Re: Brown Hockey 2012-2013:Climbing the ECAC Ladder
Prescott is getting ice time, as is Naclerio. Today was the first time that Coach Whittet played five D and added Drolet back to the lineup. Truthfully, Drolet, Juola, and Ryan played pretty well together. Naclerio didn't skate much in the second period tonight, but he is a mainstay. Prescott is a big kid - about 6'2 - and is just figuring out I think the D-1 game. I think he will be fine in time.
The two guys that I think need to elevate their game are Hourihan and Harlow. Hourihan is a good PK guy and had flashes of offense his first couple years - not asking him to be a 30 point guy, but 7-10 goals and 5-10 assists would be nice.
Jacobson played his best today, and Hathaway was pretty consistent as well. Truthfully, putting anyone with Lorito these days elevates his game, since Lorito is playing at a very high level.
What will definitely help Brown is to cycle in guys to see what sticks with Lorito. Once Lorito comes back down off the high, which is bound to happen just by law of averages, someone else will need to get the ball rolling. That will at least get the scoring up and allow Brown to do more than just rely on him.
I think this game today will go a long way to building that kind of trust in other players and it will foster more of an all-around attack. That first period was one of the most snakebitten periods I've seen or heard in a long time. Brown controlled the ice but gave up the goals. I think that falls back on the goaltending, which is a sore spot for the Bears this year. Until they bring in someone who can play up to the D1 level, they're going to give up goals despite controlling ice time because Borelli's really not that good and De Fillippo has issues going side-to-side.
Of the guys I'd mention, I don't know if someone mentioned Pfeil but he put together a +3 in a 1-goal game. That's pretty impressive.
One thing I know from personal experience with Holy Cross is that they do a couple of things very well. 1) They tend to get off the ice and catch teams in shift changes very well. They're very fast about it, bordering on the too many men on the ice penalty more than a couple of times, and they're usually very hard to catch in changes on icing. I've never seen them actually get caught in an icing without changing at least 2 or 3 of the players just in sheer speed off the bench.
2) They're physical. Bentley-Holy Cross games are typically blood baths. I think Miller graduated, so that eliminated one of their thugs, but they ahve some guys that like to bang. Erik Vos is pretty much public enemy #1 among teams in the AHA these days.
3) Their offense is great, but their defense and goaltending has been suspect for a while. There will be massive amounts of stretches where they allow tons of shots and can't clear. Good offenses take control. If Brown won this, 3-2, then a team with a more polished offense should hypothetically beat them 6-2. Their goaltending situation's been an issue for about 3 years now.
They are one of those perfect teams to get your team jumpstarted on the season. They're good but not great, and their win-loss record usually isn't an indicator of how susceptible they are. I think the term is "bad good team" because they're good on paper but can't pass the eye test. Still, a win is a win, and Brown's got some serious momentum going these days. 3-4-2 and a win over HC will make waves tomorrow for the people who havent' seen either team play.
