Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

What do you want to see? Who do you want/predict to step it up? Who will surprise? What would you like to see more of from a game plan standpoint. Add in whatever question you wish.

Keep it to analysis and gut feelings. This should be fun.

What do I want to see? A TOP FOUR FINISH!! Do I think we can do it next year? ABSOLUTELY!! For you naysayers....lack of hope or lack of very high expectations just is not an option for me.

Here's what I think will happen next year: ...*sitting FIRMLY behind my ORANGE colored glasses*...

Seniors:
I think that Meloche is going to REALLY step forward in a lot of ways, leadership being one of them, scoring being the other!! Unger will have a ridiculously number of goals and assists next year. Bronson will continue his improvement in many ways and show why he will be a very valuable staple at the blueline. He will be a leader by example.

Juniors:
Obviously, Mastumoto is going to continue his rise to top of the national statistics....and YES, I do believe he will be back next year!!! He will be drafted this summer and will be on EVERYONE'S radar screen next year (not that many didn't have him pegged this year!!). He's going to have a Hobey Baker kind of year. Of the other forwards, Whitmore played out of his head this year and will continue to do so. Mazzai will increase his ice time and points, by a lot, if he plays to his potential. Geelan and Erikson will improve there numbers, by working hard to earn ice time. Nesdill and Hodgson will overcome many of the defensive mistakes that haunted them this year and will be a consistent presence at the blueline.

Sophomores:
Svendsen will not have a sophomore slump, as many freshman sometimes do. He and Mastumoto are going be our B!G scorers next year. (And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to predict that!!!) Svendson, much like Foster, will have everyone's attention by the end of the season. Bales will get more ice time. Liut will finally get ice time! For the D-Men, Schmidt and Sinkewich will have provide a strong and consistent presence at the blueline. Ralph will see more ice time, but like many next year, will have to fight for it. Spratt will finally be able to show everyone why he was so highly recruited. He will be a consistent force in the net. He showed much of this in the last few games he played.

Freshman:
Like every freshman coming in and moving up to D-1 hockey, you ask yourself, how well and how quickly will they make the transition? Many will jump in right away, as Svendsen did. Their impact will be immediate. Some will take longer to get through that learning curve. Time will tell.

The biggest negative I see happening is that we will see good players sitting out simply from the fact that we will have a TON of talent on the team. And fortunately for us, that's not really a bad thing, is it? Players may leave due to a lack of ice time. It happens. It also gives others a chance to step in there and prove themselves. Everyone will be expecting us to finish low in the league again, due to this year's finish, losing Foster and other disappointing factors that landed us in last. It's our chance to surprise everyone.

I know this is a very positive outlook for next year. I won't apologize for it. It's the way I see things. Rip me all you want, but we will NOT be a bottom feeder next year!!! WE WILL NOT!! (How's that RUIT?)

as a team i see a 5 to 8 place finish. sprat will come through and be the top 2 or 3 goalie in the CCHA. Mastumoto will come back and do his thing. Unger will be the man on power plays, and Maxwell will come out of the blue and suprise us all. from what little i know about him, i feel he will fit right in with the system here.

turtle wrote:as a team i see a 5 to 8 place finish. sprat will come through and be the top 2 or 3 goalie in the CCHA. Mastumoto will come back and do his thing. Unger will be the man on power plays, and Maxwell will come out of the blue and suprise us all. from what little i know about him, i feel he will fit right in with the system here.

Oops...forgot about Maxwell!!! You are right!! He will definitely fit in...and quite well!!!

Falcon Fanatic *sitting FIRMLY behind your ORANGE colored glasses*, how out of touch can you be?
________________________________________________________________

"I know this is a very positive outlook for next year. I won't apologize for it. It's the way I see things. Rip me all you want, but we will NOT be a bottom feeder next year!!! WE WILL NOT!!"
________________________________________________________________

All “PIE IN THE SKY”, you are wrong. A cursory look at the CCHA seems to indicate that the only team loosing as many players will be Lake Superior. I don't believe we move above 11th next year.
Those Orange colored glasses are blinding you. You highlight your favorite players offensive prowess but if you look at the stats, scant regard was given to defense.

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/stats/ ... .php?td=11

Correct me if I'm wrong but if a player has (example; Foster) 51 points but is a (minus) -13, does that not mean he was on the ice for at least 64 goals against? I'm excluding PP goals against. If this is the case we have stars that only play a one-way game (i.e., Svendsen and Schmidt). We are Ranked 11 out of 12 for goals allowed in the CCHA.
We also have the intangible, "hockey politics", if you haven’t heard about this intangible get closer to the team. I know we have "KOOL-AID" drinkers on this forum that do not believe this to be a factor, believe me it is a factor and it causes low morale on this team.

I am not all negative on next year, we see Alaska Fairbanks 4 times next year and that's fun. But seriously, there is a lot of work ahead if we wish to be contenders at anything. BGSU have a long way to go to achieve hockey’s former GLORY.

OrangeFalcon02 wrote:Falcon Fanatic *sitting FIRMLY behind your ORANGE colored glasses*, how out of touch can you be?
________________________________________________________________

"I know this is a very positive outlook for next year. I won't apologize for it. It's the way I see things. Rip me all you want, but we will NOT be a bottom feeder next year!!! WE WILL NOT!!"
________________________________________________________________

All “PIE IN THE SKY”, you are wrong. A cursory look at the CCHA seems to indicate that the only team loosing as many players will be Lake Superior. I don't believe we move above 11th next year.
Those Orange colored glasses are blinding you. You highlight your favorite players offensive prowess but if you look at the stats, scant regard was given to defense.

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/stats/ ... .php?td=11

Correct me if I'm wrong but if a player has (example; Foster) 51 points but is a (minus) -13, does that not mean he was on the ice for at least 64 goals against? I'm excluding PP goals against. If this is the case we have stars that only play a one-way game (i.e., Svendsen and Schmidt). We are Ranked 11 out of 12 for goals allowed in the CCHA.
We also have the intangible, "hockey politics", if you haven’t heard about this intangible get closer to the team. I know we have "KOOL-AID" drinkers on this forum that do not believe this to be a factor, believe me it is a factor and it causes low morale on this team.

I am not all negative on next year, we see Alaska Fairbanks 4 times next year and that's fun. But seriously, there is a lot of work ahead if we wish to be contenders at anything. BGSU have a long way to go to achieve hockey’s former GLORY.

Sorry, in my mind I'm beginning to question who you are and your motives.

I'm like that. I'm a cynic.

what is the point of having a forum if we jump all over someone who thinks we will be a bottom feeder next year. i think that 10th place would be a decent season. we will definetly be very inconsistent with all the young players. goalies, forwards and D will have have their moments but overall it will be a tough season.

Thats my opinion, that doesnt mean i don't hope we can creep up towards the middle of the pack.


here is my prediction for next year for the few people on this forum, im not sure if they are players or whoever who seem to take offense at anything.
we will lose in double OT to Wisconsin to go to the frozen four.

this is a choose your own prediction post

dannyk wrote:what is the point of having a forum if we jump all over someone who thinks we will be a bottom feeder next year.

One can say we are going to be the worst team in Div I hockey. They don't have to be an ass about it.

I really don't want this forum to take on a personality of the hoops forum. Unfortunately, it seems to be well on its way.

OrangeFalcon02 wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong but if a player has (example; Foster) 51 points but is a (minus) -13, does that not mean he was on the ice for at least 64 goals against? I'm excluding PP goals against. If this is the case we have stars that only play a one-way game (i.e., Svendsen and Schmidt).

I'll correct you.

Plus/minus refers to the ratio of even-strength and short handed goals for/against. A plus is received when a player is on the ice at the time his team scores an even-strength or short handed goal. A minus is received when a player is on the ice at the time his team allows an even-strength or short handed goal. Considering the amount of time Foster, Matsumoto, Svendson, etc, spent on the powerplay, and the amount of short handed goals we allowed, being a -13 translates into being on the ice for as many goals for as against. Remember, powerplay goals do not count in plus/minus.

Of course, there are rare occurances where a player can receive an assist on an even-strength or short handed goal and NOT receive a plus because the goal occurred during a line change. Yes, it can and has happended. There is no way other than statician's error for a player to receive a minus if he is not on the ice.

Basically, what I'm saying is there is no way to tell how many goals against a player was on the ice for by looking at points vs plus/minus. The only solid conclusion you can make is "the player was on the ice for at least 13 goals against." (in the case of Foster). We know it is true, but there is no way without looking through all the score sheets and adding it up by hand.

I don't fully understand but thanks for the help.

Our friend "Rightupinthere" may be correct; I should stick to Hoop’s. Any forum that "Requires" you agree with the Moderator’s view to be able to make a valid contribution,is worth very little in the REAL world. We can't all be KOOL-AID drinkers and ignore reality.

For the record, WE FINISHED LAST IN THE LEAGUE, that should give "Rightupinthere" a hint that something is amiss with the Hockey program and has been so fore sometime.

I don't think it has a damn thing to do with agree with moderators or whatever. But what it comes down to is that we just finished a pretty disappointing season full of posts about what we didn't do and who the fingers should be pointed at for it.

A new season brings new hope. If it's blind hope, then so be it, but there's no reason to call someone out for being optimistic, even if it's crazy talk in your own opinion. I've been pretty hit and miss reading this forum of late, but I don't think anyone seriously proclaimed us CCHA champs for next year, but rather think we'll be in decent enough shape to challenge for home ice in the playoffs, which is a more than reasonable goal, reachable or not.

OrangeFalcon02 wrote:I don't fully understand but thanks for the help.

Our friend "Rightupinthere" may be correct; I should stick to Hoop’s. Any forum that "Requires" you agree with the Moderator’s view to be able to make a valid contribution,is worth very little in the REAL world. We can't all be KOOL-AID drinkers and ignore reality.

For the record, WE FINISHED LAST IN THE LEAGUE, that should give "Rightupinthere" a hint that something is amiss with the Hockey program and has been so fore sometime.

I'll type slowly.

I don't care if, how, when, or with whom you disagree. I just ask that you don't be a dick about it. You, sir, are being a dick about it.

If you're wondering what I'm talking about, let's revisit your post answering FF's very enthusiastic post:

orangefalcon02 wrote:Falcon Fanatic *sitting FIRMLY behind your ORANGE colored glasses*, how out of touch can you be?
________________________________________________________________

"I know this is a very positive outlook for next year. I won't apologize for it. It's the way I see things. Rip me all you want, but we will NOT be a bottom feeder next year!!! WE WILL NOT!!"
________________________________________________________________

All “PIE IN THE SKY”, you are wrong. A cursory look at the CCHA seems to indicate that the only team loosing as many players will be Lake Superior. I don't believe we move above 11th next year.
Those Orange colored glasses are blinding you. You highlight your favorite players offensive prowess but if you look at the stats, scant regard was given to defense.

I added the emphasis. FF has done nothing to warrant such acidic posts...unless you take it upon yourself to p!ss in other people's Wheaties.

Like I stated before, I don't care if you pick BG to be the worst hockey program in DIV I - hell, let's make it the WORLD - just DON'T BE AN ASS!

CLEAR? I have never nor do I intend on altering or deleting a post simply because a person was in disagreement.

Thanks for the support TG & RUIT!!! I REALLY appreciate it!! I knew that such a positive outlook (the reason I titled it, "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow") would stir up a lot of negative comments. I will NEVER apologize for looking for the good in a negative situation (and Yes, I know that ending up in last place SUCKS; I hate it too!). I don't expect everyone or anyone, for that matter, to totally agree with me, but I will still post my feelings. I hate all the negativity that permeates the BB and FB boards, so I felt compelled to put a positive spin on something over here. Take it or leave it. Feel free to post your own outlooks for the coming season. In fact, I welcome it!

GO HOCKEY!!!

It seems odd, but I'm not as disappointed with this season as I was the previous two. Guess I expected more from those, and for the most part, this year's team was the best puck handling team I've seen in a long time. Mistakes were made, sure, but they seemed to be more from trying too hard than from giving up.
Next year's returnees will have had time to view the tapes, improve their playmaking skills, and rededicate their efforts to support each other.

I'm not in the mood to tick off what I expect from each and every player - at least not in one post, but I'll start with just one - Ben Geelan. I saw Ben score a great breakaway goal at Union his freshman year, and knew we had a winner. This was a tough season for Ben, but he came back from injury and looked good at Omaha. Check his stats - played 21 games and scored 4 goals on 20 shots. He's a big kid, and he'll be a major force next season. Couple of other things: 1) he's from Minnesota - good players come from Minnesota 2) Ben is a hunter. What's that have to do with anything? A hunter has to take the shot immediately when it presents itself. Same with shooting the puck, that opportunity is only there for a second, you have to take it when you see it without thinking. I think Ben is geared that way.
Those are my thoughts for tonight as I sip my cherry Kool-Aid.

I tend to agree with RUIT here. Why can't some of you just give your view of next year without ripping the heart out of someone elses? The way this thread started it was just asking for your opinion of next year, nothing else. If you disagree with someone's post, that's fine. List why you disagree, but don't slam them for having their opinions. That's just childish. You seem to think that the only way to disagree with someone is to make them look like an idiot....what you don't realize, though, is that the only one looking like an idiot is the one you see when you look in the mirror. Notice that I didn't quote anybody here. Notice that I didn't name names. I don't need to embarrass anyone personally.

Now, for my views of next year: How much better we are next year depends on how strong the leadership is and if the senior class accepts the leadership. If that happens, we'll be fine next year, if it doesn't it could be another long season. Discount my view of this year's senior class if you must, I really don't care, but had they pulled together as a class and accepted Morrison as the captain it's my opinion that this would have been a much different season. I don't see the same clashing of personalities and egos in next year's class...for this reason alone we'll see improvement in next year's version of Falcon hockey. How much of an improvement depends solely on the team.