As you can see from the post below this blog has moved to an address on the Watertown Daily Times Web site.
The only thing that will be different from what was here is right now there is no capability for user comments.
BUT, that doesn't mean I don't want to hear your opinions. Anyone who emails me (and my address is linked on the new blog) I will try to get your opinions posted onto the blog at some point. I'll probably wait until I hear a handful of thoughts and then will make a post titled something like 'Notes from the Readers' where I share them with everyone.
And if you do read the blog please share views. It's nice to know that people actually read it and also what they think and what things they may want to see added to it in the future.
Thanks,
Cap
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Moving Day
This blog is moving to a new address, which is on the Watertown Daily Times main site and will have a new title.
It will, essentially, be the same blog as before, it's just more convenient to have it linked directly to the newspaper.
Any comments feel free to email me: ccarey@wdt.net
The new address:
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/section/knightstales
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
How I'd Change ECAC Hockey
Last weekend's nonconference games against SLU were, in part, due to the fact that both schools have a hard time finding nonconference opponents this late in the season.
That's because every other conference plays more games than ECAC Hockey.
Here's a breakdown of how many conference games the other leagues play:
Atlantic Hockey 28
CCHA 28
CHA 20 (had only five teams last year, however)
ECAC Hockey 22
Hockey East 27
WCHA 28
As you can see, ECAC Hockey is well behind its peers. Part of this is due to the Ivy League teams, which limit the number of total games in a year they wish to play for academic reasons.
Here is how I'd solve this problem in a way I think appeals to both factors, split the conference into two divisions: Ivy and non-Ivy (I'd name the non-Ivy after a retired or deceased famous coach who was at a non-Ivy school)
So the conference would look like this:
Ivy Division (Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Brown)
Other Division (SLU, Clarkson, Colgate, Union, RPI, Quinnipiac)
As for the schedule, for the Ivy teams it would remain the same, two games against each other and two games against the other division. For the new division, they'd add one extra game against each of the other five teams, with the home site rotating each year. So if Clarkson played two home games against Colgate one year, the next year they'd have two games at Colgate.
How would the playoffs work?
I'd just seed them similar to now, but the top two teams in each conference would get the first-round byes. You have two options here. You can pit No. 3 Ivy vs. No. 6 non-Ivy, etc, or you can keep the playoffs strictly to divisions and send two Ivy's and two non-Ivy's to Albany.
Anyway, that's what I'd do to fix the scheduling issues and bring the ECAC more up to par with it's peers. I welcome comments on this from others.
That's because every other conference plays more games than ECAC Hockey.
Here's a breakdown of how many conference games the other leagues play:
Atlantic Hockey 28
CCHA 28
CHA 20 (had only five teams last year, however)
ECAC Hockey 22
Hockey East 27
WCHA 28
As you can see, ECAC Hockey is well behind its peers. Part of this is due to the Ivy League teams, which limit the number of total games in a year they wish to play for academic reasons.
Here is how I'd solve this problem in a way I think appeals to both factors, split the conference into two divisions: Ivy and non-Ivy (I'd name the non-Ivy after a retired or deceased famous coach who was at a non-Ivy school)
So the conference would look like this:
Ivy Division (Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Brown)
Other Division (SLU, Clarkson, Colgate, Union, RPI, Quinnipiac)
As for the schedule, for the Ivy teams it would remain the same, two games against each other and two games against the other division. For the new division, they'd add one extra game against each of the other five teams, with the home site rotating each year. So if Clarkson played two home games against Colgate one year, the next year they'd have two games at Colgate.
How would the playoffs work?
I'd just seed them similar to now, but the top two teams in each conference would get the first-round byes. You have two options here. You can pit No. 3 Ivy vs. No. 6 non-Ivy, etc, or you can keep the playoffs strictly to divisions and send two Ivy's and two non-Ivy's to Albany.
Anyway, that's what I'd do to fix the scheduling issues and bring the ECAC more up to par with it's peers. I welcome comments on this from others.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
SLU 2, Clarkson 1
Clarkson played much better Sunday in a 2-1 loss to rival SLU. The Golden Knights were frustrated by a few shots that clinged off the post but did appear to outplay SLU in the first two period. SLU had a solid third period, however, and denied Clarkson on the power play twice to hold on for the win.
Here were the keys to the game for Clarkson:
1. Payback. Will Clarkson come out angry after being embarrased last night and play with fire and passion, especially early? Clarkson did play much better. It was not a win, but they were not blown out.
2. Where's the offense? Another game with less than three goals as Clarkson falls to 0-10-3 this year in those situations. Make that 0-11-3.
3. Play ahead. Clarkson has scored the first goal only six times in 19 games this season. Another interesting stat about this season is Clarkson has led in a game only 15.2 percent of the time, but has been trailing 51.4 percent of the time. Last year those numbers were 33 and 26.7 respectively. Again, Clarkson never led in this game, trailed for most of it.
4. Control the puck. Shots against are way up for Clarkson's defense this season and SLU picked up 41 last night, including a 33-7 edge after two periods. After Saturday's game, Clarkson coach George Roll attributed SLU's number of shots to the fact that Clarkson was not able to gain control of the puck and pressure the Saints. Much better job in Sunday's game on this.
5. Goaltending. One positive in last night's game was the play of backup Richie LaVeau after Paul Karpowich was pulled early in the second period. LaVeau stopped 24 of 25 shots and both goalies have save percentages over .900. Whoever plays today, Clarkson will need a big game from its goalie. Solid play from Karpowich Sunday.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
SLU 5, Clarkson 1
Clarkson had one of its worst games of the season Saturday, losing 5-1 in a nonconference game to rival St. Lawrence University in Appleton Arena.
Here were the five keys to the game for Clarkson:
1. Score three goals: When Clarkson scores three goals, or more, it is 3-2-1 this year. When the Golden Knights get two goals, or less, they are 0-9-3. Clarkson only scored once after going five periods without a goal, including last weekend's game at Ohio State.
2. Special teams: Both teams have killed penalties at the same rate - Clarkson 85.5 percent and SLU 85.6. The Saints have had the better power play so far this season (15.3 to 11.7). Key guys for each team: SLU's Brock McBride has four power-play goals and Clarkson's Lauri Tuohimaa has three. Neither team really excelled on special teams, and it wasn't a factor because it was already 3-0 before either team had their first power play. SLU's third goal, however, was scored with an extra attacker because a Clarkson penalty was coming and goalie Kain Tisi had left the ice.
3. Score first: In the last 10 Clarkson/SLU games at Appleton Arena, the team that scored first has won seven times. Not only did Clarkson not score first, SLU scored three goals in the first eight minutes.
4. Which goalie will be better?: Clarkson freshman Paul Karpowich, who was also recruited by SLU, is coming off a steller weekend at the Ohio Hockey Classic and has a .908 save percentage. SLU's Alex Petizian has bounced back from a subpar sophomore year and has a .916 save percentage. Karpowich had a rough game, though not all the goals could be blamed on him. SLU went with Kain Tisi in goal, though he was hardly challenged, having to make only 13 saves.
5. Conquer Appleton: Clarkson has struggled at Appleton Arena, dropping two straight games and losing six of their last seven contests in the building. The Golden Knights catch one break tonight as SLU's students are still on winter break. The crowd was down for a Clarkson game at Appleton (2,800) but the Golden Knights didn't take advantage.
Here were the five keys to the game for Clarkson:
1. Score three goals: When Clarkson scores three goals, or more, it is 3-2-1 this year. When the Golden Knights get two goals, or less, they are 0-9-3. Clarkson only scored once after going five periods without a goal, including last weekend's game at Ohio State.
2. Special teams: Both teams have killed penalties at the same rate - Clarkson 85.5 percent and SLU 85.6. The Saints have had the better power play so far this season (15.3 to 11.7). Key guys for each team: SLU's Brock McBride has four power-play goals and Clarkson's Lauri Tuohimaa has three. Neither team really excelled on special teams, and it wasn't a factor because it was already 3-0 before either team had their first power play. SLU's third goal, however, was scored with an extra attacker because a Clarkson penalty was coming and goalie Kain Tisi had left the ice.
3. Score first: In the last 10 Clarkson/SLU games at Appleton Arena, the team that scored first has won seven times. Not only did Clarkson not score first, SLU scored three goals in the first eight minutes.
4. Which goalie will be better?: Clarkson freshman Paul Karpowich, who was also recruited by SLU, is coming off a steller weekend at the Ohio Hockey Classic and has a .908 save percentage. SLU's Alex Petizian has bounced back from a subpar sophomore year and has a .916 save percentage. Karpowich had a rough game, though not all the goals could be blamed on him. SLU went with Kain Tisi in goal, though he was hardly challenged, having to make only 13 saves.
5. Conquer Appleton: Clarkson has struggled at Appleton Arena, dropping two straight games and losing six of their last seven contests in the building. The Golden Knights catch one break tonight as SLU's students are still on winter break. The crowd was down for a Clarkson game at Appleton (2,800) but the Golden Knights didn't take advantage.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Rivalry Weekend: Part I
Here is this week's edition of Clarkson notes.
Bonus material
KARPOWICH HONORED
Freshman goalie Paul Karpowich has come up big this season whenever he's faced one of the top teams in the nation. After helping lead Clarkson to a pair of ties against top-ranked Colorado College early in the season he made 40 saves last Friday to lead the Golden Knights to a 4-2 win over second-ranked Miami (Ohio).
Karpowich was also solid the following night against Ohio State in a 2-0 Clarkson loss and was named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week.
"The team made it really easy for me, everything was from the outside," Karpowich said.
More important that beating a No. 2 team would be, the win over Miami also snapped a school-record, 11-game winless streak (0-9-2).
"That's always nice," Karpowich said. "We were in a pretty bad skid there."
The next big challenge for the freshman, who was drafted by the NHL's St. Louis Blues last summer, is rival St. Lawrence University, Clarkson's opponent for a pair of nonconference games this weekend.
"I've never seen (a Clarkson/SLU game) before," Karpowich said. "You hear stories about how wild they get."
Monday, January 5, 2009
Updated Home/Road Index
*For those new to this, this stat is based on the premise you have to win all home games and pull off a few road wins. At end of year every team will have exactly 22 points more than they have in this index. You get two points for a road win, one for a road tie, you lose one point for a home tie and two points for a home loss. Home wins and road losses are worth zero points*
One other note: Dartmouth has benefitted in this standing by playing seven of its first nine conference games on the road. Since you can only earn points in road games that means the Big Green has only four more conference games left to pick up points.
Dartmouth +8
Princeton +6
Cornell +4
Quinnipiac +3
Yale +2
Harvard +2
St. Lawrence -3
Brown -4
Rensselaer -4
Union -4
Clarkson -5
Colgate -5
One other note: Dartmouth has benefitted in this standing by playing seven of its first nine conference games on the road. Since you can only earn points in road games that means the Big Green has only four more conference games left to pick up points.
Dartmouth +8
Princeton +6
Cornell +4
Quinnipiac +3
Yale +2
Harvard +2
St. Lawrence -3
Brown -4
Rensselaer -4
Union -4
Clarkson -5
Colgate -5
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Ohio State 2, Clarkson 0
A sluggish first period proved costly for Clarkson tonight in a 2-0 loss to Ohio State in the championship game of the Ohio Hockey Classic.
Here were the five things to watch:
1. Can Clarkson pull off a second straight upset? The Golden Knights beat second-ranked Miami (Ohio) 4-2 in a semifinal Friday night. Ohio State (12-6-1) is not as good on paper as Miami, but still has some impressive numbers. The Buckeyes have won seven straight games, have only allowed four goals in their last three games and has scored 26 goals in their last four. Ohio State also has seven NHL draft picks on the roster (Clarkson has eight). Well, as stated above, Clarkson got off to a bad start and never fully recovered.
2. Will the offense stay hot? Clarkson had its best goal output (4) since it scored six goals on opening night against RIT. The answer to this has to be a big no, it was the first time all year the team was shut out.
3. Beat another hot goalie. Both Miami (Ohio) goalies had impressive numbers going into last night's game and Ohio State has combined to stop 91.3 percent of opposing shots, led by sophomore Dustin Carlson, who has played in 16 games and has a .929 save percentage. See the above comment!
4. Defense. Clarkson needs to improve on the number of shots it allows. Freshman goalie Paul Karpowich was a key factor in Clarkson's win last night, but he was tested by way too many quality shots. Clarkson actually showed improvement in this category. The Buckeyes scored only one goal while Paul Karpowich was on the ice and while they had 34 shots, 15 of those came in the first period.
5. Score first. Clarkson is 2-3-1 when it scores first this year, which isn't that impressive until you consider that the team is 1-7-3 when the opposition scores first. Considering this game is being played on the road against a quality opponent, scoring first and taking the crowd noise out of the game could be a factor. In this game, scoring first really meant something!
Here were the five things to watch:
1. Can Clarkson pull off a second straight upset? The Golden Knights beat second-ranked Miami (Ohio) 4-2 in a semifinal Friday night. Ohio State (12-6-1) is not as good on paper as Miami, but still has some impressive numbers. The Buckeyes have won seven straight games, have only allowed four goals in their last three games and has scored 26 goals in their last four. Ohio State also has seven NHL draft picks on the roster (Clarkson has eight). Well, as stated above, Clarkson got off to a bad start and never fully recovered.
2. Will the offense stay hot? Clarkson had its best goal output (4) since it scored six goals on opening night against RIT. The answer to this has to be a big no, it was the first time all year the team was shut out.
3. Beat another hot goalie. Both Miami (Ohio) goalies had impressive numbers going into last night's game and Ohio State has combined to stop 91.3 percent of opposing shots, led by sophomore Dustin Carlson, who has played in 16 games and has a .929 save percentage. See the above comment!
4. Defense. Clarkson needs to improve on the number of shots it allows. Freshman goalie Paul Karpowich was a key factor in Clarkson's win last night, but he was tested by way too many quality shots. Clarkson actually showed improvement in this category. The Buckeyes scored only one goal while Paul Karpowich was on the ice and while they had 34 shots, 15 of those came in the first period.
5. Score first. Clarkson is 2-3-1 when it scores first this year, which isn't that impressive until you consider that the team is 1-7-3 when the opposition scores first. Considering this game is being played on the road against a quality opponent, scoring first and taking the crowd noise out of the game could be a factor. In this game, scoring first really meant something!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Clarkson snaps winless streak vs. No. 2 Miami
Clarkson snapped a school-record, 11-game winless streak (0-9-2) with a 4-2 upset of No. 2 Miami (Ohio) in a semifinal game of the Ohio Hockey Classic in Columbus. The Golden Knights will play either Ohio State or Army in the championship game Saturday.
A few trivia items
*Clarkson is 1-0-2 this season against teams ranked either 1 or 2 nationally and 1-9-2 against the rest of the nation.
*Former Clarkson assistant Jason Lammers is on the Buckeyes coaching staff.
*Clarkson has now gone undefeated in 51 games (47-0-4) when it leads after two periods.
Here were the five things to watch with post-game comments
1. Score first..Clarkson has led after the first period of a game just twice this season and has been outscored 21-10 in the opening period so far this season. The last time Clarkson scored the first goal in a game was Nov. 15 at Dartmouth (a 5-1 loss).
Clarkson achieved this early with a goal from Shea Guthrie (see the note below) just 99 seconds into the contest. Two goals in the first four minutes of the third period also gave the Golden Knights a confidence boost.
2. Get the big three going..Clarkson's top line so far this season has been sophomores Scott Freeman, Lauri Tuohimaa and Brandon DeFazio. The big three I'm referring to here are three players Clarkson expected to see among its leading scorers heading into the season - Chris D'Alvise, Matt Beca and Shea Guthrie. D'Alvise had a productive first weekend of the season but has just six goals and one assist so far. Beca has three goals and two assists and Guthrie has one goal and two assists. It's not known, at this time, if they'll be on the same line, but Clarkson will need these three players to return to past scoring levels to snap out of this funk.
At least one of the big three got going tonight as Guthrie scored the first goal of the game and picked up another assist.
3. Win faceoffs.. Clarkson has missed its senior class from last season in many areas, but it especially has missed Nick Dodge in the faceoff circle. As a team, the Golden Knights have won just 48 percent of faceoffs this season, perhaps one reason why the team is struggling to score goals. Chris D'Alvise has excelled with a 56.7 percent win clip, but nobody else on the squad is over 50 percent.
This didn't go very well for Clarkson, which went 23-40 in tonight's game, but it didn't cost the team.
4. Special teams.. This is almost always one of my five keys but in this game it's going to be a real challenge for Clarkson to come out on top. The Golden Knights have gone 2 for 23 on the power play in their last four games and are just 10 of 91 for the season, ranking 50th in the nation at 11 percent. Miami, on the other hand, has killed 93.8 percent of its penalties.
Clarkson's kill has been better than its power play, at 85.4 percent. But Miami has converted on 20.9 percent of its power-play chances. If Miami wins the special teams area today the winless streak could reach 12.
Statistically this was a draw, as each team scored two goals. But given the stats coming into the game, Clarkson matching Miami in this category was really a plus for the Golden Knights.
5. Defense.. Clarkson may be without senior Phil Paquet again today. He has been struggling with a bad ankle since the Colorado College series. The Golden Knights are allowing 30.7 shots per game and Miami, led by Carter Camper (11 goals-15 assists) can put up goals if you give them that many opportunities. Clarkson has used freshmen Paul Karpowich and Richie LaVeau as goalies in the last three games and the duo has had a 90 percent or higher save percentage in two of the last three. Clarkson also has to cut down on the number of close-range shots it allows, a problem it has had in a handful of recent games.
Not seeing the game (heard it on radio) I can't really comment on how the defense played. However, it did sound like Miami had several shots close in and finished with 42 for the game, including 20 in the third period. Karpowich was up to the challenge, stopping 40 of 42 shots.
A few trivia items
*Clarkson is 1-0-2 this season against teams ranked either 1 or 2 nationally and 1-9-2 against the rest of the nation.
*Former Clarkson assistant Jason Lammers is on the Buckeyes coaching staff.
*Clarkson has now gone undefeated in 51 games (47-0-4) when it leads after two periods.
Here were the five things to watch with post-game comments
1. Score first..Clarkson has led after the first period of a game just twice this season and has been outscored 21-10 in the opening period so far this season. The last time Clarkson scored the first goal in a game was Nov. 15 at Dartmouth (a 5-1 loss).
Clarkson achieved this early with a goal from Shea Guthrie (see the note below) just 99 seconds into the contest. Two goals in the first four minutes of the third period also gave the Golden Knights a confidence boost.
2. Get the big three going..Clarkson's top line so far this season has been sophomores Scott Freeman, Lauri Tuohimaa and Brandon DeFazio. The big three I'm referring to here are three players Clarkson expected to see among its leading scorers heading into the season - Chris D'Alvise, Matt Beca and Shea Guthrie. D'Alvise had a productive first weekend of the season but has just six goals and one assist so far. Beca has three goals and two assists and Guthrie has one goal and two assists. It's not known, at this time, if they'll be on the same line, but Clarkson will need these three players to return to past scoring levels to snap out of this funk.
At least one of the big three got going tonight as Guthrie scored the first goal of the game and picked up another assist.
3. Win faceoffs.. Clarkson has missed its senior class from last season in many areas, but it especially has missed Nick Dodge in the faceoff circle. As a team, the Golden Knights have won just 48 percent of faceoffs this season, perhaps one reason why the team is struggling to score goals. Chris D'Alvise has excelled with a 56.7 percent win clip, but nobody else on the squad is over 50 percent.
This didn't go very well for Clarkson, which went 23-40 in tonight's game, but it didn't cost the team.
4. Special teams.. This is almost always one of my five keys but in this game it's going to be a real challenge for Clarkson to come out on top. The Golden Knights have gone 2 for 23 on the power play in their last four games and are just 10 of 91 for the season, ranking 50th in the nation at 11 percent. Miami, on the other hand, has killed 93.8 percent of its penalties.
Clarkson's kill has been better than its power play, at 85.4 percent. But Miami has converted on 20.9 percent of its power-play chances. If Miami wins the special teams area today the winless streak could reach 12.
Statistically this was a draw, as each team scored two goals. But given the stats coming into the game, Clarkson matching Miami in this category was really a plus for the Golden Knights.
5. Defense.. Clarkson may be without senior Phil Paquet again today. He has been struggling with a bad ankle since the Colorado College series. The Golden Knights are allowing 30.7 shots per game and Miami, led by Carter Camper (11 goals-15 assists) can put up goals if you give them that many opportunities. Clarkson has used freshmen Paul Karpowich and Richie LaVeau as goalies in the last three games and the duo has had a 90 percent or higher save percentage in two of the last three. Clarkson also has to cut down on the number of close-range shots it allows, a problem it has had in a handful of recent games.
Not seeing the game (heard it on radio) I can't really comment on how the defense played. However, it did sound like Miami had several shots close in and finished with 42 for the game, including 20 in the third period. Karpowich was up to the challenge, stopping 40 of 42 shots.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
