Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

Not a lot to say about tonight other than we simply don't have the talent or ability to win at this level. 22 years and counting since our last NCAA tournament win. I lost count the number of times BC had two on ones or break-ins where our D was left flat footed. Embarrassing is putting it mildly. There were times we played scared or refused to attack BC unless the puck bounced for us in a way that allowed us some freedom to move. Otherwise, BC controlled play and did what they wanted when they wanted. It never looked for a moment like they were concerned about losing the game.

Nashville gets their wish. We can only hope UMD takes care of business tomorrow and sends the Eagles home. Not likely but maybe they get a few more bounces. Providence gave it all they had but came up short. Brilliant goaltending at both ends of the ice.

Go Riverhawks.

 

[J.D.]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

Didn't realize harvard fans cared enough about BC to root against them

 

[buoldtimer]

All 3 lines of D are brutal tonight. Cmon

The first BC goal was the kind of play that makes a coach cry.

 

[bothman]

The first BC goal was the kind of play that makes a coach cry.

Very much so. Defenseman playing like ballerinas and not taking the body and making someone think twice about being in the crease.

Harvard's D has been its weak link all season and last night stayed true to form.

We are upgrading significantly next season in that department (and a regular this season will likely be on the bench), and that upgrade is much needed given the losses upfront that we will suffer.

 

[sterlippo1]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

Didn't realize harvard fans cared enough about BC to root against them

right?

 

[ColSkate65]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

Thought you outplayed BC the 2nd and 3rd periods. Hard to come back from a 3-0 deficit against them. Good game and good season. We won't miss Mr. Vesey

 

[KHousesniper]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

I'm proud of what Harvard accomplished this year. I'm probably typical of most Harvard fans in that I see ~ 3 home games a year. Worcester is a bridge too far for me. I think our lot are casual fans who enjoy a few good mid-winter clashes, and that's about it. God bless the few and the passionate who follow them to playoff games and post informatively here to keep me/others apprised-- it's wonderful. I saw Harvard only twice this year, but both times I thought they were relying far too much on finesse and speed. I missed a guy like Guiltinen ( sp?), even with his ill-timed penalties and occasional defensive zone blunders, being nasty and hitting everything that moved...and adding some badly needed physical presence. More than any other young d-man I felt he had potential if he could exercise a little more discipline. A team like this year's BC team is very talented, and it's certainly no shame to bow out to them, but I do think that BC needs to be hit or they will run away with games. Trying to merely skate with them is a losing proposition. No matter how much speed and skill Harvard has up front, BC has more. I think Ted preaches speed and up-tempo hockey almost to the exclusion of all else. Ted's also laid back and he's not going to be terribly upset about Harvard losses. He's a wonderful guy ( and hilarious ) but he lacks the intensity, drive, and discipline to ever guide Harvard to a national title. That doesn't really bother me but its my 2 cents on why Harvard doesn't get further with the talent Ted's able to regularly recruit. Defensive accountability, discipline and physical play ( The ghost of Kevan Melrose? ) need to be part of the picture, no many how many Crisculos, Kerfoots, and Veseys we have. Looking forward to next year!

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

Thought you outplayed BC the 2nd and 3rd periods. Hard to come back from a 3-0 deficit against them. Good game and good season. We won't miss Mr. Vesey

We played better but didn't really outplay them all that much. For one thing, we didn't have much net front presence to disturb Demko. He saw one shot and that was it. Whereas BC was crashing the net all night and our D, as Bothman pointed out, acted like ballerinas. Frustrating to watch how tentative we played. Baughman looked like he was afraid of his own shadow. Something happened to the kid from the Beanpot to today.

Interesting to note that Newell dressed for warmups but didn't play. He looked fine to me. Not sure what was going on there. But he will have to play a major role next year.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

I think Ted preaches speed and up-tempo hockey almost to the exclusion of all else. Ted's also laid back and he's not going to be terribly upset about Harvard losses. He's a wonderful guy ( and hilarious ) but he lacks the intensity, drive, and discipline to ever guide Harvard to a national title. That doesn't really bother me but its my 2 cents on why Harvard doesn't get further with the talent Ted's able to regularly recruit. Defensive accountability, discipline and physical play ( The ghost of Kevan Melrose? ) need to be part of the picture, no many how many Crisculos, Kerfoots, and Veseys we have. Looking forward to next year!

Interesting how you characterize Teddy because when he played for Harvard, especially during our national championship run, there was no player on either side who wanted it more than TD. He drove Lake State and Michigan State crazy during that tournament run and was a force at both ends of the rink. He wore out Minnesota in the championship game going to the boards to scrap for every puck. He was as relentless a player as I have ever seen during that tournament.

I don't disagree with how you describe him because he has always been affable and outgoing with me. I have a good friend who lives two streets over from the Donato household and he describes Teddy as the dad you would love to have if you were a kid growing up and wanted to play hockey. Teddy's style of play has rubbed off on Ryan who will only get better in the years to come. I don't know if he can lead Harvard to a national championship. But the program is starting to turn around and we won two tournaments this year beating Minnesota on their home rink (again!!) and Notre Dame on their home rink. We'll never recruit like BC or BU because their recruits would never make it past the screening stage in admissions and Teddy knows it. We're not a one and done school and we value academics and community service as part of the complete University experience. Players like Alex Killorn and Jimmy Vesey understood that as their buy-in to a Harvard education. For that, we are grateful as fans and alumni.

 

[J.D.]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

Louis LeBlanc was an excellent 4 year player

 

[bothman]

Louis LeBlanc was an excellent 4 year player

Tongue and cheek. At least he finished a season. Jeremy Bracco anyone?

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

Louis LeBlanc was an excellent 4 year player

Louis Leblanc was the exception, not the rule. Admissions no doubt made it clear to Donato and other coaches after he left that players come here as student-athletes and not just athletes for hire.

 

[J.D.]

Tongue and cheek. At least he finished a season. Jeremy Bracco anyone?

One season or a few games doesn't matter when you're talking about academics. All i am saying is it can and does happen everywhere. Plus, BC has had plenty of kids play 3-4 years, get degrees and move on to NHL.

 

[bothman]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

Rumors flying about Pearl to Umass as Head Coach.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

Rumors flying about Pearl to Umass as Head Coach.

That would be a loss but understandable as he has been a head coach prior to Harvard. He had a positive impact on the program. Hope we can find someone to replace him in that role. I'm not sold on our other assistants.

 

[LTsatch]

Rumors flying about Pearl to Umass as Head Coach.

Was hoping Schaefer would get it.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

Some leftover thoughts on the NCAA regionals while watching Ferris State battle Denver.

1. We crushed Ferris at the Mariucci Classic. They are giving Denver all they can handle. All the more mystifying why we seem to disappear during the NCAAs. We can play with these teams but for some reason, getting to the NCAAs seems to be a bigger objective. At some point, we have to take the next step and learn how to win beyond the ECAC.

2. Love the fact that the Ferris State President plays clarinet in the pep band. How great is that?

3. As much as I loved watching Vesey, Kerfoot and Criscuolo play these past two seasons, the Pioneer's Pac Rim line is something to watch. These guys put enormous pressure on the opposing team's D on every shift. They are lightening quick and find each other with eyes in the back of their heads. As I write this, Denver just scored twice in 15 seconds to take a 5-3 lead. Watch out North Dakota.

4. We need some adjustments in our system. Watching teams during this regional weekend, it is clear that we don't create the kind of spacing that leads to great scoring opportunities. We need to do a better job of transitioning from defense to offense. Denver just scored again. Whoever wins that game between Denver and North Dakota will win the national title. Both teams have speed and aggressiveness in the offensive end that you don't see here in the East.

 

[Crimson Faced]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

right?

We rooted for BC Saturday night; always root for the ECAC (even Cornell), then Hockey East in the Frozen Four. I think we were the only two Harvard fans who came back for the Saturday game.

As far as Harvard's game, nothing more to add. The D has been poor all year, they played hard against BC but are not on their level. I was disappointed with Kerfoot this year, I don't know what to make of him, except maybe he is part of the list of Harvard players over the years that appear to have potential but don't improve as they get older. The D was obviously poor, but the offense could not score against the better teams. Could not complain about their effort at the end of the year, they played hard, except the third period against St. Lawrence where they played scared.

The Harvard crowd Friday night was decent sized and gave the best support they had in any game I attended during the season, and the Band was excellent. The BC fans seemed to take it for granted that their team would win...which they did.

If Pearl leaves, though, that will be a setback, along with the emergence of Vesey, the team improved for two seasons after Pearl's hire.

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

We rooted for BC Saturday night; always root for the ECAC (even Cornell), then Hockey East in the Frozen Four. I think we were the only two Harvard fans who came back for the Saturday game.

As far as Harvard's game, nothing more to add. The D has been poor all year, they played hard against BC but are not on their level. I was disappointed with Kerfoot this year, I don't know what to make of him, except maybe he is part of the list of Harvard players over the years that appear to have potential but don't improve as they get older. The D was obviously poor, but the offense could not score against the better teams. Could not complain about their effort at the end of the year, they played hard, except the third period against St. Lawrence where they played scared.

The Harvard crowd Friday night was decent sized and gave the best support they had in any game I attended during the season, and the Band was excellent. The BC fans seemed to take it for granted that their team would win...which they did.

If Pearl leaves, though, that will be a setback, along with the emergence of Vesey, the team improved for two seasons after Pearl's hire.

Harvard had WAY more fans than they usually do at the Peepot. It was kind of surprising.

 

[bothman]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2015-2016 - All things Bright and Beautiful

We rooted for BC Saturday night; always root for the ECAC (even Cornell), then Hockey East in the Frozen Four. I think we were the only two Harvard fans who came back for the Saturday game.

As far as Harvard's game, nothing more to add. The D has been poor all year, they played hard against BC but are not on their level. I was disappointed with Kerfoot this year, I don't know what to make of him, except maybe he is part of the list of Harvard players over the years that appear to have potential but don't improve as they get older. The D was obviously poor, but the offense could not score against the better teams. Could not complain about their effort at the end of the year, they played hard, except the third period against St. Lawrence where they played scared.

The Harvard crowd Friday night was decent sized and gave the best support they had in any game I attended during the season, and the Band was excellent. The BC fans seemed to take it for granted that their team would win...which they did.

If Pearl leaves, though, that will be a setback, along with the emergence of Vesey, the team improved for two seasons after Pearl's hire.

Kerfoot's biggest issue is his ability to finish, especially from in tight. With all of the posts, crossbars, and miss the goal shots, you gotta think he is gripping the stick a little tight in those situations. He's a great set up guy and skater, but he needs to work on his shooting and with that, confidence.

I'm starting to think through what next year will look like from a line combination perspective and will post something shortly on that front. Talent wise, we will be much better in net (more experience) and on the blue line (much better talent), and we will drop off upo front with the losses of Vesey and Criscuolo. Guys like Malone (step up and stay healthy), Moy (talented, but inconsistent), and Donato (more consistency) will need to step it up. To this end, we aren't bringing in any "high impact" forwards, but we are bringing in some older, depth guys from the USHL who will be physically ready to step in and contribute. More to come on this front.

This all assumes that no one leaves. Who would have expected Brian Hart to leave last year - so you never know what can happen.