Everybody thought this year would be different for the St. Cloud State Huskies in the NCAA tournament, but it looked remarkably similar to their previous NCAA tournament performances.
After taking a 1-0 lead, the Huskies were not able to generate any real significant offense against the Black Bears and ended up losing 4-1. Part of it was an exceptional performance from Maine's Ben Bishop, and part of it seemed to be a lack of intensity and urgency from the Huskies.
The problem seemed to start a couple weeks ago for the Huskies. After sweeping Minnesota, they seemed content with their positioning and seemed to coast into the NCAA tournament. The problem with that is that it is just too difficult to turn that intensity back on, especially when you're playing in a 1/4 full arena.
So it is another year of waiting for that first NCAA tournament win for the Huskies and their fans. Hopefully the offseason is kind to the Huskies, but if all the recent signings are any indication, they could be without some of their top offensive players next year.
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5 comments:
Since it's the second reference I've read this evening to the Fake Huskies woes beginning a "couple of weeks" ago: It's a minor point ... but they went 4-6-2 in their last 12 games (feb. 16th til present).
Sliding for 7 weeks and sliding for 2 weeks are two different things.
Congrats to them on the DQ Cup though which I think they wrapped up 6 weeks ago.
Let's not forget that 2 of those 4 wins were against UMTC at Mary Oochie.
Another minor point to correct. Blowfurs and Bluffskies played a home and home series in that stretch. Yes ... they beat the "mighty" gophers at Mariucci during their run to the toilet. Hang a banner.
The point here is that their overall slide started much earlier than just a couple of weeks ago. Which in my mind is indicative of a bigger problem than one might assume had the slide just been over 4 or 5 games.
they had an overacheiving year. Weren't they picked to finish 6th in the WCHA this year?
They've got some players and will only get better. But this year they definitely overacheived. They lacked offensive power this year, something that should be fixed in the coming years with some pretty solid recruits coming in.
I think Motzko is a solid coach and has done much to advance the program. I am a little puzzled by his lack of intensity the past 3-5 weeks. He almost seemed non-chalant, like he was satisfied with what they had already accomplished.
Yes, they overachieved, but a coach can never let the team be satisfied. SCSU really played without much passion/aggression down the stretch. Very disappointing wrap up to a decent season. I hope Motzko develops a little more fire in his belly next year.
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