Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

[schiegs]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

As a fan, I can say that Bentley isn't exempt from having some real putzes in our section either.

Take me, for example.

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

As a fan, I can say that Bentley isn't exempt from having some real putzes in our section either. But I know that we circled this date for a reason - I really am hoping for a win over Harvard because of the local profile. We've beaten Northeastern and we have UMass-Lowell later this year (plus a game against NU). When we beat NU a few years ago it was huge, on par with when we beat UMass later in the year. But that all pales in comparison to a win over Harvard. It would feel like we're climbing the ladder. Moving towards the UML game and not quite ready for BC/BU games

Let's be honest, every school has putzes. It's how you putz that determines things though.

[vicb]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

Only one week to go to change or get your picks into the ECAC Pick The Standings Contest 2012-2013 thread. Cutoff date and time are Nov 2 at 7 PM.

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

Hopefully Bentley used up all their goal scoring for the weekend...9-1 winners over Alabama-Huntsville.

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

Hopefully Bentley used up all their goal scoring for the weekend...9-1 winners over Alabama-Huntsville.

Hmm, let's hope Raffi is on his game tonight. And we need the power play to come through at least a couple of times. I'm sure Bentley will come in fired up but this is the season opener for us so I expect the same or better effort from the Crimson.

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

Hopefully Bentley used up all their goal scoring for the weekend...9-1 winners over Alabama-Huntsville.

Prescient. This guy should be a broadcaster or something.

Self-touting aside, here are my quickfire thoughts from the game.

The Good
- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5! Good offensive start.
- 0 - Raph Girard w/ the shutout, first of his career. First shutout since Nov. 6, 2010 over RPI. (The game I famously said beforehand "Harvard can't win if they score only 1 goal." Thanks Kyle Richter for proving me wrong.)
- Frosh Jimmy Vesey with 2 goals tonight. The first one was unbelievable. Still need to see the highlights about how exactly it went in but the move beforehand was great.
- PK 5 for 5 and PP 1 for 2

The Bad
- 5 PKs, plus a few matching minors besides. On the one hand, there were times Harvard was standing up for itself after some chippy play by Bentley. On the other hand, Harvard has to stay out of that. There are teams that will play that way hoping for calls in the ECACHL - Brown and Cornell, I'm looking at you.
- Brian Hart: Interference, Boarding, Elbowing. It's not that he had a bad game, and he's still young but 3 penalties is tough.
- Missed shots. Sure we scored 5 but Harvard also had a lot of open looks that they put high and/or wide. It's the first game and not every shot is going to hit the net, but you have to criticize something in a 5-0 win and they were shots that needed to hit net.
- Passing - not bad overall, but in the 2nd Harvard was playing a little cutesy. Bentley also did a good job denying a lot of the passes on odd man rushes - something Harvard needs to work on.
- 2 disallowed goals. The second one was never close as the guy from Bentley was in the net well before the puck ever could have been, but the 1st one was really close. On the goal line apparently. Bentley gets 1 against the run of play there to make it 2-1 and could be a different game. Girard has to do better on the initial shot - his bobble led to that chance.

The Ugly
- Bentley's uniforms. Teal/sea green on black? Who thought that was a good idea? Just glad I never had to try and read those things in the broadcast booth. It would be a much nicer jersey in Bentley's school colors of blue, white and yellow.

?s
- Can we take anything away from this game besides a positive feeling? I don't think so. To paraphrase a Bentley fan that was sitting near me: "You can just tell Harvard is faster, stronger and more talented than Bentley." Probably won't be seeing that dynamic the rest of the year. Handing it to Bentley though, they had some opportunities and except for his blocker side, thought Komm was pretty solid in net. A good win, and a solid start but...Brown already looms and should be a tougher test.

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

Alslammerz nailed it tonight. Nothing to add except that the Bentley crowd was impressive. They outnumbered our crowd by at least two or three to one.

I like our speed and our passing was so crisp. We had a few defensive lapses and I'm sure the coaching staff will address the fact that the game got too wide open at times. But overall, it was a great start. Lots to be excited about. If we convert on more of those close-in chances, we can stay with the better teams in the East. And maybe beat a few of them along the way!

[bothman]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

How did the frosh look?

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

How did the frosh look?

Vesey - fantastic. 2 goals and an assist. Great skater.

Criscuolo and Jaw - good together on a line with O'Regan. Going to be a solid pair of forecheckers as the seasons progress.

Hart - threw the body, took 3 penalties

Gozzo - somewhat quiet night on 4th line with Placek and Seward...didn't notice this line on the ice often though the stats say Placek had 5 shots.

Bergin - nothing spectacular on a pairing with Max, but didn't have to be either.

Total freshman shots...15.

[bothman]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

This is the first time in several years where Harvard has a favorable schedule to start the year. They open up with lesser non-conference teams (who always have games in hand) and the Ivies, as opposed to having to play the RPIs, SLUs, etc who like non-conference folks, have 4-5 games in hand to iron out the kinks.

Not to put the cart before the horse, but momentum is a powerful thing and I think Harvard has a real good shot to be 3-0 before facing a very tough Union team at home.

[mwade]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

Mini-gallery from last night vs. Bentley - http://www.uscho.com/photos/2012/10/...ey-at-harvard/ Had planned on adding captions after getting some sleep, but my desktop monitor which briefly came back to life postgame is dead again this morning so I can't access the files right now. Sorry.

I thought Rempel had a great game last night. Very solid.

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

Vesey - fantastic. 2 goals and an assist. Great skater.

Criscuolo and Jaw - good together on a line with O'Regan. Going to be a solid pair of forecheckers as the seasons progress.

Hart - threw the body, took 3 penalties

Gozzo - somewhat quiet night on 4th line with Placek and Seward...didn't notice this line on the ice often though the stats say Placek had 5 shots.

Bergin - nothing spectacular on a pairing with Max, but didn't have to be either.

Total freshman shots...15.

Um, some needed alterations here. Jaw centered the fourth line between Gozzo and Placek. He did well on faceoffs but needs to improve in both zones. Hart played on the third line with Criscuolo and O'Regan. They got better as the game wore on. Criscuolo missed on a late game breakaway. He has good speed and good hands. Bergin was steady and not afraid to take the initiative in the offensive zone. He'll get better every week.

Seward didn't dress.

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

This is the first time in several years where Harvard has a favorable schedule to start the year. They open up with lesser non-conference teams (who always have games in hand) and the Ivies, as opposed to having to play the RPIs, SLUs, etc who like non-conference folks, have 4-5 games in hand to iron out the kinks.

Not to put the cart before the horse, but momentum is a powerful thing and I think Harvard has a real good shot to be 3-0 before facing a very tough Union team at home.

Agreed. And Bentley had already played several games before last night's game and yet we matched them stride for stride in the first period and then blew their doors off as the game wore on. The score doesn't indicate how one-sided this game was for the most part.

BTW, I sat near a couple of Tampa Bay Lightening scouts. They were there to watch Hart (too bad because Hart didn't do very much and the penalties didn't help him). I asked the scouts about Alex Killorn. They said the organization feels he is one of their top prospects and a sure fire NHL pro. They expect him to take a regular shift with the big club in the next couple of years. They love his game and his attitude. Great to hear on all fronts.

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

I know this is going to sound outlandish after one game but is it any accident that Vesey wears No.19? As in another, ahem, Harvard alum who donned that jersey with fabulous results. Yeah I do think that Vesey is the real deal and he will grow into the same role Laney served so admirably for the Crimson. Both players see the ice in much the same way and have great hands.

[sam12]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2012-2013

Might be a little early to compare Vesey to Lane McDonald, lets give him two or three at least before we start comparing him to maybe the best Crimson ever...

A more apt comparison might be another number 19, Killorn. Big, fast, offensive flair. Keep in mind as well that Killorn really grew as his 4 years progressed, going from (from memory) 13 pts to 19, to 28 to 46. Certainly what we've seen from Vesey so far gives one hope that he'll make a real impact for Harvard this year and into the future.