Harvard Hockey 2010-11

[alslammerz]

Season is now less than two weeks away as Harvard will take on McGill in an exhibition game on Oct. 23rd. So a good as time as any to get this thread going.

First bit of recent news is that Kessler and Vaillancourt were named to the Four Nations roster for Canada. http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/wice/2010-11/releases/IHW101006_Canada_Four_Nations_Roster Should be interesting to see how Coach Stone game plans against the two of them behind the bench of Team USA.

We were ranked #8 at the start of the season by USCHO, and #9 by USA Today. Not sure if there were changes to that with teams playing around us.

Any thoughts?

 

[ARM]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

We were ranked #8 at the start of the season by USCHO, and #9 by USA Today. Not sure if there were changes to that with teams playing around us.

Harvard at #9 in the latest polls:

USCHO.com Division I Women's Poll
October 11, 2010

Team (First Place Votes) Record Points Last Poll
1 Mercyhurst ( 3) 4-0-0 129 3
2 Cornell ( 7) 0-0-0 120 2
3 Minnesota ( 3) 3-0-0 117 4
3 Wisconsin ( 1) 4-0-0 117 5
5 Minnesota-Duluth ( 1) 1-1-0 111 1
6 Boston University 2-1-0 66 6
7 Boston College 2-0-0 52 9
8 North Dakota 2-2-0 45 10
9 Harvard 0-0-0 36 7
10 Ohio State 2-0-0 12 NR
10 Providence 3-1-0 12 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Quinnipiac 8


Read more: http://www.uscho.com/rankings/?data=uscho1w#ixzz124X5jgc8

USA TODAY/USA Hockey Women's Poll
Oct. 12, 2010

   School           (1st) Record   Points  Last week
1  Mercyhurst        (7)   4-0-0     172       3
2  Cornell           (6)   0-0-0     155       2
3  Minnesota         (2)   3-0-0     144       4
4  Wisconsin         (2)   4-0-0     141       5
5  Minnesota Duluth  (2)   1-1-0     138       1
6  Boston University       2-1-0      81       6
7  North Dakota            2-2-0      75       8
8  Boston College          2-0-0      58      10
[B]9  Harvard                 0-0-0      40       7[/B]
10 Ohio State              2-0-0      18      NR

Others receiving votes: Providence College, 11; Quinnipiac University, 8;
University of New Hampshire, 4.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

We were ranked #8 at the start of the season by USCHO, and #9 by USA Today. Not sure if there were changes to that with teams playing around us.

Any thoughts?

I expect Harvard to be very solid this year, but it will be an uphill battle to de-throne Cornell. My ECAC picks for the top three are Cornell, Harvard, Quinnipiac in that order. (It was Clarkson in 3, but early results suggests they are struggling).

I'll be at a Harvard game within the next month or so, and will get a better view then.

Meanwhile if the rumors for the top two recruits for next year come to fruition, they are gonna be a real force for a few years to come. Biggest question mark is the goaltending. Replacing Kessler is a daunting task. However they bring in a great D class, so that should average that out.

 

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

I expect Harvard to be very solid this year, but it will be an uphill battle to de-throne Cornell. My ECAC picks for the top three are Cornell, Harvard, Quinnipiac in that order. (It was Clarkson in 3, but early results suggests they are struggling).

I'll be at a Harvard game within the next month or so, and will get a better view then.

Meanwhile if the rumors for the top two recruits for next year come to fruition, they are gonna be a real force for a few years to come. Biggest question mark is the goaltending. Replacing Kessler is a daunting task. However they bring in a great D class, so that should average that out.

Maybe Kessler's injury was a blessing in disguise then for the program. Bellamy's had a half season under her belt, and comes in as a Beanpot winning goaltender. Team should have plenty of trust in her.

Hopefully they take a lot of motivation from trying to rebound after the heavy NCAA defeat last season.

 

[DC78-82]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

I'm psyched to see Gina Mac play at Bright after 3 years of watching her big sister!

 

[Randy]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Good whatever part of the day it is to all of you. I am going to try to join in the dis-
cussion this year instead of just eavesdropping. A little bit about my hockey history:
I came north from Jacksonville, Fla in 1960 not even knowing how to rollerskate much
less stay vertical on ice. None of that has changed in the intervening years. But I did
pick up a love for Harvard Hockey during my undergraduate days. The three big names
of that era for me were Gene Kinasewich, Dave Johnson and Ken Dryden. I stayed on
for graduate school and the Joe Cavanagh era. I have remained in Cambridge but lost
touch with Harvard Hockey [and with some very good teams, it seems] until I got
turned on to women's hockey the year Julie Chew was a freshman. I go to many of the
men's games but my heart belongs to the women. I'll finish this off with a little vignette: I went to the Chowder Cup in July last year to follow team Harvard [Celine]. That was my first exposure to Jillian Dempsey! I also saw Gedman and
Young and my dreams have come true, they're playing for us. And, finally, I saw
Geraldine. I was back at the Chowder Cup this past July and there was Geraldine,
again, during a very good impersonation of Wonder Woman in the first two games.
Whenever she was on the ice the whole game seemed to revolve around her. And
then, in the third game Sunday morning , she came down to earth with a thud as she
stood up straight as the Statue of Liberty [the better to get her picture taken, perhaps] defending a rush and got cleanly beaten, leading to the first goal. I am
looking forward to seeing her be a star of the team again this year but I hope she
is listening to her coach who says in her video about the upcoming season that despite the obvious offensive talents of our defense, they've also got to play good
old fashioned defense, too. If Josephine can just channel a little Leanna Coskren, she
may turn out to be one for the ages. And never forget: high above Cayuga's waters
there's an awful smell.

 

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

And never forget: high above Cayuga's waters
there's an awful smell.

Welcome to the boards. Good to have another Harvard hockey fan among us.

Also, this is the second time somebody's done that little snippet of the Cornell alma mater parody. Unfortunately it is not something current undergraduates know. Mind sharing the whole song? I heard it once a couple of weeks ago but can't remember exactly how it goes, and was unclear if there was more to it.

 

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Speaking of women's hockey, Boston's entry in the CWHL this season will be playing some of its games at the Bright, including a noon inaugural game on Oct. 30, which will form a double-header with the women's game vs. Brown at 4pm. The team features some familiar faces, Angela Ruggiero and Caitlin Cahow, as well as some other Boston area products- Melissa Haber, recent BU grad, is one of the goalies (remember her from the Beanpot) and there are some Northeastern players as well. Should be interesting, and I might try to get out to the home/season/franchise opener on the 30th. Thought other people might be interested in hearing about it.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Speaking of women's hockey, Boston's entry in the CWHL this season will be playing some of its games at the Bright, including a noon inaugural game on Oct. 30, which will form a double-header with the women's game vs. Brown at 4pm. .

Cool. Do you have a start time. ?

 

[scrambledlegs]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Speaking of women's hockey, Boston's entry in the CWHL this season will be playing some of its games at the Bright, including a noon inaugural game on Oct. 30, which will form a double-header with the women's game vs. Brown at 4pm.

Cool. Do you have a start time. ?

Hmmm, is 12PM too obvious? Btw, I have no idea - just guessing..

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Hmmm, is 12PM too obvious? Btw, I have no idea - just guessing..

Clearly a case of not reading the whole message.

 

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Clearly a case of not reading the whole message.

To be fair, I probably could have phrased that sentence better for clarity's sake.
Boston CWHL vs. Burlington- 12 noon
Harvard vs. Brown- 4pm

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Maybe Kessler's injury was a blessing in disguise then for the program. Bellamy's had a half season under her belt, and comes in as a Beanpot winning goaltender. Team should have plenty of trust in her.

Hopefully they take a lot of motivation from trying to rebound after the heavy NCAA defeat last season.

Actually I hope they completely forget about last March and start with a clean slate. Seems to be working for the Bruins. This is a new season with a number of new faces. Like last season, it will take some time to adjust.

As for Bellamy, let's wait and see. She did well considering the circumstances last year but the freshman we recruited may also vie for playing time. Coach Stone will go with the hot hand I'm sure.

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Nice to reminisce about the 'Sixties, when you could drink beer at Watson Rink! I was there the night ('66 -- ?) that Kent Parrot scored for quite likely Harvard's only victory over Cornell during the Dryden years.

Throughout the rink from time to time you could hear an intermittent rumbling of "moooooooh!" "moooooooooh!" in honor of Cornell's agriculture school.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Did anyone see today's exhibition game against McGill? How did the frosh look? Unfortunate that we gave up the tying goal with less than a minute to play.

 

[Randy]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

I did see the game with McGill. I walked over from the intersection of Huron and
Concord where I live, enjoying some of the color of the Head of the Charles along the
way. The big surprise for me was that Liza Ryabkina was centering for Big Chute and
Spurling while Lyndsey Fry was taking her place with Dempsey and Buesser. Liza
looked very good [pray that her knee hold up] and Fry looked like a worthy re-
placement. She's very big! For now Coskren seems to be playing with Young. Leanna
seemed to be missing her pal from last year and played pretty conservatively. Young
looked good. Pucci, Romatoski and Gedman seemed to take turns pairing up. Gedman
looked somewhat unsettled but when the time comes for a little body checking, she
looks ready to heed the call. Pucci was pretty restrained. I think everybody is just
trying to get used to each other. The new goalie played the third period and looked
quick and able. Play got a little heated at times. With 11 games under their belts,
McGill looked very smooth. Their goalie was top notch. They had a pretty good
weekend down south for a change.
A closing comment about strategy, about which I know very little. It seems like in
the past Harvard has seemed to start it's break out of the defensive end by sending
the puck up to a forward waiting along the boards at the blueline. This often seems
to result in a scrum in front of one of the benches. It seems like this year the de-
fensemen will be trying more to hit a forward moving at speed thru the middle. Liza
got two almost clean breakaways up the middle which were stymied by superb
goaltending. I guess it's potentially a more dangerous pass up the middle and the
team passing is certainly not yet fluid [are NHL players just that much better passers
than college players or is the quality of the ice surface somehow better?]. I think we
have some defensemen who are capable of carrying the puck out by themselves ala
Ruggiero or Cahow. Is it hockey heresy to suggest that crisp passing of the puck is
maybe just too difficult? Off with my head!

"...but I say it's Cornell."

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Those line combinations make sense to me. Spurling is big and has good hands and is a good skater. Katherine Chute will benefit from having Liza on her line. Buesser and Dempsey can work with just about anyone and if Fry is as good as advertised, that makes two strong lines. Balance helped the Crimson last year.

Coskren will be fine. This was an exhibition so one can expect it will take time for all the parts to jell. If we get the goaltending, we'll be good to very good this year.

 

[alslammerz]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

If you can't make it to the Bright tomorrow night, the season opener vs. Yale will be on 95.3 FM and WHRB.org.

Here's our brief preview of the game.

I hope to be there in the stands, but depending on other circumstances, may be listening back at the studio instead.

 

[Hux]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Good luck to Big G!!! (What's up with the number though? Guess sibling pressure is pretty intense eh? )

 

[D2D]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Preview of the 2010-11 season and interview with Coach Stone: http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/wice/2010-11/releases/IHW101015_Season_Preview