Cat's review 07- The end of the Vinz Era
Well I figured I would wait a few days after the season ended up for the Cats before I wrote my season end review. Of course the season didn’t end the way any Cat player, coach or fan wanted it to, a heartbreaking 2-1 loss in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. But the season was in my opinion far from a failure. Many people are looking at the end of the season and seeing it being a failure. But when you look back at the beginning of the season and what was expected for the season, I see it as a success. The Cats were picked 4th in the pre-season Hockey East coaches poll. Many people thought they would be fighting for a home ice slot in the Hockey East playoffs. In the national poll they had them at #10. Due have to give the voter in the USCHO poll credit, they had 3 of the Frozen Four participants in the top 6 (BC #1, Michigan State #5, North Dakota #6, with all getting first place votes) they had Maine at #11. So how did the Cats get from that to the Hockey East regular season title, and many weeks at #1 in the country during the season? Well lets begin the journey.
Well the season started back in October with 3 exhibition games at home. The started off with a bad loss to St. Francis Xavier from Canada. Things looked like it was going to be a tough and long year. The Cats did rebound in their 2nd exhibition game, a 7-1 win over the US Under 18 team, led by future Cat James Van Reinsdyke (JVR). Things were stating to look up. The Cats first 2 regular season games would be on the road in the tough home of national power Colorado College. The Cats would come out with 2 impressive wins. The Freshman Bobby Butler would get the first goal of the season. The Cats would come home on a rocky mountain high. That high would not last long. The Cats home opener was also their Hockey East opener, against UMass, they would lose that game 3-2. Two days later the Cats would face off against Yale. That would be a very heartbreaking, controversial loss in OT. A game with a questionable waved off goal, and a goal that should have never happened as the ref never blew the whistle when Mr. Regan clearly had the puck covered. Thus the Cats ended October at a disappointing 2-2.
That disappointing October would lead the Cats into an amazing November and December. It started off with a home game against Northeastern. The Cats would find themselves ties 3-3 after the 2nd period. Then Cats exploded for 3 goals in the third, and played some great that hockey that would last until after Christmas. The Cats would go on incredible 12 game unbeaten streak. Some of the highlights of that streak would include, a fabulous 8-2 win on a Sunday afternoon against Maine up at the Alfond the Blackbears were undefeated and #1 in the country at that time, a 6-3 win at BC. During the streak we got to see the first 2 games in net by freshman Brian Foster, those 2 games would be 2 shut wins by the Cats, a 4-0 win at home against Lowell and a 2-0 win at home against St. Lawrence. There was also the 5-0 shut out by Mr. Regan at home against Merrimack. Also during this streak we would see the first 2 career goals by senior Shawn “the man” Vinz. The first coming on come on Sat Nov 18 against Lowell, Fosters first shut out. Vinz next goal would be a shorthanded blast from right inside the blue line in Regan’s 5-0 shut out over Merrimack. The streak would come to end in the Cats first game after their 3 week Christmas break, a 5-2 win in a Christmas tournament in Florida. The would rebound with a win against Western Michigan the next night, though the Cats would lose the service of top goal score Mike Radja for 4 week in this game. The Cats would end 2006 at 14-3-1. Also during this time there would be the emergence of the SPF line (Trevor Smith, Jerry Pollostrone, and Matt Forntadaro) Trevor Smith would be one of the most dominate players in the country from November to the end of January. His name would be mentioned as a Hobey Baker candidate.
January would turn out to be another well played month for the Cats. The Cats would go 5-1 during the cold wintry month. At the end of the month the Cats had clawed their way to the #1 ranking in the country. The only loss would be a 3-0 loss at UMass, this is not the last we would hear from them. That would be their first road loss of the season, they started the season 10-0 on the road. Some of the highlights of the month would be the 2 game sweep at the #1 defensive team in the country Vermont to begin the month. The first game would be a extremely well played 7-1 victory that drove the top goalie in the country, Fallon, out of the game in the first period. The Cats would also have a dominant 5-1 victory over UMass at the Whitt. The Cats ended January 19-4-1, and well established in first place in Hockey East. The Cats would be one of the top ranked offensively and defensively ranked team in the country at this point.
So now comes February and Marc to finish the regular season, the toughest part of the schedule for the Cats. Of the last 10 games to end the regular season 6 would be against Maine, BU and BC. The Cats would end the last 10 games 4-5-1. Something they would not be happy about. The highlights would be a great 2-1 victory over Maine at the Whitt. The Cats in my opinion didn’t play bad in this stretch, except for one game I will mention. The Cats would clinch the Hockey East regular season title with a couple week to go in the regular season. There was a natural let down as the Cats played hard all season to earn the title. The let down was seen over the last 3 weeks. The last weekends the first would be against BU. The Cats would lose a 4-2 hard fought game at the Whitt, BU would end up with 2 empty netters at the end of the game. The next night in Boston the Cats would jump out to a 3-0 lead, then the wheels came off, and the Terriers would come back to a well deserved 3-3 tie. The next weekend in Providence would be the low point of the season for the Cats, a humiliating 7-1 loss at the hands of the Friars. As irony would have it BU would lose that night and clinch the regular season title for the Cats. The Cats would end their regular season with a home and home series with BC. At this point the Cats did not have much to play for. The Eagles would come out with 2 victories, thought the Cats gave them a fight in both games. The Eagles came in fighting for the #2 spot in Hockey East. The Eagles would be in middle of an extremely hot stretch. The Eagles would end up 1 point behind the Cats in the standings. The Cats would end the regular season at 23-9-2, and 18-7-2 in Hockey East.
The Cats would enter the tournament on some what of a down note. Many is Wildcat country would be a little worried going into the post season. The Cats would face off the #8 seed Providence in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs, the same Providence team that spanked the Cats a few weeks earlier. Well there was no need to worry as the Cats, lead by Mr. Regan, would sweep the 2 game series with 2 shut out ( 4-0, 6-0) The Cats played great in those 2 games. From there it was on the Fleet Center for the Hockey East semi finals against UMass, the team that had played them very hard all season. Mother Nature in her wisdom would dump a foot of snow on New England that day and keep many of the faithful Cat fans away from Boston. This might have been one of the best games of the year, a thrilling 3-2 victory in double overtime. Bobby Butler would score the winner, after Danny Rossman would score his first career goal in the third to tie the game up. Brett Hemingway would miss this game due to a sickness, he would also miss the Hockey East championship game the next night, as a good number of the team was sick. This game would not go the Cats way, as BC would once again beat them 5-2. The Cats came out playing well in that game. But the team would be slowed down and BC took it to the Cats. The Cats would play hard the last 10 minutes, but it was not enough to overcome the red hot Eagles. The Cats would earn a #1 seed in the NCAA regional in Manchester, #4 over all in the tourney. The Cats would face off against Miami-Ohio. The Cats played a very good game, but would come up on the wrong side of the score sheet, a very tough 2-1 loss. The Cat outplayed Miami most of the game, but just could not get the puck past the Redhawks netminder. The winning goal for Miami would come off the deflection off one of the Cats skate. The highlight of the game would be a spectacular shorthanded goal from Mike Radja. The season would end with the Cats playing hard till the final whistle.
The Cats did meet and exceed the exceptions I had at the beginning of the season. The Cats offense turned out to be one of the best in the country and the defense played solid all year and be one of the top rated defenses at the end of the season. Some really great surprises developed over the season for me. The first being the play of the SPF line, Trevor Smith showed some real spark and scoring touch. Jerry Pollastrone showed he can play well with the puck and has some great wheels. Matt Forntadaro got over his sophomore slump and played like up to the potential he showed his freshman year. Bobby Butler really showed some promise his freshman year, he should really step up next year. Thomas Fortney really played well, became the best face off man the Cats had, and played some great defense. Mike Radja really jumped up, and took the place of Daniel Winnick, who left after his junior year. The devoplement of the guys on the blue line, Kevin Kapstad and Brad Flashians really stepped it up this year. I will have a post later on looking forward to next year, and a look back at the graduating Seniors.
So some of the highlights of the season for me. Wish I had seen the 8-2 win in Maine. Seeing Shawn Vinz get on the scoring sheet was great to see, he really earned it, though I saw the first goal on TV, but was there for his shorthander. Seeing Brian Foster get 2 shut outs in his first 2 starts. The best 2 games of the year to me were the 2-1 victory over Maine at the Whitt, the 12 game unbeaten streak, the 7-1 victory at Vermont and the 3-2 2OT win in the Hockey East Semi’s.
So to me it was a good year for the cats, not the outcome we all wanted, but the Cats played hard the entire year, and played with class, for that I am proud of them, and proud to say I am a Cats fans, and our time will come!!
Well the season started back in October with 3 exhibition games at home. The started off with a bad loss to St. Francis Xavier from Canada. Things looked like it was going to be a tough and long year. The Cats did rebound in their 2nd exhibition game, a 7-1 win over the US Under 18 team, led by future Cat James Van Reinsdyke (JVR). Things were stating to look up. The Cats first 2 regular season games would be on the road in the tough home of national power Colorado College. The Cats would come out with 2 impressive wins. The Freshman Bobby Butler would get the first goal of the season. The Cats would come home on a rocky mountain high. That high would not last long. The Cats home opener was also their Hockey East opener, against UMass, they would lose that game 3-2. Two days later the Cats would face off against Yale. That would be a very heartbreaking, controversial loss in OT. A game with a questionable waved off goal, and a goal that should have never happened as the ref never blew the whistle when Mr. Regan clearly had the puck covered. Thus the Cats ended October at a disappointing 2-2.
That disappointing October would lead the Cats into an amazing November and December. It started off with a home game against Northeastern. The Cats would find themselves ties 3-3 after the 2nd period. Then Cats exploded for 3 goals in the third, and played some great that hockey that would last until after Christmas. The Cats would go on incredible 12 game unbeaten streak. Some of the highlights of that streak would include, a fabulous 8-2 win on a Sunday afternoon against Maine up at the Alfond the Blackbears were undefeated and #1 in the country at that time, a 6-3 win at BC. During the streak we got to see the first 2 games in net by freshman Brian Foster, those 2 games would be 2 shut wins by the Cats, a 4-0 win at home against Lowell and a 2-0 win at home against St. Lawrence. There was also the 5-0 shut out by Mr. Regan at home against Merrimack. Also during this streak we would see the first 2 career goals by senior Shawn “the man” Vinz. The first coming on come on Sat Nov 18 against Lowell, Fosters first shut out. Vinz next goal would be a shorthanded blast from right inside the blue line in Regan’s 5-0 shut out over Merrimack. The streak would come to end in the Cats first game after their 3 week Christmas break, a 5-2 win in a Christmas tournament in Florida. The would rebound with a win against Western Michigan the next night, though the Cats would lose the service of top goal score Mike Radja for 4 week in this game. The Cats would end 2006 at 14-3-1. Also during this time there would be the emergence of the SPF line (Trevor Smith, Jerry Pollostrone, and Matt Forntadaro) Trevor Smith would be one of the most dominate players in the country from November to the end of January. His name would be mentioned as a Hobey Baker candidate.
January would turn out to be another well played month for the Cats. The Cats would go 5-1 during the cold wintry month. At the end of the month the Cats had clawed their way to the #1 ranking in the country. The only loss would be a 3-0 loss at UMass, this is not the last we would hear from them. That would be their first road loss of the season, they started the season 10-0 on the road. Some of the highlights of the month would be the 2 game sweep at the #1 defensive team in the country Vermont to begin the month. The first game would be a extremely well played 7-1 victory that drove the top goalie in the country, Fallon, out of the game in the first period. The Cats would also have a dominant 5-1 victory over UMass at the Whitt. The Cats ended January 19-4-1, and well established in first place in Hockey East. The Cats would be one of the top ranked offensively and defensively ranked team in the country at this point.
So now comes February and Marc to finish the regular season, the toughest part of the schedule for the Cats. Of the last 10 games to end the regular season 6 would be against Maine, BU and BC. The Cats would end the last 10 games 4-5-1. Something they would not be happy about. The highlights would be a great 2-1 victory over Maine at the Whitt. The Cats in my opinion didn’t play bad in this stretch, except for one game I will mention. The Cats would clinch the Hockey East regular season title with a couple week to go in the regular season. There was a natural let down as the Cats played hard all season to earn the title. The let down was seen over the last 3 weeks. The last weekends the first would be against BU. The Cats would lose a 4-2 hard fought game at the Whitt, BU would end up with 2 empty netters at the end of the game. The next night in Boston the Cats would jump out to a 3-0 lead, then the wheels came off, and the Terriers would come back to a well deserved 3-3 tie. The next weekend in Providence would be the low point of the season for the Cats, a humiliating 7-1 loss at the hands of the Friars. As irony would have it BU would lose that night and clinch the regular season title for the Cats. The Cats would end their regular season with a home and home series with BC. At this point the Cats did not have much to play for. The Eagles would come out with 2 victories, thought the Cats gave them a fight in both games. The Eagles came in fighting for the #2 spot in Hockey East. The Eagles would be in middle of an extremely hot stretch. The Eagles would end up 1 point behind the Cats in the standings. The Cats would end the regular season at 23-9-2, and 18-7-2 in Hockey East.
The Cats would enter the tournament on some what of a down note. Many is Wildcat country would be a little worried going into the post season. The Cats would face off the #8 seed Providence in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs, the same Providence team that spanked the Cats a few weeks earlier. Well there was no need to worry as the Cats, lead by Mr. Regan, would sweep the 2 game series with 2 shut out ( 4-0, 6-0) The Cats played great in those 2 games. From there it was on the Fleet Center for the Hockey East semi finals against UMass, the team that had played them very hard all season. Mother Nature in her wisdom would dump a foot of snow on New England that day and keep many of the faithful Cat fans away from Boston. This might have been one of the best games of the year, a thrilling 3-2 victory in double overtime. Bobby Butler would score the winner, after Danny Rossman would score his first career goal in the third to tie the game up. Brett Hemingway would miss this game due to a sickness, he would also miss the Hockey East championship game the next night, as a good number of the team was sick. This game would not go the Cats way, as BC would once again beat them 5-2. The Cats came out playing well in that game. But the team would be slowed down and BC took it to the Cats. The Cats would play hard the last 10 minutes, but it was not enough to overcome the red hot Eagles. The Cats would earn a #1 seed in the NCAA regional in Manchester, #4 over all in the tourney. The Cats would face off against Miami-Ohio. The Cats played a very good game, but would come up on the wrong side of the score sheet, a very tough 2-1 loss. The Cat outplayed Miami most of the game, but just could not get the puck past the Redhawks netminder. The winning goal for Miami would come off the deflection off one of the Cats skate. The highlight of the game would be a spectacular shorthanded goal from Mike Radja. The season would end with the Cats playing hard till the final whistle.
The Cats did meet and exceed the exceptions I had at the beginning of the season. The Cats offense turned out to be one of the best in the country and the defense played solid all year and be one of the top rated defenses at the end of the season. Some really great surprises developed over the season for me. The first being the play of the SPF line, Trevor Smith showed some real spark and scoring touch. Jerry Pollastrone showed he can play well with the puck and has some great wheels. Matt Forntadaro got over his sophomore slump and played like up to the potential he showed his freshman year. Bobby Butler really showed some promise his freshman year, he should really step up next year. Thomas Fortney really played well, became the best face off man the Cats had, and played some great defense. Mike Radja really jumped up, and took the place of Daniel Winnick, who left after his junior year. The devoplement of the guys on the blue line, Kevin Kapstad and Brad Flashians really stepped it up this year. I will have a post later on looking forward to next year, and a look back at the graduating Seniors.
So some of the highlights of the season for me. Wish I had seen the 8-2 win in Maine. Seeing Shawn Vinz get on the scoring sheet was great to see, he really earned it, though I saw the first goal on TV, but was there for his shorthander. Seeing Brian Foster get 2 shut outs in his first 2 starts. The best 2 games of the year to me were the 2-1 victory over Maine at the Whitt, the 12 game unbeaten streak, the 7-1 victory at Vermont and the 3-2 2OT win in the Hockey East Semi’s.
So to me it was a good year for the cats, not the outcome we all wanted, but the Cats played hard the entire year, and played with class, for that I am proud of them, and proud to say I am a Cats fans, and our time will come!!
posted by Qman16 at 10:17 PM
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