Saturday night's match at Bright found the Crimson playing just
enough positive hockey to beat the very talented Golden Knights.  I
was very impressed with the skill of Clarkson and feel they should be
leading the ECAC and challenging for the national title.
 
Harvard came out storming again and got another early power play
goal.  Sean McCann's (Chris Baird, Derek Maguire) slap shot from the
left slot finished off some good rapid puck movement.  Just after the
PPG, Kirk Nielsen (Lou Body, Perry Cohagan) redirected a shot from
the point after some sloppy defensive work by Clarkson.  With 3
seconds left in the period, the Crimson got another power play goal
when Maguire's (Ashlin Halfnight, Steve Martins) point slap shot
found the high left corner of the net.  The reason Harvard was up 3-0
was that the Golden Knights were so busy trying to "finish the check"
that they took themselves out of the game.
 
In the second period, McCann (Peter McLaughlin) let rip a high shot
after the Crimson had intercepted a breakout pass.  McCann (Maguire,
Baird) got his hat trick on another power play goal when his hard
backdoor shot deflected in off a defender.  Clarkson made the game
5-1 when they got a shorthanded goal from Craig Conroy.  A defensive
error by a power play forward for Harvard let the chance occur.
Maguire (Bryan Lonsinger) extended the Crimson lead when his slap
shot from the right point found its way home through traffic in front
of the net.  The Knights started to come back when on a 5 on 3 power
play Conroy (Steve Palmer, Patrice Robitaille) roofed his shot after
some beautiful triangulation passing.  What a goal!  What skill!
Continuing with a 5 on 4 power play, and with 21 seconds left in the
period, Clarkson made it 6-3 when Chris Lipsett (David Seitz, Todd
White) tipped in a shot from the point.  During both of these goals
Harvard had been standing around (and I can't blame them, the play was
wonderful to watch!).
 
In the third period, the Crimson tried to secure victory when Nielsen
(Cohagan, Ben Coughlin) pushed the puck in off a pile in front of the
goal.  The Golden Knights came back when Marko Tuomainen (Ed Henrich,
Jason Currie) finished off a long break in with a nice deke.  The
goal happened after tons of Harvard pressure and again a forward did
not cover for a rushing defender.  With a minute or so left Clarkson
made it 7-5 when Conroy (Brian Mueller, Robitaille) completed his hat
trick.  The Knights had pulled goalie Currie and worked the puck in
for the easy put in.
 
Clarkson is an extremely talented team.  I feel they waste tons of
energy trying to be "tough".  The push and shove/clutch and grab
style they use took them out of the game for the first half.  I don't
get it.  They can skate, have quality snipers, and the passing was
superb when they decided to concentrate on scoring.  You don't win
games without goals.  It appeared to me that the coach had his own
game within a game.  It was more important to get the score close at
the end of the match, than it was to just go out and win the game.
As I said above, they should be leading the ECAC easily, and we could
be talking about them for the national title.  The outstanding player
for Clarkson was Craig Conroy.  The senior center can burn up the
ice.  It was a treat to watch him attack.  Kevin Murphy also showed
me he could move.  The line of Jean-Francois Houle, Conroy and
Tuomainen is tremendous.  They motor and pass so well.  The line of
Seitz, White and Lipsett were also fun to watch.  On defense Brian
Mueller can do it all.  What a skater!  The vision he has on the ice
is great.  Goaltender Currie had a tough time early on, but came up
with the big saves later.  All in all, an excellent team!   If
Clarkson cleaned it up and concentrated on scoring, they would be a
force!
 
Harvard put together its best back to back showing of the season.
The "North Country" teams are always a challenge.  Saturday night the
Crimson played more like a team, with a little less energy, but still
with the speed to create the scoring chances.  The outstanding player
of the match for Harvard was senior defender Sean McCann.  Proving me
totally wrong, his shooting was dead on last night.  He is the team
leader in every way.  His tough defense and endless rushes are a
great example to his teammates.  Bryan Lonsinger is another defender
who had a strong weekend.  Last night he broke up many lethal
Clarkson attacks.  A steady defender, like Body he makes room for the
rest of the team to operate.  Brian Farrell had a strong weekend.  I
had several people comment to me how he has stepped up his game and
even when he's not scoring he is making the big play.  Tom Holmes is
playing real good.  The speedy forward has a "let-it-rip" attitude
that I just love to see.  Ashlin Halfnight was again wonderful.  He
whirls all over the ice surface.  He and McCann were the two Harvard
players who had more energy Saturday night.  They just love to play.
The lines continue to be mixed up.  I think it is a good idea as it
is providing a spark.  The new combinations are just lifting the team.
Nice going coach!  I particularly liked the line of Gustafson,
Martins and Holmes.  All of them can fly.  All love to carry the
puck.  And all want to dish off for the perfect play.  It is a fun
time when they are on the ice.  Right now the Crimson look good.  They
still can panic if attacked, but they are playing more positive
hockey.  Thinking about scoring goals and getting on with is the key
to them doing well.  At the moment they are skating well and doing
just that.  It may be a flat attack, but at least individuals are
turning it on.
 
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 good shooting
 rhun
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