Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

[Jon]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

! Providence is a strong team, but maybe not such a potent offensive threat (18th in the country in scoring, which is good but not elite). I'm hoping we come out on fire to avenge last year's 6-0 meltdown.

The one saving grace for the Friars is that the game isn't on a Saturday. The offense completely evaporates on Saturdays - shutout losses to Clarkson, RIT (!), UNH, BU - 2 goals against Bobby Mo last weekend and yet another loss to Clarkson... The 7-2 victory over UMASS and the 6-6 tie at Merrimack being outliers.

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

The one saving grace for the Friars is that the game isn't on a Saturday. The offense completely evaporates on Saturdays - shutout losses to Clarkson, RIT (!), UNH, BU - 2 goals against Bobby Mo last weekend and yet another loss to Clarkson... The 7-2 victory over UMASS and the 6-6 tie at Merrimack being outliers.

Those are quite the impressive outliers! I also notice the Friars have scored precisely zero goals on Wednesday nights this season, which is just putrid. Embarrassing, really. Brown, on the other hand, has scored one (1) goal on Wednesdays, thus establishing itself as the obvious favorite in this game.

 

[fr. joe]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

Those are quite the impressive outliers! I also notice the Friars have scored precisely zero goals on Wednesday nights this season, which is just putrid. Embarrassing, really. Brown, on the other hand, has scored one (1) goal on Wednesdays, thus establishing itself as the obvious favorite in this game.

Big Data is everything!

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

We’ve managed to regress into last year’s team over the past month of not playing. Fire Whittet.

 

[kdiff77]

Big Data is everything!

You may have won the game, but we’ll win the math!

 

[kdiff77]

We’ve managed to regress into last year’s team over the past month of not playing. Fire Whittet.

Would prefer we don’t go down 4-0 in the first place, but this is clearly a much more resilient team than last year’s!

 

[blazer777]

Would prefer we don’t go down 4-0 in the first place, but this is clearly a much more resilient team than last year’s!

Heck of a comeback by Brown tonight, quite a different team in the third period. Congrats!

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

That was a really, really entertaining game last night. Neither team played defense, and as a result, we were treated to high-octane offense from both teams throughout the whole game. Tony Stillwell could be an absolute star at this level. He's got better hands and speed than any forward on our roster, and we've got a handful of good puck-handlers and skaters.

The goaltending situation is back to being an overall negative. Sure, the defense was directly responsible for probably three of the four goals we allowed last night, but neither Kania nor Nieto has really grabbed the reins in recent games and made the job his own. It's a little concerning to me that at this point in the season, we're still playing a rotation in net – and not because we have two goalies battling it out for the starting job, but because neither is apparently ready to be an automatic starter at this level. I wonder if Connor Maher could deliver a steady senior season, a la Borelli in 2013?

 

[Bhall44]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

I saw a much better Brown team from 1 year ago. Good compete level with some skill out there. Good luck the rest of the way and hopefully the W's start coming your way!

 

[kdiff77]

I saw a much better Brown team from 1 year ago. Good compete level with some skill out there. Good luck the rest of the way and hopefully the W's start coming your way!

Likewise, I was impressed with Maine’s skating and skill, particularly in generating clean shot looks, compared to last year. With both Hockey East and the ECAC having relative down years, maybe our teams can make some noise down the stretch. Go Bears, both of the brown and black varieties!

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

Anyone still out there? This thread has completely died off this season. Sad

Anyway, a tie at #3 in the country is a great way to respond to a tough loss to an underwhelming St. Lawrence team. Luke Kania appears to be the real deal, and I'm happy he's playing with a level of confidence that he didn't show early in the season. Tony Stillwell continues to demonstrate his skill on and off the puck each week. Beaudoin is on a bit of a cold streak, but he has the talent to turn it around and finish the year strongly. The senior class has seen a drop-off in production, which is disappointing.

I learned that Max Willman tore his ACL, meaning his Brown career is likely finished. He may qualify for a medical redshirt and transfer elsewhere for one last season; I believe the Ivy League's archaic rules would prevent him from seeking a fifth year at Brown. Either way, I wish him the best. He was a joy to watch over the last four years, bringing creativity and speed to the table every game. He'll be a tremendous addition to any college team that picks him up next season.

 

[Hope Street]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

Anyone still out there? This thread has completely died off this season. Sad

Anyway, a tie at #3 in the country is a great way to respond to a tough loss to an underwhelming St. Lawrence team. Luke Kania appears to be the real deal, and I'm happy he's playing with a level of confidence that he didn't show early in the season. Tony Stillwell continues to demonstrate his skill on and off the puck each week. Beaudoin is on a bit of a cold streak, but he has the talent to turn it around and finish the year strongly. The senior class has seen a drop-off in production, which is disappointing.

I learned that Max Willman tore his ACL, meaning his Brown career is likely finished. He may qualify for a medical redshirt and transfer elsewhere for one last season; I believe the Ivy League's archaic rules would prevent him from seeking a fifth year at Brown. Either way, I wish him the best. He was a joy to watch over the last four years, bringing creativity and speed to the table every game. He'll be a tremendous addition to any college team that picks him up next season.

According to Divver's tweet from Jan. 9: Smart money is on BU

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

According to Divver's tweet from Jan. 9: Smart money is on BU

Must have missed that – would be a nice landing spot for Max. He'd get to play with some bonafide NHL talent and possibly put up some monster numbers to impress the Sabres.

 

[Euler18]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

According to Divver's tweet from Jan. 9: Smart money is on BU

Smart money is finishing your degree in four years and getting on with your life. The Ivy League doesn't have a special five-year college plan for hockey players.

 

[cavbim]

Smart money is finishing your degree in four years and getting on with your life. The Ivy League doesn't have a special five-year college plan for hockey players.

Maybe I’m misreading you but that comes across as very snarky.

For Max to use his medical red shirt season anywhere else he has to graduate from Brown as part of the transfer. (Not sure if it has to be May or end of summer school—see SLU goalie who accelerated to grad and spend essentially his grad year at Wisconsin)

So I’d say Willman has a plan in place. Kid certainly good enough to have some type of a pro career. So if terms are right go right to Sabres else as KDiff says show on a good team prove your worth either get Sabres to Max offer (no pun) or wait it out for free agency (also possible to attain that too this year), meantime get your masters (again I assume BU has the right program for him and why smart money) then have an alternate career after hockey is done.

You come across like if he can’t stay at Brown you begrudge him playing.

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

Tough loss to a team that was more preoccupied with cheap shots and demonstrating their acting abilities than playing hockey. Refs bought the act hook, line and sinker. Will absolutely be rooting against UConn the rest of the way.

 

[PizzaRing]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

I'm not really a Brown fan, but wonder what's happened to the program since ~2013.
Why hasn't the program done well, and what besides Whittet and high admissions
standards factor into this? ( Understand about the rink )

 

[paulfb]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

I'm not really a Brown fan, but wonder what's happened to the program since ~2013.
Why hasn't the program done well, and what besides Whittet and high admissions
standards factor into this? ( Understand about the rink )

Not a Brown fan either, but I'm giving away my age when I remember how great the atmosphere was at Meehan Auditorium in the mid-1970s. Then, a coach at the time had trouble establishing a rapport with the admissions office -- critical as schools such as Brown -- and the decline has been multigenerational. Sad to see the program in the shape it is today.

 

[PizzaRing]

Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

Not a Brown fan either, but I'm giving away my age when I remember how great the atmosphere was at Meehan Auditorium in the mid-1970s. Then, a coach at the time had trouble establishing a rapport with the admissions office -- critical as schools such as Brown -- and the decline has been multigenerational. Sad to see the program in the shape it is today.

That's a lot of years/coaches & admissions teams ago... but maybe that's it. I just looked up the Brown hockey program history. ( I thought the program had done better than it actually has. ) Except for a few spurts of success under Gaudet and later Grillo ( in early 00's ) there's not been much success in last 25-30 yrs. Both coaches left with losing career records, and Whittet would be the 3rd. From the outside looking in, it seems Brown could have a successful hockey program, unless there's a pronounced, long-standing institutional bias. I know Dartmouth and Princeton struggle to reach .500 each season as well, so it's not just Brown.

 

[kdiff77]

I'm not really a Brown fan, but wonder what's happened to the program since ~2013.
Why hasn't the program done well, and what besides Whittet and high admissions
standards factor into this? ( Understand about the rink )

I’m far too tired to give this the nuanced response it deserves, but the problem, IMO, is twofold:

-Brown’s former president Ruth Simmons raised Brown’s admissions standards to heights unrivaled by any other Ivy, making recruiting an impossible task.

-Brendan Whittet has, in spite of that, done quite well with recruiting, but hasn’t been able to find a goaltender in years and has also utterly failed to develop any of the talent he has had at his disposal – especially on the defensive side of things, which is supposed to be his specialty.

The result is a team that at times exhibits a really high talent level and can skate with the better teams it plays, and at other times gets totally overrun by teams that are well-coached and have strong, detailed systems.