Saturday night at Bright Hockey Center saw the Harvard Crimson skate past
the University of New Brunswick Reds 6-2.  As a tech rehearsal for the
regular season, it failed.  No announcements, the lights failed half way
through the game, and outside of the opening ten minutes of the second
period, the Crimson looked tentative or sloppy.  Still the good news is
Harvard has a pretty fast team this year.  If they can get better passing
and open up the offense some more, they should be a tough team for anyone
to play.
 
In the first period there was no scoring.  The closest chance came on a
Brad Konik shorthanded break away when he banged the puck off the
crossbar.  For the must part Harvard showed a lot of hustle but failed to
connect.
 
The opening of the second period Harvard took the lead when Peter
McLaughlin's (Ben Coughlin) dump shot/pass from the point bounced past
the UNB goalie.  Shortly afterwards on a power play Jason Karmanos (Brian
Famigletti, Ashlin Halfnight) finished off a wonderful play by
Halfnight.  Ashlin had come back and knocked a UNB player off the puck,
gotten control, and started the rush up the ice.  His nice feed to
Famigletti was immediately sent forward by an excellent dish by Brian, so
that Karmanos was able to make the nice tap in.  Lovely play!  The
Crimson made it 3-0 on another power play goal when Cory Gustafson (Steve
Martins, Brad Konik) put home his shot after a crisp three way passing
play, right in front of the net.  The Reds got their first goal late in
the period, after the lights had come back on when Alastair Still's
rebound beat Steve Hermsdorf who was down on one knee.  Tripp Tracy had
played the first thirty minutes.
 
The last period found Tom Holmes (Joe Craigen) making the score 4-1 when
he first-timed a lovely pass from the right wing boards by Craigen.  It
was a first-class goal in that it showed excellent speed and the lethal
touches that often were missing from Harvard's performance last night.
Gustafson (Bryan Lonsinger) scored a second power play goal when he
tipped in a blast from the point.  Holmes tallied again when he motored
up the right wing boards and his long shot from the circle found its way
through the goalie's pads.  UNB finished the scoring at 6-2 when Craig
Brocklehurst drilled a slap shot from the left circle by Hermsdorf.
 
I don't have much to say about New Brunswick.  They looked like a team
that had had a tough game the night before with the Brown Bears.  Meeting
a fresh Harvard team was not a good idea.  They did put on a clinic in
hooking, tripping and cross-checking, but its very hard to judge what
type of team they are considering the circumstances.
 
Harvard looks like they will be ready for the start of the season.  The
people running Bright need some help, though maybe they were just caught
up with their new electric zamboni?  It was good to see 4 on 4 hockey
again.  It is an aspect of the game that Harvard has in the past always
loved.  More skating and passing room is what the Crimson want.  In fact
I did see last night what might be my 4 on 4 dream team for this year:
Martins, Gustafson, Cohagan and Halfnight.  Oh-la-la: let it rip!!!
 
Harvard's biggest weakness this year will be in goal.  Tracy in the first
half of the game was doing his usual flopping.  Fortunately UNB did not
have the legs to get past the team in front of him.  Hermsdorf also did
not impress.  Too often he would go down on one knee and thus make it
difficult for himself to move for the next shot.
 
The defense looks very strong.  Solid defensive defenders Lonsinger and
McLaughlin have been joined by first-year player Jeremiah McCarthy.
Those three will provide a good base for the team to operate from.
Offensive defender Ashlin Halfnight has been joined by classmate Marco
Ferrari who looked much more comfortable last night.  His skating,
passing and holding onto the puck were much improved.  They are joined by
first-year player Brain Famigletti.  He could be a great defender.  It
has some nice edgy skating, likes to wheel and deal, loves to carry the
puck, and is always looking to make the telling pass.  Not playing last
night were Michel Breistroff and Geordie Hyland.  I have to come back to
Halfnight because while I thought his play last year was tremendous, last
night there were sections of the game where he just dominated play.  His
ability to turn it on and speed forward on a rush, coupled with his reads
that let him get in the right place to break up the other teams plays are
fantastic.  Halfnight is a treat to watch!
 
If the offense gets beyond just skating fast to play "digger" hockey, and
evolves to some real offensive sets, other than hoping someone will come
up with something, they could be very good.  Last night the first line
was Martins centering Gustafson and Cohagan.  Martins made several
bursting attacks, but still needs to deal with his attitude.  He took
himself out of the game, by becoming involved with the junk side of the
game.  Martins is an excellent player who should have a big year, if he
doesn't stop himself.  Gustafson and Cohagan had quiet nights.  That line
has the potential to be very exciting, but only time will tell.  The
second line was the best last night.  Konik centering Holmes and Craigen
showed a number of ideas, ranging from long-ball to crossing patterns.
What makes the line click is the wonderful vision of Konik mixed with the
speed and kill instinct of Holmes and the support of the skillful
Craigen.  In fact Craigen is a much improved player.  His aggressive
skating was superb.  The third line was Kirk Nielsen centering Karmanos
and Coughlin.  On the night only the intelligent play of Karmanos
impressed.   They have the tools to be a good line that scores many
goals.  Captain Coughlin looked rather tentative last night wearing the C
for the first time.  The fourth line was first-year players Doug Sproule
and Henry Higdon centered by either Geb Marett or Keith McLean.  They saw
very limited ice time as there was much special team play, and the coach
seemed to want to give the first two lines a lot of work.  The first
power play unit was Lonsinger and Halfnight or Coughlin at the points
with Martins, Konik and Gustafson down low.  I thought it worked best
with Halfnight (of course), but at this stage in its development the key
is the puck movement down low.  If they keep moving and passing it should
be an excellent power play.  If not, there is the second power play unit:
Famigletti, Coughlin/Halfnight and Karmanos, Nielsen and Holmes.  To me
the key is Holmes.  He keeps the power play moving and thus
unpredictable.  The shorthanded teams were very good.  I wish the
coaching staff would take a few of the elements that make those units
play so well, and use them during the even up situations.
 
Overall Harvard seems to have another good team.  They have found players
to fill the graduation gaps on defense and have a huge potential on
offense.  It could be an exciting season for the Harvard Men.
 
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 good shooting
 rhun
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