Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

I think Brown may have benefitted from a let down effect from SLU beating Yale, but racing out to a 4-0 lead would make it difficult on anyone. I think Brown can do some damage in the ECAC playoffs. I'll tell ya right now that no way does Yale* win the ECAC tournament.

I agree that Brown can go a long way in the playoffs. In the real crunch time the team seems to put it all together. O-Man, while I did not see the SLU game, I am reluctant to say the win was in part the result of a letdown after the Yale win by SLU; I'd rather say it was a game Brown had to win and it did. I see 4 if not 5 wins in the reamining games.

As to a likely ECAC champ. I would put serious money on Union. Brown really struggled with U this year unlike past years. That team is really getting it together. Their freshmen class should get ECAC rookie of the year. I watched the destruction of Cornell on TV, and yes it was a destruction, and it is difficult to believe there is a better team in the ECAC right now. Cornell took out its 9 shot performance and frustration with some goon-type antics at the end of the game. While the talk was about Jason Klomp's exchange with the ECAC officiating head, the fight at the end of the game where a Cornell player tore the helmet off a U playe who did nothing to provoke it and then tried to punch him in the head. Such play was absent in U's first win over Cornell.

 

[Onion Man]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

I agree that Brown can go a long way in the playoffs. In the real crunch time the team seems to put it all together. O-Man, while I did not see the SLU game, I am reluctant to say the win was in part the result of a letdown after the Yale win by SLU; I'd rather say it was a game Brown had to win and it did. I see 4 if not 5 wins in the reamining games.

As to a likely ECAC champ. I would put serious money on Union. Brown really struggled with U this year unlike past years. That team is really getting it together. Their freshmen class should get ECAC rookie of the year. I watched the destruction of Cornell on TV, and yes it was a destruction, and it is difficult to believe there is a better team in the ECAC right now. Cornell took out its 9 shot performance and frustration with some goon-type antics at the end of the game. While the talk was about Jason Klomp's exchange with the ECAC officiating head, the fight at the end of the game where a Cornell player tore the helmet off a U playe who did nothing to provoke it and then tried to punch him in the head. Such play was absent in U's first win over Cornell.

Mike, Im not trying to diminish the win by saying it was only due to a let down on SLU's part. Obviously Brown came out fast, so its only natural to come out slow after winning such a big game for them. I agree with you about Union. I'd be surprised if either Union or RPI wasn't in the winners circle at the end of the tourney. Yale* is a fraud and Im not surprised they are coming down to Earth with a thud.

Brown can win that first series, but any playoff experience for the youngsters will benefit for the future.

 

[chinook 700]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

Euler, would you consider the sophomore class as a whole a failure?

Zaires has been fantastic, but his classmates have been underwhelming to say the least. Drolet looked promising last year, but has barely seen the ice this season. Crowley played well last year, but has been largely unremarkable this year (in fact, I was shocked to see that he's played in 18 games; I sure haven't noticed him in any more than a couple). You aptly demonstrated Senecal's shortcomings. Borelli has started one game in two seasons. Ryan has 1 point in 29 games over two years.

If I'm not mistaken, Zaires is the only sophomore with a single point this season. That's absolutely dreadful, in my book. Can this be attributed to the transition year between the Grillo and Whittet eras? Did some better recruits perhaps de-commit when they learned of Grillo's departure? I am very concerned for the next couple years if the entire class of 2013 minus Zaires is largely unproductive. Yes, they all have ample time to turn their careers around, but at this point, there is little promise.

It's disappointing, because I recall being excited about this bunch last year and thinking that many of them would amount to solid contributors. Unfortunately, only one of them has panned out so far. I'm no mathematician, but that's just an unacceptable ratio.

I believe that there is more here than meets the eye. Yes, Zaires has been good, as he should have, considering the amount and the "quality" of ice time that he has received (mostly top 2 lines since he's been there). Last year, the rest of the sophomore class were given a few opportunities to play there but were mostly relegated to 4th line situations where they played mostly minimal defensive minutes during a game to give them time to adapt to the new environment and to "learn the ropes" as there wasn't that much room to play on the top 3 lines. And that was as it should be for new players coming in.

This year, it seems to me that all of a sudden the rules have changed. These same players are in the same boat if not worse, that they were in last year. ALL 8 freshmen have played more games than any sophomore except for Zaires and Crowley (whose minutes are also on a rapid decline) And except for a few of those players, those games were played on the top 3 lines. Is it possible that all 8 of these "fantastic freshmen" are more talented than the whole sophomore class? Possible I suppose but not probable! I am convinced that given the opportunity to play consistent, "top 3 line" minutes as most of these freshmen have received this year, a lot of these sophomores would have come into their own and produced as expected. After all, like almost every D1 hockey player, they didn't get here by accident; It takes a lot of commitment, desire and hard work to get here! And I don't think any of them deserve what they they are going through.

So what's the problem? Could it be like what kdiff alluded to,"Can this be attributed to the transition year between the Grillo and Whittet eras?". Is the only reason that this is going on the fact that these guys were Grillo's last recruits and they are at the wrong place at the wrong time? IF that is the case, what a shame it would be to be dismissed or ignored for no other reason than for stupid, petty politics.

If we are all disappointed by this sophomore class' preformance, just imagine how they must feel !!

 

[Brown09]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

ALL 8 freshmen have played more games than any sophomore except for Zaires and Crowley (whose minutes are also on a rapid decline) And except for a few of those players, those games were played on the top 3 lines. Is it possible that all 8 of these "fantastic freshmen" are more talented than the whole sophomore class?

Yes. That's indeed the case.

 

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

With the 7-3 loss at Princeton, home ice in the first round comes down to tonight's game. Who starts in goal? I was not at last night's game and listened to it on P's radio broadcast. Were the goals Clemente let in soft ones? Did he get much help from his D. Yes, the goals came on power plays but I have seen Mike play much better than his apparent play at P. I would stay with him in this must win game.

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

With the 7-3 loss at Princeton, home ice in the first round comes down to tonight's game. Who starts in goal? I was not at last night's game and listened to it on P's radio broadcast. Were the goals Clemente let in soft ones? Did he get much help from his D. Yes, the goals came on power plays but I have seen Mike play much better than his apparent play at P. I would stay with him in this must win game.

Agreed. This is no time to be mixing up the goaltending. We actually have something to play for.

 

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

I was planning on listening to Mike for tonight's game on Brown's audio feed as it is listed on the Media link. But I noticed that there is also an audio of the Men's BBall. Are both games in fact being broadcast, or will hockey be sacrificed. I thought Brown did not have the capability of doing two gmes simultaneously.

 

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

Looks like no Mike tonight. The women's game is being broadcast. I must have read it wrong. My eyes will be checked soon.

 

[FiveHole12]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

MacLellan wasn't in the lineup against QU. Healthy scratch or injured?

 

[Euler18]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

MacLellan wasn't in the lineup against QU. Healthy scratch or injured?

Jack Maclellan sustained a nasty cut on his foot during his second shift in the Princeton game. Though it doesn't appear to be a season-ending injury, as first feared, he's in Providence recovering and will probably not be ready to resume playing until the playoffs.

 

[Euler18]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

I believe that there is more here than meets the eye. Yes, Zaires has been good, as he should have, considering the amount and the "quality" of ice time that he has received (mostly top 2 lines since he's been there). Last year, the rest of the sophomore class were given a few opportunities to play there but were mostly relegated to 4th line situations where they played mostly minimal defensive minutes during a game to give them time to adapt to the new environment and to "learn the ropes" as there wasn't that much room to play on the top 3 lines. And that was as it should be for new players coming in.

This year, it seems to me that all of a sudden the rules have changed. These same players are in the same boat if not worse, that they were in last year. ALL 8 freshmen have played more games than any sophomore except for Zaires and Crowley (whose minutes are also on a rapid decline) And except for a few of those players, those games were played on the top 3 lines. Is it possible that all 8 of these "fantastic freshmen" are more talented than the whole sophomore class? Possible I suppose but not probable! I am convinced that given the opportunity to play consistent, "top 3 line" minutes as most of these freshmen have received this year, a lot of these sophomores would have come into their own and produced as expected. After all, like almost every D1 hockey player, they didn't get here by accident; It takes a lot of commitment, desire and hard work to get here! And I don't think any of them deserve what they they are going through.

So what's the problem? Could it be like what kdiff alluded to,"Can this be attributed to the transition year between the Grillo and Whittet eras?". Is the only reason that this is going on the fact that these guys were Grillo's last recruits and they are at the wrong place at the wrong time? IF that is the case, what a shame it would be to be dismissed or ignored for no other reason than for stupid, petty politics.

If we are all disappointed by this sophomore class' preformance, just imagine how they must feel !!

Chinook 700 raises some interesting points.

Let me begin by saying that from what I know about the operation of the program, the fact that a player was recruited by Roger Grillo has no bearing on whether he plays or doesn't play. Some of Brendan's favorite players are guys who were recruited by the former coach. And I'm not just talking about frontline players like Jack Maclellan, Harry Z and Jeff Buvinow. Two good examples are Dave Brownschidle, who has blossomed under Brendan, having been given more and more responsibilities, and Jesse Fratkin, a player who played very little under Grillo, but whose speed fits well into Brendan's system.

Brendan wants to rebuild the Brown program on two pillars: skating ability up front, and mobility at defense. Unfortunately, most of the sophomores do not fit this mould. Foot speed, in particular, seems to be a problem with several of the sophomores. Some of them might have done fine in Grillo's north-south style but not in the systems that the current coaching staff has installed.

Brendan wants to win now, but he's also thinking about developing players for the future. Although he and his assistants recruited the current freshman class relatively late (fall of 2009), there's considerable raw talent in this group. It'd be hard not to play the defensive trio of Wahl/Robertson/Carrier. Mark Hourihan and Garnett Hathaway are big, dependable forwards, who have performed solidly from day one. And notice how well Mike Juola handles the puck, though he obviously needs to get stronger. Despite still looking somewhat unsure of himself at times, Jack Goldberg has a VERY good shot, which hopefully he'll start using more effectively.

 

[Euler18]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

If we are all disappointed by this sophomore class' preformance, just imagine how they must feel !!

As a follow-up to my previous message, I think the players have handled this situation much better and are probably much more realistic about it than their parents. The players have watched films of their performances. They've been shown the areas in which they need to improve. And, particularly now, with so many injuries, they've been given the opportunity to play, impress the coaching staff and demonstrate they belong. Meanwhile, I sit in the stands rooting for part-time players like Frank Drolet, Jeff Ryan and Marc Senecal to do well because they're such good kids.

 

[Brunofan]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

What do you think.....over-achieved, under-achieved, or right about where you thought they would be? I thought the expectations might be too high after the run they made at the end of the season.

The home record stands out as weaker than expected, but with the overall lack of noise/enthusiasm due to empty seats I guess it might be easier to play in front of better crowds in hostile buildings.

Overall Pct. Conf. Pct. Streak Home Away Neutral
8-13-5 .404 6-11-2 .368 Tied 1 2-5-2 4-7-3 2-1

 

[Euler18]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

What do you think.....over-achieved, under-achieved, or right about where you thought they would be? I thought the expectations might be too high after the run they made at the end of the season.

As I've previously written, I think this team is exactly where it should be, which is an improvement over last season, when they finished the regular season in eleventh place.

With the growing maturity of this year's very good freshman class and the infusion of solid new talent, Brown should be able to compete for fourth or fith spot next year provided that the goaltending holds. (Incidentally, Mike Clemente was excellent at Quinnipiac last night, so the potential is there for him to become one of the top goaltenders in the league.)

The home record stands out as weaker than expected, but with the overall lack of noise/enthusiasm due to empty seats I guess it might be easier to play in front of better crowds in hostile buildings.

Attendance has been averaging about 1,500, which is better than in the three last seasons under the previous regime, when even diehard fans like me sometimes couldn't bear to watch. This year there were about 2,000 (mostly disappointed) fans at the Dartmouth game. If the team starts winning consistently, attendance will continue to improve.

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

As I've previously written, I think this team is exactly where it should be, which is an improvement over last season, when they finished the regular season in eleventh place.

With the growing maturity of this year's very good freshman class and the infusion of solid new talent, Brown should be able to compete for fourth or fith spot next year provided that the goaltending holds. (Incidentally, Mike Clemente was excellent at Quinnipiac last night, so the potential is there for him to become one of the top goaltenders in the league.)

I think you're spot on with your assessment of the team meeting its expectations. We're obviously still rebuilding, and it'll be a few years before Brendan will have his mentality and his schemes fully employed.

However, your statement regarding Clemente's potential to become one of the top GK's in the league stood out to me. We've been saying this since his spectacular performance against Harvard in the playoffs his freshman season. And he has never backed up these assumptions with consistently decent or better play in the regular season. This past weekend is a perfect example- a stinker at Princeton and a gem at QU. Yes, his defense needs to improve, but if he were truly one of the best goalies in the league, he'd keep his team in every game. Which he doesn't. Certainly, he has the potential to do so, and in fact, he should be in the upper echelon of netminders in our league.

But he's not.

This prompts me to ask: what is the problem? Why can't he ever seem to put together back-to-back solid performances in the regular season? He has been undoubtedly the best goalie in the playoffs the past three years, but his regular season numbers have gone from decent to mediocre to downright awful. The kid steps up for games like Yale and BU, but not for Princeton or RPI. I want to be able to have a goalie we can trust to preserve a lead late in a game or keep us in a game we start slowly, but right now, we don't. DiFilippo and Borelli don't appear to be anything special, and Clemente's talent has not yet yielded consistent play.

So what do we do? Recruit another goalie, even though we already have 3? We have quite a conundrum if Clemente can't become the star he should be next season.

 

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

I think you're spot on with your assessment of the team meeting its expectations. We're obviously still rebuilding, and it'll be a few years before Brendan will have his mentality and his schemes fully employed.

However, your statement regarding Clemente's potential to become one of the top GK's in the league stood out to me. We've been saying this since his spectacular performance against Harvard in the playoffs his freshman season. And he has never backed up these assumptions with consistently decent or better play in the regular season. This past weekend is a perfect example- a stinker at Princeton and a gem at QU. Yes, his defense needs to improve, but if he were truly one of the best goalies in the league, he'd keep his team in every game. Which he doesn't. Certainly, he has the potential to do so, and in fact, he should be in the upper echelon of netminders in our league.

But he's not.

This prompts me to ask: what is the problem? Why can't he ever seem to put together back-to-back solid performances in the regular season? He has been undoubtedly the best goalie in the playoffs the past three years, but his regular season numbers have gone from decent to mediocre to downright awful. The kid steps up for games like Yale and BU, but not for Princeton or RPI. I want to be able to have a goalie we can trust to preserve a lead late in a game or keep us in a game we start slowly, but right now, we don't. DiFilippo and Borelli don't appear to be anything special, and Clemente's talent has not yet yielded consistent play.

So what do we do? Recruit another goalie, even though we already have 3? We have quite a conundrum if Clemente can't become the star he should be next season.

Well said! Perhaps the Q game will get him ready for the next 3 games. But even if Mike C gets back to high level of play, Brown's performance on the power play both ways has been dreadful. That caliber of play may doom Brown even with really solid goaltending.

Also, what was Brendan complaining about when he drew the penalty? Was it a specific call/non-call or the accumulation of bad officiating as Q's announcers seemed to be complaining about

 

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

Jeff Prough was recently called up to the Albany Devils. I went to this afternoon's game to watch him. He is still the solid all-around player he was at Brown. It was interesting that he played on the first unit power play and was terrific in working the puck around. He then began playing a lot of D on the power play. All of this and he played a regular shift as well. Reminded me of all the double and triple shifts he played under Roger. Jeff then got the go-ahead goal beating Mike leighton, who took the Flers last year to the Stanley Cup finals in close. A great representative of Brown hockey. I don't know what future he has with the parent club but I think a lot of teams in the NHL could use his talents.

BTW, Jeff was playing with McIntire from Colgate and Zalewski from CT. Great to see 3 ECAC players.

 

[Euler18]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

The news on Jack Maclellan isn't good. He had surgery yesterday and will be out for at least four weeks. Really bad break for a terrific kid as well as for the team.

 

[Euler18]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

Also, what was Brendan complaining about when he drew the penalty? Was it a specific call/non-call or the accumulation of bad officiating as Q's announcers seemed to be complaining about

Brendan was complaining about a non-call on a hit from behind as time expired in the second period.

 

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2010-2011 - Onward and Upward

Chris H's recruit page has an additional commitment for 2011 on 1/21 from a Massino Lamacchia, a leading scorer in the BCHL. He looks promising. Euler, I know that you don't like to comment on recruits, but is this the last of Brendan's 2011 class? By my count he has 8 players coming in next year.