CC vs DU: A lesson learned.

Every Colorado College fan has got to be kicking themselves right now over what was a very bad game by our Tigers. I did not attend the game in person, but I watched it on my iPhone while witnessing a similar defensive effort by the Avalanche. Nobody went home happy.
To analyze this game, we have to start from the bottom up to find the holes. It's easy to point at Guentzel, Howe, or Dineen for not stepping to the challenge or making mistakes. However, the truth is that our team is young and very inexperienced especially at the defensive positions. This year welcomes some newcomers in town: Aaron Harstad and Peter Stoykewych. Although there are more than just these two players who came in at defense, I focused on these two players because they both were in leadership positions on their last teams.
Of the current defensive players, only three players have enough experience to be considered "significant". Those players are, Guentzel, Boivin and Marciano. Until late last year, nobody saw Marciano as a two way defensive player. He has been an excellent stay at home defenseman who battles hard in the zone. He has been a little slow at times, but all of that was laid to rest during last years slaughter of Boston College. He showed excellent speed and great form, just what CC needs at this point. Boivin has been a work in progress. Due to a defensive core which included a captain from last year, Boivin was not considered a large go to guy. He, like Marciano, plays well but was often relegated to the last defensive line due to the depth of other players. When we did get to see Boivin, he often didn't play too much. This season will change all of that as Boivin looks to carry the team. Of the three players, Boivin has the the most potential as he really could benefit from being put in a leadership role next season.
That leaves us with Guentzel. Gabe is a great player and one of my personal favorites on the team. He plays well, leads well and earned the "A" on his sweater rightfully so. However, we can only expect one player to do so much before they show flaws. Colorado College has been blessed in the past decade with some outstanding forwards. Among them are Sweatt and J.Schwartz. Often players get compared to these two players and they don't hold up well. Sweatt grew really fast on the team and Schwartz is a certified all star. Comparing Gabe Guentzel to J.Schwartz is like comparing apples to oranges. Guentzel is a great player, but he's not the kind of player that Schwartz is. We have to remember that when our emotions run high after a rivalry loss like tonight. We have to focus on what is really the situation here.
Of our entire defense, only the three defensemen just described are seasoned enough to be considered vets. We have other seniors like bidwill and behrend who are great players, but bidwill was injured last year and like boivin, was not playing much do to the talent in the years before. Behrend has been all over the board and I honestly do not know that much about him.
This is why our defensive core did not hold up well tonight. We just cannot turn sharp corners without a flaw being exposed. Gabe cannot be on the ice every single minute, and he is going to make mistakes, especially when the entire team is looking for him to be the defensive leader.
GOALTENDING
I capitalized this because I play goalie. I love the position and I know everything about the mental effects that take place during a game. Getting pulled from a game is one of the worst things that can happen to you. You think you are doing well, but then as the game progresses you lose the ability to control your emotions, thoughts and actions. Soon instead of playing steadfast hockey, you are questioning yourself on every play. Wondering if it was your fault that the goal went in. In all likelihood, the play was just broken and you would not have stopped that anyways. Goaltending is about positioning. You either have it or you don't. Tonight, Howe did not. I really would not know what to say to him so that he could improve his game. His rebound control his good. His post to post work is excellent, and he carries himself well. The problem is the team in front of him is not giving him the breaks he needs. Howe is not a constant goalie. He needs help to finish off a game, just like 98% of the other college goalies. The 2% who don't need help usually leave for the NHL early anyways so they really don't count.
Unfortunately for Howe, this has been two straight games of lackluster performance. The time has come to sink or swim. Personally I think Owens will need to sit down tomorrow and evaluate what he saw from a netminders perspective. The question is: Should Howe continue as the starter? Howe is a great goalie. He plays well, but he's off his game right now. Last year Owens put Howe on a rotation with thorny and he picked his game up quick.
THE CONCLUSION:
CC is in a bad spot. The offense is taking off while the defense is learning. This is not a coaching error but a case of bad timing for recruiting. 2 1/2 years ago, CC had a defenseman named John Moore defect before the season started. To make up for the loss, Owens got Doug Leaverton quickly to fill the gap. Leaverton is now gone, which leaves that us a man down for experience. The point is: These kids will have to pick themselves up fast, or this will roll downhill quickly. But if they do pick themselves up, Tampa is not out of the question.
GO TIGERS!