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Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

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

kdiff77 said:
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.
Click to expand...

Doesn’t seem that the program has the potential to right itself with Whittet still at the helm.
Yep, he’s recruited some high end talent over the years ( a fair # making it to pro
hockey ) but I wonder if those guys would’ve made it no matter what. Probably awkward for Brown because if they fire him it would seem like its just because he can not win consistently— not a good look from the progressive Ivy Towers. I thought long ago that they should fire Grillo, but Whittet might be worse. Grillo had them playing ~ trap/dump & chase, but at least teams had to work hard to beat them. Anyway, they have to do something about this program. At the very least, hire an "associate" head coach to help the situation. Harvard did that a while back for Donato.

My cousin ( Brown ’09 ) would like to see the program hire a woman head coach( e.g. Meaghan Duggan or some alum high profile women's player like Katie King ) to make it a "signature Brown” hire that would mend fences with admissions, and force the U to institutionally to get behind the hockey program. That might be a bridge too far for the Old Guard, but it sure would be an interesting hire.
 
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PizzaRing said:
Doesn’t seem that the program has the potential to right itself with Whittet still at the helm.
Yep, he’s recruited some high end talent over the years ( a fair # making it to pro
hockey ) but I wonder if those guys would’ve made it no matter what. Probably awkward for Brown because if they fire him it would seem like its just because he can not win consistently— not a good look from the progressive Ivy Towers. I thought long ago that they should fire Grillo, but Whittet might be worse. Grillo had them playing ~ trap/dump & chase, but at least teams had to work hard to beat them. Anyway, they have to do something about this program. At the very least, hire an "associate" head coach to help the situation. Harvard did that a while back for Donato.

My cousin ( Brown ’09 ) would like to see the program hire a woman head coach( e.g. Meaghan Duggan or some alum high profile women's player like Katie King ) to make it a "signature Brown” hire that would mend fences with admissions, and force the U to institutionally to get behind the hockey program. That might be a bridge too far for the Old Guard, but it sure would be an interesting hire.
Click to expand...

Totally agreed that Whittet is a lost cause. Better to start fresh with a new staff. And, yes; it’s likely that most of the players who have made it to the pros under his watch would have done so regardless of who they played for in college.

Your latter point is an interesting one. I’m very open to trying literally anything new, since the three coaches Brown has employed in my lifetime have all had losing records and the program hasn’t made the NCAA tournament in 25 years. Get some fresh blood in there, maybe stir the pot a bit with a non-traditional hire like a former Brown women’s player, and see if you can make strides by thinking outside the box.

I don’t think there’s any cause to worry about the “old guard” since it has all but abandoned Brown hockey already. Could be a good marketing/PR move, at the very least, and drum up some outside interest in the program.
 
Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

Brown legend Yann Danis is calling it quits after what seems like 20 years in the pros (it's actually more like 14).

https://twitter.com/ydanis35/status/962844462215987200

Yann is the best goaltender in Brown history and he singlehandedly dragged his team to Albany in 2003 and had it on the verge of an NCAA tournament berth in 2004 prior to a late-season collapse. Those were not particularly adept offensive teams, but Danis kept them in just about every single game. He gave ECAC opponents nightmares for three years. Even in defeat, he was often dominant – the 66-save double-overtime effort against Harvard in the 2002 playoffs comes to mind.

I was young when Danis played at Brown, and he was my favorite athlete (yes, including professional players). I knew he was great when, in his very first game, he made a ridiculous glove save on a point-blank shot from maybe 8 feet away in the slot off a one-time pass from the corner (as is tradition for Brown hockey, there was no one defending the crease :p ). I was standing above the net and I remember screaming my head off when he made that save. Danis briefly inspired me to switch to playing as a goaltender, though my parents put the kibosh on that pretty quick due to the expense.

What a great player, and a great representative of Brown!
 
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Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

Some thoughts on the end of yet another underwhelming season:

-This team will always be less than the sum of its parts under the current coaching staff. They do a fine job recruiting, but when talented players set foot on campus, they don’t grow.

-Kania appears to be a good starter. It’s too bad Nieto didn’t work out, but Kania seems like the real deal, finishing with a .914 save percentage. That’s good!

-The seniors didn’t show up this year. Lafferty had a hot streak toward the end of the season, but 19 points is not nearly enough from him. I’m very concerned about how we’re going to generate offense next year, and especially about how we’re going to match up with Princeton’s explosive offense next weekend.

-With all that said, it’s always good to steal a couple wins from Ivy rivals. Great weekend.
 
Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

This thread has become a bit too toxic. Not worth it.
 
Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

kdiff77 said:
Totally agreed that Whittet is a lost cause. Better to start fresh with a new staff. And, yes; it’s likely that most of the players who have made it to the pros under his watch would have done so regardless of who they played for in college.

Your latter point is an interesting one. I’m very open to trying literally anything new, since the three coaches Brown has employed in my lifetime have all had losing records and the program hasn’t made the NCAA tournament in 25 years. Get some fresh blood in there, maybe stir the pot a bit with a non-traditional hire like a former Brown women’s player, and see if you can make strides by thinking outside the box.

I don’t think there’s any cause to worry about the “old guard” since it has all but abandoned Brown hockey already. Could be a good marketing/PR move, at the very least, and drum up some outside interest in the program.
Click to expand...

Coaches come and go, if you keep doing the same thing and expect new results, that is the definition of insanity.
 
Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

What are the chances of Brown getting a new coach in the near future?
 
Messa2005 said:
What are the chances of Brown getting a new coach in the near future?
Click to expand...

In my very humble and completely uninformed opinion: not good. The future is not particularly bright barring a large-scale buy-in from the administration to update facilities and invest in coaching.

Brown has lost nearly all its fans over the past few years. Those of us who remain are very few and very frustrated.
 
Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

BROWN RECRUITING CLASS OF 2022


1. Tristan Crozier, F (Nanaimo, BCHL)
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=176199

2. Dorian Dawson, D (Sioux City, USHL)
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=175781

3. Jacob Harris, F (Nanaimo, BCHL)
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=176077

4. Justin Jallen, F (Northeast, NAHL)
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=195308

5. Michael Maloney, F (Tri-City, USHL)
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=179741

6. Gabe Vinal, G (Aberdeen, NAHL)
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=195520
 
Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

How bout this Mike....<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Albany Academy coach Steve Needham and NY Islanders amateur scout Matt Harlow are finalists for the open assistant position at Brown. Interesting situation with just 1 year left on Brendan Whittet’s deal and school declining an extension request.</p>— Jeff Cox (@JeffCoxSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffCoxSports/status/994248638216982528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

Schedule is out: http://brownbears.com/sports/m-hockey/2018-19/schedule

Nice to participate in a couple tournaments. We have a Mayor's Cup preview up at Dartmouth at the end of December and we could possibly play St. Cloud in Pittsburgh the following week. My memory may be failing me here, but it seems to me that this is the first time Vermont will play at Meehan since they left the ECAC, no? We've played up there a couple times since, but I don't recall them returning the trip.
 
Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

turk181 said:
How bout this Mike....<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Albany Academy coach Steve Needham and NY Islanders amateur scout Matt Harlow are finalists for the open assistant position at Brown. Interesting situation with just 1 year left on Brendan Whittet’s deal and school declining an extension request.</p>— Jeff Cox (@JeffCoxSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffCoxSports/status/994248638216982528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...

And Brendan hired James Marcou:
https://brownbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=387&path=mhockey
 
Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

kdiff77 said:
Schedule is out: http://brownbears.com/sports/m-hockey/2018-19/schedule

Nice to participate in a couple tournaments. We have a Mayor's Cup preview up at Dartmouth at the end of December and we could possibly play St. Cloud in Pittsburgh the following week. My memory may be failing me here, but it seems to me that this is the first time Vermont will play at Meehan since they left the ECAC, no? We've played up there a couple times since, but I don't recall them returning the trip.
Click to expand...

It's a strong schedule. Under Brendan Whittet Brown has generally played a strong schedule.
 
Re: Brown Hockey 2017-2018: The Quest for Prosperity Continues

REGARDING BROWN NOT RENEWING OR NOT GIVING CONTRACT EXTENSIONS TO COACHES

Brown teams have won no championships in thirty-eight sports over two years. If my math is correct, that's seventy-six opportunities. To me it suggests that the problem is not necessarily with the coaches, who are very dedicated and work very heart. However, even the most devout of them would have trouble working the miracles that are needed to win a championship at Brown.

Phil Estes won three Ivy championships in the past. This past year his team went 2-8. Did Phil stop being an excellent coach? I don't think so...

Mike Daly won several national lacrosse championships at Tufts. The Brown lacrosse record this year was 6-8. Did Daly stop being an excellent coach? I don't think so...

Feel free to come up with additional examples.

Maybe there's a topic of discussion here.
 
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