I thought it would be interesting to compare the Harvard teams
of 88-89/89-90 with 93-94/94-95, since several people (including
Richard Hungerford) have drawn an analogy between 89-90 and this
past season.
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88-89 (31-3-0, Nat'l Champs; 20-2-0 in ECAC, 1st place)
 
Sr. Forwards: Mac Donald (31-29), Bourbeau (11-43), Krayer (12-14),
Presz (9-7), Howley (6-6), Taucher (2-7)
 
Sr. Defense: Carone (8-14), Caplan (0-11).
 
PP 26%, PK 85%; GAA 2.53, GFA 5.50.
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89-90 (13-14-1; 12-9-1 in ECAC, 6th place)
 
Fr. Forwards: Drury  (9-13), Flomenhoft (5-5-10), Mallgrave (3-3-6).
 
Top Forwards: Vukonich (22-29), Young (21-28), Murphy (9-27),
Ciavaglia (17-18), Weisbrod (11-21)
 
Top Defense: Hartje (6-10), Sneddon (0-8), B. McCormack (2-3).
 
PP 24.5%, PK 79.6%; GAA 3.86, GFA 4.46.
 
Notes: Kevan Melrose (D) only had one semester of eligibility, Ted
Donato was injured and only played 16 games.
 
Comparison: Needless to say, defense was a problem in 89-90. The
Crimson lost Caplan and Carone and replaced them with Rich DeFreitas
and Tod Hartje - not a good trade. Chuckie Hughes was erratic in his
second season as a collegiate goalie - Allain Roy was pretty solid.
Losing McDonald and Bourbeau hurt, but this team did not have a
problem scoring goals. Ciavaglia's season was a big disappointment
(down from 63 points).
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93-94 (24-5-4, NCAA Semifinalist; 16-2-4 in ECAC, 1st place)
 
Sr Forwards: Baird (6-38), Farrell (29-14), Kennish (2-5).
Sr. Defense: Maguire (6-32), Body (1-21), McCann (22-17).
 
PP 34%, PK 83%; GAA 2.68, GFA 4.68.
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94-95 (14-14-2; 12-9-1 in ECAC, 3rd place)
 
Fr Forwards: Sproule (7-2), Higdon (3-5).
Fr. Defense: McCarthy (3-6), Hyland (1-7).
 
Top Forwards: Martins (15-23), Gustafson (10-16), Konik (11-13),
Coughlin (5-20), Cohagen (9-13), Nielsen (13-7).
 
Top Defense: Halfnight (5-15), Lonsinger (8-9).
 
PP 17.9%, PK 86.5%; GAA 3.27, GFA 3.54.
 
Notes: Konik and Michel Breistroff (D) rejoined the team after
taking a year off. Aaron Israel (G) turned pro before the season
started. Hyland missed nine games with various illness/injuries,
Geb Marett (D) missed 16 games with various injuries.
 
Comparison: The power play and goals for average are the most
noticeable difference. Tracy had his rough spots in net (the
Beanpot comes to mind), but also bailed the team out on a couple
of occasions (Brown at home in particular).
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After looking at the two transitions, I think the 89-90 team was a much
greater disappointment than the 94-95 version. How could a team with
that much talent up front finish under .500 over all and in the middle
of the ECAC pack? I'm not sure Gustafson, Konik or Nielsen would
have cracked the top two lines in 89-90.
 
The 89-90 team segued into a 14-12-3 team in 90-91 (Martins et al's
freshman year). The team turned things around over the next couple of
seasons thanks to the development of talented playes like Maguire,
McCann, Farrell, Drury and Baird. Are there similar players at Harvard
now? The incoming freshman are supposed to be good, but the seniors-
and juniors-to-be largely have been disappointments thus far. Jason
Karmanos, Tom Holmes, Joe Craigen, Doug Sproule and Henry Higdon are
the key guys. If they pick up the offensive pace and keep the pressure
off of Konik, Nielsen and the freshmen, the team will definitely
improve. The defense will certainly be stronger, even without Lonsinger
and Breistroff, because of the sophomores-to-be and the addition of a
quality backup goalie.
 
Geoff Howell
The Trenton Times
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