Harvard Crimson 2023-'24

[ROMD]

Aku shows some promise but he isn't there just yet. Hopefully, they will go full platoon the rest of the way out to give the kid room to grow so that he is part of what could be a decent year in 2025-2026. The D looked respectable last night against Yale. The third period was not great as Harvard seemed to run out of gas (not sure why there were 11 forwards and 5 D suited). Yale made a nice third period push as well but Aku shut them down with a little luck. The first 40 minutes Harvard were at least winning their share of puck battles.

The skill drop off of the offense not only vs. last year but vs. the rest of the league is striking. This isn't just the top line but everywhere. My two cents is that the powerplay is an exception and seems pretty well coached. They seem to be overachieving relative to their actual talent.

After Healy's goal Harvard had good chances in the first 2 periods to pile on but between a couple of nice saves by Stark and an apparent lack of finishing talent, they couldn't get it done. I wouldn't be surprised to see them do a little better the second time through the league with an upset or two (it couldn't get much worse) but this doesn't look like a team that will win the Beanpot semi or get through a playoff series.

[CornellFan13]

The skill drop off of the offense not only vs. last year but vs. the rest of the league is striking. This isn't just the top line but everywhere. My two cents is that the powerplay is an exception and seems pretty well coached. They seem to be overachieving relative to their actual talent.

What?? Harvard has by far the most draft picks in the ECAC and is in last place!

[ROMD]

What?? Harvard has by far the most draft picks in the ECAC and is in last place!

Not all NHL draft picks are created equal. Even assuming the scouts are picking properly, later round draft picks may need time to develop offensively at the college level to match expectations. A 4th or 5th round forward can't be expected to have the same immediate impact as say a Matthew Coronato (13th overall pick). This is a young team and they will certainly get better, hopefully a lot better the next two years. All of that said, this may still be the worst Harvard team since the late 70s.

[CornellFan13]

Not all NHL draft picks are created equal. Even assuming the scouts are picking properly, later round draft picks may need time to develop offensively at the college level to match expectations. A 4th or 5th round forward can't be expected to have the same immediate impact as say a Matthew Coronato (13th overall pick). This is a young team and they will certainly get better, hopefully a lot better the next two years. All of that said, this may still be the worst Harvard team since the late 70s.

I agree with you. I'm mostly just pushing back on your comment about the "skill drop off of the offense vs the rest of the league." Harvard is still plenty skilled compared to the rest of the ECAC.

[sezenack]

Their skill isn't the issue. It's youth and inexperience. Their players are younger basically across the board. Average age is 21.1, 3rd youngest in all of college hockey. The freshmen like Fine, MacDonald, Callow, Johnson, etc. are all decently talented players who will be good with time, but they won't be Coronato, Farrell, Laferriere level as freshmen. The bigger issue in my eyes (as someone who isn't a Harvard fan) is that the juniors and seniors haven't developed to take leading roles like their talent and pedigree would indicate they should. Gaffney, Karpa, Moore, Bar, Aucoin, etc. have not really developed. They should be way better than they are.

[Rainman]

What?? Harvard has by far the most draft picks in the ECAC and is in last place!

Colgate had 7 NHL draft picks in the 2010-11 season, and was 3-22-2 in early February, with 0 league wins at the time! They then figured it out, going 8-4-1 in their next 13 games, eliminating RPI and Union both on the road in the playoffs.

Having draft picks doesn't equate to immediate on-ice success.

[Skate79]

Colgate had 7 NHL draft picks in the 2010-11 season, and was 3-22-2 in early February, with 0 league wins at the time! They then figured it out, going 8-4-1 in their next 13 games, eliminating RPI and Union both on the road in the playoffs.

Having draft picks doesn't equate to immediate on-ice success.

Unless of course, you happen to be BC or BU.

[bothman]

Having watched a bunch of games now, Harvard is definitely progressing, but still are skating too many guys in a regular slot that are depth guys...especially on defense. I do see progression which is positive, but there are still too many derailers (face-offs, breakouts, and team speed being at the top of the list).

It's a down year for Harvard, but also for the ECAC. I think the ECAC likely only gets 1 team in the tourney this year, unless Quinny loses in the ECAC tourney. And while Quinny is clearly the best team, even this Quinny team is down relative to recent Quinny standards. Cornell, Clarkson, Harvard (Harvard moreso obviously) - these are teams that are definitely down relative to recent precedent. I would be very surprised to see a meaningful run out of any of these teams.

It should make for an interesting ECAC tourney, with such parity relative to prior years where you could almost slot the top 3 to 4 teams in Lake Placid before the tourney started.

[Skate79]

Having watched a bunch of games now, Harvard is definitely progressing, but still are skating too many guys in a regular slot that are depth guys...especially on defense. I do see progression which is positive, but there are still too many derailers (face-offs, breakouts, and team speed being at the top of the list).

It's a down year for Harvard, but also for the ECAC. I think the ECAC likely only gets 1 team in the tourney this year, unless Quinny loses in the ECAC tourney. And while Quinny is clearly the best team, even this Quinny team is down relative to recent Quinny standards. Cornell, Clarkson, Harvard (Harvard moreso obviously) - these are teams that are definitely down relative to recent precedent. I would be very surprised to see a meaningful run out of any of these teams.

It should make for an interesting ECAC tourney, with such parity relative to prior years where you could almost slot the top 3 to 4 teams in Lake Placid before the tourney started.

I wish I could agree with you but after watching tonight's Beanpot, I'm of the mind that Harvard hasn't progressed all that much. They are still being badly outplayed especially in their zone. Their D structure is horrendous and there is little in the way of offensive skill. Several if not most of the freshman class should be in D-2. They are not D-1 players. We may be looking at several years of futility before we climb back into the top four of the ECAC. And that's if we can recruit which it appears like we have taken a big step backwards.

[Split-N]

Harvard probably deserved a better fate what with NU being its own worst enemy for the first two periods.

[bothman]

I wish I could agree with you but after watching tonight's Beanpot, I'm of the mind that Harvard hasn't progressed all that much. They are still being badly outplayed especially in their zone. Their D structure is horrendous and there is little in the way of offensive skill. Several if not most of the freshman class should be in D-2. They are not D-1 players. We may be looking at several years of futility before we climb back into the top four of the ECAC. And that's if we can recruit which it appears like we have taken a big step backwards.

I think there has been progress. Not saying it is sufficient, but there has been progress in a number of areas - face-offs, power play, etc. Some guys are back now (Moore), but still missing Aucoin, Tresca, etc. Someone mentioned this earlier, but I think it's less about the frosh and more about upper-classmen that just aren't delivering.

That OT defense was a disaster. So bad on so many levels. An indifferent face-off (could Northeastern have won it more cleanly?), complete disregard for coverage (we went from man-to-man to a zone it seemed without the players knowing that they had shifted), etc.

I still think Harvard can win a playoff series - but that is more indicative of a very down ECAC than anything else.

[Mike799]

Anyone have any extra tickets for Monday? I was looking to take my son to the finals but can’t seem to find any?

[bothman]

tough to win hockey games when you lose 67% of the faceoffs. possession matters

[Skate79]

tough to win hockey games when you lose 67% of the faceoffs. possession matters

I was at the game last night and that was one of the things that stood out to me. Only Ben McDonald seems to be able to win any draws. Zach Karpa won a few. But by and large, Dartmouth dominated the faceoff circle and it led to a disproportionate amount of time in the Harvard D zone that led to Big Green goals.

Some other observations:

1. The PK needs work especially with the D men positioning down low. Either they block the shot from the point, or they move people out from where they are screening the goalie.

2. Ben McDonald and Cam Johnson were the two best freshmen on the ice for Harvard. Their games are coming along. Johnson in particular was a thorn in Dartmouth's side all night. And Ben looks like his dad with his gliding stride and wrist shot. It wasn't hard to draw the parallel especially since he wears his dad's old number.

3. I am utterly perplexed at what Michael Callow brings to the table. He has the size to dominate down low but for the life of me, I can't figure out what this kid sees on the ice. He has almost no feel for the game.

4. When Harvard jumped out to a 4-1 lead, they then put it into cruise control and let Dartmouth regain momentum and dominate the rest of the second period. Harvard's response in the third was better but it is troubling that they can let a lead evaporate so quickly.

5. Finally, it was great to see Alex Gaffney score twice including the winner in the shootout. Maybe this will jumpstart his production for the rest of the season.

I don't see Harvard winning more than one or two games for the rest of the season. The competition is too tough, and the team has serious issues on D (Ryan Healey was a turnstile last night). Having so many right shot D doesn't help but more work on positioning and breakouts is needed. Desperately.

[Skate79]

Tough to lose last night in OT but 4 out of 6 points isn't bad for the weekend. We still have a shot at home ice for the first round of the playoffs. The last weekend of the season will most likely decide it as Yale and Brown come to town. We're taking baby steps to improve - still need to do a better job of cashing in on our chances. At least the next two weekends give us something to play for.