I watched the game on ESPN2 and Richard Hungerford described the game very
accurately.  I do, however, have ten additional random thoughts on the
Harvard team.
 
1.  I think Halfnight is a great player, but I don't think he played that
well until the third period, when he came up with some impressive plays.
 Halfnight was the defenseman who lost the puck and let the Brown player
have a breakaway.  Luckily for the Crimson, Tracy made a great, albeit
risky, move to smother the puck.  I wonder why Halfnight is not on the first
team penalty killing unit (or power play unit for that matter).  Maybe he's
not as good defensively as we give him credit.  The Harvard defense in
general had problems clearing the puck early in the game.
 
2.  Hyland looks good!  He is big and solid.  I was surprised he got so much
playing time on special teams, but he did not make any mistakes.  Didn't he
play with Halfnight in high school?  I also like #3 McCarthy, the other
freshman defenseman.  He is never out of position and plays a solid, yet
unspectacular, game.
 
3.  I'm still waiting for the junior forwards to step up their game.
 Nielson, Holmes and Karmanos can all fly, but I'd like for them to develop
a scoring touch, too.  Who's going to score next year when Martins and
Gustafson leave?
 
4.  I get nervous every time Briestroff is on the ice.
 
5.  Tripp Tracy played well, but I wonder if Harvard can count on him being
so good every game of the year.  In my opinion, he still leaves the goal too
much and takes too many chances.  Even his freshman year when he was awesome
in the Beanpot, I thought Israel was the better goalie.  Having two goalies
is better than having one, and having Israel is better than having Tripp,
but I guess the Crimson will have to do with what they've got.
 
6.  Sproule looks like the legitimate power forward Harvard has been looking
for since Vukonich and Weisbrod left.  (Philpott doesn't count.)  Sproule
has a nose for the puck and the net.  He did, however, pick up a couple of
penalties.
 
7.  The announcers for ESPN2 (Mike Milbury and someone else) were excellent.
 It's nice to hear some unbiased announcers calling a Harvard hockey game,
after all these years listening to WHRB.  Ted Drury and Don Sweeney were
interviewed during the first intermission.  ESPN2 also played taped
interviews of Tomassoni and Steve Martins during the game.
 
8.  Cohagan bumped into the opposing netminder again.  I wonder how many
times he does that in a year?  He has always been one of my favorite
players, because he's tough and he's not afraid to get dirty.  I was a
little surprised Tomassoni used him on the 5-3 (instead of another
defensman), but he got the job done.
 
9.  Konik and Holmes need haircuts.  Too much Metallica?
 
10.  Will this game be the turning point of the season?  After a lousy start
of the season, I was ready to write this year's Harvard team off as the
worst team that I've ever followed (of course I haven't followed the team
that long).  Beating Cornell by only two goals and tying Colgate at home is
not a good sign.  Even the '91 team would crush the weaker ECAC teams when
they came to Bright.  It was, however, good to hear the "You're not a
goalie, you're a sieve" chant on TV (even though the score was only 4-1).
 I'm still holding out some hope for this year's team.  I think the senior
class and the freshman class are exceptionally strong in talent.  If Harvard
plays as well as they played against Brown, they can turn the season around.
 
Eugene Shen
Harvard '93