Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

[KFBS]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

It's hard to gauge much from one game, but the biggest positive of last night (other than the win) is that there were four different goal scorers and none were the usual suspects. If the scoring depth develops, this will be a very fun team to watch.

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

It's hard to gauge much from one game, but the biggest positive of last night (other than the win) is that there were four different goal scorers and none were the usual suspects. If the scoring depth develops, this will be a very fun team to watch.

A big positive - no points from first line, but points from 2,3, and 4. Not sure I have seen that before from a Brown team

Anyone at the game? I am curious about the play of the freshmen Ds.

[Brown2k]

A big positive - no points from first line, but points from 2,3, and 4. Not sure I have seen that before from a Brown team

Anyone at the game? I am curious about the play of the freshmen Ds.

I watched online. Other than the first couple shifts when they were probably anxious/nervous they settled in and played well. The D did not give up many prime scoring chances. Whittet rolled the D lines all night long and had each of the Freshmen paired with a returning D player.

[lugnut92]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

It’s obviously very early in the season, but I’ve gotten my season simulator fired up to see what KRACH says the final standings will be. I update every Sunday based on the week's games. Come have a look in the thread!

[LTsatch]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

Brandon DuHaime @Deweydewey27: Excited to announce my commitment to Brown University. Thank you to friends, family and coaches that helped me along the way. #bears

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

It has been a LONG time since Brown last played at Meehan. I'm eagerly anticipating this weekend!

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

Well, that was pretty bad.

Positives- the freshmen forwards made a TON of freshman mistakes tonight. But they also showed why they were so highly-regarded. Max Willman and Tim Lappin, in particular, were very impressive. Give it a month or two, and this offense will be terrifying.

Negatives- the offense will have to be exceptional, because I didn't see anything to give me any confidence in Tyler Steel or the young defensive unit. We might have to score 5 or 6 to win games this year.

St. Lawrence was ok, and you could definitely tell they were more sharp because they've played more games. But this is an opponent Brown needs to beat, especially on home ice. Very underwhelming performance against an opponent that wasn't all that impressive.

Also, I didn't see the Nick Lappin DQ, so I can't comment on the actual play itself. But his absence was a major factor in the third. The whole team seemed exhausted, which is due in equal parts to the lack of game experience and to the short bench. After SLU's third goal, Brown collapsed and had no answer.

[Brown09]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

Negatives- the offense will have to be exceptional, because I didn't see anything to give me any confidence in Tyler Steel or the young defensive unit. We might have to score 5 or 6 to win games this year.

Not a pretty game. The defense needs to be more physical and protect T. Steel a lot better. However, I don't think T. Steel is a bona fide Division I goaltender. He has too many glaring deficiencies and hasn't improved since last year.

[BrunoFan00]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

Not a good weekend, at all. I was disappointed in Saturday's performance, which looked like a team playing game 10 against a team playing game 3. In all honesty, I'd like to know why the ECAC didn't schedule Brown-Yale with Harvard-Dartmouth and let RPI-Union play SLU-Clarkson. That would have been better for all eight squads, honestly. But those are the breaks. Until the Ivy Presidents allow their schools to play by the same rules, and that's the same for the fall and spring sports too, there will always be this debate (although basketball starts the same time as everyone else, I believe).

Some observations:

1. Lot of freshmen playing, which means defensively I'm not sure who the anchor is going to be. Joey D and Wood are not going to be counted on for their offensive prowess, so I'm thinking the losses of Robertson, Wahl, and Goldberg will be felt more than we initially may have thought. That said, defensively, in the second and third periods, we definitely played better, though Clarkson won most of the physical battles and loose pucks.

2. Middleton has stepped up his game. I thought he played well against Clarkson, and I like him on a line with Lamacchia. Harlow skated pretty well too.

3. Nick Lappin's penalty against Clarkson was awful. Considering he took a five against SLU too, I'd imagine there is a conversation with him about doing the team no good whatsoever while in the locker room for the better part of both games.

4. I had a hard time coming up with anyone who stood out for playing "great" over the weekend, but am not going into Chicken Little mode just yet. It does appear that Brendan Whittet has four lines and some depth, which has not always been at his disposal over the years.
On to Harvard, who is playing very well, and Dartmouth, who will be a challenge, as per the usual, in Hanover.

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

Agree with much of what BrunoFan00 said.

I think it'll be a really tough first half of the season to watch, but by January, the young talent should start to break out. Max Willman is going to be a bona fide star eventually; perhaps Brown's best player since Damian Prescott. His defensive work is even more impressive than his offensive prowess, and he has shown flashes of greatness on attack.

Tyler Steel quietly played a very good game on Saturday, as did the defense (other than the first Clarkson goal, which was a complete breakdown). I know Clarkson isn't an offensive powerhouse, but the defense looked much better than it did against St. Lawrence.

I'd also like to touch on Davey Middleton. WOW. What an improvement. He's become this team's Garnet Hathaway, without (thus far, anyway) the stupid penalties. That role has been filled by Nick Lappin.

...which leads me to my next point: what's up with the Big Three? Lorito finally scored (albeit in garbage time), but it was his first point of the season and Lappin and Naclerio have combined for zero through three games. Lappin appears to be letting his frustration manifest itself in violent, and, frankly, stupid ways. Naclerio has looked excellent on the penalty kill, but he's not a PK specialist. Nobody celebrates when Patrice Bergeron kills a penalty but doesn't put up any points.

Speaking of the PK- that was one of the biggest bright spots this weekend. They were incredible! Often, they would create more chances than the team with the power play would (this occurred in both games).

There's too much potential on this team to start worrying quite yet. We're going to have to suck it up and live with some less-than-desirable results for now, but this freshman class is probably the best I've ever seen at Brown (I haven't been around as long as some of you , so I'm sure this point will be contended). They'll make a major impact down the stretch, especially when our top line starts producing points.

[Kane88]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

Good sign that St. Lawrence ran over Yale on Saturday Night, it makes our seemingly brutal home opener somewhat more allowable. Over time this team has too much scoring depth up front to not be able to contend in the ECAC

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

I was at Meehan for SLU but not Clarkson. My 2 cents:

This is a young team with a need for more playing time together. The IVY's position really hurts brown and the other Ivies when playing as their 2nd and 3rd game opponents who have 5-7 games already, enough time to iron out all of the kinks and obtain consistency. I think that lack of playing opportunities really showed against C, especially in the first and second periods. As the IVY league won't change, perhaps the ECAC should schedule the Ivies playing each other in the first and second weeks of league play.

There was sloppiness due to lack of playing time together which was made worse with Lappin's misconduct penalty. As BrunoFan mentioned that penalty was a really bad one. You can't get consistency when on 2 different nights when you lose a player from your top line.

There was a lot to be happy about with Brown's play. As Kdiff has mentioned, Willman is the real deal. Quick and gets his speed up with a couple of strides. Lamacchia is becoming a top line player. When I was watching him during the warm-ups and when a good-size C played bounced off him on an attempted check, my first reaction was that M spent the summer with Alex Rodriguez and fans. But it looked like he put on some muscle but it did not hurt his speed or quickness.

I focused a lot on the freshmen Ds. I thought Cooper played very well. His first few shifts he seemed lost with Clarkson's experience but quickly adjusted. I liked seeing him mixing it up in the corners. Christian from C who is a terrific skater was having fits when Cooper was on him. Tegtmeyer made it appear that he was not a freshman as he had a real good feel for the play. As to McArdle, I thought he was terrible the first period, but the rest of the game played a very strong game. He adjusted to the fast pace of the game. I did not see C's first goal and I don't think Steele ever saw the second goal as he was screened by all of the players in front who were not cleared out. Overall he stopped the shots he should have stopped. The D was good and showed they will get better as they play more games.

lastly, I would add the sophs played well. Middleton, Kramer are starting to show they are ready to contribute with Pryzbek a few steps behind them.

[BigAl]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

If you havent heard the audio clip from Schafer, here it is:http://theqbsn.com/2014/11/09/cornel...to-quinnipiac/

[kdiff77]

If you havent heard the audio clip from Schafer, here it is:http://theqbsn.com/2014/11/09/cornel...to-quinnipiac/

The two whiniest coaches in the league having at it. This is going to end well.

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2014-2015 - Onward and Upward

Nick Lappin suspended for two games. Sounds about right- teach him a lesson in keeping your cool. I didn't see the hit during the SLU game, but I was standing right above the net where the CCT one took place. It was terrible.