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Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

All of the Ivy League teams start their seasons late. They are also limited to 29 games per the Ivy League. In Harvard's case, after the league games and the 2 Bean-thingy games, they only have 5 more non-league games to schedule. It makes perfect sense to avoid scheduling games during 4 Nations Cup - and in Harvard's case, they are only skipping 1 weekend, not 2. I agree with Hux. Harvard and other teams have avoided scheduling games during this timeframe for years.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

All of the Ivy League teams start their seasons late. They are also limited to 29 games per the Ivy League. In Harvard's case, after the league games and the 2 Bean-thingy games, they only have 5 more non-league games to schedule. It makes perfect sense to avoid scheduling games during 4 Nations Cup - and in Harvard's case, they are only skipping 1 weekend, not 2. I agree with Hux. Harvard and other teams have avoided scheduling games during this timeframe for years.

I am well aware of both the Ivy League restrictions and the tendency to try to schedule around 4 Nations. You're missing the point I was trying to make.

The fact remains that Harvard (and Cornell) scheduled fewer early exhibitions/ scrimmages prior to their official 29 games allowed than most other Ivies. But that too is not unusual for Harvard.

The big difference is that Harvard has also heavily back-weighted their schedule--much more than they ever have previously, and far more than the other Ivies.

Harvard plays only 10 games before Christmas break, which is 3-5 games fewer than every other Ivy. That leaves 19 games on their schedule in Jan/Feb. There are 16 D1 teams that have already played 10 games or more!

Historically Harvard has never played so few games in the front half. In the last 15 years they have always played at least 12 games before break (5 times), 14-16 games 4 times.

They play 19 games in Jan-Feb, 3-5 more than the other Ivies.

Will compressing their schedule so significantly in Jan/Feb ultimately help them in terms of having more practice time early to be firing on all cylinders once the bigger games come, or will the grind of so many games in a short period of time later in the season wear them out in the crunch?
Opinions?
 
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Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Will compressing their schedule so significantly in Jan/Feb ultimately help them in terms of having more practice time early to be firing on all cylinders once the bigger games come, or will the grind of so many games in a short period of time later in the season wear them out in the crunch?
Opinions?

Don't forget, "Bean Pot, the Prequel!!!" is coming this month, shot in three exotic, foreign locations. I think everyone will be glad to have had this "week off," as well as glad to be battle-hardened for January/February . . . and March :).
 
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Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

They play 19 games in Jan-Feb, 3-5 more than the other Ivies.

Will compressing their schedule so significantly in Jan/Feb ultimately help them in terms of having more practice time early to be firing on all cylinders once the bigger games come, or will the grind of so many games in a short period of time later in the season wear them out in the crunch?
Opinions?

Any other year, and certainly last year with the 18-player roster, I'd think the risk of wearing out would considerably outweigh the benefit of having more practice time before starting out against teams that already have 6 or 8 games under their belts. But with 26 players this year, perhaps everybody will be playing fewer minutes and will therefore be better able to withstand the Jan/Feb crunch.

Furthermore, their newfangled academic year has (if I recall correctly) midterm exams ending in late October, reading period ending December 10, finals the next week, a "Have Fun in Jan Plan" in January and no midterm exams until March, so the hockey schedule is crammed into time periods with no (how shall I put it -- "academic distractions?")
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Hello all,

Just checking in to ask about the status of Crugnale (injured or healthy scratch). I also just noticed that Hannah Zarzecki is off the roster. Off the team completely due to the over-crowded roster this season or is she injured? I know Hannah's sister, Grace, is a Harvard commit. If Hannah's off the roster for a reason other than an injury, I wonder how/if this affects Grace's commitment.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Hello all,

Just checking in to ask about the status of Crugnale (injured or healthy scratch). I also just noticed that Hannah Zarzecki is off the roster. Off the team completely due to the over-crowded roster this season or is she injured? I know Hannah's sister, Grace, is a Harvard commit. If Hannah's off the roster for a reason other than an injury, I wonder how/if this affects Grace's commitment.

Doubt it will affect Grace. Hannah ended up at Harvard as part of the package deal and rarely stepped on the ice last season when they were short-handed, let alone this year when the roster is way bigger - she would never have dressed. Harvard fulfilled the deal for both kids - Hannah gets to go to Harvard and Harvard gets Grace. Everyone should be OK.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Doubt it will affect Grace. Hannah ended up at Harvard as part of the package deal and rarely stepped on the ice last season when they were short-handed, let alone this year when the roster is way bigger - she would never have dressed. Harvard fulfilled the deal for both kids - Hannah gets to go to Harvard and Harvard gets Grace. Everyone should be OK.

Same thing happened with the Nowak brothers in the early 2000s. Derek came first and after one season, decided to focus on lacrosse (he wasn't that strong a hockey player). But getting him in was critical to having his younger brother Brett commit and come to Cambridge. Which he did and he proved to be more talented and was huge during the Crimson's run to an ECAC tournament title in '02.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Nice game today, does this fall under the following saying? "Hardwork beats talent when talent doesn't work!"
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Nice game today, does this fall under the following saying? "Hardwork beats talent when talent doesn't work!"

Yes, because Harvard still hasn't got its talent set. Daniels moved up (over?) to join Laing and D'Oench, which may concentrate her game while relieving some of the defensive pressure on D'Oench, and Reber and Crowe are back where they belong (together), but everyone else was now-here, now-there. No doubt the numerous PKs Friday night necessitated the patchwork shifts, making it hard to see how the new combos would work, but then Saturday two new line variations were thrown into the mix. And the D pairings were all over the map.

So, I think the talent will work better when they know who their co-workers will be. "Still buffering" is my takeaway from these games.
 
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Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I watched Machmayer during the Clarkson game and it seemed to me she was having a tough time controlling the puck when shot at her throughout the game. The first Clarkson goal was tough to tell what happened due to the camera angle and distance. Not sure if it hit the dmans stick and changed directions but she moved funny and ended up flopping like a fish out of water trying to get the puck before it went into the net. The announcer seemed to think it went in off her glove hand. On the second Clarkson goal the puck was not really shot hard along the ice. She had her skate against the post and the puck hit her skate and bounced in front of her toward the faceoff circle. She dived forward hit it with her glove hand at the same time a Clarkson stick got there. It got away from her glove, ended up on her stick and she ended up pushing the puck out into the slot where Fast was waiting and she buried the shot into a wide open net. Just wondering if she was having the same issues with SLU that contributed to the final score. Quite frankly, Clarkson was lucky to come out with the tie. 5 on 5 Harvard was the better team. Gedman taking the 5 min major and the other penalties I think wore down the Crimson D.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I guess this is the downside of having a full roster of players who are used to playing major minutes. Where and how to play them. Some would consider it a luxury; others a curse. I just hope Harvard figures it out and soon as they have some major tests coming up with BU, BC and Northeastern on the horizon.

The glass half full approach would say that you don't win championships in November so there's a long way to go. But I am concerned about Maschmeyer. Is it a hiccup or a carryover from last year's Yale series?
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Good article about Harvard, mostly football, but most Harvard aficionados will appreciate reading it:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/how-...44147104580284940006309042.html?mod=djemTAR_h

I was aware that Harvard had recently increased the size of their need-based scholarships, but not to this extent:

"At Harvard, the wealthiest of the Ivies, children from families with incomes under $65,000 pay nothing for tuition, room and board, while those from families with incomes of $65,000-$150,000 can be asked to contribute 0-10% of their family’s income. That figure can drop further if a student has siblings in college or other extenuating circumstances. The university doesn’t factor in a family’s home equity or retirement assets in assessing need, an unusual practice. Roughly 70% of students at Harvard receive aid, and 20% attend free. The school does not break out the figures for its athletic teams. The generosity has allowed Harvard to turn what had historically been a disadvantage into an advantage when it comes to recruiting the small pool of terrific athletes who can also meet the academic standards of the Ivy League."
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Good article about Harvard, mostly football, but most Harvard aficionados will appreciate reading it:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/how-...44147104580284940006309042.html?mod=djemTAR_h

I was aware that Harvard had recently increased the size of their need-based scholarships, but not to this extent:

"At Harvard, the wealthiest of the Ivies, children from families with incomes under $65,000 pay nothing for tuition, room and board, while those from families with incomes of $65,000-$150,000 can be asked to contribute 0-10% of their family’s income. That figure can drop further if a student has siblings in college or other extenuating circumstances. The university doesn’t factor in a family’s home equity or retirement assets in assessing need, an unusual practice. Roughly 70% of students at Harvard receive aid, and 20% attend free. The school does not break out the figures for its athletic teams. The generosity has allowed Harvard to turn what had historically been a disadvantage into an advantage when it comes to recruiting the small pool of terrific athletes who can also meet the academic standards of the Ivy League."

Parents of a certain age and income level can only gawk at today's largesse. The usual, justifiable PR is about leveling the social playing field, which has been long overdue, shall we say, but the corresponding super-elevating of the athletic playing field is not something that occurred to little old naive me. (And what to make of the mere 30% who still pay full freight?!) :rolleyes:

(Thanks for the post.)
 
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Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Good article about Harvard, mostly football, but most Harvard aficionados will appreciate reading it:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/how-...44147104580284940006309042.html?mod=djemTAR_h

I was aware that Harvard had recently increased the size of their need-based scholarships, but not to this extent:

"At Harvard, the wealthiest of the Ivies, children from families with incomes under $65,000 pay nothing for tuition, room and board, while those from families with incomes of $65,000-$150,000 can be asked to contribute 0-10% of their family’s income. That figure can drop further if a student has siblings in college or other extenuating circumstances. The university doesn’t factor in a family’s home equity or retirement assets in assessing need, an unusual practice. Roughly 70% of students at Harvard receive aid, and 20% attend free. The school does not break out the figures for its athletic teams. The generosity has allowed Harvard to turn what had historically been a disadvantage into an advantage when it comes to recruiting the small pool of terrific athletes who can also meet the academic standards of the Ivy League."


now if they'd only play some games...
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

Good article about Harvard, mostly football, but most Harvard aficionados will appreciate reading it:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/how-...44147104580284940006309042.html?mod=djemTAR_h

I was aware that Harvard had recently increased the size of their need-based scholarships, but not to this extent:

"At Harvard, the wealthiest of the Ivies, children from families with incomes under $65,000 pay nothing for tuition, room and board, while those from families with incomes of $65,000-$150,000 can be asked to contribute 0-10% of their family’s income. That figure can drop further if a student has siblings in college or other extenuating circumstances. The university doesn’t factor in a family’s home equity or retirement assets in assessing need, an unusual practice. Roughly 70% of students at Harvard receive aid, and 20% attend free. The school does not break out the figures for its athletic teams. The generosity has allowed Harvard to turn what had historically been a disadvantage into an advantage when it comes to recruiting the small pool of terrific athletes who can also meet the academic standards of the Ivy League."


they also take a percentage of the student's savings...in certain cases.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2014-15

I guess this is the downside of having a full roster of players who are used to playing major minutes. Where and how to play them. Some would consider it a luxury; others a curse. I just hope Harvard figures it out and soon as they have some major tests coming up with BU, BC and Northeastern on the horizon.

The glass half full approach would say that you don't win championships in November so there's a long way to go. But I am concerned about Maschmeyer. Is it a hiccup or a carryover from last year's Yale series?

“Where and how to play them”; How long does it take for a coaching staff to figure this out? At what point should the coaching staff have players, playing as a team and not as a group of individuals fighting for position and playing time? When should a team become a team, be all in, and buy into what the coaching staff is doing? “Where and how to play them”; Very good question Skate79, will it be tonight? Or does Harvard’s coaching staff need more time to figure it out? “I just hope Harvard figures it out and soon as they have some major tests coming up with BU, BC and Northeastern on the horizon”

“But I am concerned about Maschmeyer.” “Is it a hiccup or a carryover from last year's Yale series?” If you look further than before the Yale series you might see it could be more than a hiccup (maybe or not). When was the last time she has started in back to back games and had back to back wins? Maybe this would be another good question for the coaching staff. It seems that the team is fortunate to have at least 2 very talented goaltenders capable of playing time, why is it that they don’t use that to their benefit (?); “Where and how to play them.” Will it be tonight? Or does Harvard’s coaching staff need more time to figure it out? “I just hope Harvard figures it out and soon as they have some major tests coming up with BU, BC and Northeastern on the horizon!”

As a former player I always felt playing as a team sooner than later was best, and felt we always had better results as a team throughout the year when we believed in each other and our coaches. Coaches truly need to believe in the team first concept as much as we did as players, and that is when I felt they best found the answer to “Where and how to play them!”

If you want to be a Coach, first you need a TEAM!
A team is always better than a group of individuals!
Sooner than Later is always best!

As always good luck to my friends, hope to see an exciting game!
 
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