News and Notes: 1/31/13

USCHO Feature: "Panthers proving practice pays off"

Bill Beaney

In this week's USCHO NESCAC feature, Tim Costello talks to Middlebury Panthers Coach Bill Beaney about practice. The coach of the Panthers, who currently sit at fifth in the NESCAC, makes no bones about how he feels about the subject. "“You play like you practice.”  Executing during the week is important to get an edge on the weekend in a competitive conference. As Beaney sees it, no one is going to catch Bowdoin, but spots two through seven are up for grabs. The coach, in his 26th year at Middlebury, is excited about the opportunity. "How great is it that with just six games left it is this wide open in the league?"  

An area that Beaney would like to see improvement heading into these final three weeks? Finishing opportunities. The coach points to the first match-up with Trinity, when the Panthers had over 50 shots, but lost 2-1. “First, I have to give great credit to Trinity’s goalie that day [Benjamin Coulthard]...(but) overall, I would say that a lot of our scoring is about experience and building the poise and patience to be able to settle the puck and finish."

In addition to finishing goal-tending has also been an issue for Middlebury. Beaney doesn't place the blame on any one of the four net-minders that have seen action this season, but says "Our save percentage overall is below 90 percent, and that isn’t good enough, in this league or any other, to put your team in a position to win hockey games."

For the full article, click here.    

Student Newspapers
With the spring semester underway and the student newspapers back to publishing, we have added links to all the NESCAC student newspaper sports sections on the left sidebar under "Student Newspapers." Coverage quality varies from school to school, but you can often get game recaps with quotes from the coaches, like this Amherst recap from the past weekend's games.  

Then there are the pieces that analyze larger chunks of the season, like this Wesleyan Argus piece on the ups and downs of the Cardinals season. Sometimes the papers will do profiles of players, like the Bowdoin Orient's profile of leading scorer (and MVP cadnidate in our poll...vote!) Harry Matheson.  All in all, it is worth checking out the coverage from the student journalists.