Overheard at Amsoil: Yay for few penalties, boo Sunday games
Both of the Bulldogs teams are on the road this weekend with Scott Sandelin’s men’s program playing a nonconference series Friday and Saturday at UMass Lowell and Laura Schuler’s third-ranked women’s squad playing a WCHA series Saturday and Sunday at No. 1 Wisconsin.
Here are the highlights from Wednesday’s press conferences at Amsoil Arena:
The Bulldogs’ men only took four penalties in the 4-3 overtime loss to the Beavers and 7-2 exhibition win over Manitoba. UMD led the NCHC in penalties (187) and penalty minutes (451) last season. UMD took just one on Saturday against Bemidji State — a trip 2:34 into the game — and three penalties on Sunday.
“I hope we stay that way because it is the complete opposite of last year when we were in the box a lot,” Sandelin said. “We probably got away with a few, I’m going to say that. That’s good, maybe that’s a good sign.”
Can Sandelin’s team win on the road? A year ago, UMD went 3-13-2 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games. This weekend’s trip to Lowell is one of just three road trips the Bulldogs have in the first half with NCHC series at Miami on Nov. 15-16 and at Arizona State on Dec. 6-7.
“If you want to be a good team or a top team, you got to win on the road,” Sandelin said. “It’s a good test for us right away to find out, can we win on the road? (Lowell) kind of went through what we went through last year. It’s wasn’t a normal Lowell year for a Norm Bazin coached team. They picked up some guys and they are older. I just watched some of the Bentley game. It was very physical. I’m going to expect that to be a very physical game.”
Schuler is not a fan of Saturday-Sunday series because it impacts the well being of her student athletes. Schuler brought up the topic when I asked about the grind of playing a third consecutive series against a top-10 team, and second series in four weeks against a team that is ranked No. 1 in the country.
UMD opened the season playing at then No. 1 Ohio State on Sept. 21-22 in Columbus. Now they get the No. 1 Badgers in a Saturday-Sunday series in Madison.
“They’re all-stars. The girls have been grinding,” Schuler said. “We’ve technically, from their perspective, only really had (one) day off in the last three weeks. Even when we didn’t play Syracuse, we had an intrasquad game, but they had that Sunday off.”
UMD’s series with Syracuse that got postponed was also supposed to be a Saturday-Sunday series because of a Thursday concert at Amsoil Arena.
The Bulldogs-Buckeyes series was Saturday-Sunday because the NCAA didn’t allow teams to begin playing games until Sept. 21 (though the series was pushed to September because the Buckeyes double-booked themselves in October).
UMD and Wisconsin are playing on Saturday-Sunday this week because the Badgers’ men play Lindenwood at the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday night. LaBahn Arena is attached to the Kohl Center, and Wisconsin doesn’t want the men and women to go head-to-head.
Schuler pointed out how hard it can be on a player to get back home from a trip on Sunday at 11 p.m. or later, only to wake up and go to class at 8 a.m. on Monday.
“The last three weeks have really been hard, but they’re doing such a good job making sure they are taking care of their health and their bodies,” Schuler said. “They’ve been grinding it out and coming to the rink with tremendous energy.”
Both of the Bulldogs teams are on the road this weekend with Scott Sandelin’s men’s program playing a nonconference series Friday and Saturday at UMass Lowell and Laura Schuler’s third-ranked women’s squad playing a WCHA series Saturday and Sunday at No. 1 Wisconsin.
Here are the highlights from Wednesday’s press conferences at Amsoil Arena:
The Bulldogs’ men only took four penalties in the 4-3 overtime loss to the Beavers and 7-2 exhibition win over Manitoba. UMD led the NCHC in penalties (187) and penalty minutes (451) last season. UMD took just one on Saturday against Bemidji State — a trip 2:34 into the game — and three penalties on Sunday.
“I hope we stay that way because it is the complete opposite of last year when we were in the box a lot,” Sandelin said. “We probably got away with a few, I’m going to say that. That’s good, maybe that’s a good sign.”
Can Sandelin’s team win on the road? A year ago, UMD went 3-13-2 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games. This weekend’s trip to Lowell is one of just three road trips the Bulldogs have in the first half with NCHC series at Miami on Nov. 15-16 and at Arizona State on Dec. 6-7.
“If you want to be a good team or a top team, you got to win on the road,” Sandelin said. “It’s a good test for us right away to find out, can we win on the road? (Lowell) kind of went through what we went through last year. It’s wasn’t a normal Lowell year for a Norm Bazin coached team. They picked up some guys and they are older. I just watched some of the Bentley game. It was very physical. I’m going to expect that to be a very physical game.”
Schuler is not a fan of Saturday-Sunday series because it impacts the well being of her student athletes. Schuler brought up the topic when I asked about the grind of playing a third consecutive series against a top-10 team, and second series in four weeks against a team that is ranked No. 1 in the country.
UMD opened the season playing at then No. 1 Ohio State on Sept. 21-22 in Columbus. Now they get the No. 1 Badgers in a Saturday-Sunday series in Madison.
“They’re all-stars. The girls have been grinding,” Schuler said. “We’ve technically, from their perspective, only really had (one) day off in the last three weeks. Even when we didn’t play Syracuse, we had an intrasquad game, but they had that Sunday off.”
UMD’s series with Syracuse that got postponed was also supposed to be a Saturday-Sunday series because of a Thursday concert at Amsoil Arena.
The Bulldogs-Buckeyes series was Saturday-Sunday because the NCAA didn’t allow teams to begin playing games until Sept. 21 (though the series was pushed to September because the Buckeyes double-booked themselves in October).
UMD and Wisconsin are playing on Saturday-Sunday this week because the Badgers’ men play Lindenwood at the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday night. LaBahn Arena is attached to the Kohl Center, and Wisconsin doesn’t want the men and women to go head-to-head.
Schuler pointed out how hard it can be on a player to get back home from a trip on Sunday at 11 p.m. or later, only to wake up and go to class at 8 a.m. on Monday.
“The last three weeks have really been hard, but they’re doing such a good job making sure they are taking care of their health and their bodies,” Schuler said. “They’ve been grinding it out and coming to the rink with tremendous energy.”
