Harvard Crimson 2022-2023

[Skate79]

I’m no fan of Harvard, but Quinnipiac has seven fifth year players. Harvard is not allowed any per Ivy League rules. Harvard has by far the most talent in the ECAC, but sometimes being older, stronger, and more experienced beats talent. 15 draft picks is striking, but so is having seven graduate students on your team.

Harvard was its own worst enemy last night. Too many turnovers in the D zone and you can't do that with the 'experience' that Quinnipiac has on its roster. Harvard didn't push the pace enough to force the Bobcats into turnovers in the offensive zone. We have the skill and talent up front to get the job done regardless of how many fifth years the Bobcats have on their roster.

[Skate79]

Winnable game but congrats to quinny. Played a clean and structurally sound game. Can not believe Harvard let brindamour sit in slot and put that rebound home? Take a penalty, put him on his butt!

Harvard D needs some significant retooling.

big questions:
(1). Why is Siedem on the ice in leveraged situations when he struggles to control and move puck?
(2). Why is Aucoin not playing over Healey whose brutal turnover put the nail in the coffin for Harvard? Especially when Harvard short on LD?
(3). What gives with the 2nd PP which generates little to nothing and hasn’t all year ? Maybe mix it up to see if something else clicks?

Harvard D is not making good decisions - passing, breakouts and a team like Quinny (and all the top teams) will make you pay every time. Heck a Langenbrunner turnover would have been in Harvard’s net except for a diving poke check by bar.

The D pairings keep changing in game and I think this has to do with their lack of left-shot D men. They haven't been able to develop consistency and it shows up unfortunately when playing teams like the Bobcats who can force turnovers and cash in. Bar has been playing better lately but Moore has been inconsistent all season. Langenbrunner and Healey need to be better in their own zone. I agree that with Langenbrunner's size, he should be knocking people on their keisters. Healey reminds me of Reilly Walsh who struggled his first year.

[DLG]

I’m no fan of Harvard, but Quinnipiac has seven fifth year players. Harvard is not allowed any per Ivy League rules. Harvard has by far the most talent in the ECAC, but sometimes being older, stronger, and more experienced beats talent. 15 draft picks is striking, but so is having seven graduate students on your team.

I think when looking at draft picks probably only those in first 3 rounds are significant- NHL has way too many rounds but still miss lots of players
BU's best 2 forwards could be Skoog and Brown both undrafted and going to sign contracts for next year
Older good players obviously count- need good mix of ages

[Lynah Rink]

I think when looking at draft picks probably only those in first 3 rounds are significant- NHL has way too many rounds but still miss lots of players
BU's best 2 forwards could be Skoog and Brown both undrafted and going to sign contracts for next year
Older good players obviously count- need good mix of ages

Eh. Sean Farrell (4th round pick) might be the best player in the country. Plenty of other great examples. Obviously it’s not a perfect correlation, but being a draft pick is certainly correlated with talent and having lots of draft picks is h highly correlated with team success.

[Skate79]

Well, we almost choked it away tonight. I've never been more disappointed in a Harvard Beanpot win than I was tonight. Starting in the second period, BC took over the game and Harvard had little pushback except on the power play. The third period was embarrassing. I could understand it if BC were a ranked team, but they aren't particularly strong this year and have had trouble generating offense. Yes, we lost Henry Thrun in the second period and his absence was felt in the third period. But that should not mean we fold up like a beach chair.

Hoping that Thrun is not seriously hurt. He stayed on the bench for the rest of the game, so I take that as a good sign. Also, Karpa didn't play and that hurt some of the line combos. Like the fact that the coaches put the Jersey Boys line back together. Keep 'em together the rest of the way.

[agarcia]

Well, we almost choked it away tonight. I've never been more disappointed in a Harvard Beanpot win than I was tonight. Starting in the second period, BC took over the game and Harvard had little pushback except on the power play. The third period was embarrassing. I could understand it if BC were a ranked team, but they aren't particularly strong this year and have had trouble generating offense. Yes, we lost Henry Thrun in the second period and his absence was felt in the third period. But that should not mean we fold up like a beach chair.

Hoping that Thrun is not seriously hurt. He stayed on the bench for the rest of the game, so I take that as a good sign. Also, Karpa didn't play and that hurt some of the line combos. Like the fact that the coaches put the Jersey Boys line back together. Keep 'em together the rest of the way.

Frustrating, to say the least, how Harvard basically stopped playing in the 3rd period. Outshot 22-2??! And let's face it, BC is not a powerhouse this year. Such a difference with how they came out guns blazing and pushing the pace in the first period. They should've been up by more than one goal. Did they run out of gas? Get nervous? I know they're having a decent year, but with so much talent on the team I think they should be doing better and should be able to put these types of games away. Might be time to relieve Teddy D. of his duties.

[agarcia]

I’m no fan of Harvard, but Quinnipiac has seven fifth year players. Harvard is not allowed any per Ivy League rules. Harvard has by far the most talent in the ECAC, but sometimes being older, stronger, and more experienced beats talent. 15 draft picks is striking, but so is having seven graduate students on your team.

Totally agree. This whole allowing grad students to play college hockey (no matter which school) is total BS.

[Lemonade]

Totally agree. This whole allowing grad students to play college hockey (no matter which school). Is total BS.

College hockey has been broken for a while. 21 year old freshman are the norm..teams with 25 and 26 year olds still playing. No other NCAA sport is that dumb.

[sezenack]

You'll never be able to convince me that giving students more academic opportunities is dumb. The extra year is only because of COVID, so there will only be two more classes of students who can play 5th years. And those 21 year old freshmen have a very high graduation rate. There are plenty of students who are not athletes who start college later. There's no reason to punish athletes for doing the same.

Also I bet you cannot find me more than 10 players who are 26 currently playing right now. There are more 25 year olds because of the COVID year, which as I said, will cycle out after 2024. As for "no other sports being this dumb", I bet there are just as many D1 football players who are 25+, if not more, than there are in hockey

[Lemonade]

You'll never be able to convince me that giving students more academic opportunities is dumb. The extra year is only because of COVID, so there will only be two more classes of students who can play 5th years. And those 21 year old freshmen have a very high graduation rate. There are plenty of students who are not athletes who start college later. There's no reason to punish athletes for doing the same.

Also I bet you cannot find me more than 10 players who are 26 currently playing right now. There are more 25 year olds because of the COVID year, which as I said, will cycle out after 2024. As for "no other sports being this dumb", I bet there are just as many D1 football players who are 25+, if not more, than there are in hockey

What's dumb is that 99% of college hockey players have to play junior hockey for 2-3 years before than can matriculate to a college program. There is no other sport with that setup. In NCAA football you have a small amount of jr college kids then a 5th year redshirt option but a majority just go from High School to college. College sports should be for college age kids and its not anymore.

[bothman]

Back to the Beanpot....

First off, what a win! That game winning goal play is the stuff of folklore and likely (I would bet) a Top 5 goal in Harvard history (Eddie Krayer #1) when you think about the stage, who it was against, and the underlying scenario. That play/goal will be played across college hockey for years to come. It was really incredible.

But the 3rd period was a disgrace. BC deserved the game. I'm not sure what Siedem was doping on that 2nd goal, but he was completely undressed by what I thought was a fairely routine move and not one that came at high speed - I've mentioned this before, but something seems off with him for about 4-6 weeks now. Harvard seems very content to let forwards enter the zone / cross the blue line at will which is not going to translate well against higher end teams. The 3rd BC goal was a seeing eye goal and seemed a bit flukey to me. But Harvard needs to understand how to play with a lead. It has way too much skill and speed to play that kind of game against a team of BC's caliber. No offense to BC, but it has too many holes and is not making the NCAAs unless it wins the HE tourney. That 3rd peiod Harvard performance, even with the injury to Thrun and Karpa, was disgraceful.

I am glad we moved Severo to wing (seems like a better fit for him than at center). And Tresca better on 4th line (win faceoffs) and try and get get the puck deep and grind.

Let's hope the Karpa and Thrun injuries are not serious. Need them for Northeastern and of course this Friday @Dartmouth has the makings of a classic trap game.

[Skate79]

What's dumb is that 99% of college hockey players have to play junior hockey for 2-3 years before than can matriculate to a college program. There is no other sport with that setup. In NCAA football you have a small amount of jr college kids then a 5th year redshirt option but a majority just go from High School to college. College sports should be for college age kids and its not anymore.

Harvard was forced to go to the junior hockey route because their pure freshman were at a huge disadvantage against the likes of BC BU Northeastern UNH etc. i’m pretty sure admissions is not crazy about it but it’s a fact of life now in D1 hockey.

[Skate79]

Back to the Beanpot....

First off, what a win! That game winning goal play is the stuff of folklore and likely (I would bet) a Top 5 goal in Harvard history (Eddie Krayer #1) when you think about the stage, who it was against, and the underlying scenario. That play/goal will be played across college hockey for years to come. It was really incredible.

But the 3rd period was a disgrace. BC deserved the game. I'm not sure what Siedem was doping on that 2nd goal, but he was completely undressed by what I thought was a fairely routine move and not one that came at high speed - I've mentioned this before, but something seems off with him for about 4-6 weeks now. Harvard seems very content to let forwards enter the zone / cross the blue line at will which is not going to translate well against higher end teams. The 3rd BC goal was a seeing eye goal and seemed a bit flukey to me. But Harvard needs to understand how to play with a lead. It has way too much skill and speed to play that kind of game against a team of BC's caliber. No offense to BC, but it has too many holes and is not making the NCAAs unless it wins the HE tourney. That 3rd peiod Harvard performance, even with the injury to Thrun and Karpa, was disgraceful.

I am glad we moved Severo to wing (seems like a better fit for him than at center). And Tresca better on 4th line (win faceoffs) and try and get get the puck deep and grind.

Let's hope the Karpa and Thrun injuries are not serious. Need them for Northeastern and of course this Friday @Dartmouth has the makings of a classic trap game.

While I agree that Dartmouth is a classic trap game, the Green have some injury issues of their own. Three of their regular D are out including John Fusco. So Harvard may be able to take advantage of that. I might hold out Thrun and Karpa Friday to get them ready for next Monday. Dress Jiminez if they want another left shot D.

[HUJFKLINE]

Last night's OT win v B.C. was without doubt the stuff legends are made of. Hejduk's snipe at 4:58.5 singlehandedly changed the story line from epic collapse to epic win. While there are obviously lots of valid ways to interpret Harvard's inability to keep the ice tilted in their favor, I wonder why the third and fourth line combinations were broken up in the 3^rd period. It seemed the 4/L center Tresca was suddenly paired with Shore and Hejduk leaving Severo, Deveaux and Wong on the bench not to appear in period 3. Severo and Tresca have settled nicely into Ted's "system" and have great futures at Harvard and possibly beyond. That said to protect a one or two goal lead, it would make sense to play a solid winger like Deveaux and the feisty hard hitting disruptive Wong. I assume something was impacting the normal line rotations that I’m not aware of. However, it seems there is a lot to figure out before we face Northeastern next Monday not to mention Dartmouth this Friday.

With respect to the NHL draft discussion, I see this as a relatively inconsequential indicator of success. Players selected in the draft represent a long-term bet on a potentially developable talent who might blossom in 3-5 years at the earliest. They often need time to mature and are not going to perform at a high level immediately. However, a team with an average age of 23-24 versus 20-21 has distinct advantages in size, strength, and often playing experience.

[Skate79]

About five minutes into last night's game, I began to think it would be a repeat of the Brown game from a few weeks ago. Harvard seemed to have their minds on Monday night and not on the task at hand. Fortunately, that all changed in the second period, and we managed to establish some control going forward. Good to see the power play back on track.

Gibson had a less than stellar night. He seems to either play really well or disappear when we need him. Soft first goal from Chisholm who should have received a major on that boarding of Joe Miller. If we are going to do any damage in March, we need Gibson to perform at his best.

And what is up with Ryan Siedem?? The kid is completely lost out there. I counted no less than five turnovers in the Harvard D zone where he had zero forecheck pressure. Something isn't right with him and if it weren't for Senior Weekend next week, I'd bench him. He is hurting the team.

Oh well, on to Monday night and hoping that they can bring the 'Pot back to Cambridge.