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Harvard 2022-23: What's Up?

What a great post thirdtime's! Throughout all of the controversy surrounding Harvard this year I kept thinking about the players and what they must be going through. I did not see the series with Yale, but given the box score, and knowing the strength of the Yale team, I just have to assume that some real character players donned the Harvard jerseys for that series and played with pride.

Well, they certainly played better than the regular season finale but, in the end, Yale was too much for the Crimson. The shot totals didn't lie. It was only a matter of time before Yale won both games. That said, I give a lot of credit to KDR and Bloomer for playing hard and trying to set an example for their younger teammates.
 
Imagine, if you can, what it must have been like for these players to have to relate to a fallen mentor on an almost daily basis. What does one do with such bewilderment? Well, this team laced 'em up, hopped over the boards and played the game as best they could. There were not a lot of points put up on the score sheet this season, but there must been many motivational points put up in the locker room in order to hold this team together. One would like to think that it was the captains of this small, very green group who led the way here, but, in this environment, who can say? Different players must have stood up at different times before a serially disheartened group. There was just one individual standout on the ice this season (in goal, fittingly, where a record number of saves had to be made), but collectively the team stood out in a way we could not have foreseen, and in a way that needs to be acknowledged as special.

I'm not sure I would characterize Stone as a mentor given what we have learned about her since the Globe article was published. Fallen, yes, but mentor, no way. Poor characterization. I do agree that one or more players probably tried to keep it together to prevent a mass exodus; we'll know more when we see who returns next season. Hopefully as you say, someone stood up in the room and tried to be a voice of reason. Given what we know about the bullying and hazing, I'm skeptical that there was any trust amongst the players, particularly the freshmen, for their more experienced teammates making a plea to come together. I see this as dysfunctional on many levels and for the younger players, the most trying year of their lives. Let's hope that this mess gets resolved quickly with a search committee for a new coach in place in the near future.
 
From the link that Prowler provided in his post:

"While Athletic Director McDermott offered unequivocal support for Stone, she did indicate that there was some kind of expectation (perhaps a personal improvement plan) that Stone would work on her communication and response to feedback."

This is beyond weak. A personal improvement plan? Seriously? I think the longer Coach Stone remains the in place, the less likely changes will be made. I can easily see player transfers and recruit decommits as other teams and coaches swoop in to lure the Crimson players away from Harvard.
 
Based on my last post, I decided to see if I could find a recruiting site for women hockey players. Came across this site. Note that Brown has five times as many recruits as Harvard. No way to know the accuracy of the list. For reference, the men's counterpart is spot on with up to date recruits.

RinkNet College Commitments List
 
Although this story is all based on the original Globe article, it points out some important highlights that the globe doesn't touch on. This was from Feb 24th, and there is more coming.
https://sportslitigationalert.com/lo...iscrimination/

This reads like the same "complaints" that were lodged against a former D-1 men's coach when he took over a storied program. All "complaints" were dismissed. I must say, looks good on Harvard though.
Unhappy players today have all sorts of means to "rattle" the administration. Look no further than what happened last year at an ECAC school, where the coach left mid-season due to the "complaint" of the parent of the 3rd string goalie. The media at it's finest!
 
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For smart kids they seem like idiots whoever leads this naked skate. Am I reading this right that the Hohler article came out saying they do a naked skate. …. And then they did the 2023 version of the naked skate the very next day? Superman’s naked sliding across the ice and bleeding nipples but yea let’s keep this up in 2023?

Wow, just wow.
 
Might be time to think about bringing Maura Crowell back to Cambridge - she's done an excellent job at UMD. One win away from a final four in her home rink. More importantly, her players seem to play hard for her and stay in the program. Lots of COVID 5th years this season.
 
Might be time to think about bringing Maura Crowell back to Cambridge - she's done an excellent job at UMD.
Not sure that would be a step up for her. UMD runs a bigger-budget program than most programs do. Not that far behind the Big Ten schools. She's proven she can get into the tournament and to the championship game with the Bulldogs -- is the ceiling any higher at Harvard?
 
This reads like the same "complaints" that were lodged against a former D-1 men's coach when he took over a storied program. All "complaints" were dismissed. I must say, looks good on Harvard though.
Unhappy players today have all sorts of means to "rattle" the administration. Look no further than what happened last year at an ECAC school, where the coach left mid-season due to the "complaint" of the parent of the 3rd string goalie. The media at it's finest!

ya except we are not talking about "3rd string players" here, but former captains, and top line players and and producers, but sure, you stick to your "its all the medias fault"
 
This reads like the same "complaints" that were lodged against a former D-1 men's coach when he took over a storied program. All "complaints" were dismissed. I must say, looks good on Harvard though.
Unhappy players today have all sorts of means to "rattle" the administration. Look no further than what happened last year at an ECAC school, where the coach left mid-season due to the "complaint" of the parent of the 3rd string goalie. The media at it's finest!

Yeah, objecting to being mocked after suffering a head injury is a lack of toughness.
 
What is also damning about the Athletic piece was the selection of Mike Smith to sit in on the meetings with the players who filed complaints. Smith chaired the committee that hired Erin McDermott the A.D. As Myrna McDonald says in the article, where is the independence in the investigation? And she’s absolutely right. Harvard is closing ranks and undoubtedly those administration officials who are named in the article including those who are no longer at Harvard have most likely been advised not to say anything.

The description by one of the parents likening the program to the “Hunger Games” makes my skin crawl.
 
"In some years, they had to recite Harvard hockey facts, like how many goals Nicole Corriero scored in her career."
Now this was the dark, DARK underbelly of Harvard women's hockey that we needed The Athletic to reveal to the world for the greater good.

Anyhow, Katey Stone's coaching approaches have been clear for years. She has outlasted her coaching peers from the turn of the century. Coaches who physically abused players (Joy Woog, Brian McCloskey, Rick Seeley) have come and gone. Some players have thrived under Katey Stone's leadership. We can see that Julie Chu and Lauren McAuliffe still defend her ardently. Still, Katey Stone's approach is not for everyone. Players and their parents who dislike her approach have the right to pick other programs. Of course, there can be buyers remorse for some who pick Harvard. Grown-ups enter into relationships that don't work out all the time and simply move on. Disgruntled players still have the right to quit the team and stay at Harvard. They can also transfer to a scholarship school in many cases. They can take responsibility for their own choices. Alternatively, they can complain about their experiences for the rest of their lives. They can exploit today's cancel culture to turn outdated cliches into accusations of racism. Media outlets can publish their stories and get high-fives on Twitter for "heroic reporting" from others who don't like Katey Stone's coaching style and are oddly horrified by college women bonding in ways that college men have done for centuries. Harvard has the right to evaluate Katey Stone's overall body of work and to keep her or not. Cheers.
 
Now this was the dark, DARK underbelly of Harvard women's hockey that we needed The Athletic to reveal to the world for the greater good.

Anyhow, Katey Stone's coaching approaches have been clear for years. She has outlasted her coaching peers from the turn of the century. Coaches who physically abused players (Joy Woog, Brian McCloskey, Rick Seeley) have come and gone. Some players have thrived under Katey Stone's leadership. We can see that Julie Chu and Lauren McAuliffe still defend her ardently. Still, Katey Stone's approach is not for everyone. Players and their parents who dislike her approach have the right to pick other programs. Of course, there can be buyers remorse for some who pick Harvard. Grown-ups enter into relationships that don't work out all the time and simply move on. Disgruntled players still have the right to quit the team and stay at Harvard. They can also transfer to a scholarship school in many cases. They can take responsibility for their own choices. Alternatively, they can complain about their experiences for the rest of their lives. They can exploit today's cancel culture to turn outdated cliches into accusations of racism. Media outlets can publish their stories and get high-fives on Twitter for "heroic reporting" from others who don't like Katey Stone's coaching style and are oddly horrified by college women bonding in ways that college men have done for centuries. Harvard has the right to evaluate Katey Stone's overall body of work and to keep her or not. Cheers.

The article doesn’t present this benign detail as being part of the abuse. Details like this are used to paint a picture which includes a mixture of banalities as well as actual abuse. Some might consider this balanced journalism.

However, you chose to highlight this banality as if it is represents the “darkness” while dismissing everything and everyone else in the article. Such astoundingly selective reading says more about your character than anything.
 
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