Harvard Crimson 2014-15

[Minniehockey]

So am I not allowed to comment on the game? Jesus, what is your problem? Are all posts to be run through you before posting from now on. Did you see the game? What about Dartmouth's attack led you to believe they were better than average offensively? I'm commenting on what I saw, not on a body of work that I DID NOT SEE. Is that okay by you? In fact, you reinforced my point because despite Harvard's slow start, they actually showed signs of life offensively especially in the second period. By your logic, Dartmouth is average offensively if they have trouble generating an attack against a foe that has had the same number of goals. And if you read my post, I said that in the first period, Harvard still had problems with their breakouts and sloppy play. Some of that was due to Dartmouth's hustle and forecheck but it didn't necessarily result in offensive pressure or chances.

And if you are going by goals for and against, then how do you account for the BC game vs the whole body of work? Is that representative or an aberration? Your numbers are skewed by that one game but I guess that doesn't matter because you'll find a way to make it work to prove a point. Whatever that is. Yeesh.

IS IT true that ALL posts have to be run through before letting the posting stand?

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Probably for the first time this season, Harvard started to get their game back and looked more like a team many predicted would be a Top Four squad. Their puck possession was outstanding and their transition game really looked good. Princeton couldn't handle Harvard's speed in transition and wound up giving the Crimson a lot of close in looks at their goalie. If Harvard could have finished one or two more, this game would have been a rout. (oh darn, now I'm being mean to the Lady Tigers).

Syd Daniels got things going with less than a minute left on the PP with a slap shot from out high over the goalie's glove side. Early in the second, Brianna Mastel got her first varsity goal snapping a wrist shot stick side on a beautiful feed from Karly Heffernan. Mary Parker closed out the scoring late in the third on a tip-in off a slap shot from Michelle Picard.

Except for a few lapses here and there defensively, the Crimson were in complete control of this game. Brianna Liang had to make a few good saves but otherwise wasn't really severely tested. Harvard did a much better job moving the puck in this game and hopefully, that bodes well for the rest of the season. Nice to see Natasha Rachlin back in the lineup. She and Mastel form a very good third pair D.

The real test comes tomorrow against the Bobcats. Looking forward to a great game.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Some quick on stats on Harvard goals allowed:

2012-13:
Games allowing fewer than 3 goals: 30 of 34 (24-3-3 record)
Goals allowed in other 4 games: 3, 3, 3, 3 (0-4 record)

2013-14:
Games allowing fewer than 3 goals: 28 of 34 (22-4-2 record)
Goals allowed in the other 6 games: 3 (T), 4 (W), 4 (L), 3 (T), 3 (2 OT L), 6 (L), (1-3-2 record)

2014-15
Games allowing fewer than 3 goals: 5 of 8 (3-0-2 record)
Goals allowed in other 3 games: 5 (L), 10 (L), 3 (W) (1-2 record)

Interesting numbers. Especially the ones from the '12-'13 season. To lose all four games in which you give up exactly three goals in each loss? What are the odds? Seems like an anomaly to me.

 

[dave1381]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Interesting numbers. Especially the ones from the '12-'13 season. To lose all four games in which you give up exactly three goals in each loss? What are the odds? Seems like an anomaly to me.

The teams capable of scoring 3 on that Harvard team were the best all-around as well, so in that sense it's not too surprising.

That 12-13 season Harvard was 21-0-3 against non-tournament teams and 3-7 against the tournament teams, going 1-2 vs. Cornell & Clarkson, 1-1 vs. BU, and 0-2 vs. BC. Two of those losses allowing 3 goals were vs. Clarkson, 1 to Cornell, and 1 to BC.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

The teams capable of scoring 3 on that Harvard team were the best all-around as well, so in that sense it's not too surprising.

That 12-13 season Harvard was 21-0-3 against non-tournament teams and 3-7 against the tournament teams, going 1-2 vs. Cornell & Clarkson, 1-1 vs. BU, and 0-2 vs. BC. Two of those losses allowing 3 goals were vs. Clarkson, 1 to Cornell, and 1 to BC.

Good point. I'd also be curious to see Harvard's record against teams ranked in the Top Ten for the past five or six seasons.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Tremendous game at Bright-Landry today between two teams who really wanted it. Not a lot of offense but that was due to airtight D and ferocious backchecking. Both Quinny and the Crimson did a great job neutralizing the other team's best forwards and not allowing many close in chances. In fact, in the second period, the Bobcats didn't get their first shot on goal until 3 seconds were left in the period. Really.

QPac struck first midway through the first period. Aggressive forechecking along the boards produced a weak point shot that eluded Maschmeyer. That goal held up until 29 seconds were left in the period when Lyndsey Fry swooped around the net and fired a forehand wrister top shelf. The second period was pretty much Harvard's even though the shots were 5-2. The Crimson turned up their skating and forecheck and pinned the Bobcats in their own zone for much of the period. To Quinny's credit, they limited Harvard to only a couple of really good looks at their goalie.

The third was back and forth until Haley Mullins jammed a loose puck off a scramble in front to put Harvard up for good. The Bobcats turned up the heat in the last seven minutes aided by two PPs, the last one with a minute left in the game (seriously, do the ECAC refs have a beef with Harvard? You almost never see this going in the Crimson's favor.) Maschmeyer had to make four or five great saves to preserve the win, three from point blank range. She more than redeemed herself for allowing the first goal.

Quinnipiac is the real deal. Well coached, skilled forwards and a mobile D with a steady goalie. They will be a very tough out in the playoffs if they play like they did today. If Harvard continues to progress and up their game, the second half of the season should be a barn burner. Four or five teams in the running for home ice for the tournament. Doesn't get much better than that.

Today's game was an early Christmas present and for that, I thank both teams.

 

[SamB]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

The third was back and forth until Haley Mullins jammed a loose puck off a scramble in front to put Harvard up for good. The Bobcats turned up the heat in the last seven minutes aided by two PPs, the last one with a minute left in the game (seriously, do the ECAC refs have a beef with Harvard? You almost never see this going in the Crimson's favor.) Maschmeyer had to make four or five great saves to preserve the win, three from point blank range. She more than redeemed herself for allowing the first goal.

.

Thanks for a great recap of the game. It was a great game. I would say you missed that the first Harvard goal was a PP goal. It did go in their favor once. Harvard looks very strong.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Thanks for a great recap of the game. It was a great game. I would say you missed that the first Harvard goal was a PP goal. It did go in their favor once. Harvard looks very strong.

You're right. I was going to say that for the second night in a row, Harvard scored with less than a minute left in the first period on the PP. Thanks for the catch.

What troubled me about the call was the timing. You don't often see a penalty called with a minute to go against the home team. But Harvard seems to get these calls from time to time and it is simply puzzling as to why the Crimson get nailed when the other team is just as guilty of infractions that don't get called at Bright-Landry. I don't get it and neither does Katey Stone the head coach. I've asked her about it and she said that it is something she just can't fathom either.

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

All's well that ends well!

I've refrained from criticizing this team during their recent travails and now patience is rewarded. As Skate79 so ably describes, they've been firing on all cylinders the last few games. Even against as strong a team as QU. Congratulations to the players and coaches, and best wishes for the resumption of the season next month.

 

[driventoit]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

One has to have some standing or authority in order to be asked to eat humble pie. A mere enthusiast, I have neither (and you'd have to make my piece gluten-free, no easy task). So I just need to confess to a bit of mindless overreaching when commenting on a critical hockey matter like the makeup of lines. Yes, early on it was a "hot mess and a lot of confusion" on the ice (HockeyEast33), but that's no excuse for fantasizing a place for myself behind the bench. In the New Year I resolve to ditch the avatar and reclaim my normal, everyday self: an observant, but woefully untutored, fan in the stands. Go Harvard.


(Speaking of fans in the stands, a shout-out to Lyndsey Fry's grandparents, who witnessed #9's first goal of the season yesterday.)








OMG! Can you believe those D pairings?!

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Delightfully written post, driventoit. No need for humble pie, for I share your frustration about wanting to analyze and play around with line combinations. That is an aspect of the Bruins that provides endless, endless fun. Lucic is clicking with Soderberg and Erickson right now, but what happens when Krejci returns? What second coming of Jarome Iginla then plays RW with Krejci and who plays LW with the Swedish Line, and why? Why do the Bruins always have Top Six offensive dynamos (Ryder, Seguin, Soderberg, Erickson) down on their third line in the first place? Why hasn't the fourth line performed as well with a formerly high-scoring greybeard as they did with a designated pugilist? Our problem with the Crimson is twofold. First, we don't want to be as savage in discussing the strengths and weaknesses of 19 year old amateurs whose minds are busy concentrating on evolutionary biology midterms or whatnot, as we are in critiquing somewhat older NHL millionaires. That reticence impairs our analysis somewhat. More important, though, is our complete lack of relevant information. The Globe presents a daily soap opera revolving around various Bruins' injured or otherwise distempered body parts, rehab schedules, the psychodrama that is Matt Bartkowski's confidence level, the perils of using the speedy but diminutive Krug and Warsofsky on the same D pairing and the amount of muscle mass recently gained by ephebes like Dougie Hamilton and David Pastrnak. We, on the other hand, see only that Sally and Suzy haven't been dressing the past two weekends due to....unspecified causes. Only occasionally do we get randomly enlightened (it was only when I noticed Abby Fraser up in the stands on crutches last year that I answered the question why hadn't she been playing). So different from Claude Julien reporting that, for example, Tyler Seguin isn't dressing tonight because....he overslept a practice today, that's why. So we're down to (in my case) the level of unsubstantiated and often obscure generalities (e.g. if Crowe-Reber-D'Oench resembles O'Reilly-Ratelle/Pedersen-Middleton 40 years ago in terms of strength-playmaking-supersniperdom, who else could play on that line and how would that revised line compare....with whom? and so what? I have no idea what line combinations Katey has already experimented with in practice, whereas the Globe breathlessly reports whenever Pastrnak takes a couple of shifts next to Bergeron in place of Reilly Smith in practice) so not being able to fantasize about Harvard's line combinations and D pairings IS truly frustrating)

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Go Harvard. (Speaking of fans in the stands, a shout-out to Lyndsey Fry's grandparents, who witnessed #9's first goal of the season yesterday.)

Cool. Are they from Arizona? Lyndsey has had a slow start to the season so it was good to see her get on the board.

Speaking of lines, while I'm happy with the progress of all three, it is really too bad that Kalley Armstrong isn't seeing the ice. She's dressing for the games but hasn't seen any playing time. Not sure if it is injury related (concussion effects?). I can't imagine that Harvard would let her dress if there were any concerns and it leaves them with one extra healthy forward if she really can't play. Her skill on face-offs and killing penalties surely could help the Crimson. Nothing against Lexie Laing but if Armstrong is healthy enough to play, why not try her between Syd Daniels and Fry? That would be a tough line to play against - what's known in the NHL as a 'heavy' line that wears you down as the game goes along.

Only parallel I can think of is when Laura Brady dressed her senior year as captain of the team even though her back problems prevented her from playing regular minutes. She did come out for a token appearance on Senior Night and the team and the crowd went wild. Maybe this is similar in some way.







OMG! Can you believe those D pairings?! [/QUOTE]

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Speaking of lines, while I'm happy with the progress of all three, it is really too bad that Kalley Armstrong isn't seeing the ice. She's dressing for the games but hasn't seen any playing time. Not sure if it is injury related (concussion effects?). I can't imagine that Harvard would let her dress if there were any concerns and it leaves them with one extra healthy forward if she really can't play. Her skill on face-offs and killing penalties surely could help the Crimson. Nothing against Lexie Laing but if Armstrong is healthy enough to play, why not try her between Syd Daniels and Fry? That would be a tough line to play against - what's known in the NHL as a 'heavy' line that wears you down as the game goes along.

Perfect example of what I've been talking about. WHAT is going on with Armstrong's ice time?? I'm dying to know the answer, because it suggests so many interesting questions about the line combinations....but we'll probably never know.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Speaking of lines, while I'm happy with the progress of all three, it is really too bad that Kalley Armstrong isn't seeing the ice. She's dressing for the games but hasn't seen any playing time. Not sure if it is injury related (concussion effects?). I can't imagine that Harvard would let her dress if there were any concerns and it leaves them with one extra healthy forward if she really can't play. Her skill on face-offs and killing penalties surely could help the Crimson. Nothing against Lexie Laing but if Armstrong is healthy enough to play, why not try her between Syd Daniels and Fry? That would be a tough line to play against - what's known in the NHL as a 'heavy' line that wears you down as the game goes along.

Perfect example of what I've been talking about. WHAT is going on with Armstrong's ice time?? I'm dying to know the answer, because it suggests so many interesting questions about the line combinations....but we'll probably never know.

True, we'll never know. I'm guessing that Dylan Crugnale is also a healthy scratch because of the depth at forward. Again, it's a nice problem to have but has to be very hard on the players. Especially Crugnale who was such a key player for us down the stretch and against Yale in the quarters last year.

 

[ARM]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I was always taught and coached in men's hockey that you needed to score 4 goals a game on average to be sure to be a winning team - because the other team should be expected to score once a game on a nice play by them, a mistake by you, and a power play. If you score 4 on average, you win on average. Maybe in women's hockey the power play goals are less plentiful because there are fewer penalties and/or less effective power plays. Or maybe I'm just old and out of date .

The current scoring average this season for all teams is 2.56 for women's D-I and 2.70 men's D-I.

 

[TonyTheTiger20]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Wow that's surprising. Even with more teams getting shut out lowering the avg scoring, the lower limit is still defined (zero) while the upper limit can (theoretically) be unlimited.

 

[ARM]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Wow that's surprising. Even with more teams getting shut out lowering the avg scoring, the lower limit is still defined (zero) while the upper limit can (theoretically) be unlimited.

You don't watch enough games where BC isn't playing. I watched UND @ UW twice this weekend, and I believe the 2.56 number.

 

[UCONN FAN]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Watson Rink

Speaking of lines, while I'm happy with the progress of all three, it is really too bad that Kalley Armstrong isn't seeing the ice. She's dressing for the games but hasn't seen any playing time. Not sure if it is injury related (concussion effects?). I can't imagine that Harvard would let her dress if there were any concerns and it leaves them with one extra healthy forward if she really can't play. Her skill on face-offs and killing penalties surely could help the Crimson. Nothing against Lexie Laing but if Armstrong is healthy enough to play, why not try her between Syd Daniels and Fry? That would be a tough line to play against - what's known in the NHL as a 'heavy' line that wears you down as the game goes along.

Only parallel I can think of is when Laura Brady dressed her senior year as captain of the team even though her back problems prevented her from playing regular minutes. She did come out for a token appearance on Senior Night and the team and the crowd went wild. Maybe this is similar in some way.

Curious as to why you want to move a player who is tied for 5th in scoring (coincidentally with Daniels and Parker). Why specify Laing? Why shouldn't Fry move until she gets going?

 

[rangersrule]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

What's really curious to me is how Annie Pankowski was not on the Olympic Team last year while certain others were left on. Hard for me to believe....No comparison in skill, speed, vision, and scoring ability..Not even close!

Curious as to why you want to move a player who is tied for 5th in scoring (coincidentally with Daniels and Parker). Why specify Laing? Why shouldn't Fry move until she gets going?

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Wow that's surprising. Even with more teams getting shut out lowering the avg scoring, the lower limit is still defined (zero) while the upper limit can (theoretically) be unlimited.

O what a subtle post! A touch, I confess, a palpable touch; 'tis not as wide as a church door. nor as deep as a well, but it will serve. (i.e. ten is as close to infinity as we care ever to go).