Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

[bruno]

Re: Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

Frustrating to play well two nights in a row and not come away with a point.

For the second consecutive night, a well-played, intense contest between two long-term rivals. Nevertheless, Bruno suffers yet another incredibly frustrating & narrow loss to a ranked conference opponent.

Bottom Line: With good size, fast skating and a complement of veteran players, this edition of the Bears is simply unable to score enough goals to beat the more skilled goaltenders/teams on their schedule. Close, but no cigar.

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

LT - totally agree on the depth issue. Brown rolled three lines for most of the third period and seemed tired as a result. The crowd, unfortunately was mostly Yale fans - so thanks for that, I guess!

Bruno - the two big issues with this team right now are finishing and goaltending. Tonight, the goaltending was excellent, so the finishing was to blame. It seems like in most games, one of those two things is the reason we don't win.

On a positive note, I was scanning the program during the second intermission and realized that the core of this team is freshmen and sophomores. The only big losses after this year will be Lappin and Naclerio. With due respect to Pfeil and Prescott, each is replaceable.

Giving young guys the responsibility of carrying a team so early in their careers will no doubt serve as great experience in the coming years. I'm excited to see what the likes of Marchin, Gottlieb, the draftees, Corcoran, Sherer and Tim Lappin can do as they continue to progress. Losing Nick Lappin and Naclerio will be a big blow, but we have some very talented young players, as well as another good recruiting class on the way.

It's great to see us hang with some of the best teams in the country this year. This was not the case in 2014-15. My hope is that going forward, we'll be able to finish these kinds of games off with regularity.

[LTsatch]

Re: Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

I was really impressed by Lafferty this weekend, he will replace a first liner next year.

[bruno]

Re: Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

Bruno - the two big issues with this team right now are finishing and goaltending. Tonight, the goaltending was excellent, so the finishing was to blame. It seems like in most games, one of those two things is the reason we don't win.
It's great to see us hang with some of the best teams in the country this year. This was not the case in 2014-15. My hope is that going forward, we'll be able to finish these kinds of games off with regularity.

Team speed should produce more quality shot opportunities but Bears' team captain Naclerio (5-10-15) and the draftees have been in scoring hibernation for most of this season -- a breakout by any one or more during the upcoming stretch run would propel this squad into a decent ECAC playoff position.

[kdiff77]

Team speed should produce more quality shot opportunities but Bears' team captain Naclerio (5-10-15) and the draftees have been in scoring hibernation for most of this season -- a breakout by any one or more during the upcoming stretch run would propel this squad into a decent ECAC playoff position.

They figured out Yale's defense last night, but then didn't capitalize. They started using their speed to get behind the slower defenders on stretch passes in the neutral zone, but the final play was never there. They also had a few good chances when there was traffic in front of Lyon and they put the puck on net - on more than a few occasions, I saw pucks taking deflections and going just wide or being juggled by Lyon - but they couldn't cash in.

You're right in that it's been Lappin and Marchin carrying the offense for most of the year. We need more from others. Prescott, Gottlieb and Corcoran combined for a beautiful goal last night. Now we need that on a more consistent basis.

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

4 points this weekend on the North Country trip? I can see it as the team is playing well and scoring drought hopefully can be a thing of the past. SLU seems to be on a downward slide and although Clarkson apparently had its way with Harvard last weekend, it is a team with its own ups and downs.

[kdiff77]

4 points this weekend on the North Country trip? I can see it as the team is playing well and scoring drought hopefully can be a thing of the past. SLU seems to be on a downward slide and although Clarkson apparently had its way with Harvard last weekend, it is a team with its own ups and downs.

Four points is an optimistic prediction, but it's certainly not impossible! I actually think that Clarkson is the more dangerous team - they're just inconsistent, as you mentioned. If we catch them on an off night, that's good news for us. I haven't seen SLU this year yet, but I have a feeling that if we put together a complete performance, we'll be able to skate with them and possibly come out on top.

The team has been playing very well lately but being rewarded for it only sparingly. The results are bound to come to fruition eventually...right?

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

the team has been playing very well lately but being rewarded for it only sparingly. The results are bound to come to fruition eventually...right?

right!!

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

I can see Brendan's frustrations with the inconsistencies in goaltending. What's the message he is sending by playing Conor Mahar at Clarkson?

[kdiff77]

I can see Brendan's frustrations with the inconsistencies in goaltending. What's the message he is sending by playing Conor Mahar at Clarkson?

Poor goaltending is killing this team. Yes, we only scored twice this past weekend, so that's a different issue, but the poor play in net is a major problem.

At this rate, I'm just hoping the kid who's committed for next year is the next coming of Yann Danis! Or even Mike Clemente.

The North Country trip is a tough one for all of the New England teams (and Princeton, I'd imagine) due to the long drive up there. I think we'll put on a better performance this weekend at home. At this point, I would be happy with a finish outside the bottom two.

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

Poor goaltending is killing this team. Yes, we only scored twice this past weekend, so that's a different issue, but the poor play in net is a major problem. At this rate, I'm just hoping the kid who's committed for next year is the next coming of Yann Danis! Or even Mike Clemente. The North Country trip is a tough one for all of the New England teams (and Princeton, I'd imagine) due to the long drive up there. I think we'll put on a better performance this weekend at home. At this point, I would be happy with a finish outside the bottom two.

My optimism leads me to agree with you about the games against RPI and Union as to better performance.. I was at both games in the Capital District and Brown played very well winning both games (I consider RPI a win). I was at the Union RPI game Saturday night and I think Union's play has really declined from what I saw in November; Union we can win and if we don't, there probably will be a bottom two finish. But RPI is a completely different team. It is not just Kasdorf's exceptional play in goal. The team is really playing together and mistakes are few and far between. If Brown's goaltending holds up, we can give RPI a battle, but RPI may be too strong overall for Brown in view of Brown's play over the last few games.

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

I am hoping the talent this team has shows up this weekend. Otherwise, it looks like a 12th place finish. Can't be blamed entirely on inconsistent goaltending. Or can it.

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

Tim Ernst has allowed three awful goals tonight.

[Brownfan14]

Tim Ernst has allowed three awful goals tonight.

Another game that should of been won, goaltending is so inconsistent, stops 2-3 breakaways, gives up easy goals. Line chemistry is abysmal on 2-4. Corcoran needs to play with different players. He is similar to Naclerio and can get to net. Put Bird with him and crash the net to get some dirty goals. Marchin plays 2-3 feet in front of the net all the time, we need to replicate that on another line. We need to move the puck and always have someone in front of the net, we play too far outside, From a coaching perspective need to keep this team playing when faced with adversity. Need a goalie, and need to shake up the lines further. They have got to drive the net more, and be far more consistent.

[jmhusker]

Re: Brown Hockey 2015-16: (s)Lappin' around the competition

Tim Ernst has allowed three awful goals tonight.

Was at the game and I can't agree with this. The 3rd goal, assuming it was not a tip, was weak. The other 3 were not. 1st PP was a rebound with traffic in front. Second through a screen. 4th goal was an RPI forward jamming it in from under his pad. These are all "team" goals.

On the other hand, I thought he could easily have let in 2-3 more in the 3rd. He made a number of strong saves. In the end... I'd put the blame on poor D zone coverage by the team.

He played well enough to win but the team did not. Had he played out of his mind... then they could have hung on.