Before I start dissecting Harvard;
 
Jason Patton posts:
 
>Princeton suffered this weekend without Jonathan Kelley.  He is the top
>point getter for the Tigers and without him goals are very tough to come by.
>Kelley was scratched from both games listed as sick.  I heard rumblings of
>the possibility of mono but I can't confirm that.
 
Kelley tested negative for mono and will play this weekend at
Vermont and Dartmouth (unless further lab tests turn up something
else). He had been feeling fatigue and lethargy, typical of mono, since
Christmas (probably worn out from carrying the Tigers' offense on his
back :-)).
 
As for the Crimson, I thought I'd add my views to those so eloquently
posted by Richard Hungerford. Harvard is now 6-9-1 (5-5-1 in the ECAC),
its worst start since 1983-84 (5-10-1, 4-5-1). The following is my
analysis of several factors.
 
Forwards: Certainly not as deep as the mid-to-late '80s teams. The
Nielsen-Konik-Holmes line is the only consistent scoring threat, and
was pretty quiet in the last four games (Minnesota, UNH, Vermont,
Dartmouth). The freshman unit of Bent-Adams-MacDonald is gifted
offensively but has been hampered by injuries to Bent and typical
freshmen inconsistency. Philpott-Higdon-Karmanos has proven to be
a mediocre second line capable of occasional offensive and defensive
brilliance, but only has 9 goals to show for its efforts. The fourth
line of Craigen-Swenson-and a winger to be named later has not contributed
offensively and has been hurt by the frequent line shuffling due to
injuries elsewhere (Bent, Geb Marrett, Konik). The quality of finishing
is a major, major concern, one which coach Tomassoni anticipated before
the season and has worked hard in practice to overcome. Aside from Nielsen,
Konik and Bent, there aren't any natural goal scorers here - Holmes, Craigen,
Karmanos and Higdon get plenty of chances and have 13 goals between them.
 
Defense: Hard to argue with the talent back here. Halfknight, McCarthy,
Storey, Oberman and Hyland are as gifted a group of skaters as you'll
find on one college blueline. McLaughlin, though not particularly
mobile, is a tough kid who works hard on every shift. Marco
Ferrari and Brian Famigletti have performed pretty well in fill-in
duty. My biggest complaint is the reluctance to play the body. Really,
only Storey and McLaughlin assert themselves physically. Opposing
forwards have no fear in the Harvard zone and seem to win most of
the battles down low.
 
Goal: Tracy is having his best season, IMO. He is far more consistent
than in years past and has cut down on soft goals. The mounting
pressure to win, however, may force him back into some bad habits. Peter
Zakowich is certainly as good a back-up as Harvard could want.
 
Power Play: Yech. Blech. Just awful - at 15.2%, which is average in the
ECAC these days, but it gets worse every week. A definite reluctance
to shoot on the part of the forwards, and also a reluctance to go to
the net (with the exception of Nielsen). Bent is the only forward
who can one-time a shot and his recent absence has hurt. Losing 2-on-1
battles for the puck along the boards is also commonplace. The confidence
level is very low and players seem hesitant to make
the crisp passes through the seams that are the bread-and-butter of a
Harvard power play.
 
Penalty Killing: Adequate and, when Konik and Holmes are out there,
often exceptional. The 9 shorthanded goals have helped make up for the
pitiful power play.
 
Is this team better than last year? Well, I thought so until the Dartmouth
game - the chemistry (primarily because of senior leadership) is better,
they are deeper in goal, more experienced on defense and have some
promising freshman forwards. But the close loses (Vermont, BC, and UNH
in OT) are starting to rob the seniors of confidence and that could
be a serious problem.
 
I disagree with Richard's post-Dartmouth assessment that the team is
working too hard in practice to be ready for games. The areas that
need work, particularly the power play and skill development, require lots of
practice time and don't fatigue the players. The effort against Dartmouth, as
Richard noted, was abysmal, but that was an emotional problem, not a physical
one. Harvard had plenty left to put pressure on in the final five minutes of
the game - but by then it was too late. Dartmouth already knew it could win.
 
I also disagree with Richard's complaint that Harvard's team defense
concept is shackling the creativity of the forwards. Tomassoni really
hasn't changed the systems that Bill Cleary used. Harvard always
played great team defense. A goals against average over 3.4, as it is
now, is astronomical by Harvard standards. But the overall talent level is
down a bit from Cleary's best years (or even Tomassoni's). Many factors
account for this, including more competitive recruiting by the other Ivy
teams and the increase in Division I programs in general. Harvard
used to run over you by throwing four great forward lines in your
face and never letting you have the puck. That just doesn't happen
anymore. Teams used to fear taking a penalty for holding or cross-
checking one of the speedy forwards because the power play was at
25-30%. That is also no longer a concern. Heck, if I came into
Bright Center I'd tell my team to go out there and dump-and-chase,
forecheck and bump Harvard all day. From what I've seen, Harvard
just can't stop those tactics.
 
Should Harvard fans panic? I think not - the defense will be no
less talented next year, Zakowich is good enough and is getting
some quality help when JP Prestifillipo arrives from Hotchkiss, and
I think that the BAM line will emerge before long. If the Crimson
can bring in three more solid forwards to replace Nielsen-Konik-Holmes,
things should improve - the lone problem on the horizon is that the
current junior forwards (Craigen and Swenson) are not exactly key
players. Given the importance of senior leadership in college hockey,
Harvard may be two years away from getting back into the NCAA picture
(presuming that sophomores Henry Higdon, Ethan Philpott and Doug Sproule
continue to develop).
 
Geoff Howell
Drop the Puck Magazine
 
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