We are truly living in the glory days of Union Hockey, and for that I am extremely thankful. I mean the year before I came to Union, the Dutchmen were at the bottom of the ECAC standings and were the joke of the ECAC for awhile. BUT LOOK AT US NOW! Union College Hockey is now known throughout the college hockey world!
Other things I took away from the game:
- Keith Kinkaid was great. When Yale was pressing in the third he really came up big.
- Adam Presizniuk's goal might be a sign that he's ready to break out of this goal scoring slump. He will be a major key for the offense down the stretch.
- Union did a great job limiting Yale's transition play. It's the key to their game, and is probably the best in the country.
- The Union PP looked really sharp.
- You know what, the Union pep band was actually ok... but just ok. Sometimes they sounded like a real pep band and at other times they were weak. But, maybe there is hope.
- Did anybody else see the Dutchman mascot? It was in the student section and none of my buddies there knew who it was. This was the first time I saw a mascot at a Union game in my four years.
- Ryan Forgaard had very minimal ice time. I guess the coach's weren't happy with his decisions early on.
- This was the first time Union has beaten a #1 team.
- The black jerseys are definitely a good luck charm. Union is now 2-0 when wearing the jerseys (beating RPI and Yale). The team was planning on selling the jerseys at the end of the year, but maybe they should reconsider.
Also, I just want to say that I thought Yale Head Coach Keith Allain and forward Brian O'Neill were pretty classless after the game. Not only did Coach Allain not shake any of the Union players hands, he was pretty brutal in the post-game interviews. He barely said anything, mumbled, and was just bad overall. I didn't expect him to be happy after the game, but come on man. The press have to do their job, so just man up, face the press, and say something. Your team lost to a good team... deal with it. O'Neill wasn't much of a talker either after the game, and we had to do a make-shift interview in lobby, so I really didn't expect much from him (or captain Jimmy Martin who was there). But, when he said "It's not anything they [Union] did at all. We just didn't work hard enough," I got a little ticked off. You're team played well, but Union was just a little better. Once again.... deal with it! When Union loses, Coach Leaman and his players have no problem talking to the press at least at the home games I've covered.
But now this game is in the past and it's on to Brown. As Corey Milan tweeted this morning, "Big game tonight, last night was last night, tonight is the test." The Dutchmen have to win tonight in order to back up last night's win.
Oh and what's the over/under on how many penalty minutes Captain Harry Z picks up tonight? I say he picks up at least six.
For more on last night check out:
USCHO
Union Athletics.com
Ken Schott's Blog
Times Union - Sean Martin
Times Union - Mark McGuire
CHN
Yale Daily News
In other news, I will be attending tonight's game as a fan for the first time this season at Messa Rink (I went to the game in Lake Placid as a fan). I am also very excited to wear my Union Hockey jersey for the first time. So, I will be doing very minimal Twitter updates and stuff like that. But, I will do my best to capture some video of the student section. If you can't make the game, but want to stay tuned in you can follow Ken Schott's Blog, or on Twitter (Ken Schott or Union Hockey).
If you want to see a double header of Union Hockey action stick around after the varsity game to check out the Union Club Hockey team as they take on Medaille. Yours truly will be playing.
Here are videos from last night. The first being the reaction of the rink once the final buzzer went off, and the second being the post-game press conference with Coach Leaman, Keith Kinkaid, Daniel Carr, and Adam Presizniuk... Oh, and Coach's son Ty.
Also, check out some fan interviews I conducted before last night's game as a part of my internship with the Union Sports Informaiton department. It features our guest blogger, Justin Zolot, and two of my best friends, Brendan Lichtenthal and Kyle Anderson. (Official Blog of Union Hockey)
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