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Harvard Hockey 2025-'26: Crimson Ascending

Well, that was what has become a typical Harvard beanopot performance as of late. A defense that was basically nowhere to be found. How about BC's second goal where Morden goes for pokecheck instead of taking body and lets BC walk right in and score. How about St Louis letting Hagens skate right by him fior the backdoor on BC's third goal. This sort of stuff is simply inexcusable and it's not like Hagens is some 6'4" 220lb forward. Just not good enough and frankly, not even close to good enough.

Harvard wins most of its game becase the talent is simply better and Harvard can get away with the kind of stuff that BC and other good teams will exploit all day. But per usual, when Harvard faces teams and Harvard's talent is relatively equitable or inferior (Cornell, Quinnipiac, BC, BU, etc), they generally lose and lose big.
 
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I go every year, get bad seats as the Harvard ticket office doesn't really help out season-ticket holders as they used to, and I know that they are inferior to the other Beanpot teams, so not that enthused about going, but my friend is a BC fan. Well, at least the nightcap was exciting, a talented BU team and a Northeastern team that always plays hard.

When I complained about the team above, I had written my opinion about Donato, but erased it before posting. I think there is something to it though. Donato likes to yell at the refs, but he doesn't even have the energy to do that anymore. This team is lazy. This is one of those Harvard teams, and there have been a run of them over the years, which lack leadership and effort. Friday night I watched half a dozen sloppy plays by the defense in their zone. Eventually they won as they are more talented than RPI. So it isn't just poor performances against good teams. As Skate mentioned way back, Joe Miller, who looked talented as a freshman, is invisible most of the time. Players how flashes of talent, like Mick Thompson, then regress as they get older. That is coaching.

Some teams over the last 30 years looked like they were going through the motions and this is one of them.
 
Crimson Faced said:
I go every year, get bad seats as the Harvard ticket office doesn't really help out season-ticket holders as they used to, and I know that they are inferior to the other Beanpot teams, so not that enthused about going, but my friend is a BC fan. Well, at least the nightcap was exciting, a talented BU team and a Northeastern team that always plays hard.

When I complained about the team above, I had written my opinion about Donato, but erased it before posting. I think there is something to it though. Donato likes to yell at the refs, but he doesn't even have the energy to do that anymore. This team is lazy. This is one of those Harvard teams, and there have been a run of them over the years, which lack leadership and effort. Friday night I watched half a dozen sloppy plays by the defense in their zone. Eventually they won as they are more talented than RPI. So it isn't just poor performances against good teams. As Skate mentioned way back, Joe Miller, who looked talented as a freshman, is invisible most of the time. Players how flashes of talent, like Mick Thompson, then regress as they get older. That is coaching.

Some teams over the last 30 years looked like they were going through the motions and this is one of them.
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Sorry Skate, did not read your post about the RPI game before I posted and you made the same points I did.
 
bothman said:
Well, that was what has become a typical Harvard beanopot performance as of late. A defense that was basically nowhere to be found. How about BC's second goal where Morden goes for pokecheck instead of taking body and lets BC walk right in and score. How about St Louis letting Hagens skate right by him fior the backdoor on BC's third goal. This sort of stuff is simply inexcusable and it's not like Hagens is some 6'4" 220lb forward. Just not good enough and frankly, not even close to good enough.

Harvard wins most of its game becase the talent is simply better and Harvard can get away with the kind of stuff that BC and other good teams will exploit all day. But per usual, when Harvard faces teams and Harvard's talent is relatively equitable or inferior (Cornell, Quinnipiac, BC, BU, etc), they generally lose and lose big.
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We have a losing record against winning teams this year, and as you point out, it's not even close. Except for maybe the second Michigan game after Thanksgiving and the season opener against UConn. Other than that, it's business as usual, which means, as you say, they lose and lose big. Is there a talent deficit? Yes. Coaching should be able to make up for some of the deficiencies. Doesn't seem to be happening.
 
Crimson Faced said:
Sorry Skate, did not read your post about the RPI game before I posted and you made the same points I did.
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No worries, Crim. You make an interesting point about Teddy. He's been behind the bench for 21 years, and I'm wondering if it's time for him to move on. Even Schaefer knew when it was time to call it quits (although I believe health issues played a part). It does seem like he has checked out. The same problems keep cropping up over and over, and they never get fixed. When Paul Pearl came on board, you saw a difference in the way the team attacked, especially on the power play. They had a system that worked, and the players executed. Now it's dump and chase, crash the boards, and hope someone gets open. The team plays with very little passion, urgency, or purpose, and their lack of attention to detail is stunningly absent. They can't beat their travel partner anymore or any team with a winning record.

Someone needs to have a sit-down with Teddy to see if there should be a mutual parting of the ways. Or at least find out if he can use better assistant coaches to do the heavy lifting which he apparently does not want to do anymore.
 
A lost weekend at Brown and Yale although after seeing Brown in person yesterday playing their hearts out for their coach, I can understand. And Yale is always tough at Ingalls. That will never change.

We're one point in front of Princeton for home ice in the quarters pending the second QPac-Tigers game today. If the Bobcats prevail, then it is up to Harvard to hold serve next weekend at Union and RPI. Won't be easy but the Crimson need to bear down and come away with at least one win in regulation to set up the final weekend showdown with the Tigers at Bright. Not expecting us to beat Quinnipiac. We are so far away from being competitive with them, it isn't funny.
 
Went to a tremendous Harvard/Yale basketball game last night, ended when a referee whistled a foul on a Harvard player lying on the floor with .5 seconds left, giving Yale two free throws and a one point win. On the other hand, Barbour threw up a no-hoper that banked in with 3 seconds left last week to beat Yale, maybe this was karma.

Thought that couldn't be beat for a crazy ending, then went home and watched a replay of the hockey game. The replay never showed the puck crossing the goal line, and the Yale announcers said, based on their view, that the puck never completely went beyond the goal line and in their opinion didn't think it was a goal. Maybe the officials had a different replay but based on what was shown, difficult to believe the goal was called good.
 
I wonder if Donato has burned his bridges with the officials in the ECAC after ranting at them for years.

Last week a winning goal where a replay showed the puck did not cross the goal line.

Gallant's goal tonight is waved off after the replay showed the goalie did not cover up the puck before Gallant poked it out and subsequently scored. Nevertheless the officials looked at the replay and ruled no goal.

Then Gallant is charged with a five minute penalty, after a look at the replay for what? There is no replay of it on the TV.

So here you have three calls in two games that go against Harvard after long delays with the officials looking at them for a long period and there is no video on the TV supporting the calls. Are the officials looking at something different?

Not to excuse Harvard in the least as they look like a team that is looking for a quick exit to the season and dropping out of the fourth spot may provide them with that. Hughes hacks another guy, RPI scores on the PP. Last night at Union they go down 4-0 against a team you would think they would be competitive with.

Time for Donato to go.
 
Not so sure on Donato.

Harvard will be better next year. This senior class - especially on defense - has been totally disappointing. The D will be better once Langenbrunner & Healey leave. As sad as that is to say, it is the truth. Harvard has 2 very good defneemen coming in (especially Alex Huang who is a 3rd round draft pick) so I hope the returning D see that as a wake up call.
 
Crimson Faced said:
I wonder if Donato has burned his bridges with the officials in the ECAC after ranting at them for years.

Last week a winning goal where a replay showed the puck did not cross the goal line.

Gallant's goal tonight is waved off after the replay showed the goalie did not cover up the puck before Gallant poked it out and subsequently scored. Nevertheless the officials looked at the replay and ruled no goal.

Then Gallant is charged with a five minute penalty, after a look at the replay for what? There is no replay of it on the TV.

So here you have three calls in two games that go against Harvard after long delays with the officials looking at them for a long period and there is no video on the TV supporting the calls. Are the officials looking at something different?

Not to excuse Harvard in the least as they look like a team that is looking for a quick exit to the season and dropping out of the fourth spot may provide them with that. Hughes hacks another guy, RPI scores on the PP. Last night at Union they go down 4-0 against a team you would think they would be competitive with.

Time for Donato to go.
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Harvard still had 5 power plays in this game (and went 0-5). Gallant's goal was waived off for goaltender interference. The five-minute major was for cross-checking.
 
Skate79 said:
RPI is a godawful hockey team with no semblance of offensive skill and a defense that can't figure out how to make a breakout pass. Seriously, they might lose to one of the better high school teams in the state.
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RPI 3 Harvard 1. Helluva performance for a godawful hockey team. Your team was just Freaked out.
 
If you had been at the Bright Center that night, you would have seen how bad RPI played and agreed with my post. Everyone in the building saw it - heck, your coach was losing his mind with the number of turnovers in your D zone.

The Gallant goal that should have counted turned the game in RPI's favor. Not excusing Harvard for their third period meltdown because that is what it was - a third period meltdown.
 
Not much more one can say about the recent tailspin - 0-4-1 in the last five games with only 7 goals scored. The forwards have decided to take the rest of the year off I guess. Teddy looks like a dead man walking behind the bench. The mixing and matching of forwards isn't working and there is zero leadership from the seniors.

At this point, I'm guessing we might finish sixth as Union is coming on and has a chance to pass us. Bill Cleary knew when to hang 'em up and I'm thinking that Donato should probably think about it as well. Teddy rescued the program from Mazzoleni's hardwire act but at this point, a new voice is needed and some structure that holds players accountable.
 
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