Harvard Hockey 2010-11

[Crimson Hockey Fan]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

So glad it's hockey season. I'm looking forward to seeing the new players and seeing how this team gels.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Went to today's game against Brown. First off, the Bright Center has undergone a makeover on the inside of the building. New bathrooms, flooring, paint, and tables to put food on while you're watching the game. Better lighting than last year. Very positive changes.

I didn't see the Yale game but from what I could discern today, there is much to like about the Crimson. Their speed is pretty good and the forecheck is aggressive. They had Brown gasping for air in the second period as they came in waves of two on ones. Looked like a scrimmage drill. At one point, the Brown D just stood around and watched. Probably because they gave up trying to challenge the Crimson and just hoped for the best. But as they have the past two years, the Crimson had major problems trying to finish. The score should have been 7-2 but for some missed opportunities in close. And way too many shots hit the Brown goalie in the chest. Harvard needs to do a much better job picking spots like Pucci did on the first goal in which she weaved through the Brown D, angled to her right and roofed a forehand over the Brown goalie's left shoulder.

Dempsey's goal was a thing of beauty as well. Dempsey had missed previously on two close in bids (one with an empty net staring her in the face) but she busted down the left side and took a rebound of a Gina MacDonald shot and slammed it into the open net.

The freshmen are good, not great. They predictably made numerous mistakes including some bad decisions by Marisa Gedman on D. She has talent but she has to improve her on ice vision. None of the freshman forwards impressed other than MacDonald who looks an awful lot like her sister Anna. They need time to adjust to the speed of the college game. Lyndsey Fry who is supposed to be highly touted didn't dress and I'm guessing it's because of an injury. Margaret Chute and Deb Conway dressed and didn't play.

Laura Bellamy did okay. She didn't face a lot of shots and couldn't really be faulted on either goal. Still she had her moments of anxiety that made you wonder if she is a true #1.

Coach Stone mixed up all the lines during the game so it was hard to keep track of who was skating with whom. About the only line that looked like it remained intact was Liza's line with Katherine Chute and Kaitlin Spurling. Not sure this will help the team but at least everyone got a chance to play.

I'm not sure at this point Harvard deserves a top ten ranking. They've got some issues to work out and they should have come away with four points. The youth and inexperience show up at different times and will be a factor against top teams like Cornell. We got away with some stuff today because Brown is pretty bad. That won't be the case with a team like the Big Red.

Still, it's great to be back at Bright!

 

[Watson Rink]

What have they done to my rink?

What have they done to my rink?

First off, how come they renovated the rink without consulting me? Where are the team photographs from the 1890s?

More seriously, I concur in part and dissent in part from the conclusions expressed in the penultimate paragraph of Skate 79's post. For the final 25 minutes, I concur. But in the first 35 minutes the team totally dominated, achieving a 3-0 lead; I thought it was time to switch goaltenders and party, but penalties and lackadaisical play clouded the rest of the game (which Brown won 2-1).

This group does need to jell, and it's too bad that they have to play Cornell on the road next week. But in the long haul there's a lot to hope for.

The play of the game for me was Spurling's assist: after she crossed the blue line with speed and had the puck taken away, she busted her tail pursuing the defender, won the puck individually behind the goalline and tossed a nice set-up to the corner of the crease. The play epitomized the tenacity and heart that the whole team showed in building the 3-0 lead.

 

[Veritas]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Randy: Hooray! a fan on this forum older than me!! I do remember that era as a high school kid living in Cambridge. My dad loved hockey and played college hockey in the 20's (Bates '25). He took me to a lot of games in the Gene Kinasewich and Dave JohnTson era. A couple of notes about Dave Johnston. As of Oct 1, 2010 he is now know as "His Excellency the Right Honourable David Lloyd Johnston, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada" His daughter, Sharon ('94) played hockey for two years. I think HM the Queen has excellent taste in Governors-General! Also, don't know if you are aware of this but Gene Kinasewich was a great fan of Harvards women's hockey and came to almost every game. A really nice man too.

Watson Rink: About your comment about beer at Watson. I was too young to drink beer for 90% of the 60's but even if I had been old enough I would have skipped the beer in order to wrap my hands around a cup of hot tea. My memories of Watosn involve intense cold, colder than other college rinks I knew.

I won't add to the comments about the games other than to say Pucci is showing skill at moving through heavy traffic to get shots off or be in positions for rebounds. That should help as the year progresses.

 

[dave1381]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

I'm not sure at this point Harvard deserves a top ten ranking. They've got some issues to work out and they should have come away with four points. The youth and inexperience show up at different times and will be a factor against top teams like Cornell. We got away with some stuff today because Brown is pretty bad. That won't be the case with a team like the Big Red.

I'd tend to agree. I think in the current situation, the top 9 are clear (5 WCHA teams, Mercyhurst/Cornell/BU/BC) and you could make an argument for any number of teams being 10th. Providence/UNH/Northeastern are have solid overall records but a few blemishes on par with a tie against Yale. I might have said Quinnipiac before this weekend, but no longer. Dartmouth of course did manage to get 4 points unlike Harvard, but Harvard clearly was much better a year ago and how much do you read into one weekend? So it could go either way. I think they'll hang in there at 10 in the polls.

 

[Randy]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

I thought the Brown game had some lessons to teach regarding how Harvard should
play Cornell this weekend. Obviously, Brown has less overall talent than Harvard but
they are well-coached and played a disciplined team defense. It seems like scoring in
hockey is similar to scoring in soccer, i.e. it's not easy. I don't know if there's any way
to come up with a team's scoring vs shots taken percentage but I would think Harvard's
might be pretty low. It just seems like in hockey, like so many things [like politics],
it's harder to make things happen than to keep them from happening. And so, I think if
Harvard keeps with it's "**** the Torpedoes" style against Cornell, a team with alot
of really big torpedoes, it's going to get sunk, again. I say again because I think that's
pretty much what happened in the final game last year. I think Harvard should take
this as their motto during practice this week, "A breakaway equals a goal." They don't
have Kessler to clean up their mistakes anymore. It's sort of like Cornell plays "rope-
a-dope", confident in their ability to clog up their defensive zone. They sort of play
4 on 5 power play defense, let the point men slowly drift in toward the net as the
action gets frantic and then try to hit one of those torpedoes on the break. I don't
think it's fair to Bellamy. I think Harvard will probably end the season somewhere
around .500. That's not a knock on Harvard but an acknowledgement that women's
collegiate hockey just gets better and better. I think Harvard should think of every
game as ultimately preparation for the playoffs at the end of the year. Another
analogy comes to mind: the guy in tennis who's game is to not make any mistakes, to
get everything back over the net. He doesn't have to "make" anything happen, he
just has to make his opponent feel like he "has" to make winners. At my level of
tennis, anyway, feeling like you "have" to make winners is usually the kiss of death.
So, maybe the Cornell game should mostly be about working on that shaky de-
fense, keeping the game close and hoping that Josephine, Liza and Luck will pull us
through.
"...but I say it's Cornell."

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

I agree Dave. I should have emphasized that you really can't read anything into the first weekend. Teams in October tend to be very different later in the season, especially the young ones. I was just concerned because neither Yale nor Brown are in the top echelon and I worry about how the Crimson will perform in the coming weeks against the likes of Cornell and Q-Pac given their youth and inexperience. It might be painful but lessons will be learned and that hopefully will translate into a stronger team down the stretch.

 

[Skate79]

Re: What have they done to my rink?

Re: What have they done to my rink?

If you read my post, I pointed out that the Brown D was in total disarray in the early to mid part of the second period as the Crimson skated circles around them. No question we dominated much of the game and the score does not refect the one-sided play. That was my point about a failure to finish. We have to do a much better job of finishing plays instead of just cycling the puck.

 

[dave1381]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Interesting remark about whether this team will finish around .500. Do remember they were 11-4-1 last year post Kessler injury. Their balance of recruiting vs. losses to graduation was on par with most of the rest league (though Cornell and perhaps Quinnipiac will be favored over them). So I don't forsee them being too far from the 13-6-3 of a year ago in the ECAC, and perhaps even better. The nonconference schedule is much tougher given the Olympic boost for BC/BU and UNH/Minnesota (2) now being on the road. I'm pretty sure this team will not be going 5-0-2 out of conference this year.

 

[Skate79]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Interesting remark about whether this team will finish around .500. Do remember they were 11-4-1 last year post Kessler injury. Their balance of recruiting vs. losses to graduation was on par with most of the rest league (though Cornell and perhaps Quinnipiac will be favored over them). So I don't forsee them being too far from the 13-6-3 of a year ago in the ECAC, and perhaps even better. The nonconference schedule is much tougher given the Olympic boost for BC/BU and UNH/Minnesota (2) now being on the road. I'm pretty sure this team will not be going 5-0-2 out of conference this year.

Right but their schedule post Kessler injury was not that tough. Yes, they had RPI and Dartmouth on the road but other than that, they were home where they tend to play much better. I agree that their non-conference is much tougher and is probably the reason that the poster felt they were headed for .500. I think they will be better than .500 but by how much will be determined by their D and goaltending.

 

[mattj711]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

I personally would be surprised and disappointed of Harvard doesn't finish solidly above .500. It would not be good for the ECAC if they don't.

As far as playing Cornell this weekend on the road, the good news for Harvard fans is I believe Cornell will be without both Johnston and Jenner who will be at 4 Nations with Team Canada. I don't think their absence makes Harvard the favored team to win, but it certainly makes things more interesting.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

I personally would be surprised and disappointed of Harvard doesn't finish solidly above .500. It would not be good for the ECAC if they don't.

As far as playing Cornell this weekend on the road, the good news for Harvard fans is I believe Cornell will be without both Johnston and Jenner who will be at 4 Nations with Team Canada. I don't think their absence makes Harvard the favored team to win, but it certainly makes things more interesting.

Seen five of the six Ivy teams play sofar this year (Not seen Cornell yet, can't wait for that )
Harvard is clearly the best of the five Ivy teams I've seen play. They got the most speed, the most depth and the most talent. Does not mean they will win all those Ivy matchups. (Yale result proof of that).

 

[HockeyTeacher]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

The freshmen are good, not great. They predictably made numerous mistakes including some bad decisions by Marisa Gedman on D. She has talent but she has to improve her on ice vision. None of the freshman forwards impressed other than MacDonald who looks an awful lot like her sister Anna. They need time to adjust to the speed of the college game. Lyndsey Fry who is supposed to be highly touted didn't dress and I'm guessing it's because of an injury.

Actually, Ms. Fry found out this week that she has "mono" and will be out approximately a month.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

I personally would be surprised and disappointed of Harvard doesn't finish solidly above .500. It would not be good for the ECAC if they don't.

Why would that not be good for the ECAC ?. Having new blood at the top is sometimes a good thing. Just look at Cornell. Who would have thought even one year ago that they would be where they are now ?.

I recall reading a report three or four years ago about HYP vs the rest of the Ivies when Harvard and Yale stepped up their FA aid, and how Cornell had no chance in that market place. Look at Cornell now. A hell of a way to show they had no chance in the new FA market place. IMHO the signing of RJ was the first key step on they way to where they are now.

 

[mattj711]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Why would that not be good for the ECAC ?. Having new blood at the top is sometimes a good thing. Just look at Cornell. Who would have thought even one year ago that they would be where they are now ?.

I recall reading a report three or four years ago about HYP vs the rest of the Ivies when Harvard and Yale stepped up their FA aid, and how Cornell had no chance in that market place. And look Cornell know. A hell of a way to show they had no chance in the new FA market place. IMHO the signing of RJ was the first key step on they way where they are now.

Ohh, I'm fine with Harvard not being at the top of the ECAC (as a general rule I root for whomever is playing against them). But, as it stands right now, there are only 4 teams with positive records (Cornell, Quinnipiac, Harvard and Dartmouth) in the ECAC and only 2 with positive out of conference records. With Clarkson, SLU, RPI and Colgate struggling, I don't want to add Harvard to that mix until another team steps up to replace them. And the bottom line is Harvard has too much talent on paper to only be a .500 team.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

....... as it stands right now, there are only 4 teams with positive records (Cornell, Quinnipiac, Harvard and Dartmouth) in the ECAC and only 2 with positive out of conference records. With Clarkson, SLU, RPI and Colgate struggling, I don't want to add Harvard to that mix until another team steps up to replace them. And the bottom line is Harvard has too much talent on paper to only be a .500 team.

Agree with the last sentence. From what I've seen, it will be Cornell and Harvard 1-2 in the ECAC. I had thought that Clarky and Quinny both would take a serious run at things this year, but results sofar suggest otherwise. It is however a long season. We shall see what it looks like in February whent he chips are down. Teams with good goaltending (Quinny for example) could steal it at the end. Best case scenario for the league would be for a Non-Cornell team to win the ECAC crown. That would guarantee two teams into the NCAA tournament. As it stands now, four teams from the WCHA could get in the tournament, add to that the ECAC winner, HE winner and Mercyhurst, that would leave only one open spot, and right now that would figure to be another HE team.

 

[mattj711]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Congrats to Ryabkina for being named the ECAC POTW.

http://static.psbin.com/w/1/13ipw646ddy15y/Womens_Weekly_Awards_11_02.pdf

 

[Watson Rink]

Two Games Down; Four Seasons to Go

Two Games Down; Four Seasons to Go

Although to us spectators the immediacy of the moment sweeps us into assessing the promise of the first-year players on the basis of -- how many shifts are there in two games? not very many -- and looking ahead to where the team will be in March 2011, stop a moment to consider the time perspective of those first years themselves.

They're going to be here for four years. Who knows for each of them will develop? I've been watching Harvard's teams since Angela Ruggiero was a pup, and in that time I've seen all sorts of development arcs. One memorable player stood out as a first-year by being a tireless grinder but mistake-prone and penalty-prone: you could see her biting her lip in frustration whenever she went to the penalty box yet again. Her scoring touch bloomed late, but when it did her last-second heroics carried the team on her shoulders throughout the final games of a season. Another memorable player, a productive scorer in her freshman year, never brought her scoring to a higher level but in every other aspect of the game became a superb two-way player whose speed, grit, backchecking slight of hand and smart positioning made her the quintessential player Katie wanted on the ice when the chips were down. My point is that you couldn't have predicted how these kids, or any other first-years, would eventually end up individually.

As a group, the first-years naturally look beyond where the team will place in the ECAC and NCAA in 2010-2011. This year is a great opportunity for them, if they jell fast enough, with the strong deep senior Class of '11 still on board; their fortunes next season, as part of a very very young team, will depend on how good a Class of '15 can be recruited and how swiftly they can jell; but after that, as juniors and seniors, with a ton of experience under their belts, they can look forward to perhaps being who the Coskrens and Buessers and Ryabkinas are now. It will be quite an adventure for them.

As spectators, let's sit back and enjoy the ride with them.

Watson Rink

 

[mattj711]

Re: Two Games Down; Four Seasons to Go

Re: Two Games Down; Four Seasons to Go

Although to us spectators the immediacy of the moment sweeps us into assessing the promise of the first-year players on the basis of -- how many shifts are there in two games? not very many -- and looking ahead to where the team will be in March 2011, stop a moment to consider the time perspective of those first years themselves.

They're going to be here for four years. Who knows for each of them will develop? I've been watching Harvard's teams since Angela Ruggiero was a pup, and in that time I've seen all sorts of development arcs. One memorable player stood out as a first-year by being a tireless grinder but mistake-prone and penalty-prone: you could see her biting her lip in frustration whenever she went to the penalty box yet again. Her scoring touch bloomed late, but when it did her last-second heroics carried the team on her shoulders throughout the final games of a season. Another memorable player, a productive scorer in her freshman year, never brought her scoring to a higher level but in every other aspect of the game became a superb two-way player whose speed, grit, backchecking slight of hand and smart positioning made her the quintessential player Katie wanted on the ice when the chips were down. My point is that you couldn't have predicted how these kids, or any other first-years, would eventually end up individually.

As a group, the first-years naturally look beyond where the team will place in the ECAC and NCAA in 2010-2011. This year is a great opportunity for them, if they jell fast enough, with the strong deep senior Class of '11 still on board; their fortunes next season, as part of a very very young team, will depend on how good a Class of '15 can be recruited and how swiftly they can jell; but after that, as juniors and seniors, with a ton of experience under their belts, they can look forward to perhaps being who the Coskrens and Buessers and Ryabkinas are now. It will be quite an adventure for them.

As spectators, let's sit back and enjoy the ride with them.

Watson Rink

I completely agree with everything you said. From the couple of players that have been mentioned in the 2010-2011 commitment thread, Harvard's class of 2015 should be quite strong. There are a couple of others that are rumored to be interested in Harvard. If they have/do commit (and get through admissions), Harvard's class of 2015 looks to be great (to put it modestly).

 

[dave1381]

Re: Harvard Hockey 2010-11

Through three games, Harvard is third in the nation in penalty minutes per game (15 minutes per), and last in the nation in penalty kill (67%). Yikes.