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Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

Re: Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

bothman said:
Great news on Bowlby. They miss his speed and his bite. I'd like to see him back on the top line and Byce moved down.

A couple of other thoughts after watching both games this weekend:

1) The D is really struggling to get shots through in general, but especially on the PP. A part of this may be because the forwards are so stationary. It seems like all of the shots are blocked or are are wide/high. I also have noticed that the D is not moving forward in the offensive zone to shorten the pass and allow them to fire the puck from closer in. They seem to stay at the blue line and not cheat in on the PP, forcing the opposing PK unit to collapse as well.

2) The PP is 100% broken. It's as bad as it has been in 5 years. It has become so easy to defend and while the personnel is not what existed last year, there is too much talent on this PP for it to be as anemic as it is. I don't like Donato playing up high. I prefer him to play down low (like Vesey did) and either cut across and shoot or pass to the slot for a one-timer. The puck is staying on the perimeter for much too long. Harvard seems lucky to get 1-2 SOGs on the PP these days when they used to get 5-6 over the past few years
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Agree on all points and it is great news about Henry. We need him.

I'm actually puzzled as to why Teddy has Ryan out at the point. I know that is where he started as a freshman on the PP but he is much more valuable to us down low. And he isn't afraid to go to the dirty areas to score. We have enough offensive capability to put Walsh and Fox on the first unit or split them up and put Pelton Byce or Seb Lloyd back with Fox to allow Ryan to operate around the faceoff circles.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

HUCrimson#1 said:
In some ways the current season reminds me of Jimmy Vesey’s senior season. That year it seemed the team depended too much on his play-making and scoring ability. The following season, i.e., last year multiple players such as Malone, Moy, Kerfoot, Criscuolo all stepped up to fill the void. Seems this year there is a similar, somewhat subconscious, reliance on Ryan to do the heavy lifting. Ryan’s absence presents an opportunity to test this theory with the current cast. BTW, seems Bowlby will return as soon as he is able. He is not withdrawing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Good points. That '15-'16 team never could really get it together despite some impressive wins (the Mariucci Classic and beating Minnesota AGAIN in their barn). And I think Malone was hurt at certain points during the season. No question that they leaned heavily on Vesey. Let's hope that this year's team figures it out before March.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

If the coaches did not switch players up after back to back shutouts, why would they make any changes after winning a game? Keep him out for the BU game. If they lose, then switch the lineups around, win and keep him out til after the beanpot is over. If it was really mono that he had, he would still be weak and not in game shape anyways.
 
slapperjack said:
If the coaches did not switch players up after back to back shutouts, why would they make any changes after winning a game? Keep him out for the BU game. If they lose, then switch the lineups around, win and keep him out til after the beanpot is over. If it was really mono that he had, he would still be weak and not in game shape anyways.
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Because he was a Top 5 offensive player with the best +/- on the team and perhaps the fastest player on the team. He makes the first line better and would bump Byce to the 2nd Line.
 
Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

bothman said:
Because he was a Top 5 offensive player with the best +/- on the team and perhaps the fastest player on the team. He makes the first line better and would bump Byce to the 2nd Line.
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Makes sense — With Ryan departing for Pyongchang Tuesday Ted needs to rethink the first line anyway. I agree it might take a few days for Henry to regain full form. Anyone watch the Dartmouth game last night? I tried to keep in mind everyone’s recent comments about the D and PP, etc. I thought there was improvement across the team. But, of course, Dartmouth’s record is not that great. Thoughts?
 
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HUCrimson#1 said:
Makes sense — With Ryan departing for Pyongchang Tuesday Ted needs to rethink the first line anyway. I agree it might take a few days for Henry to regain full form. Anyone watch the Dartmouth game last night? I tried to keep in mind everyone’s recent comments about the D and PP, etc. I thought there was improvement across the team. But, of course, Dartmouth’s record is not that great. Thoughts?
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I watched intermittently. Play was better, especially in 1st period.

Still:
1). Not much finish from byce, krusko, etc
2). Walsh can’t hit the net
3). PP still broken. Donato has to get off point. PP predictable and too still / easy to defend

Not sure what to expect on Monday. BU always brutal to play in Beanpot and on a hot streak. I don’t think I would be surprised by anything on Monday....no idea what to expect.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

HUCrimson#1 said:
Anyone watch the Dartmouth game last night? I tried to keep in mind everyone’s recent comments about the D and PP, etc. I thought there was improvement across the team. But, of course, Dartmouth’s record is not that great. Thoughts?
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I thought we played very similarly to the way we've been playing recently - the lines were the same and the power play was 0 for 3. On the positive side, we dominated play, outshooting Dartmouth 40 to 23, but unlike the Cornell and Colgate games (where we also outshot the opponents), we managed to score a few goals! The difference is the first couple of goals, were off or redirects which is something we did not execute last weekend. Hopefully we can figure out a way to continue making it harder on the opposition's goalies. And still need to get that power play going...
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

Thought Harvard competed and generally played well. Tough not to get a good result with that kind of compete level.

Horrendous goal for Madsen to give up, which is too bad, because he played well. The rebound goal to Hickey was similarly horrendous though. You can't give up a juicy rebound like that off of a backhand shot practically from the blue line.

Donato had a nice assist but I thought he was largely invisible tonight. Walsh continues to showcase a lack of composure and can't hit the net with any shots.

Can someone tell me why Fox is intent on high wrist shots instead of wrist shots that are easier to tip (closer to the ice surface)?

On the plus side, I thought Olson played his best game of the year and was a physical presence all night. Same for Sherman and Marino (why these two were ever separated after all of their success last year is beyond me).

At this point, it's ECACs or bust for Harvard and now we enter the Donato-less Crimson. Let's see how Harvard responds and not easy out of the game games with Union & BC.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

I thought they played well, too. Fought all night. Looked gassed in the OT, but to be expected.

A player I though played well, after I had given up on him, was Baughman. He was on the ice for the first goal, and takes some foolish penalties, but I thought he responded well to BU's pressure.

Nevertheless, it was a pain to sit through an OT at 11:45, to see Madsen give up that soft goal. Reminded me, although not as bad, of the goal Aaron Israel gave up in OT to lose to BC years ago. Puzzling, after all these games. He saved Harvard in the first 10 minutes of the playoff game against Providence last year, so he can play well in the clutch, yet gives up soft goals when least expected. That was an aggravating one last night.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

Crimson Faced said:
I thought they played well, too. Fought all night. Looked gassed in the OT, but to be expected.

A player I though played well, after I had given up on him, was Baughman. He was on the ice for the first goal, and takes some foolish penalties, but I thought he responded well to BU's pressure.

Nevertheless, it was a pain to sit through an OT at 11:45, to see Madsen give up that soft goal. Reminded me, although not as bad, of the goal Aaron Israel gave up in OT to lose to BC years ago. Puzzling, after all these games. He saved Harvard in the first 10 minutes of the playoff game against Providence last year, so he can play well in the clutch, yet gives up soft goals when least expected. That was an aggravating one last night.
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That's been his MO since he arrived in Cambridge. He can look brilliant at times and then give up a couple of softies that absolutely kill any momentum or worse, lose a game. He is frustrating to say the least.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

Is anyone else having problems with Union’s livestream? Buffering every 20 seconds.
 
Game0n said:
Not a great result against Union, last night. But looking ahead, our recruiting class for next Fall is ranked 3rd in the country (if that means anything). Something to look forward to:

https://www.neutralzone.net/mens/rankings/team-rankings/?division=1&classyear=2018
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Have a Top 5 recruiting class (as of now) for 2018-2020. This year’s team just really lacks any secondary scoring after Donato. The good thing is Harvard is bringing in guys next year who are known for finishing - Wahlstrom, Dornbach, Shore, etc.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

Game0n said:
Not a great result against Union, last night. But looking ahead, our recruiting class for next Fall is ranked 3rd in the country (if that means anything). Something to look forward to:

https://www.neutralzone.net/mens/rankings/team-rankings/?division=1&classyear=2018
Click to expand...

This is great news. Hopefully Ryan returns for his senior season.

I didn't think we'd win last night given our woeful record against Union at their barn. We haven't won there in eight or nine years. The lack of finish is going to be our undoing perhaps as soon as the first round of the playoffs if we don't get a bye. In fact, even if we get the bye, it might not make a difference.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson 2017-2018

So a win over BC even in the consolation game means something. And congrats to Jack Donato for scoring his first collegiate and Beanpot goal. Something to send Dad over with to Pyeongchang next week. Not sure how he is going to manage the short trip and time zone changes but as he said in the Globe this morning, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to see his son play on the Olympic stage.

Two big ones this weekend at B-L. We need the four points to keep pace and have a shot at fourth place and a bye. I'd like to see the offense take charge and rack up some goals to give us a puncher's chance. We need the D to tighten up and bear down while still creating some offense. Not a lot to ask with this group but it's now or never time.
 
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