HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

[bothman]

Very interesting...

Though I'm wondering what you mean by last straw?

I think Linnel could have been a nice addition to the Crimson, always hard to tell how much of an impact a player will have freshman year, especially coming out of Prep hockey, but there is no doubt he had potential to be a very good 4 year player for the Crimson.

This was a slap in the face. Calof was home-schooled so I always viewed his outcome as an anomaly given his non-traditional schooling. Harvard has been recruiting guys out of Choate for decades...Donato should be able to (just about with complete confidence) tell a recruit from Choate if they are in or not and have admissions endorse it.

Linell is a proto-typical BC player - small, fast, and highly skilled. He's going to burn us for years.

The reality is, this marks two years in a row where Harvard's top forward recruit was told to go pound sand by Admissions. The first (Calof) brings home the Top Rookie hardware and one can only dream of what he would have done at Harvard over 4 years. Let's see how Linell does next year at BC. I honestly thought he was a guy who would have similarly competed for ECAC Top Rookie hardware for Harvard next year.

As for Donato's last straw, that was said a little bit tongue and cheek. But from this observer's perspective, this casts a big shadow over the program and Donato's stewardship. It's one thing to have failures on the ice...it's another to have failures before a kids even matriculate. What happens when kids start to question Donato's blessing, whereas Allain, Schafer, and others don't have have similar prededent that a potential recruit can point to.

Recruits don't want to be left to flutter in the wind, and in waiting, realize that they have to play another year of Juniors because all of the teams have filled their recruiting spots. Some recruits love a school so much that they will accept being screwed by the coach (Tyler Barnes at Wisconsin comes to mind). But most, will do exactly what Linell did (and I don't fault him for a second), assuming there are still options out there....and BC ain't too shabby an option!

 

[bothman]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Very interesting...

Though I'm wondering what you mean by last straw?

I think Linnel could have been a nice addition to the Crimson, always hard to tell how much of an impact a player will have freshman year, especially coming out of Prep hockey, but there is no doubt he had potential to be a very good 4 year player for the Crimson.

On the flip side, does this mean a Zach Hyman announcement is in short order?

 

[Skate79]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

On the flip side, does this mean a Zach Hyman announcement is in short order?

Well, let's hope so. We need some good news badly. Losing these recruits really hurts. Clearly Gadowsky has the touch and he won't have a problem building that Penn State program.

I do have to wonder what is going on here. The women's program lost out on a key recruit (Kendall Coyne who is going to Northeastern) for the incoming class. Bill Fitzsimmons is the head of admissions and a former goalie for the Crimson I believe. Why all of sudden is the hockey program having problems getting kids in? Is it all Donato? Doesn't make sense. He is an alum and former player. Has he ticked off the wrong people on the admissions committee? Or is there a change in philosophy in admissions when it comes to hockey? I sure hope not but you have to wonder. The B-ball program is flying high and all of sudden we can't get a blue chip player to commit to us over Princeton or Yale.

 

[Big Papa]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

On the flip side, does this mean a Zach Hyman announcement is in short order?

Florida Panthers have been quoted in the media as projecting Zach hyman to be a top 6 forward in the NHL. He is the canadian Junior Player of the Year and every major 'hockey school' in the nation is after him. He is a dominant impact player and is exactly what Harvard needs... but easier said than done.

 

[sam12]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

I can't see Hyman reneging on Princeton just to commit to Harvard. I could imagine him and Calof would be quite the 1-2 punch next year if he decides to stay there. Otherwise, I think a school like Michigan is most likely.

 

[bothman]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

I can't see Hyman reneging on Princeton just to commit to Harvard. I could imagine him and Calof would be quite the 1-2 punch next year if he decides to stay there. Otherwise, I think a school like Michigan is most likely.

It all depends. If Harvard (Donato & Assistants) were able to build a good raport with Hyman during the recruiting process, then perhaps Harvard has a shot. I have no idea if Harvard actively pursued Hyman or not (my assumption is that they did since there aren't many high end players that have the academic pedigree that Hyman possesses).

If Harvard didn't build this relatiosnhip during the recruiting process, then you are probably right.

 

[canadianhockeyguy]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

It all depends. If Harvard (Donato & Assistants) were able to build a good raport with Hyman during the recruiting process, then perhaps Harvard has a shot. I have no idea if Harvard actively pursued Hyman or not (my assumption is that they did since there aren't many high end players that have the academic pedigree that Hyman possesses).

If Harvard didn't build this relatiosnhip during the recruiting process, then you are probably right.

Having seen Hyman quite a bit, I would be surprised if he had lots of contact with Harvard before he committed to princeton. He committed there pretty early along with the D from his team Goodwin, and at the time was still a significant project. I was suprised to see him drafted last year, but he has developed nicely over the last couple of years. He would be a great get, but for what it's worth wouldn't expect him to be a star right away.

 

[Big Papa]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Having seen Hyman quite a bit, I would be surprised if he had lots of contact with Harvard before he committed to princeton. He committed there pretty early along with the D from his team Goodwin, and at the time was still a significant project. I was suprised to see him drafted last year, but he has developed nicely over the last couple of years. He would be a great get, but for what it's worth wouldn't expect him to be a star right away.

I see a lot of Junior hockey I travel all around following the USHL, and the Canadian leagues and I have seen the kid play at least a dozen games this year and he ripped it up. Actually destroyed. Like a man against boys. Jumping to College will be interesting to see how he fares. Sure there might be an adjustment period but with an elite player like Hyman the sky is the limit. And obviously the Panthers think so too based on thier quotes in the media.

 

[canadianhockeyguy]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Sounds like you see quite a bit of hockey, and I certainly value your opinion. Hyman was great when I saw him a couple of times this year too, but the OPJHL is such a poor league overall it's tough to judge how quickly he'll adapt. However, I'm curious if you saw him at all in his draft year? He struck me as pretty average, and I wasn't suprised that he played another year of junior before coming to princeton. I was surprised he was drafted however. I was just making the point that he likely didn't have the college options he does now when he committed to princeton.

 

[Big Papa]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Sounds like you see quite a bit of hockey, and I certainly value your opinion. Hyman was great when I saw him a couple of times this year too, but the OPJHL is such a poor league overall it's tough to judge how quickly he'll adapt. However, I'm curious if you saw him at all in his draft year? He struck me as pretty average, and I wasn't suprised that he played another year of junior before coming to princeton. I was surprised he was drafted however. I was just making the point that he likely didn't have the college options he does now when he committed to princeton.

He's one of those kids that keeps getting better and better everytime you see him. I saw him play some games the last two seasons and was impressed with his offensiveinstincts and abilities. He's very strong in front of the net. The biggest improvement that I've noticed is his skating. It is one of his strengths. He has a pro stride. I was surfing the net and he's mentioned as visiting on the Michigan blogs. It will be interesting to see where he lands since he is a big fish and players of his calibre are rarely available in May.

 

[alslammerz]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Looks like, according to releases and the schedule thread, that our non-conference slate is @UMass, 2x @North Dakota and 2x @The Beanpot with 2 games to be scheduled. I like it. Some new teams in the mix (though I saw UND live here my freshman year but still...) and I'd be surprised if we added BU and/or BC to our non-conference slate just because they look jammed pack already. Based on last year, I wonder if we have returns with Northeastern and Merrimack. I wouldn't mind seeing the Huskies at the Bright. Just based on the number of road games already though, I would be somewhat surprised to see us @Merrimack. Any guesses on who our last two remaining non-conference games will be? Any preferences?

My preference- no ECAC non-conference games, unless it's an outdoor game against Cornell. And since Cornell doesn't seem to have too much room for that, I'm just going to stick to no non-conference conference games.

Jan. 4th vs. BU. I guess BU had more space on their schedule than I thought. Still guessing home vs. Northeastern for the final game of the non-conference slate but my guesses are pretty awful.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Jan. 4th vs. BU. I guess BU had more space on their schedule than I thought. Still guessing home vs. Northeastern for the final game of the non-conference slate but my guesses are pretty awful.

You could always play a 3rd against North Dakota, they have one game left. I wouldn't be surprised if it were an Atlantic team out there, like maybe a Bentley or Holy Cross. They also require an odd number of NC games.

 

[alslammerz]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

You could always play a 3rd against North Dakota, they have one game left. I wouldn't be surprised if it were an Atlantic team out there, like maybe a Bentley or Holy Cross. They also require an odd number of NC games.

An Atlantic team would be surprising actually. The only one we've played in the last three years is Army in the Catamount Cup last year. The team likes to schedule Hockey East teams, especially with three of them local.

I should add that I don't think it would be awful if my guess is right, it's just that as proved by the BU game, I'm awful at guessing. I won't mind Northeastern since we are not guaranteed to play them. (Actually, for that matter I wouldn't really mind BC at home but I just don't see that happening, especially not at home.)

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

An Atlantic team would be surprising actually. The only one we've played in the last three years is Army in the Catamount Cup last year. The team likes to schedule Hockey East teams, especially with three of them local.

I should add that I don't think it would be awful if my guess is right, it's just that as proved by the BU game, I'm awful at guessing. I won't mind Northeastern since we are not guaranteed to play them. (Actually, for that matter I wouldn't really mind BC at home but I just don't see that happening, especially not at home.)

Good to know. I haven't really followed other teams' non-conference schedule all that much. I suppose, now that I'm doing the master schedule for the forum this year, that I can learn some more. I don't have the data in front of me, so I wouldn't be able to tell you who has NC games remaining.

 

[alslammerz]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Good to know. I haven't really followed other teams' non-conference schedule all that much. I suppose, now that I'm doing the master schedule for the forum this year, that I can learn some more. I don't have the data in front of me, so I wouldn't be able to tell you who has NC games remaining.

Easy for me to keep track of, at least for Harvard, what with only 5 non-conference games and the Beanpot. But that's the extent of my knowledge for non-conference trends.

 

[electpuck]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

He's one of those kids that keeps getting better and better everytime you see him. I saw him play some games the last two seasons and was impressed with his offensiveinstincts and abilities. He's very strong in front of the net. The biggest improvement that I've noticed is his skating. It is one of his strengths. He has a pro stride. I was surfing the net and he's mentioned as visiting on the Michigan blogs. It will be interesting to see where he lands since he is a big fish and players of his calibre are rarely available in May.

Chris Heisenberg notes that Zac Hyman has committed to Michigan. Is also noted on Princeton Blog on this Board.

 

[mwade]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/5/23/team-hockey-committee-teams/

 

[Skate79]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/5/23/team-hockey-committee-teams/

Maybe the faculty and administration should ban the hockey team from playing any games against teams that have more wins than Harvard. It would shorten the schedule but it would sure get the attention of the players.

 

[Big Papa]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Look forward to a better performance this season. I like recruits coming in.

 

[eaglehockeyrules]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Bothman, now with commencement over I am curious - have you heard anything of sorts on fallout regarding Calof?

As a side note - imnteresting piece inThe Crimson for trhe year end, the 8-3-1 miracle at Bright. 12-21-X is nothing to be pproud of, but at least Murphy is a H icers saved some face. Glad to see Athlete of the Year go to a footballer.