Photo courtesy DU Athletics
Since Jim Montgomery took over as head coach of the #2 University of Denver hockey program in 2013, the Pioneers have always been a second-half team. Even with a middling roster decimated by early departures in his first year, DU roared back in the second half to win the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the years since, the second half has always been a friend to the Pioneers. However, after a 3-2 loss to unranked and Hockey East bottom feeder Merrimack in DU’s first game of the 2017-18 second half, the comfort of knowing the second half is coming is quickly giving way to concern.
“I thought we battled hard,” Montgomery said after the loss. “Obviously our execution and our skill with the puck, our passing, was not very good. I thought we played with more pace and determination as the game went on.”
Tonight’s loss to Merrimack makes it two straight bad losses for the Pioneers after the Pioneers blew a 3-0 lead to lose to Dartmouth 5-4 two weeks ago. Dartmouth was ranked #59 out of 60 teams in the Pairwise rankings. Merrimack? #45. Do you see where this is going?
Throughout the up-and-down first half of the season, Montgomery was left shaking his head times. He’s questioned his team’s work ethic. He’s questioned his own coaching. He’s even questioned his team’s leadership. “It’s not the younger guys who are the issue,” Montgomery has said repeatedly through the first three months of the season.
“Tonight, I thought our leadership was good because our effort was good,” Montgomery said. “I thought the team was ready to play.”
The Pioneers played poorly in their own end and there were a number of neutral zone turnovers that led to dangerous chances and a goal for Merrimack. Whether it was sloppy play or just knocking off some of the rust after a 10-day layoff, it was an ugly performance for Denver.
“You have to give Merrimack some credit,” Montgomery said. “They have a pretty good neutral zone forecheck and they’re very committed. They have a lot of people coming to the puck so it’s very hard to penetrate into their end cleanly.”
Despite skating to a 1-1 tie through two periods thanks to goals from Cole McBride for Merrimack and Kohen Olischefski for Denver, the Warriors’ Brett Seney took advantage of the lackadaisical Pioneers and scored two goals in a span of 44 seconds. Ian Mitchell managed to add a goal with the extra skater on the ice with about a minute and a half left, but it was too little, too late.
Tanner Jaillet played well between the pipes and the Pioneers’ overall effort was good. But taking tonight’s result combined with the entire first half into account, it’s hard to look ahead to the Pioneers’ next couple months without some level of concern.
Sure, Denver’s focus right now is on Air Force tomorrow night. And it should be. They’re the next opponent and the reality is the Pioneers can’t really afford to lose to another weak Pairwise opponent. But looking at the bigger picture, the rest of the season, it’s easy to see that if they Pioneers don’t right the ship quickly, the second half isn’t going to be their friend this year.
“I told [the team] I thought our effort was good, but it wasn’t great,” Montgomery said. “We need to continue to get better. Coming off the break, we weren’t very crisp and we have to be a little bit cleaner in our plays. Hopefully we’ll get there tomorrow night.
It’s a long season and there’s so much hockey left to be played. Hell, it’s not even 2018 yet. But right now, the Pioneers should be at least a bit concerned. The type of first half Denver had can’t sink a team’s hopes of a championship season, but it does raise some eyebrows. The time has come for the Pioneers to answer those questions and decide where they want to be in a few short months. A win against Air Force tomorrow night would be a perfect time to start.
This team is in a slump right now, and like all slumps, you hope it ends before the chemistry is permanently damaged and the season slips away. You can’t be a contender losing to unranked teams at home.
DU’s big guns – Terry, Borgstrom, and Gambrell – are slumping at the same time. They are starting to at least get some assists now, but those guys need to be scoring goals at a high level if DU is to put fear into anyone else.
DU’s defense is a mess right now. Hammond, the senior defensive leader, missed the first third of the season and is now back playing hurt at perhaps 60% of his effectiveness. Adam Plant, the other senior, has been out for weeks with concussion issues, and we don’t know if and when he will be playing at a high level again. Mendel got hurt last night and didn’t return. Mostrom has been out most of the season, too. That’s over half the d-corps hurt, and it has a huge effect on the team cohesion. Mitchell, Davies and Fear have been the constants this year in most games, but you can only ask so much from them when their teammates are always changing. The defensive problems were kind of covered when DU had a high scoring offense, but with the offense slumping, the defense has been exposed.
Let’s hope Monty’s optimistic tone after last night’s loss talking talking about his team improving as the game progressed is indicative of a team that can work its way out of its midseason slump…
The one bright spot, is that this team is very clearly not peaking too early.
Tough, frustrating loss last night. I thought the overall effort was solid, but there were sequences, especially in the 1st, when I thought DU looked a bit flat. Overall, though, the effort should have been sufficient to win that game. An untimely turnover led to the 1st goal, and DU’s only goal was a bad angle shot that took a fortuitous bounce off the goalie. Tough to win when that’s only puck in the net.
I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but it seems eons ago that Borgstrom and/or Terry scored. Those guys have to get going. Gambrell had a few good looks, especially a glorious opportunity in the 3rd when he took the puck between a defender’s legs on a slick move walked right out front. MC’s goalie made a beauty of a save. I still think the Pios are holding the puck too much in the offensive zone. They just need to get pucks to the net and crash the net.
I was impressed by Merrimack. They are a big, physical team that skates well. Another team that is probably better than their record indicates. Give credit to those guys.
I really hope DU can break out of this funk tonight, although it won’t be easy against AFA. The Falcons are always well coached, disciplined, and they play their asses off.
This team is in a slump right now, and like all slumps, you hope it ends before the chemistry is permanently damaged and the season slips away. You can’t be a contender losing to unranked teams at home.
DU’s big guns – Terry, Borgstrom, and Gambrell – are slumping at the same time. They are starting to at least get some assists now, but those guys need to be scoring goals at a high level if DU is to put fear into anyone else.
DU’s defense is a mess right now. Hammond, the senior defensive leader, missed the first third of the season and is now back playing hurt at perhaps 60% of his effectiveness. Adam Plant, the other senior, has been out for weeks with concussion issues, and we don’t know if and when he will be playing at a high level again. Mendel got hurt last night and didn’t return. Mostrom has been out most of the season, too. That’s over half the d-corps hurt, and it has a huge effect on the team cohesion. Mitchell, Davies and Fear have been the constants this year in most games, but you can only ask so much from them when their teammates are always changing. The defensive problems were kind of covered when DU had a high scoring offense, but with the offense slumping, the defense has been exposed.
Let’s hope Monty’s optimistic tone after last night’s loss talking talking about his team improving as the game progressed is indicative of a team that can work its way out of its midseason slump…
The one bright spot, is that this team is very clearly not peaking too early.
Tough, frustrating loss last night. I thought the overall effort was solid, but there were sequences, especially in the 1st, when I thought DU looked a bit flat. Overall, though, the effort should have been sufficient to win that game. An untimely turnover led to the 1st goal, and DU’s only goal was a bad angle shot that took a fortuitous bounce off the goalie. Tough to win when that’s only puck in the net.
I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but it seems eons ago that Borgstrom and/or Terry scored. Those guys have to get going. Gambrell had a few good looks, especially a glorious opportunity in the 3rd when he took the puck between a defender’s legs on a slick move walked right out front. MC’s goalie made a beauty of a save. I still think the Pios are holding the puck too much in the offensive zone. They just need to get pucks to the net and crash the net.
I was impressed by Merrimack. They are a big, physical team that skates well. Another team that is probably better than their record indicates. Give credit to those guys.
I really hope DU can break out of this funk tonight, although it won’t be easy against AFA. The Falcons are always well coached, disciplined, and they play their asses off.
Enough about air force working hard. Biggest cliche in college hockey, has lost all meaning. It’s hockey. It’s a fast game. Everyone is working hard. And if you’re not, you should hit the bench. Where, o where, have Borgstrom and Terry gone? Terry has gotten to a point where he just handles the puck, circles, and nothing gets created. Either Terry needs to take the puck aggressively towards the net and shoot, or coaches need to do a better job in teaching players around Terry to get open for a pass. It has been more than a month since Borgstrom has done something special. He needs to try some new things, or his temporary plateau will continue.
Enough about air force working hard. Biggest cliche in college hockey, has lost all meaning. It’s hockey. It’s a fast game. Everyone is working hard. And if you’re not, you should hit the bench. Where, o where, have Borgstrom and Terry gone? Terry has gotten to a point where he just handles the puck, circles, and nothing gets created. Either Terry needs to take the puck aggressively towards the net and shoot, or coaches need to do a better job in teaching players around Terry to get open for a pass. It has been more than a month since Borgstrom has done something special. He needs to try some new things, or his temporary plateau will continue.