Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

This was not the weekend we were looking for.

However, it's important to remember that this team is VERY young, and that a lot of freshmen played and played well against teams that already had 8 games under their belts.

The goaltending situation is worriesome, but Steel settled down nicely after the first period last night. The defense is more concerning, as they give up shooting lanes and rebounds that didn't happen last year. Every goal this weekend was a result of one of those two things happening.

It's frustrating to know that across town, the Friars already have four sell-outs this year, and we couldn't even fill half of a smaller arena for the first two games of the season.

One more thing: Hourihan and Hathaway have an "A" on their chests. They need to start playing like it

At Meehan for the SLU game but not Clarkson. I agree with KDiff that we are a young team - still a work in progress but close to getting there.
I thought Steele played well and deserves to start at Q on Friday. He was screened on the first goal and never had a chance. On the second D failed to clear. Missed the third.
The Lorito, Naclercio and Lappin line is terrific. I was most impressed with Lappin. He kept beating the SLU defense going down the ice and his passes to Lorito for a tip-in off by a fraction of a second. He looked like Harry Z with his speed. It was also good to see the Juola line get some ice time. That line played well and gave Brendan the ability to play his first two lines a lot towards the end of the game.

Disappointing crowd. Speaking of crowds, the football game attendance was pathetic for a sunny fall day which was also homecoming.

Lastly, can't fail to mention SLU's Carey brothers line. Quite impressive. It is a threat to score every shift.

 

[critsports]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

The Lorito, Naclercio and Lappin line is terrific. I was most impressed with Lappin. He kept beating the SLU defense going down the ice and his passes to Lorito for a tip-in off by a fraction of a second.

Disappointing crowd. Speaking of crowds, the football game attendance was pathetic for a sunny fall day which was also homecoming.

Lastly, can't fail to mention SLU's Carey brothers line. Quite impressive. It is a threat to score every shift.

While you were impressed with the Carey line........I was also impressed by your Lorito, Naciercio and Lappin line. I still shudder when I think Lappin coulda, shoulda followed in his dad's footsteps and he could have been the winger on that line with the Carey's.

On our part.......it's too bad we will only have that Carey combo for this year. Matt came to SLU last year but was ineligible, so, it's this year and then Greg graduates. We too have a lot of freshman playing. We have I think 10 on our roster.

Crowd always seems disappointing at Meehan and I think (seriously) it impacts the play of the visiting team in particular. When we were at Ylae the night before they had a sellout and the energy in the building was palpable. Both teams fed off of it and both teams flew all game.

I have to say that was my first look at your new uni's. Can't say as I am a fan. A bit too much with all the stripes. But....beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Good luck against Q Pac. They appear to be the class of the league again. Their win at Cornell was pretty impressive as that is a hard place to go into. Going into their barn will be difficult.

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

I have to say that was my first look at your new uni's. Can't say as I am a fan. A bit too much with all the stripes. But....beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Those are our "retro" *rolls eyes* alternates. Fortunately, we only wear them a couple times a season. The design isn't so bad, but the color is truly heinous. The home and away uniforms are a little bland and lack pizzazz, but they are at least appealing to the eye with a sharp, simplistic look. Dartmouth uses the same template, I believe.

It's always an interesting weekend when Clarkson and St. Lawrence come to town, because the teams play such opposite styles (Clarkson is very big and physical and St. Lawrence is small, fast, and skilled). Must be hard to game plan for that.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

Any of the Bruno diehards making the trip down on Friday?

 

[Euler18]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

At Meehan for the SLU game but not Clarkson. I agree with KDiff that we are a young team - still a work in progress but close to getting there.

I'm not so sure we're that young... Fifteen out of the twenty players who dressed on Friday were in uniform for the ECAC championship game last March.

Some of the veterans could have played better this past weekend, and they would be the first ones to admit to that.

I was most impressed with Lappin. He kept beating the SLU defense going down the ice and his passes to Lorito for a tip-in off by a fraction of a second. He looked like Harry Z with his speed.

Nick Lappin has been our best forward so far, followed by Naclerio, who does everything well. What was the last time Naclerio lost a faceoff?

Disappointing crowd.

Too many choices for our students and Providence residents. Students have a wide array of choices in music, theater, dance, not to mention parties, with or without clothes, sponsored by many different groups. Just because there's a game, it doesn't mean that students should be expected to come. It's their choice. Some Brown students don't care for sports. But then, many student athletes don't care for the arts, and shouldn't be expected to support theater or dance groups.

 

[CollegeHockeyRinkReport]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/col...doherty-commits-to-brown-ecac-brendan-whittet

Brown gets a commitment from Tim Doherty of St. George's.

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

I'm not so sure we're that young... Fifteen out of the twenty players who dressed on Friday were in uniform for the ECAC championship game last March.

Naclerio, Lappin, Pryzbek, Middleton, Kramer, Steel, Prescott, Wood, and Pfeil are all underclassmen who played significant minutes this weekend. That's more than most teams at the beginning of the season. The sophomore class is small, but all four players are important to the team. Likewise, we've seen every freshman except Rossi, Ernst and Doane get lots of playing time.

The core of the team is definitely juniors and seniors, but there's plenty of youth and inexperience. And plenty of players who are unfamiliar with each other and not quite on the same page yet.

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

Any of the Bruno diehards making the trip down on Friday?

Most likely not, but I do want to get to the Bank eventually. Maybe if we meet in the playoffs (when has that ever happened? ), I'll make the trip.

 

[Euler18]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

Naclerio, Lappin, Pryzbek, Middleton, Kramer, Steel, Prescott, Wood, and Pfeil are all underclassmen who played significant minutes this weekend. That's more than most teams at the beginning of the season. The sophomore class is small, but all four players are important to the team. Likewise, we've seen every freshman except Rossi, Ernst and Doane get lots of playing time.

The core of the team is definitely juniors and seniors, but there's plenty of youth and inexperience. And plenty of players who are unfamiliar with each other and not quite on the same page yet.

Unless a team's recruiting is terribly incompetent, it's not unusual for a certain number of first-years and sophomores to play regularly. This is due in part to teams' keeping their recruits in juniors until they're ready to contribute immediately. Indeed, this is now the case with Brown because the coaching staff no longer needs to rush recruits into college competition as they did in 2009. At that time they soon realized that even relatively inexperienced players coming directly out of high school (Garnett Hathway, Mark Hourihan, Jake Goldberg) would be better than many of the veteran players they had to work with (with exception of the strong class of 2010 -- D. Timberlake, A. Volpatti, J. Pietrus, S. McMonagle, etc. -- who were the perfect bridge between the old regime and the new).

Unlike last year, the excellent freshmen on this year's team aren't expected to lead though some, particularly Pryzbeck and Middleton, are being given important roles. The solid senior class has progressed steadily over the past three and a half years, there's plenty of talent among the juniors, and the four sophomores played such key roles last season that they can hardly be considered inexperienced. I think it's fair to assume that next season Brown will finally be able to boast of four very strong classes. Once again, some freshmen will most certainly play immediately, but there'll be no expectation that they'll be leaders.

 

[CollegeHockeyRinkReport]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

Dennis Robertson one of 20 candidates for Senior CLASS Award.

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/201...t-michigan-sam-brittain-denver-greg-carey-slu

 

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

Any of the Bruno diehards making the trip down on Friday?

Should be a good game. Brown now has 4 games behind it and I expect to see improvement this weekend over last weekend's play. Q should be a good test, especially with last year's ECAC semis in mind. I think the key will be whether Brown's D can slow down Q's O; Brown I believe will score.

 

[Euler18]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

Any of the Bruno diehards making the trip down on Friday?

I expect to be there. Dinner at 5:00pm at Eli's on Whitney with three other Brown people. You're welcome to join us and tell us more about Quinnipiac. It should be an interesting game.

 

[Onion Man]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

Brown is clearly a team on the rise. Bold prediction is this team will be a NCAA tourney team this year

 

[kdiff77]

Brown is clearly a team on the rise. Bold prediction is this team will be a NCAA tourney team this year

This is an oddly timed prediction, since we were thoroughly dominated last night.

Disturbing theme: giving up multiple goals in the first period in each of the last three games (3, 3, 2). We've given up ONE second or third period goal in any of those games (excluding last night's empty netter), but we need to not get off on the wrong foot like we have. It makes a huge difference.

 

[Ghost of North Main St.]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

Per @MarkDivver

Steel starts in goal today.

After popgun offensive effort on Fri., Whittet breaks up top line.

Pryzbek at LW with Naclerio and Lappin. Lorito to center with Hathaway and Jacobson.

de Consilys hurt early last night. Pfiel not on trip. Apparently was injured vs. Clarkson.

All 7 freshmen playing today.

 

[BrunoFan00]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

Per @MarkDivver

Steel starts in goal today.

After popgun offensive effort on Fri., Whittet breaks up top line.

Pryzbek at LW with Naclerio and Lappin. Lorito to center with Hathaway and Jacobson.

de Consilys hurt early last night. Pfiel not on trip. Apparently was injured vs. Clarkson.

All 7 freshmen playing today.

Some of my top ten thoughts after we (finally) get the win against Princeton, and having seen the Bears now three times - the home weekend and the game at Quinnipiac, which was dreadful.

1. Popgun offensive effort is a good assessment of the Quinnipiac game. The little burst of speed that gave Nick Lappin the edge on anyone from St. Lawrence or Clarkson didn't matter against Quinnipiac. Their defensemen were quicker, and the 'Cats anticipated every single passing lane Brown attempted. It wasn't really a game, though the Bears' spunk in the third was encouraging.

2. Matt Lorito is frequently the best player on the ice. Mark Naclerio and Nick Lappin are very, very good. The rest of the centers, though, are leaving much to be desired, hence why Juola likely sat against Princeton and Mark Hourihan saw limited action against Q'pac. Garnet Hathaway, in order to fully be that power forward in the Volpatti-Harry Z-Killorn-Greening mold, needs to have a little more of a scoring touch without losing the physical edge that makes him tick. For guys like Harlow and Juola, it's time. Until the Bears have a second line capable of getting a couple goals a weekend, they will struggle.

3. Someone called this team young. They're not. Defensively, Wood has been the only freshman playing, though Quick is essentially a sophomore and Goldberg is arguably new to the position, despite his fish-to-water acclimation a year ago. Wahl and Robertson have been regulars - no, the top two D-men - since their first years on campus. Wahl has played well, timing his jumps to offense well and covering the d-zone well, while staying out of the box. Robertson has gotten the Bears some points, which is nice to see, but he's picked up some bad penalties as well.

4. I'm not sure which goalie is better or has seized the job yet. Steel looks like a first year college goalie but has flashes. Marco's mobility isn't the best. Neither guy has played like the type who can steal a game, at least not yet.

5. Zach Pryzbek is going to be a very, very good hockey player for the Bears. Great size, good instincts, much better skater than the last few 6'4" Bears we've had. Granted, it's a short list, but this young man can play.

6. Quinnipiac is going to be an exceptional hockey team for years to come. They skated one senior defenseman, one junior defenseman, the Jones brothers, and essentially a whole host of underclassmen. You folks out there can insert your own editorializing about their facilities (huge advantage), academic difference from some of the other ECAC schools (also an advantage), and community following that has expanded exponentially (also, terrific advantage). All I mean to point out is that this team has more raw talent than last year's edition, similar talent to the Backman-Arcobello-Little-Kearney Yale squad of a few year's back.

7. Will the Bears ever get all their special teams in sync? Last week, the kill was dreadful, but the power play was decent. Against Quinnipiac, the power play was atrocious against a very good kill, but the kill was solid against an above average power play. The bipolar nature of the Bears' special teams is downright frustrating.

8. I can't believe I'm being critical of a team that is averaging 3.5 goals per game, and that's with a shutout. (Take that away, and the Bears' are over four goals per game). Look at the comparisons:

2007-08: 2.16
2008-09: 1.82 (and thank heavens for Matt Vokes' team high 28 points)
2009-10: 2.78
2010-11: 2.68
2011-12: 2.34
2012-13: 2.50

I don't expect this torrid pace to continue, but it's nice to speculate.

9. Does anyone think this schedule is biting off more than the team can chew? PC (a regular), UNH, Denver, Colorado, BC. I like the rigor of it, don't get me wrong, but there is no rest for this team. Much different than AIC, Holy Cross, Connecticut - not necessarily games the Bears have played well.

10. Not making the trek to UNH, though I thought would be able to. I think it's Marco's game. He played great there a couple times already as a freshman and sophomore. The space of the bigger sheet should benefit guys like Lappin, Lorito, Naclerio, Wahl, Goldberg et al, and if the bigger, younger guys like Pryzbek and Middleton can figure out the space, it should be a good test. Looking forward to following it from afar.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

6. Quinnipiac is going to be an exceptional hockey team for years to come. They skated one senior defenseman, one junior defenseman, the Jones brothers, and essentially a whole host of underclassmen. You folks out there can insert your own editorializing about their facilities (huge advantage), academic difference from some of the other ECAC schools (also an advantage), and community following that has expanded exponentially (also, terrific advantage). All I mean to point out is that this team has more raw talent than last year's edition, similar talent to the Backman-Arcobello-Little-Kearney Yale squad of a few year's back.

Thank you! That's very high praise coming from the competition and is really nice to hear. It validates what many of us regulars already think.

I'd like to say that last night I saw a very different Brown team than in years past. The results may not have showed it, but they hung with us for almost the entire game and never gave up. Previous teams, especially playing in Hamden, have often engaged in really chippy play when their backs were against the wall. This team seemed to stay composed for the most part, even when getting dominated in their end.

Good luck the rest of the way until we see you at Meehan in February.

 

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

Has anyone watched any of the Hockey games on the Ivy League Digital Network? Is the quality good? Is there audio and who does the play by play if any?

I really miss Mike R on the Internet. Bruno tells me that the Ivy League Digital Network precludes Brown from having its own Internet broadcast. That is unfortunate. I wonder if we can get a petition going to get Brown to urge re resumption of the Internet broadcasts

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: Brown Hockey 2013-2014 - Climbing to the Top of the ECAC Ladder

Has anyone watched any of the Hockey games on the Ivy League Digital Network? Is the quality good? Is there audio and who does the play by play if any?

I watched our game against Cornell last weekend and it was terrible. The picture was HD and the announcers were the Cornell radio feed, but every 3 or 4 minutes the connection would time out and I'd need to log back in. All game long. I sent an email to tech support midway through the first and was told to try another browser, which I did on laptop, a desktop, and even a Mac. All had the same timeout issues and the ILDN refused to refund my money.

 

[Onion Man]

This is an oddly timed prediction, since we were thoroughly dominated last night.

Disturbing theme: giving up multiple goals in the first period in each of the last three games (3, 3, 2). We've given up ONE second or third period goal in any of those games (excluding last night's empty netter), but we need to not get off on the wrong foot like we have. It makes a huge difference.

Yes, smoked, but this team is much more mentally tough than previous years. Brown will be tough as he'll by February