'Jackets Hope For Big Second Half

'Jackets Get Clean Slate As 2010 Starts

As the calendar has flipped to 2010, it is time for us to take a look at the second half of the 2009-10 season, as the nearly month-long layoff is close to concluding and the Yellowjackets return to action. First, a look back at the first half of the season.

The defending NCHA champions opened the season by being swept in a pair of games at home to River Falls. They then stepped off on an eight-game unbeaten streak, placing themselves in the top ten among Division III teams in the nation. Then, they dropped three straight, including a road sweep at St. Scholastica to close the first half. In the end, a 7-5-1 record overall and a 2-5-1 record in the NCHA, good for sixth place. If you had to find one word to describe the team in the first half of the season, inconsistent would probably be at the top of the list.

"Absolutely we were up and down in the first half of the year. We are a team that has always started in the net and tried to work our way out, and we were inconsistent in the net in the first half. I think it carried over to the rest of the team and you saw inconsistency in all phases of the game," said Yellowjacket Head Coach Dan Stauber. "We need to shore that up, and as we get consistency in net, you will see consistency show up throughout the lineup."

The 'Jackets had four different goaltenders start in the first 13 games, this coming a year after Chad Beiswenger started every game. Garrett Tinkham (Fr. Paradise, Texas) had seven appearances, making six starts. Transfer Jim Patterson (Jr. Kamloops, British Columbia) made four straight starts and had an unbeaten record, but he is no longer with the team. Mike Rosett (Sr. Anchorage, Alaska) made the first two starts of the season and more recently has missed games with an injury. Bryan Dalbec (So. Superior, Wisconsin) got the start in the final game before the holiday break. All of this is evidence that it was goaltender-by-committee in the first half.

"I think if you ask any coach they would want to have a goaltender stand up and take control of the job, especially in the second half of the season," Stauber said. "We gave all of them a shot in the first half and the hope is in the second half one of them strings several solid games together and can kind of carry the mail for us. Until one of these guys convinces us that he can do that, we're looking at each of them getting some time."

The defense corps has been steady if not spectacular thus far, with three freshmen joining three seniors to form a solid unit.

"They've done a good job for us. If you would have told me going into the season that we'd be playing three freshmen back there almost every night I would have said to expect mistakes," Stauber said. "But for the most part we've gotten steady play from them. The seniors have been good and the freshmen have played better and made fewer mistakes on almost a nightly basis."

Up front, the forwards have not created offense as prolifically as they did last season. The offense sputtered on opening weekend but then scored 38 goals during the eight-game unbeaten streak. Co-captain Tyler Fletcher (Sr. Calgary, Alberta) got off to a great start and currently leads the team with eight goals. Chris Wilson (Sr. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan) and Braden Desmet (Sr. Strathmore, Alberta) are tied for the team scoring lead with 14 points. Still, more offense is needed from this trio as well as others for the team to find success in the second half.

"The word again is consistency. We'd like to see more consistency out of some guys, and we'd like to find the magic formula to help get a few other guys going," Stauber said. "There are some guys who aren't scoring at the levels we're used to and the hope is in the second half they can hit their stride. We've gotten through the first half and still haven't had all of our guys firing. In the second half we hope that will happen."

Another factor in the drop-off in scoring could be inexperience. Last season the 'Jackets were top-heavy, with a strong cast of seniors and juniors. This season it's the opposite, more often than not, nearly half of the skaters in the lineup are freshmen and sophomores.

"You can't count on young guys to carry the load, especially early in the year. They are trying to get acclimated to the college game, the college life actually, and there is a period of adjustment there," Stauber said. "As the year goes on you hope that they get comfortable and begin to contribute more night in and night out, but early on, you don't want to rely on them too much.

"With our team, we have a lot of freshmen going out there every night, some have produced and some haven't. We're at the point where we now want to see more out of them."

With the team getting closer to game time in the second half, one thing that has to change is penalties, namely, taking fewer of them. The 'Jackets are among the leaders nationally in penalty minutes, and for a stretch were spending nearly 40 minutes per game in the box. With the majority of the games the rest of the way in conference play, that is something that just can't happen.

"We have taken a lot of penalties. Granted that number is inflated because we have a lot of 10-minute misconducts, but those have to stop as well. We can't afford to have one guy every game in the box because they are running their mouth or hitting a guy from behind or what have you," Stauber said. "We have to be more disciplined in play, and we have to be more disciplined after the play too.

"We spent so much time in the box and on the penalty kill in the first half that it is really taxing. It shortens your bench and puts players in situations that maybe they shouldn't be in. Cutting down on the penalties will allow us to stretch our lines out more and I don't think there's a coach out there that wouldn't rather roll four lines. Every coach feels their team is better when they can roll four lines."

So as the first games of the second half draw near, it is obvious that changes need to be made, but at the same time it appears that the things that ail this year's version are all fixable.

"That's one of the positives. We are in a situation where every period we see something that is being done wrong, but it is fixable. All of the issues that we have are fixable at this point and that's a good thing," Stauber said. "Either we as coaches need to use those teachable moments and work with the kids or the kids need to focus a little harder. Regardless, a small change here or there could have a huge payoff later."

Another thing that could help (or hurt depending on your view) is the increase in conference games. This season there are four more conference games, meaning there is time to improve on their NCHA standing.

"In the past, we'd already be more than halfway through the conference schedule. Now, we still have ten conference games and we have a chance to make up some of the ground that we've lost in the first half," Stauber said. "That's a good thing. I still think we've dropped more than we should have, but the way the new schedule shakes out it does give you a chance to improve and correct some mistakes."

So in a word, consistency. Without it, we'll see more of the same and likely be headed for a road playoff series and a season mired in mediocrity. With it, the makings are in place for the team to make a good second half run.

"I think we have all the pieces to be a contender. I really do. I like this group we have. If we can correct a few small things and get some players playing like we know they can, the sky is the limit for this team," Stauber said. "If we can't make all the necessary corrections, then we could be in for a tough second half. From the coaches on down, we all have things that we can work on and improve on. If we make the commitment as a group to do that we'll come out of this in a really good place come February."