Harvard 2025-26: Year Three

[thirdtime's . . .]

Big win over the Eli last night down in New Haven. Despite being badly outshot, they managed to put four on the board and come away with the W. The quality of shots matters at the end of the day.

It appears Bellamy is rotating the goalies to keep each one activated and fresh. Last night it was Davidson. I wonder how the goalies feel about it. I suppose it's better than being pinned to the end of the bench all season with no chance to start. The way Tuffy played last year, I thought she would get the most action. Maybe not?

A good weekend against ranked teams for Harvard’s climb back. Unfazed by Yale, Harvard then countered Brown’s playmaking with its own tenacity until what should have been a well-earned tie for both teams devolved into pond hockey, the 3x3 overtime that nobody signed up for. If you can’t honor the intensity that marks mutually fought games by staying with a tie, then just flip a coin. Even the winners know that the outcome either way is pretty arbitrary. . . . Never mind. This forum has seen its share of threads exhaust themselves with the OT debate.

Yes, Bellamy has decided that she has three starting goalies this year. It’s an unwieldy proposition at best, since any “rotation" risks languishing both individual skills and morale, especially if it’s without a predictable pattern. Like Skate79, my main concern here is Tuffy, who as a rookie last year more or less single-handedly held that 2-25-2 team together. For a team with little defense and less offense she had three games with 40+ saves. The last time she was seen on the ice this season was six games ago, when she made 41 saves at Clarkson. (She appears to be healthy, btw.) Both Davidson and the FY Whynot have had twice as many starts to date. So, I think if you have “three starters” you also need a good shrink on the bench, for coach and players alike.

(I did make the trip to Providence after all, since it had been some time since I’d been rinkside. I was reintroduced to the sheer electricity of the game in the intimate confines of Meehan. That’s probably what prompted some of the above.)

 

[Skate79]

A good weekend against ranked teams for Harvard’s climb back. Unfazed by Yale, Harvard then countered Brown’s playmaking with its own tenacity until what should have been a well-earned tie for both teams devolved into pond hockey, the 3x3 overtime that nobody signed up for. If you can’t honor the intensity that marks mutually fought games by staying with a tie, then just flip a coin. Even the winners know that the outcome either way is pretty arbitrary. . . . Never mind. This forum has seen its share of threads exhaust themselves with the OT debate.

Yes, Bellamy has decided that she has three starting goalies this year. It’s an unwieldy proposition at best, since any “rotation" risks languishing both individual skills and morale, especially if it’s without a predictable pattern. Like Skate79, my main concern here is Tuffy, who as a rookie last year more or less single-handedly held that 2-25-2 team together. For a team with little defense and less offense she had three games with 40+ saves. The last time she was seen on the ice this season was six games ago, when she made 41 saves at Clarkson. (She appears to be healthy, btw.) Both Davidson and the FY Whynot have had twice as many starts to date. So, I think if you have “three starters” you also need a good shrink on the bench, for coach and players alike.

(I did make the trip to Providence after all, since it had been some time since I’d been rinkside. I was reintroduced to the sheer electricity of the game in the intimate confines of Meehan. That’s probably what prompted some of the above.)

I'm surprised that one of the goalies didn't enter the transfer portal. Maybe Tuffy thought, based on her heroics last year, that she and Davidson would split the net with Whynot sitting and watching for her freshman season.

I caught the third period of the Brown game, and I had a different opinion. I thought Brown's structure and offensive flow were superior to the Crimson. Whereas the Crimson played dump and chase for most of the period, Brown passed the puck and involved all five players in setting up chances. Hockey is a team game - unfortunately, the Crimson's attack is predicated on one player taking the puck into the offensive zone and trying to create an opportunity rather than using teammates. Shades of the Katey Stone era.

 

[thirdtime's . . .]

I had a different opinion.

???

Can’t what you report seeing from Brown be described as playmaking? Can’t most of Harvard's solo entries into the O zone coming from neutral zone turnovers followed by late arrivals creating scrums that resulted in three goals be described as tenacious? I can’t force you to get on board, but this program is turning the corner.

 

[hockeywhisperer]

A lot has changed since the early 2000s regarding the competitive landscape. From the outside it looks as though the staff fully recognizes what its working with, and that’s crucial given the existing headwinds.