Harvard 2022-23: What's Up?

[Trillium]

I wonder how she conducted herself as the US Olympic and U18 coach......

Rink talk following the Olympics was that a significant number of players on that Olympic team went to management and complained about her. The fact that she has not coached at that level since then would appear to support that there were serious enough concerns that they went in another direction subsequently.

I heard it from multiple sources I believe are credible, given they also had ties to USA Hockey.

[dave1381]

Huh, I haven't read Coyne's book and I just searched it on Google Books:

"Coach Stone was tough and demanded excellence from us---which is to be expected in order to make an Olympic team." (p. 139)

"Our team got the bronze, which was the worst finish ever for the United States, and Coach Stone was not happy. Neither were we." (p. 140)

"I'd had Coach Stone's voice in my head since I was fifteen, when she was first-ever U18 coach and was demanding excellence then. Over the years, she pushed me harder and further than I knew I could be pushed." (p. 141)

This is all about what I would've expected Kendall Coyne or anyone else to write about her international experience playing for Coach Stone.

Coach Stone not returning to USA Hockey is not much evidence of anything, since in recent history, you more often than not don't see anyone staying for more than 1 cycle as head coach at the international level, true for women's hockey today (though obviously not in the past - Ben Smith stayed 3 Olympics) and that's true across a lot of team sports.

I expect more of the issues of substantial concern here will have manifested in the Harvard environment rather than the international environment. Some of the pain in college may have been cumulative over 3-4 years, which makes a difference (of course not always -- Abra is a public leader of the opposition after just the 02-03 season). The power balance between her and reputable Olympians vs. her and incoming Harvard students just isn't the same. And the pressure the coach feels to keep players focused on hockey in college is just different.

[Skate79]

I wouldn't blame her for still doing her job up until the time she gets fired. She's not going to cower in her office like a prisoner waiting to get their head lopped off. In her mind she's done nothing wrong and even when they do fire her, her self belief will tell her what she did was ok. She knows no other way.

While she's 'doing her job', she would do herself a great favor by listening to and reviewing what some of these girls have said about her and the survey results. I doubt she will do this, and it won't be until she realizes down the road that her attitude and behavior had a significant negative impact on the lives of young women who will carry the damage well into adulthood unless they get proper counseling. I know because 20 years after I left a toxic situation with a software company working for a president who was about as abusive as it gets, the president and I bumped into each other at the Harvard Club, and he apologized profusely for his actions toward me. I thanked him for the apology, and we shook hands and went our own way.

[Skate79]

Great question. I think the fact that not one of the former Olympians who played under her has come forward in support, speaks volumes. I have gone back and rewatched that game a couple of times since this whole fiasco started a couple of years ago but paying more attention to body language on the bench. Her standard go to move of playing only the top two lines cost her that game in the final minutes. Those players were exhausted in my opinion.

I asked a similar question earlier in the thread about the non-Harvard Olympians that played under her direction in Sochi and what they might say about her. Obviously, Coyne felt she was a positive influence. We have to remember that Coyne was recruited by Stone, and I think Harvard was her top choice although I have no confirmation other than something I read about her a while ago.

[ARM]

We have to remember that Coyne was recruited by Stone, and I think Harvard was her top choice although I have no confirmation other than something I read about her a while ago.

That was the story. She waited long enough that other offers were no longer available, so she delayed a year and still didn't get to go to Harvard. Seems like she ultimately wound up somewhere that was a good fit for her.

[MAHOCKEY FAN]

i fear the longer this goes on the more likely it will be status quo. Harvard is hoping everyone forgets what has been said. (I wont!) The only thing that might push it along is more players going to the portal...but i bet the unhappy players are hoping that KS leaves (one way or another) and the players can continue with a Harvard education and a D1 hockey experience. The longer this drags out, the less likely it is that new players will commit, so the powers that be should get through the process. Players will know what the administration thinks, then can make personal decisions based on that.

[Prowler]

i fear the longer this goes on the more likely it will be status quo. Harvard is hoping everyone forgets what has been said. (I wont!) The only thing that might push it along is more players going to the portal...but i bet the unhappy players are hoping that KS leaves (one way or another) and the players can continue with a Harvard education and a D1 hockey experience. The longer this drags out, the less likely it is that new players will commit, so the powers that be should get through the process. Players will know what the administration thinks, then can make personal decisions based on that.

This is too big to get swept under the carpet, and there are too many people making huge sacrifices and doing all they can to keep it in the spotlight until something is done. Word is the law firm investigation will report their findings before end of term.. Fingers crossed.

[Skate79]

This is too big to get swept under the carpet, and there are too many people making huge sacrifices and doing all they can to keep it in the spotlight until something is done. Word is the law firm investigation will report their findings before end of term.. Fingers crossed.

When you say, 'end of term', do you mean the end of this semester? If the findings support the removal of Coach Stone, that won't provide much time for finding and installing her replacement. And her replacement will have to use the transfer portal to bring in players for next year's team due to the lack of recruits committed for next year. And hopefully stem the outflow of players leaving Harvard.

[Prowler]

When you say, 'end of term', do you mean the end of this semester? If the findings support the removal of Coach Stone, that won't provide much time for finding and installing her replacement. And her replacement will have to use the transfer portal to bring in players for next year's team due to the lack of recruits committed for next year. And hopefully stem the outflow of players leaving Harvard.

yes, the end of this semester, and I agree, it doesn't leave much time to clean house and move on...

[Hello]

If this was a male coach, he would have been fired as soon as the naked skate accusation was affirmed to be true. Any lawyers on this thread who could possibly explain why the process is taking so long? Obviously this is a real difficult situation for the student athletes both past, present and incoming. Hopefully this gets resolved very soon so that the program has time to recover. LetsGoHarvard!!

[Timothy A]

If this was a male coach, he would have been fired as soon as the naked skate accusation was affirmed to be true. Any lawyers on this thread who could possibly explain why the process is taking so long? Obviously this is a real difficult situation for the student athletes both past, present and incoming. Hopefully this gets resolved very soon so that the program has time to recover. LetsGoHarvard!!

I just read up on freshman fun night and the naked skate....how is she not fired yet? This is a travesty.

[Skate79]

If this was a male coach, he would have been fired as soon as the naked skate accusation was affirmed to be true. Any lawyers on this thread who could possibly explain why the process is taking so long? Obviously this is a real difficult situation for the student athletes both past, present and incoming. Hopefully this gets resolved very soon so that the program has time to recover. LetsGoHarvard!!

I'm not an attorney so I'm speaking from experience with Harvard through the eyes of a parent who taught at the University. This is not a school that moves quickly unless money is involved. Either to bring in a substantive gift or avoid money flowing out as the result of a lawsuit. Harvard wants to make sure that all the 'eyes' are dotted, and the 'tees' are crossed before making a move. I doubt they care at all about timing and how it will affect the hockey team next season. Which is a shame for the players who have chosen to stay and cross their fingers that a new coaching staff will be coming in prior to graduation.

[thirdtime's . . .]

"Death by a thousand cuts."

Go to YouTube and search "Katie Strang Harvard" for this and other observations from an excellent interview with this thoughtful journalist from The Athletic.

(Katie Strang ≠ Katey Stone)

[Timothy A]

"Death by a thousand cuts."

Go to YouTube and search "Katie Strang Harvard" for this and other observations from an excellent interview with this thoughtful journalist from The Athletic.

(Katie Strang ≠ Katey Stone)

Super interesting and enlightening. It's just shocking that in 2023 at an uptight eastern Ivy University that even a whiff of these allegations doesn't get you canned.

Harvard hasn't promised to make the results of the investigation public. Unreal.

These reporters investigate these accusations for a living and they were "blown away" by the scope and depth of what they found. Unreal.

[Timothy A]

"Death by a thousand cuts."

Go to YouTube and search "Katie Strang Harvard" for this and other observations from an excellent interview with this thoughtful journalist from The Athletic.

(Katie Strang ≠ Katey Stone)

Listening in to the rest of the interview......Stone has created a cult there where this behavior is acceptable. Ex-players even come back and partake in the hazing.
Several players had to take a year off of school to fix the mental damage. Wow.
No one is saying she is too tough.