Johns Hopkins 2020

[viper]

Worthy of mention here....

https://hopkinssports.com/news/2020/1/1 ... award.aspx

[HopFan16]

Notes from IL's Face-off Yearbook preview of the Jays, take from it what you will:

- "Heated competition" for the third attack spot includes "several natural middies." Garrett Degnon is in the mix there after having an excellent fall. Murphy and Angelus also in the mix for that spot. Forry Smith "may also get a look" there, though my understanding from reading this is that he's more likely to stay at midfield.
- DeSimone returned to campus "leaner and quicker with more confidence"
- Petro calls Zinn "the best athlete on the field." Maybe your best athlete should actually see the field this year...just a thought, coach.
- Baskin showing a lot of development
- Keogh confirmed out of for the season with a knee injury
- Glassmeyer is among "several athletic underclassmen" in line for PT at SSDM. Says he stood out in the fall with attention to detail and hard-nosed mentality
- Colwell is the defensive leader, but Rapine will most likely cover opposing teams #1 attackmen
- Calnan and McManus are favorites for third close D spot. Petro calls McManus "the Epstein of the defensive group" in terms of work ethic.
- There's also a "slight chance" that Reinson, who is "showing more physicality" this year, moves down to close D, which would open up more opportunity for Blondell at LSM. No specific mention of any other LSMs
- "Competitive four-horse race" at goalie. Gainey (who they call a redshirt freshman) and Marcille "pushing" the two upperclassmen. No clarity there

[Henpecked]

Zinn has been much debated on this thread regarding his playing time. I really liked watching him play last year and I am NOT a Hopkins fan. He reminded me of the mid-80's John Krumenacker for you old guys out there. He has that size, speed and athleticism that really stands out on the field.

I know it is a small sample, taking only 28 shots, but his shooting percentage was really low at 17%. I am sure that will improve over time. We shall see.

[jhu06]

Notes from IL's Face-off Yearbook preview of the Jays, take from it what you will:

- "Heated competition" for the third attack spot includes "several natural middies." Garrett Degnon is in the mix there after having an excellent fall. Murphy and Angelus also in the mix for that spot. Forry Smith "may also get a look" there, though my understanding from reading this is that he's more likely to stay at midfield.
- DeSimone returned to campus "leaner and quicker with more confidence"
- Petro calls Zinn "the best athlete on the field." Maybe your best athlete should actually see the field this year...just a thought, coach.
- Baskin showing a lot of development
- Keogh confirmed out of for the season with a knee injury
- Glassmeyer is among "several athletic underclassmen" in line for PT at SSDM. Says he stood out in the fall with attention to detail and hard-nosed mentality
- Colwell is the defensive leader, but Rapine will most likely cover opposing teams #1 attackmen
- Calnan and McManus are favorites for third close D spot. Petro calls McManus "the Epstein of the defensive group" in terms of work ethic.
- There's also a "slight chance" that Reinson, who is "showing more physicality" this year, moves down to close D, which would open up more opportunity for Blondell at LSM. No specific mention of any other LSMs
- "Competitive four-horse race" at goalie. Gainey (who they call a redshirt freshman) and Marcille "pushing" the two upperclassmen. No clarity there

Hopkins 2020-"Epstein and pray (or drink)". LFG.

[Sagittarius A*]

Zinn has been much debated on this thread regarding his playing time. I really liked watching him play last year and I am NOT a Hopkins fan. He reminded me of the mid-80's John Krumenacker for you old guys out there. He has that size, speed and athleticism that really stands out on the field.

I know it is a small sample, taking only 28 shots, but his shooting percentage was really low at 17%. I am sure that will improve over time. We shall see.

Zinn has got to do more than play on the wings on faceoffs. I want to see him on the first midfield line. Hopefully he's worked on his shooting in the offseason.

[DocBarrister]

Zinn has been much debated on this thread regarding his playing time. I really liked watching him play last year and I am NOT a Hopkins fan. He reminded me of the mid-80's John Krumenacker for you old guys out there. He has that size, speed and athleticism that really stands out on the field.

I know it is a small sample, taking only 28 shots, but his shooting percentage was really low at 17%. I am sure that will improve over time. We shall see.

I thought Zinn’s last minute ground ball play (and assist to an Epstein goal) against Penn State was the top Hopkins offensive play of the year last season.

If he’s healthy, which was reportedly a problem last season, he should get a chance on the first middie line.

DocBarrister

[wgdsr]

question - zinn. what are the chances he plays a conrad/tinney type role?
wings priority, stays as off middie when not winded (majority), clears and the occasional stuck in on d.

he has the speed for wings and clears... how good of a gb wing guy was he?

[HopFan16]

question - zinn. what are the chances he plays a conrad/tinney type role?
wings priority, stays as off middie when not winded (majority), clears and the occasional stuck in on d.

he has the speed for wings and clears... how good of a gb wing guy was he?

While some will recall the botched GB against Cuse which seemed to earn him some time on the pine, I don't think the sample size was nearly big enough to decide one way or the other if that's a potential strength (or weakness) to his game. As Doc noted, he had a pretty impressive GB in traffic against Penn State.

I do think he'll be used as a two-way middie—it'd be a crime not to use him at all in that way given his end-to-end speed. It's game-changing. He makes the other guys look like they're moving in slow motion. Guys just can't keep up with him and you've got to utilize that type of speed in the transition game. The worry I have is that the staff pigeon-holes him in that role and doesn't allow him to get meaningful runs on offense. He has an absolute cannon of a shot. Sure, that shooting % needs to improve (you can say that about several other guys on the team too) but it'd be such a waste not to have the field-stretching/outside shooting element he brings to the O, especially on a team that lacks both athleticism and outside shooting at the midfield. Seems like a no brainer. In that same Penn State game he completely blew by a shortie like the guy was stuck in mud and then stuck a corner...hopefully a sign of things to come.

[51percentcorn]

"Heated competition" for the third attack spot includes "several natural middies." Garrett Degnon is in the mix there after having an excellent fall. Murphy and Angelus also in the mix for that spot. Forry Smith "may also get a look" there, though my understanding from reading this is that he's more likely to stay at midfield.
- DeSimone returned to campus "leaner and quicker with more confidence"
- Petro calls Zinn "the best athlete on the field." Maybe your best athlete should actually see the field this year...just a thought, coach.
- Baskin showing a lot of development
- Keogh confirmed out of for the season with a knee injury
- Glassmeyer is among "several athletic underclassmen" in line for PT at SSDM. Says he stood out in the fall with attention to detail and hard-nosed mentality
- Colwell is the defensive leader, but Rapine will most likely cover opposing teams #1 attackmen
- Calnan and McManus are favorites for third close D spot. Petro calls McManus "the Epstein of the defensive group" in terms of work ethic.
- There's also a "slight chance" that Reinson, who is "showing more physicality" this year, moves down to close D, which would open up more opportunity for Blondell at LSM. No specific mention of any other LSMs
- "Competitive four-horse race" at goalie. Gainey (who they call a redshirt freshman) and Marcille "pushing" the two upperclassmen. No clarity there

US Lax Magazine's Hopkins preview should be in a couple/few days - they just did Rutgers at preseason #16. Anyway - if there is any truth to the above - the three most surprising things to me are:
- Garrett Degnon on attack - not saying anything bad about it - but I don't think many had that one on their white board
- McManus as a favorite for the last spot on Close D - one year removed from SSDM - would not have predicted that if it comes to pass
- No mention of the freshmen defensemen - Rodgers/Jaronski etc. supposed to be a palpable strength of this frosh class

Of course - Dave is not exactly famous for being absolutely forthcoming so we shall see

Would imagine the Keogh injury may help dictate where Smith plays - taking both him and Keogh off the first two lines puts more question marks on units that struggled to score last year.
Zinn has to play offensive middie this year as a virtual permanent member of one of the first two lines - Petro literally has little choice

Do not like to hear that there is a four-horse race at goalie - a reprise of the football line "if you have 2 quarterbacks you don't have any" Again, could be a simple deflection and he knows exactly which goalie is going to start but I would love to have read "Giacalone (or whomever) is tearing it up right now and he will be between the pipes come Towson"

[xdallax]

question - zinn. what are the chances he plays a conrad/tinney type role?
wings priority, stays as off middie when not winded (majority), clears and the occasional stuck in on d.

he has the speed for wings and clears... how good of a gb wing guy was he?

While some will recall the botched GB against Cuse which seemed to earn him some time on the pine, I don't think the sample size was nearly big enough to decide one way or the other if that's a potential strength (or weakness) to his game. As Doc noted, he had a pretty impressive GB in traffic against Penn State.

I do think he'll be used as a two-way middie—it'd be a crime not to use him at all in that way given his end-to-end speed. It's game-changing. He makes the other guys look like they're moving in slow motion. Guys just can't keep up with him and you've got to utilize that type of speed in the transition game. The worry I have is that the staff pigeon-holes him in that role and doesn't allow him to get meaningful runs on offense. He has an absolute cannon of a shot. Sure, that shooting % needs to improve (you can say that about several other guys on the team too) but it'd be such a waste not to have the field-stretching/outside shooting element he brings to the O, especially on a team that lacks both athleticism and outside shooting at the midfield. Seems like a no brainer. In that same Penn State game he completely blew by a shortie like the guy was stuck in mud and then stuck a corner...hopefully a sign of things to come.

While Zinn's speed was an advantage on the faceoff wings, I think Zinn's big weakness last season was defense. If he was caught on defense, it often led to a goal by the opposing team. Hopefully, that will have improved this season.

[stupefied]

"Heated competition" for the third attack spot includes "several natural middies." Garrett Degnon is in the mix there after having an excellent fall. Murphy and Angelus also in the mix for that spot. Forry Smith "may also get a look" there, though my understanding from reading this is that he's more likely to stay at midfield.
- DeSimone returned to campus "leaner and quicker with more confidence"
- Petro calls Zinn "the best athlete on the field." Maybe your best athlete should actually see the field this year...just a thought, coach.
- Baskin showing a lot of development
- Keogh confirmed out of for the season with a knee injury
- Glassmeyer is among "several athletic underclassmen" in line for PT at SSDM. Says he stood out in the fall with attention to detail and hard-nosed mentality
- Colwell is the defensive leader, but Rapine will most likely cover opposing teams #1 attackmen
- Calnan and McManus are favorites for third close D spot. Petro calls McManus "the Epstein of the defensive group" in terms of work ethic.
- There's also a "slight chance" that Reinson, who is "showing more physicality" this year, moves down to close D, which would open up more opportunity for Blondell at LSM. No specific mention of any other LSMs
- "Competitive four-horse race" at goalie. Gainey (who they call a redshirt freshman) and Marcille "pushing" the two upperclassmen. No clarity there

US Lax Magazine's Hopkins preview should be in a couple/few days - they just did Rutgers at preseason #16. Anyway - if there is any truth to the above - the three most surprising things to me are:
- Garrett Degnon on attack - not saying anything bad about it - but I don't think many had that one on their white board
- McManus as a favorite for the last spot on Close D - one year removed from SSDM - would not have predicted that if it comes to pass
- No mention of the freshmen defensemen - Rodgers/Jaronski etc. supposed to be a palpable strength of this frosh class

Of course - Dave is not exactly famous for being absolutely forthcoming so we shall see

Would imagine the Keogh injury may help dictate where Smith plays - taking both him and Keogh off the first two lines puts more question marks on units that struggled to score last year.
Zinn has to play offensive middie this year as a virtual permanent member of one of the first two lines - Petro literally has little choice

Do not like to hear that there is a four-horse race at goalie - a reprise of the football line "if you have 2 quarterbacks you don't have any" Again, could be a simple deflection and he knows exactly which goalie is going to start but I would love to have read "Giacalone (or whomever) is tearing it up right now and he will be between the pipes come Towson"

Seems pretty straightforward to me. Doubt any smokescreens but maybe intended motivation for some. Still have scrimmages and practices that will reinforce or change views. Obsession with Zinn by board is borderline psychotic, at least Petro delivered a comment to soothe . Lot of solid players that are integral but dont get discussed much, glad to see some other names to ponder. Outside view , JHU D personnel is better than results and think you'll see improvement on that side. Despise injuries to anyone, to any team . Keogh was a contributor , be covered by depth but still lessens whole, wonder what might have been with Cattoni absent injury. Tough day to be Raven fan, think many fb fans were rooting for them given Lamar.

[HopFan16]

Seems pretty straightforward to me. Doubt any smokescreens but maybe intended motivation for some. Still have scrimmages and practices that will reinforce or change views. Obsession with Zinn by board is borderline psychotic, at least Petro delivered a comment to soothe . Lot of solid players that are integral but dont get discussed much, glad to see some other names to ponder. Outside view , JHU D personnel is better than results and think you'll see improvement on that side. Despise injuries to anyone, to any team . Keogh was a contributor , be covered by depth but still lessens whole, wonder what might have been with Cattoni absent injury. Tough day to be Raven fan, think many fb fans were rooting for them given Lamar.

I don't think "psychotic" is exactly the right word, though I will admit it seems to be brought up here quite often (I've stopped talking about it unless someone else brings it up first). But I think a lot of people—including outside observers/non-Hopkins fans who have absolutely no stake in the outcome—were genuinely puzzled by his usage last season. As 51 said, Petro pretty much has no choice but to change that this year.

Re: Cattoni, there were reports he was tranferring to Hofstra, but he's not on that roster, nor on any roster that I'm aware of. Not sure what we'd be getting out of him this year but it probably couldn't hurt to have another returning midfielder who has actually scored a goal in a D1 game.

Very unfortunate about Keogh indeed—I suspect he'll redshirt but who knows. On the bright side, if there is any, the injury occurred early enough that he should be ready to go in 2021.

[Sagittarius A*]

Petro doesn't usually start freshmen at attack unless they're superstars like Stanwick or Epstein. Degnon may be a legit possibility there although you'd think with the shortage of middies he'd better off playing between the lines. Big question mark. There are so many defensmen on the roster that it's probably hard to go wrong there, but the ssdms are pretty critical. The goal is another huge question mark right now. Even though the Face-offs look good sooner or later the Jays will run into a good team who is also good at the X like Penn State, OSU, etc and they'll have to play defense no matter how good the offense is. It would be nice to see some consistency this year instead of up and down performances from game to game.

[HopFan16]

Petro doesn't usually start freshmen at attack unless they're superstars like Stanwick or Epstein. Degnon may be a legit possibility there although you'd think with the shortage of middies he'd better off playing between the lines. Big question mark. There are so many defensmen on the roster that it's probably hard to go wrong there, but the ssdms are pretty critical. The goal is another huge question mark right now. Even though the Face-offs look good sooner or later the Jays will run into a good team who is also good at the X like Penn State, OSU, etc and they'll have to play defense no matter how good the offense is. It would be nice to see some consistency this year instead of up and down performances from game to game.

On the surface, the Degnon thing doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me for a few reasons:

1) From what I know of him, his skill set is pretty similar to that of Williams—big tall lefty wing shooter
2) He's a natural middie and you desperately need another one or two of those...if he really is having such a good offseason then why not use him where he's needed?
3) You're basically forcing either Murphy or Angelus or both to get their minutes as converted middies running out of the box. Neither of those guys are big, if they get stuck on defense...yikes. Why have three guys out of position when there's an opportunity to have everyone be playing what they're accustomed to?

All of that being said of course, I think in today's game the distinctions between attack and midfield don't matter as much, and coaches are increasingly figuring out ways to get their best guys on the field. And in Benson's motion offense, guys can be all over the place, so it's possible someone like Degnon can play on "attack" but really serve in more of a traditional midfield role within the offense, vice versa for Angelus/Murphy who may technically be labeled middies if they sub in through the box but would then do some stuff behind the goal/two-man games/iso on shorties. Basically what Baskin has been doing.

Also don't know how true the notion is that the staff doesn't play freshmen at attack other than the obvious superstars. Forry Smith played quite a bit there as a freshman in 2017 (Williams also to a lesser extent). Brown, Marr and Crawley all played a bunch as freshmen too though I suppose you could call them attack/middie hybrids at that point in their careers. If you're a freshman attackman and you can play, they'll find a spot for you.

[steel_hop]

Do not like to hear that there is a four-horse race at goalie - a reprise of the football line "if you have 2 quarterbacks you don't have any" Again, could be a simple deflection and he knows exactly which goalie is going to start but I would love to have read "Giacalone (or whomever) is tearing it up right now and he will be between the pipes come Towson"

Yup. That is not what you want to hear if you want Hopkins goalie to stop more shots. I guess you could call it deflection if you were talking about 2 guys (It is down to X and Y and they are competing...) but when you say all four are in a horse rave at goalie what reading between the lines says is that they all have huge inconsistencies that probably run the gamut of streaky in stopping shots (or not stopping them), demonstrable weakness is stop shots at particular placements, poor clearing skill, poor understanding of the defense and making the correct defensive calls, etc.

I'd be more open to deflection if it was a 2 horse race but when you are saying all 4 guys have a shot (and maybe it confidence building for guys knowing that goaltending has suffered for a number of years) that screams issues.

[HopFan16]

I think you're reading way too much into that. Petro will never divulge the specifics of a position battle if he doesn't have to. The fact that it's a four-man race doesn't mean that one hasn't already emerged as the best option. And it shouldn't come as a surprise that the guy who apparently didn't want any footage of an alumni game on YouTube is the same guy who doesn't want to telegraph to Towson who will be starting in net on Feb. 8. I think it's unlikely the incumbent returns as starter—and the guy who replaced him, while a senior, hardly has any experience, so it's not like he's the obvious successor. It makes sense that this would be an open competition and last I checked there's still about a month before a decision has to be made.

[notentitled]

I am hearing that Hopkins will employ 2 goalies at the same time to satisfy the rabid alumni. They asked for special permission for this change from the NCAA because they are owed a championship.

[steel_hop]

I think you're reading way too much into that. Petro will never divulge the specifics of a position battle if he doesn't have to. The fact that it's a four-man race doesn't mean that one hasn't already emerged as the best option. And it shouldn't come as a surprise that the guy who apparently didn't want any footage of an alumni game on YouTube is the same guy who doesn't want to telegraph to Towson who will be starting in net on Feb. 8. I think it's unlikely the incumbent returns as starter—and the guy who replaced him, while a senior, hardly has any experience, so it's not like he's the obvious successor. It makes sense that this would be an open competition and last I checked there's still about a month before a decision has to be made.

It is all a matter of interpretation and I'm sure one guy might be the "best option" but it doesn't mean he is truly a good option.

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

Until proven otherwise, no one is going to reveal anything.

Assume what LQ said a few years ago: German Shepherd.

[78Jay]

I am hearing that Hopkins will employ 2 goalies at the same time to satisfy the rabid alumni. They asked for special permission for this change from the NCAA because they are owed a championship.

Petro will employ 2 goalies at the same time if one is Larry Quinn’s kid and the other is Piggy’s kid....