendar season limits and the voting from 350+ schools, the majority of which do not sponsor ice hockey.
Additionally, NCAA teams still want some kind of exhibition game that does not count against the game limit. The US Under 18 team is an exempt option, too, but they can’t play the first game of the season against 60 different NCAA teams. Hence, the Canadian teams solve this issue…