2013-2014 CIS Regular Season Thread

[Sic]

Since overcoming sickness and injuries (and in some cases a very short bench )earlier in the year nice to see some bounces going their way.

 

[SnipeShow91]

Episode 205 of The Road To The Carr-Harris Cup- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPi4utUie-w&feature=youtu.be

Safe to say next episode should be a classic and I have 6 hours on a bus to North Bay to make it.

 

[Dutch]

Carleton wins it tonight against UQTR last night and the race for the first spot in the East gets closer than I can ever remember.

 

[greyraven8]

With Lakehead dropping two on the road, Western has first place locked in the OUA West. Lakehead is currently in second but has been on a five game losing skid and have only won 2 of their last 10 games; just two games at home left in the schedule against Waterloo to start turning things around.

The two teams one point below Lakehead (Ryerson and Windsor) have the same number of games left (2) and their final game is against each other (others games are Toronto@Ryerson and Windsor@York).

 

[SnipeShow91]

Season Finale of The Road To The Carr-Harris Cup, no doubt a must watch! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOyCS8q9XlA&feature=youtu.be

 

[Dutch]

Looking at what's left of the schedule in the OUA East, I just don't see how Carleton won't win their first season championship. Two games left, against RMC and Laurentian. Should be an easy task.

 

[Hollywood3]

Looking at what's left of the schedule in the OUA East, I just don't see how Carleton won't win their first season championship. Two games left, against RMC and Laurentian. Should be an easy task.

If I am correct, this would only be the 3rd time this century that a team from Ontario finished 1st in the OUA East. (Ottawa did it twice, I believe.)

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

Big comeback for McGill against Nipissing tonight...trailing 6-2 just over 8 minutes into the 3rd...won 7-6 on OT

 

[northvanman]

I can't ever remember a final day of the season like this in the OUA. In the OUA West, only two spots in the division have been decided - first and last. Two through nine are still up in the air, including the final two playoff spots which has York and Guelph tied with 28 points and Waterloo at 27 - Guelph and Waterloo both play tonight, York has finished their schedule.

This makes the Lakehead - Waterloo mathup tonight into a huge game, as Lakehead tries to hold onto 2nd place (Windsor is a point behind and holds the tie-breaker) and Waterloo needs to win to get into the playoffs. Although York has no more games left, they hold the tie-breaker over both Guelph and Waterloo if they all end up with 28 points, based on total number of wins. Guelph then holds the tie-breaker over Waterloo. (same number of league wins, they split their 2 games, but Guelph is +1 in for and against in their head-to-head games). In other words, it's win or go home tonight for Waterloo.

Over in the OUA East, things are a bit more settled, but still the top 3 spots have not been decided. McGill is sitting in first by one point but are done. A Carleton win today over Laurentian, and they finish first. A UQTR win over Nipissing today puts UQTR tied for second with McGill but UQTR gets the higher ranking based on number of league wins. This could obviously be significant in the second round. A UQTR win and an OT or SO loss by Carleton results in a 3-way tie for first, with the tie-breakers making the rankings 1. UQTR, 2. Carleton, 3. McGill

 

[SnipeShow91]

Ottawa and Concordia's was called at the halfway point due to poor and unsafe ice conditions. Its a meaningless game for both so I doubt they will finish the game and just count it at as a lost game. I'm watching the game film now to see how bad it was.

Pretty sad they poured all this money into the Ed Meagher Arena over the summer to have this and I guess it's not the first time they had poor ice there.

 

[leafhky88]

Laurier's season ended tonight with a 2-1 loss to UOIT. Again, they were short staffed with 3D and 9F dressed, pretty much standard for the last 5-6 games. Both waterloo and laurier miss the playoffs. I felt laurier had a great recruiting season, but lost some key players too and struggled mightily with injuries and overall defensive play.

Matchups for the west:
Western-Guelph
Lakehead-York
Ryerson-Brock
Windsor-Toronto

I really have no predictions. While the new format has every team pretty much playing the same schedule, I did lose interest as a fan, only seeing each team once per year. You really do not get the same feel for the conference.

 

[northvanman]

Hard luck for Waterloo as they end up in a three-way tie for the last two playoff spots with York and Guelph but are out on tie-breakers. At the same time, their destiny was in their own hands - knowing if they beat Lakehead they were in, they were up 2-0 early and could not finish the job. To rub salt into their wounds, three teams from the OUA East with fewer points than Waterloo are going to they playoffs (if Laurier were in the East, they'd also be in the playoffs).

What to make of Nipissing? They go up by four goals on consecutive nights against two of the top three teams in the conference, only to lose 7-6 in OT in both games. Great comebacks by McGill and UQTR, or huge choke jobs by the Lakers? If anything, they've shown the can score against very strong defensive teams, which should make them an interesting team to watch in the playoffs.

 

[Rob]

I wonder when was the last time a team made it to the nationals then didn't make the playoffs the next season?

 

[WilcoxHound]

Hard to believe that the Warriors had such a bad season. On paper they should have been challenging Western for top spot but the wheels fell off early and the coaching staff was at a loss to come up with the right answers. They seemed to believe that it was just a slump and the team would break out of it at any time. Maybe you can wait out a slump in an 80 game schedule but not in the CIS where every win counts. Warriors need a new plan and some restructuring. If you can't make the playoffs with the caliber of players the team had this season then maybe coaching in this league isn't in your future.

 

[leafhky88]

Hard to believe that the Warriors had such a bad season. On paper they should have been challenging Western for top spot but the wheels fell off early and the coaching staff was at a loss to come up with the right answers. They seemed to believe that it was just a slump and the team would break out of it at any time. Maybe you can wait out a slump in an 80 game schedule but not in the CIS where every win counts. Warriors need a new plan and some restructuring. If you can't make the playoffs with the caliber of players the team had this season then maybe coaching in this league isn't in your future.

Indeed hard to believe. They are virtually the same team as last year, but add a few draft picks like Lynes, Chappell and Silas, and the most dangerous duo in the oua west in Larson and Behenna and you have as close to a lock for a top team as I could have imagined. On paper, they are far better than say, 5th place Toronto.

 

[northvanman]

Hard to believe that the Warriors had such a bad season. On paper they should have been challenging Western for top spot but the wheels fell off early and the coaching staff was at a loss to come up with the right answers. They seemed to believe that it was just a slump and the team would break out of it at any time. Maybe you can wait out a slump in an 80 game schedule but not in the CIS where every win counts. Warriors need a new plan and some restructuring. If you can't make the playoffs with the caliber of players the team had this season then maybe coaching in this league isn't in your future.

Going into this season I had pegged Waterloo and Windsor to duke it out for the division. Interesting thing is, Waterloo's regular season record this year is virtually identical to a year ago (last year they finished with 29 points, this year with 28 and their GF/GA differential is actually a bit better this year). They are basically out of the playoffs this year because UOIT moved to the East and Toronto and Rye-High came to the West. Last year, Waterloo came out of the six slot in the standings and went on a roll in the playoffs, largely because of Keaton Hartigan who of course they don't have this year. So maybe I over-estimated them coming into this season.

To some degree, I think where Waterloo sits also speaks to the state of the OUA West in general. For the second year in a row, the OUA West has fallen into a pack of decent to pretty good teams but no powerhouses. Although Western has been more or less rolling since mid-November and broke away from the pack, I feel the same way about them as I did a year ago -their record flatters them and they are not that much better than the playoff teams in the West as the standings might suggest. I've seen them play about 10 times this year and in most of the games it always feels like there is a tipping point where it could go either way - it just mostly has gone their way (to their credit), as it did a year ago. Daniel Erlich has been in on 45% (!) of their goals, so if anyone can neutralize him, they will struggle to score. Like last year, I think Western is very beatable in the playoffs and we could very likely see a surprise team come out fo the division again. Or not. : )

 

[hersky77]

Going into this season I had pegged Waterloo and Windsor to duke it out for the division. Interesting thing is, Waterloo's regular season record this year is virtually identical to a year ago (last year they finished with 29 points, this year with 28 and their GF/GA differential is actually a bit better this year). They are basically out of the playoffs this year because UOIT moved to the East and Toronto and Rye-High came to the West. Last year, Waterloo came out of the six slot in the standings and went on a roll in the playoffs, largely because of Keaton Hartigan who of course they don't have this year. So maybe I over-estimated them coming into this season.

To some degree, I think where Waterloo sits also speaks to the state of the OUA West in general. For the second year in a row, the OUA West has fallen into a pack of decent to pretty good teams but no powerhouses. Although Western has been more or less rolling since mid-November and broke away from the pack, I feel the same way about them as I did a year ago -their record flatters them and they are not that much better than the playoff teams in the West as the standings might suggest. I've seen them play about 10 times this year and in most of the games it always feels like there is a tipping point where it could go either way - it just mostly has gone their way (to their credit), as it did a year ago. Daniel Erlich has been in on 45% (!) of their goals, so if anyone can neutralize him, they will struggle to score. Like last year, I think Western is very beatable in the playoffs and we could very likely see a surprise team come out fo the division again. Or not. : )

I completely disagree with you statements about western. Having watch most of their games this year, they are more then a one trick pony as you stated above. Guys like Steve Reese, Kyle De Coste, Styokewich can all hold their own offensively. Then you have guys like Karim and Cincadamore (no clue how to spell it) who can play sound defensive hockey. I would even through reese into this conversation as well.

Then you have the backend like guys like Paltridge, Mcallef, Mcdonald, Herskovitz etc.. Who can all play sound d and also move the puck forward, with out little problem.

Then you have Unice back there who is a great goalie.

Up and down the roster they are a solid team. It's not by coincidence that they only lost 2 games since the break.

 

[SP Saskatuned]

I completely disagree with you statements about western. Having watch most of their games this year, they are more then a one trick pony as you stated above. Guys like Steve Reese, Kyle De Coste, Styokewich can all hold their own offensively. Then you have guys like Karim and Cincadamore (no clue how to spell it) who can play sound defensive hockey. I would even through reese into this conversation as well.

Then you have the backend like guys like Paltridge, Mcallef, Mcdonald, Herskovitz etc.. Who can all play sound d and also move the puck forward, with out little problem.

Then you have Unice back there who is a great goalie.

Up and down the roster they are a solid team. It's not by coincidence that they only lost 2 games since the break.

Funny that neither your or NorthVan man mentioned Western's Zach Harnden. He's their stud, is he not?

 

[hersky77]

Funny that neither your or NorthVan man mentioned Western's Zach Harnden. He's their stud, is he not?

Totally forgot about him, but yet he has been a stud this year.

 

[TFuel]

Up and down the roster they are a solid team. It's not by coincidence that they only lost 2 games since the break.

But one of those losses was to Guelph who came back from a 4-0 first period deficit to win 7-6 in OT.

So there ya go!

 

[hersky77]

But one of those losses was to Guelph who came back from a 4-0 first period deficit to win 7-6 in OT.

So there ya go!

Bad game, they also played their backup that night (not making excuses though)

 

[northvanman]

Didn't mean to imply Western was a one-trick poney - only that they have one player who has been in on almost half off all their goals - and he's a playmaker - 40 of his 50 points are helpers, so if you can neutralize him, the offence is at risk. Their offence is largely driven by Erlich, Harnden, Clarke, and Reese, and Singer mixes his lines so they all play together at times. This is also team that has had trouble offensively at times - during their streak, how about 3-2 wins against Laurentian (who actually outshot Western) and Nipissing? How about a 1 goal loss against Laurier? None of these games should have been close. They beat Ryerson by one goal about a month ago in a game they had no business winning. They got outshot something like 36-16 by Carleton.

They have a mobile defense but have been prone to game changing defensive lapses. The meltdown against Guelph a couple of weeks ago that was mentioned above is not an isolated incident. They blew a 3-1 lead against Brock last Saturday and needed to tie it up late to force overtime. And good for them, they ended up winning. Going way back to November, they coughed up a third period lead to McGill and lost. I get it - over the course of a season most teams have stories within their wins and losses - my point is that they do not feel like a 21-6 team to me, just like their team last year (the one with 15 consecutive wins) didn't feel like they were as good as their record...and I said going into the playoffs last year that I'd be surprised if they made it through.

Hey, I'm a UWO alumni and fan - I hope I'm wrong. But I've followed them for years and in many of those I've expected them to walk through the OUA playoffs (which they often have, until they get to McGill or UQTR). I didn't feel that way last year and I don't feel that way this year.

 

[hersky77]

Didn't mean to imply Western was a one-trick poney - only that they have one player who has been in on almost half off all their goals - and he's a playmaker - 40 of his 50 points are helpers, so if you can neutralize him, the offence is at risk. Their offence is largely driven by Erlich, Harnden, Clarke, and Reese, and Singer mixes his lines so they all play together at times. This is also team that has had trouble offensively at times - during their streak, how about 3-2 wins against Laurentian (who actually outshot Western) and Nipissing? How about a 1 goal loss against Laurier? None of these games should have been close. They beat Ryerson by one goal about a month ago in a game they had no business winning. They got outshot something like 36-16 by Carleton.

They have a mobile defense but have been prone to game changing defensive lapses. The meltdown against Guelph a couple of weeks ago that was mentioned above is not an isolated incident. They blew a 3-1 lead against Brock last Saturday and needed to tie it up late to force overtime. And good for them, they ended up winning. Going way back to November, they coughed up a third period lead to McGill and lost. I get it - over the course of a season most teams have stories within their wins and losses - my point is that they do not feel like a 21-6 team to me, just like their team last year (the one with 15 consecutive wins) didn't feel like they were as good as their record...and I said going into the playoffs last year that I'd be surprised if they made it through.

Hey, I'm a UWO alumni and fan - I hope I'm wrong. But I've followed them for years and in many of those I've expected them to walk through the OUA playoffs (which they often have, until they get to McGill or UQTR). I didn't feel that way last year and I don't feel that way this year.

They beat UQTR in the beginning of the year. I also think one of their major problems early in the year, was transitioning back into their old system, which they did not have the year before, it takes time do so. And the mcgill game they got into penalty trouble.

The playoffs are a new season though, so we will see how it goes.

 

[northvanman]

They beat UQTR in the beginning of the year. I also think one of their major problems early in the year, was transitioning back into their old system, which they did not have the year before, it takes time do so. And the mcgill game they got into penalty trouble.

The playoffs are a new season though, so we will see how it goes.

You make an excellent point about transitioning back into Singer's system at the start of the year - I'd forgotten about the coaching change. That actually explains a lot about their early season stumbles.

Just on the win over UQTR - I was at that game. On the one hand, it was a great comeback win - UQTR went up 3-0 in the first period and Western came back to win 5-3. On the other hand, UQTR was gassed after the first period (I just went back and looked at the game summary and the shot totals reinforce this). They spent 8 hours on a bus getting to Guelph the day before for a Friday night game, then had to get to London to play a Saturday matinee. I think the same thing happened to Western in their game against Carleton that I mentioned in my previous post.

It's the old cliche in hockey - if Western can play a solid 60 minutes like the game played against Lakehead back in January, they'll be fine.

 

[Drummer]

McGill & UQTR are the first 20+ winners to meet in the playoffs. Of these two perennials that attend Nationals - one will not go this year and it is possible that the winner doesn't go.

2013 (USK) - UQTR
2012 (UNB) - McGill & UQTR
2011 (UNB) - McGill
2010 (LKD) - McGill & UQTR
2009 (LKD) - McGill
2008 (MON) - McGill