HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

[ALONZO]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

People really need to temper the expectations for our recruits. Yes, Marshall Everson is a good recruit. However, like most of our recruits, and most recruits at other schools, he is a good recruit based on the projection of his talent over 4 years. Look at BC- Nathan Gerbe was a pretty good recruit, but he had less than 0.5 points per game his freshman year. Fast forward a couple years, and he is the best player in the country and leads his team to a national championship. I expect Everson to have a good year, but I don't think we should expect too much from him and the sophmores. No doubt, a big step up should be demanded, but lets remember, this is a 4 year program, and one of the reasons we haven't been successful us because we have been hoping the freshman class will come in and save everybody. That isnt how national championship teams are built. In one of the earlier posts, somebody said that apart from killorn and biega, the upper classmen were just role players. I would have to disagree with that. Michaud, Mccollem, Kroshus all have ample talent, as evidenced by their careers before Harvard(and flashes when they have gotten opportunities here) (not even to mention Moriarty, who though not the mosttalented can be an effective offensive player), but them and other upperclassmen have been pushed aside to make room for younger players who are supposed to save the program. I will reiterate, not only does this not work on the ice (college hockey games and championships aren't won by freshman, even when there is talent, there is just too much inexperience to win), but it also doesn't work off the ice, as it introduces a poor team dynamic that isn't integrated, where players don't work their way into the program and leadership and chemistry most likely suffers because players come in and play while the upperclassmen who are supposed to be leading are sitting on the bench or in the stands. Hard to be a leader when you have legitimacy taken away by the coach. Until Donato figures this out, we will see a few bad years followed by 1 or 2 good years, when his favorites reach their last years. Maybe it will work, but it sure makes for some lean years in the meantime.

I feel like Ive been ranting, but to finish, yes I expect more from Everson this year, but its hard to be disappointed with him last year. He was a freshman out of high school hockey, stepping into an older, very competitive and high level of hockey. However, he does have the talent (like others), to have good CAREERS at Harvard, but that is a four year process where hopefully our players are actually developed for once and don't get marginalized as they move up classes.

No freshmen forwards will push aside our returning players this season. We simply don't have any new bodies. Aside from Rogers and LeBlanc we have the same guys up front we had last year....all with a year's exposure, or additional exposure, to college hockey. McCollem was out most of last season and, after he came back, was not the player we had expected. Everson and others were injured and missed part of the season as well.

Hopefully everybody is healthy and ready to go going into this season. At the very least the team will have more maturity and be better prepared for the rigors of the ECAC. Notable also...we are not starting with five games on the road. We supporters have a right to anticipate something better than last year. How much better remains to be seen.

GO CRIMSON!

 

[bothman]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

People really need to temper the expectations for our recruits. Yes, Marshall Everson is a good recruit. However, like most of our recruits, and most recruits at other schools, he is a good recruit based on the projection of his talent over 4 years. Look at BC- Nathan Gerbe was a pretty good recruit, but he had less than 0.5 points per game his freshman year. Fast forward a couple years, and he is the best player in the country and leads his team to a national championship. I expect Everson to have a good year, but I don't think we should expect too much from him and the sophmores. No doubt, a big step up should be demanded, but lets remember, this is a 4 year program, and one of the reasons we haven't been successful us because we have been hoping the freshman class will come in and save everybody. That isnt how national championship teams are built. In one of the earlier posts, somebody said that apart from killorn and biega, the upper classmen were just role players. I would have to disagree with that. Michaud, Mccollem, Kroshus all have ample talent, as evidenced by their careers before Harvard(and flashes when they have gotten opportunities here) (not even to mention Moriarty, who though not the mosttalented can be an effective offensive player), but them and other upperclassmen have been pushed aside to make room for younger players who are supposed to save the program. I will reiterate, not only does this not work on the ice (college hockey games and championships aren't won by freshman, even when there is talent, there is just too much inexperience to win), but it also doesn't work off the ice, as it introduces a poor team dynamic that isn't integrated, where players don't work their way into the program and leadership and chemistry most likely suffers because players come in and play while the upperclassmen who are supposed to be leading are sitting on the bench or in the stands. Hard to be a leader when you have legitimacy taken away by the coach. Until Donato figures this out, we will see a few bad years followed by 1 or 2 good years, when his favorites reach their last years. Maybe it will work, but it sure makes for some lean years in the meantime.

I couldn't disagree more with this. If you look at the past National champions, you will find all of them had stud freshman and sophmores who carried them to the promise land who won't be 4 year players (many will be 2 year players).

Our upper classmen are not elite. This is not meant as a disparaging remark, but it is what it is. That is why a Leblanc (no Paul Kariya by the way) can come in as a freshman and lead the team in scoring.

Injuries or no injuries, we have little proven scoring ability in our upper classmen. I'm hoping for some breakut seasons, but candidly, there isn't a lot of hope for goals given what I have seen out of them for the past 2-3 seasons.

The best players play. Doesn't matter if 8 freshman are on the ice every night or none. The fact that as many freshman played last year means that they out-competed and won the spots against their older peers. It's that simple and has nothing to do with hirearchy or chemistry. Just because someone has been at Harvard for a couple of years doesn't mean they get to play over someone younger who is better. This doesn't work in life, let alone sports.

 

[bothman]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

No freshmen forwards will push aside our returning players this season. We simply don't have any new bodies. Aside from Rogers and LeBlanc we have the same guys up front we had last year....all with a year's exposure, or additional exposure, to college hockey. McCollem was out most of last season and, after he came back, was not the player we had expected. Everson and others were injured and missed part of the season as well.

GO CRIMSON!

Agreed (because we don't have any )! Calof would have been one of the top 12 forwards, but that didn't work out.

 

[BoSox3066]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

New recruit for 2012: http://www.salemnews.com/sports/x1324601781/Color-Him-Crimson

 

[Big Papa]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Agreed (because we don't have any )! Calof would have been one of the top 12 forwards, but that didn't work out.

Why didn't it work out?

 

[bothman]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Why didn't it work out?

This is speculation (unconfirmed) but I believe it had something to do with his home-schooling. He ended up at Princeton so clearly his application (grades, achievements, and SATs) was up to snuff. He was Harvard's top recruit for the 2010 Class and lone forward who put up some impressive numbers in the OJHL (albeit a scoring league).

 

[sam12]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Bothman,

A couple quick replies to your response to my post. First, I recognize the upperclassmen arent elite. If they were, we would be a lot better. However, that doesn't mean they aren't good enough to be put into a goal scoring role and help the team win if given the opportunity. Which leads me to my second point. It isnt always the best player that plays. My point was, maybe teddy thinks this class is good enough that as seniors and juniors we will be able to have a great year, take a good crack at an NCAA run. Maybe he thinks that by giving that class all that playing time and experience last year, that is setting the stage for that classes development, so they are very experienced and ready to make a run at it later in their careers. Im saying that if he had not done that, we would have been better last year, but that him doing that might serve a longer term purpose.

Teams that win NCAA championships are not bottom heavy, they are top heavy. Look at BC last year with Whitneym gibbons smith sneep et al. Yes, they had the atkinsons and Kreiders, but the team wasnt driven purely by freshman, it was top heavy with a nice mix in of underclassmen(both are necessary I believe).

 

[bothman]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

I've kind of lost track of the blog over the last few months, but there has been a lot to report on the recruiting front. Some real solid wins for Harvard over these last few months and 2011 is shaping up to be a real solid class.

In any event, Central Scouting just released its "Players to WATCH" publication which is a preamble to its mid-term rankings and final rankings leading up to the NHL Draft in June. Harvard recruits are all over the publication. Specifically:

A Rating - 1st or 2nd Rounder
B Rating - 3rd - 5th Rounder
C Rating - Late round Selection

Mark Luzar - C
Mike Seward - B
Petr Placek - A
Danny Linell - C
Stephen Michalek - A
Colin Blackwell - C

 

[Skate79]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Okay, okay I get it. I didn't realize Marshall's injury was that severe. Hope that he is fully recovered and ready to go. But you have to admit that after several years of being told that we have a great incoming class, we've got nothing to show for it. And Teddy readily admitted in the Globe piece that managing a program was an adjustment for him and one that he was not prepared for initially. I give him credit for acknowledging it.

 

[Skate79]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

I've kind of lost track of the blog over the last few months, but there has been a lot to report on the recruiting front. Some real solid wins for Harvard over these last few months and 2011 is shaping up to be a real solid class.

In any event, Central Scouting just released its "Players to WATCH" publication which is a preamble to its mid-term rankings and final rankings leading up to the NHL Draft in June. Harvard recruits are all over the publication. Specifically:

A Rating - 1st or 2nd Rounder
B Rating - 3rd - 5th Rounder
C Rating - Late round Selection

Mark Luzar - C
Mike Seward - B
Petr Placek - A
Danny Linell - C
Stephen Michalek - A
Colin Blackwell - C

Those grades resemble my sophomore year with one more B and one less C. Ah the memories....

 

[ALONZO]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Anybody see last night's practice game at Bright against Brown? The Brown thread describes the action as dominated by Brown over long stretches and a 3-2 victory for Brown in overtime. Apparently Harvard scored the first two goals of the game. While practice games mean nothing this report is hardly encouraging.

GO CRIMSON!

 

[alslammerz]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Anybody see last night's practice game at Bright against Brown? The Brown thread describes the action as dominated by Brown over long stretches and a 3-2 victory for Brown in overtime. Apparently Harvard scored the first two goals of the game. While practice games mean nothing this report is hardly encouraging.

GO CRIMSON!

I wouldn't worry too much. If I remember from last year, they don't just play a straight up game, but do situational work and the like...so it might just be our special teams looked bad or something. Plus we have no idea who was on the ice for the goals against, including which goalie was in net.

 

[alslammerz]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

The WHRB media ballot, with the September justifications, can be found here.

Also, tomorrow's game should be on GoCrimson.com as a free preview. WHRB will be providing the audio, but access to it is something beyond our control.

 

[bothman]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Big Al,

Were you at the game? I was unable to listen, but would be interested to hear your take.

Specifically:

Line combinations
Harvard D - how did they look (More D oriented due to lack of scoring)?
Any changes in philosophy?

 

[alslammerz]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Big Al,

Were you at the game? I was unable to listen, but would be interested to hear your take.

Specifically:

Line combinations
Harvard D - how did they look (More D oriented due to lack of scoring)?
Any changes in philosophy?

I'm going to post more later today on the blog when I'm not in between classes, but they looked impressive. Kept Sweden pinned in their own zone a lot of the time. Power play went 0-9, but generated a lot of chances.
Top line was Killorn centering M. Biega and Moriarty.
They did not seem to be playing a more d-oriented game- defensemen were making smart pinches and guys were hustling back on the back check. Richter played solid, although I bet he'd like the first goal back. Unless every ECAC goaltender plays like Sweden's, Crimson should be putting up some goals this year, as long as they play the way they did last night. Would like to see them get more guys crashing for rebounds though.

Edit: Didn't get to post on the blog yesterday. Hopefully tonight depending on how school work goes.

Without_A_Peer will have WHRB on their podcast tonight at 8pm to talk Harvard-RPI, so some of the Sweden game will probably be talked about then as well. http://www.withoutapeer.com/2010/11...tml?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

[vicb]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

OK only 2 days to get those picks in for the ECAC Pick The Standings Contest.

 

[alslammerz]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Better late than never, I suppose. Here's the five thoughts from the booth after Harvard vs. Sweden, lines from Monday for both teams, and even an audio highlight reel/recap for those who could not listen or attend.

Hoping for a good crowd this weekend. If you can't make it, as always, we're on 95.3FM and WHRB.org.

 

[Skate79]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

I didn't see the Sweden game on Monday but off what I saw tonight, the Crimson are in big trouble this season. Had to be one of the worst offensive efforts in a very long time. Union is a very good team that can skate and play with precision and had Richter not come up huge, this game would have been over after the first period. He was the best player on the ice bar none.

The Crimson's problems are too many to shuffle through but suffice it to say, this team will finish with the worst goals for in the conference. They have trouble just dumping the puck in, never mind getting any decent scoring chances. It was only after Union scored their first goal that the Crimson finally got their feet moving a bit. There is little offensive skill on this team. Maybe the worst group of forwards since the late nineties. I really hope that this was first game jitters or that we were facing a team that had already played five games. Because if this is a preview of coming attractions, this season will be a horror show.

 

[northeastern]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Because if this is a preview of coming attractions, this season will be a horror show.

..imagine when you play us in the Beanpot.. it could be a textbook clinic for kids on what not to do in college hockey (i'm referring both clubs). Wait, it gets better.. we play each other one other time this season as well.. good times..

horror shows, they get a bad rap.

 

[bothman]

Re: HARVARD CRIMSON 2010-2011 - A New Beginning

Great win Harvard! Something to build on. A 60 minute commitment to defense. Hats off to Kyle Richter, the defense, and the forwards for back-checking.

The power-play will come around. Great win Harvard. Let's bring it next week for the dreaded North Country trip!