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Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

Agree with skate for the most part- Some of Minnesota's best chances came on the PK today. Romatowski played well, Dempsey set up a couple of opportunities but was otherwise quiet.

Few quick things
- The one thing this team tries to do too much is cut through the slot, skate through 4 defenders and get off the clean shot. This weekend, I remember Liza doing this twice egregiously. At a certain point of dancing through traffic, someone is going to take the puck away- you just need to shoot.

- Crimson had a few opportunities they didn't convert, and so did Minnesota. I remember one in the 2nd period where the puck went between Kessler's legs and was going in- only for her to hook her leg behind her to kick it to the corner. Incredible save, fortunate for the Crimson.

- Third line played well. Agree with skate, Minnesota was so focused on stopping line 1a and line 1b that Griffin, Spurling and Conway really had the opportunity to press.

- What was with that one line change in the second where none of the offensive players came onto the ice? I think it was even on the PP. Either way, it gave Minnesota a 4 (maybe 5 if it wasn't the PP) on 2 and Kessler thankfully was able to hang on.

- Question since I haven't seen the games until this weekend. What happened to Margaret Chute? Has she been out of the lineup, or just on the bench not playing?

My only concern is that teams will be tougher to play away from the Bright Center when it comes to the NCAAs, but the Crimson should be able to compete with anyone if they bring their A game.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

alslammerz said:
My only concern is that teams will be tougher to play away from the Bright Center when it comes to the NCAAs, but the Crimson should be able to compete with anyone if they bring their A game.
Click to expand...
True, though a lot of teams have that problem.

Neither Minnesota nor Wisconsin has a particularly impressive road win either.

UNH went 0-1-2 at SLU/Clarkson/Harvard (they've won at BU & Northeastern, though I'm not sure how much longer they'll be in the top 10).

Clarkson did win at Harvard & Dartmouth, but split !Vermont!, lost at Cornell, and got swept at Minnesota.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

Question since I haven't seen the games until this weekend. What happened to Margaret Chute? Has she been out of the lineup, or just on the bench not playing?
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I had the same question myself. Hilary Hayssen was also on the bench as the Crimson skated only four D. Ashley Wheeler skated right wing on the second line and while she had her moments, I'd much rather see a skilled forward up there. Baumgartner had one shift and that was it.

The Crimson's depth is an issue, no question. This will cost them down the stretch as players become worn down with lots of minutes. Katey must bite the bullet and start to use these players to extend her bench.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

Skate79 said:
I had the same question myself. Hilary Hayssen was also on the bench as the Crimson skated only four D. Ashley Wheeler skated right wing on the second line and while she had her moments, I'd much rather see a skilled forward up there. Baumgartner had one shift and that was it.

The Crimson's depth is an issue, no question. This will cost them down the stretch as players become worn down with lots of minutes. Katey must bite the bullet and start to use these players to extend her bench.
Click to expand...

Seriously, do you really understand the game you are watching? I watched Wheeler play like she was possessed. She forechecked the hell out of Minnesota, creating turnovers, and also put on a stickhandling and skating clinic at one point along the wall to maintain possession in the offensive zone and create a scoring opportunity. She has plenty of talent.

I'd much rather see you gain some knowledge of the game before you post again.
 
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Power Play Puzzles

Power Play Puzzles

I expect the PP will be a work in progress for quite awhile.

For one thing, so many of the players (at least four frequent PP members) are brand new and their individual skills, let alone the meshing of their skills into an effective PP unit, haven't been tested much in game situations as yet.

For another, there are more than ten players for whom you can make a legitimate case that they should be on one of the two PP units. For example, the third line forwards have shown how well they can make quick short passes and generate scoring chances while moving the puck safely down low, a skill that is arguably (but not necessarily) more valuable on the PP than other skills at which other forwards may excel. For that reason, some of the third liners have seen meaningful PP minutes.

Perform your own thought experiment: you are the coaching staff for one PP practice. Where do you start? Suppose you decide to keep the first line together because they can be pretty overwhelming as a unit. Then you add Pucci's cannon at one of the points. That leaves the other point open for the moment. Suppose you want to build the second unit around McDonald's strength and cleverness. Five players so far. Where do you go next? Which individuals add the best ingredients? Do you want a big defenseman up front to provide screens? Only surehanded defensemen at the points, no forwards? In other words, do you put Ryabkina at the point with a defenseman down low, or vice versa? The coaches have experimented with both approaches. Should the player on the blue line with Pucci be a right or left shot (don't laugh, Claude Julien evidently considers the mix of Ls and Rs to be critical to the success of a PP at the NHL level). In short, you don't just select the ten overall best players, you put together the two units, out of all the various permutations, that will be most effective. And then your opponent gets to try and nullify your strategy by tactics ranging from aggressively attacking the points to clogging the middle -- so you have to have more than one look to your power play style.

So I'm willing to be patient to let the PP jell. But I also predict that after it jells, it will be lethal.
 
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Re: Power Play Puzzles

Re: Power Play Puzzles

Watson Rink said:
I expect the PP will be a work in progress for quite awhile.

For one thing, so many of the players (at least four frequent PP members) are brand new and their individual skills, let alone the meshing of their skills into an effective PP unit, haven't been tested much in game situations as yet.

For another, there are more than ten players for whom you can make a legitimate case that they should be on one of the two PP units. For example, the third line forwards have shown how well they can make quick short passes and generate scoring chances while moving the puck safely down low, a skill that is arguably (but not necessarily) more valuable on the PP than other skills at which other forwards may excel. For that reason, some of the third liners have seen meaningful PP minutes.

Perform your own thought experiment: you are the coaching staff for one PP practice. Where do you start? Suppose you decide to keep the first line together because they can be pretty overwhelming as a unit. Then you add Pucci's cannon at one of the points. That leaves the other point open for the moment. Suppose you want to build the second unit around McDonald's strength and cleverness. Five players so far. Where do you go next? Which individuals add the best ingredients? Do you want a big defenseman up front to provide screens? Only surehanded defensemen at the points, no forwards? In other words, do you put Ryabkina at the point with a defenseman down low, or vice versa? The coaches have experimented with both approaches. Should the player on the blue line with Pucci be a right or left shot (don't laugh, Claude Julien evidently considers the mix of Ls and Rs to be critical to the success of a PP at the NHL level). In short, you don't just select the ten overall best players, you put together the two units, out of all the various permutations, that will be most effective. And then your opponent gets to try and nullify your strategy by tactics ranging from aggressively attacking the points to clogging the middle -- so you have to have more than one look to your power play style.

So I'm willing to be patient to let the PP jell. But I also predict that after it jells, it will be lethal.
Click to expand...

There's a difference between "the PP didn't play well today" and "OMG WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR PP?!?!?!!"

My comment at least was the former- seeing as I said it was the strength of the team in Friday's game- let's be honest, the lone goal was basically a PP goal since the player just free from the box for Minnesota was nowhere near the play. On Saturday, Minnesota did a better job, and actually had some scary PK chances. Nothing more, nothing less.

And Hux, I thought Wheeler played well as well. Was just trying to make sure no injury had occurred to Chute the younger since the last time I saw them play (the pre-Ryabkina UNH game).
 
Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

Hux said:
Seriously, do you really understand the game you are watching? I watched Wheeler play like she was possessed. She forechecked the hell out of Minnesota, creating turnovers, and also put on a stickhandling and skating clinic at one point along the wall to maintain possession in the offensive zone and create a scoring opportunity. She has plenty of talent.

I'd much rather see you gain some knowledge of the game before you post again.
Click to expand...

I've got plenty of knowledge of the game, thank you very much. I said she had her moments. What game were you watching? Played like she was possessed? Puhleeze. Look, she definitely has improved her skating and merited her ice time and played well. But let's not go overboard here okay?
 
Round Pegs in Round Holes

Round Pegs in Round Holes

The key word regarding Ashley Wheeler this weekend was that she was playing with abandon. As a D, she often seemed to be playing with the weight of the world on her shoulders; as a defensively oriented F, she can run amuck and wreak havoc.

Sometimes after a player has invested years and incredible discipline in playing a particular position, the coaching staff perceives that she might make a bigger contribution to the team by learning a different position. It seemed to work that way with Jen Brawn last year; it seems to be working that way with Ms Wheeler this year. Kudos to them and to the coaches.
 
Re: Round Pegs in Round Holes

Re: Round Pegs in Round Holes

Watson Rink said:
Sometimes after a player has invested years and incredible discipline in playing a particular position, the coaching staff perceives that she might make a bigger contribution to the team by learning a different position. It seemed to work that way with Jen Brawn last year; it seems to be working that way with Ms Wheeler this year. Kudos to them and to the coaches.
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You are so right in your observation that sometimes as a player matures and/or moves forward, they exhibit or are asked to play different roles. Sometimes it is apparent that it's a temporary "fiX" , other times it's a blinding flash of brilliance. This is a valid point for not having fixed positions in youth hockey. A player should not be artificially limited to a position.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

Kessler named to Canada's U-22 team for the MLP cup (1/5-1/9)- will presumably miss the road trip to Princeton and Quinnipiac.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

Well I guess you can describe tonight's game as a Minnesota hangover. The Crimson definitely did not bring their 'A' game but they brought enough to win. Connecticut didn't offer much resistance except in the second period and there was quite a bit of sloppy play on both sides. At times Harvard treated the puck as if it were a hot potato. And again, they missed some glorious chances to score down low. Kaitlin Spurling missed one great chance in the first period before burying a PP goal on a nice spinorama move in the crease to net the game winner. Kate Buesser's goal was a great example of getting position down low and jamming the puck in on a cross ice pass from Liza Ryabkina. Harvard needs to do more of that in the future. It would also help if they could win a face-off now and then. Couldn't believe how many draws they lost tonight. Memo to coaching staff: work on the face-offs before January.

Now here is where everyone from mattij to ARM rolls their eyes in disbelief. The refs did Harvard a big favor in the third period. Not only did they put the Crimson on the power play for four of the last five minutes of the game (once a two man advantage) but they looked the other way when Harvard players committed at least two or three obvious or near obvious penalties. To say that Heather Linstead was beside herself would be the understatement of the year. She was apoplectic on the bench and after the game and handshakes, she went over to the refs to give them an earful. One of her assistants actually had to restrain her and pull her away before she really lost it. I can't say I blame her. I think she got the short end of the stick in the third period. I've complained enough about refs on this board and their inconsistencies and tonight was a good example of how it worked in Harvard's favor. It won't always be this way and the Crimson should be aware of it.

Given the intensity of this past weekend's games, you can't really blame the Crimson for an uneven effort tonight. Let's hope they do well on their exams and come back for a big push for first place after Christmas break. Katey played everyone except for Margaret Chute (it was surprising to see Alysa Baumgartner and Hilary Hayssen get minutes late in the game). Hope that Pucci is okay and will be back in January.
 
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Re: Round Pegs in Round Holes

Re: Round Pegs in Round Holes

Watson Rink said:
The key word regarding Ashley Wheeler this weekend was that she was playing with abandon. As a D, she often seemed to be playing with the weight of the world on her shoulders; as a defensively oriented F, she can run amuck and wreak havoc.

Sometimes after a player has invested years and incredible discipline in playing a particular position, the coaching staff perceives that she might make a bigger contribution to the team by learning a different position. It seemed to work that way with Jen Brawn last year; it seems to be working that way with Ms Wheeler this year. Kudos to them and to the coaches.
Click to expand...

It worked out that way with Donnie Sweeney for the men's team. As a frosh, he was on left wing but it became apparent to the coaching staff that his strength and speed would be an asset on D. It led to a 14 year NHL career.

I wouldn't necessarily draw the same comparison between Jen Brawn and Ashley Wheeler although I do see your point. Harvard was having problems with the breakout last year and Brawn's skill and speed helped alleviate that problem. She adapted very well to playing D and for the most part, was in position and able to handle opposing forwards who came down her side of the ice.

Wheeler plays on what is either the second line or line 1A depending on how you look at it. As a converted D, I see how her speed and ability to play along the boards can help but I don't see the offensive skill that is needed on that line. Personally, I'd like to see Kaitlin Spurling on either the first or second line because she has a strong wrist shot and goes to the net creating havoc in front. I get that the coaching staff may prefer to have some sort of 'balance' for the three lines but Wheeler could provide that same intensity for the third line as they are considered the Crimson's checking line.
 
Look What Santa Claus Left Us!

Look What Santa Claus Left Us!

No fewer than four members of the US U-18 national team are coming to Cambridge next year!

You can look it up in Hux's list on page 22 of the D-1 Commitments 2010-2011thread.

The stars were unusually aligned, in that one former U-18 teammate of theirs (Jillian Dempsey) joined the squad this year, one player has an older sister (Anna McDonald) on the squad, and another player has a cousin who was on the men's national championship team (CJ Young). So perhaps this won't happen every year from now on....
 
Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

More alum linkage:

Here's a Q&A with Julie Chu, where she talks about how her Harvard psych degree has helped her out on the ice.

Caitlin Cahow is blogging about the Olympic experience for USA Today, and the newest entry is now up here.

And Angela Ruggiero is doing likewise for the New York Times.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

Good display for Harvard at today's game between Team USA and the ECAC All-Stars.

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Ruggiero (Chu), :21; 2, USA, Knight (unassisted), 4:56; 3, USA Cahow (J. Lamoureux), 4:56. Penalties: ECAC, Ketchum (tripping), 19:09.


Second Period - Scoring: 4, USA, J. Lamoureux (Lawler, Bellamy), 2:38; 5, USA, Cahow (Weiland, Chu), 9:13; 6, ECAC, Ketchum (Bassett), 9:13; 7, ECAC, McDonald (Buesser), 16:51; 8, USA, Darwitz (Knight, Stack), 19:50. Penalties: None.


Third Period - Scoring: 9, USA, Darwitz (Chesson), 12:40; 10, USA, J. Lamoureux (Knight), 13:00. Penalties: None.

8 points from current Harvard players and alumnae:
Ruggiero 1 G
Cahow 2 G
Chu 2 A
McDonald 1 G
Bassett 1 A
Buesser 1 A

Meanwhile, Canada's U-22 team has their first game of the MLP Cup on Tuesday vs. the Swiss. Will keep an eye on them to see how Kessler does.
 
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Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

Also, On the Blog- Christina Kessler's historic two shutouts versus the Minnesota Golden Gophers named one of the top 5 Harvard athletic performances of the semester.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

Kessler gave up 1 goal on 12 shots as Canada wins their first MLP game 4-1.
 
Re: Harvard Crimson Women 09-10

Good Luck this weekend to Laura Bellamy as she will get the starting job in net for the Crimson this weekend as Kessler is away competing with the U-22 Canadian Team.

Bellamy is a very capable Goalie from Minnesota, one very highly acclaimed Goalie from that state.
 
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