Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:38 pm
Hibbing 5-2, probably be a brawl at the end, its iron range hockey
You probably should double-check your facts, gophs. ;)gophers101 wrote:Now we have the un-hibernating Eveleth fans defending falls. Hibbing played 3 lines the entire game. The second and third line did fine holding there own and really make few mistakes. Its play like that which will bring them to the big show. They played well and Jamnick led the charge.
Hibbing played a third line against I Falls, but it wasn't anywhere near regularly, and it was mostly in the second period after they were up 3-0. They weren't seen much in the later stages of the game. It wasn't much different than what they did against Hermantown and Virginia at the end of the regular season, with the exception that they got a good sized lead that allowed them to see a little more ice time when the game wasn't on the line.
There is even some proof of that in the scoring summary.
Jamnick scored goals at 11:56, 13:40, and assisted at 14:53 - all at even strength in the first period. Either the third line played 10 -20 second shifts, or there was only one other line out there between goals. For you non-math experts, there was 1:46 between goal #1 and #2; and 1:13 between goal #2 and goal #3. That is every other shift for most teams.
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To bring this back on topic, Hibbing doesn't compare with Virginia in the depth department. Virginia got goals from its first line (with an assist from a fourth-line winger during a line change), its top powerplay unit, its second line, and its fourth line against Duluth Marshall. That kind of distribution is not uncommon if you look back through the scoring summaries against the more competetive teams. All four lines consistantly play regular shifts. Meanwhile, Hibbing continues to get almost all their scoring from the one line, with the occasional bump from line #2 and the D.
Here is a breakdown by lines (based on the line chart from the last games for each team):
Hibbing:
1-Jamnick(30), Hanegmon(13), Johnson(9) - 52 goals
2-Peratelo(9), Olds(5), Bugliosi(4) - 18 goals
3-Stampohar(5), Suikhonen(2), Doherty(1) - 8 goals
4-Fenstermacher(0), Anderson(0), Pechovnik(0)? - 0 Goals*
D-Decenzo(7), LaLiberte(4), Wagner(4), Vechell(3), McConkey(0) - 18 goals
TOTAL: 96 goals
*Not sure if these are still even the guys since they don't play.
Virginia:
1-Westin(30), Hendrickson(22), A Judnick(13) - 65 goals
2-Norlander(9), Carlson(7), Buccanero(5) - 21 goals
3-G Nichols(4), Chesser(8), Andrews(3) - 15 goals
4-T Nichols(6), Eddy(9), Howard(3) - 18 goals
D-Krebsbach(16), W Judnick(3), Belobaba(3), Grivette(3), Dahl(1) - 26 goals
Virginia also has two other players with three goals each that are not on the current roster. (Lundberg and Nelson)
TOTAL: 151 goals
As you can see, no Virginia forward has less than three goals and only one defenseman has less than three (Dahl). There is very little scoring difference between lines 2-4 and none are deemed defensive liabilities. All 17 skaters on the rosters are very good skaters and play and contribute on a regular basis.
Hibbing plays two lines regularly, with the third playing on occasion or with some guys mixing into the top two to rest a few guys. They primarily rely on just 10-12 skaters. You won't see three lines rotating regularly against Virginia unless the game goes lopsided. Especially if its close in the third period.
I said this after the first game in Hibbing. If the game is played mostly at full strength, Virginia has a definite advantage. The win Hibbing had was a direct result of special teams playing 80% of the game for both teams. Hibbing's special teams guys are as good as anybody's.
Here is another way to look at it, just to drive home my point here. The second game in Virginia was 1-0 Hibbing at the halfway point of the game. Virginia scored 7 goals in the second half of the game as the Hibbing guys began to lose a step. In the Marshall game on Saturday, Virginia wins the third period 3-1, while Marshall played primarily two lines in that period. Virginia did the same thing to International Falls late in the season. Its not a coincidence. Playing four lines has proven benefits when it comes down to the end of the game.