College Hockey News: "Red Alert"

CHN talks about our freshmen and our new style of play:

[www.collegehockeynews.com]

"CHN" = eLynah not-so-regular anymore, Avash. Good to see that he has a staff writer position.

A well written article, I thought.

Avash's predictions for the quarterfinals (I assume they're his picks since he wrote the lead-in) are here: [www.collegehockeynews.com]

Interesting pick of Harvard over Clarkson. I really hope not; I cannot stomach another underachieving Harvard squad waking up in the playoffs and taking the championship. Please, Clarkson, bounce them out of the tourney.

I wish a certain wanna-be columnist could write as well as Avash.

I too think Harvard will take Clarkson. Also picking Colgate over St. Lawrence.

theforgottencowbell
I wish a certain wanna-be columnist could write as well as Avash.

I wish more people who expressed their opinions weren't cowards hiding behind anonymity. But hey, we don't always get what we wish for.

calgARI '07
I too think Harvard will take Clarkson. Also picking Colgate over St. Lawrence.

I like these choices, with goaltending possibly making the difference. Colgate can certainly steal games that way and they may have 2 lines now. I think Clarkson 'tending should be better but if not, well?

Jim Hyla
I like these choices, with goaltending possibly making the difference. Colgate can certainly steal games that way and they may have 2 lines now. I think Clarkson 'tending should be better but if not, well?

Yeah, Dekanich is capable of stealing any series. Even though St. Lawrence has only lost once at home, everything changes in the playoffs. Colgate has a ton of playoff exerpience whereas SLU doesn't have much at all. Clarkson to me has been inconsistent and looks vulnerable. Harvard is peaking at the right time as usual and I think they have the definitive advantage in terms of coaching and experience.

calgARI '07
Clarkson to me has been inconsistent and looks vulnerable. Harvard is peaking at the right time as usual and I think they have the definitive advantage in terms of coaching and experience.

Huh? Ted Donato, despite his promising start, is still in only his third year doing coaching of any sort. George Roll has been the head coach at Clarkson for four years now, was the head coach at Oswego for six years before that (including an appearance at the DIII championship game in 2003), and was an assistant under Mark Morris at Clarkson for six years before *that*. Harvard's players have more postseason experience, certainly, but the coaching edge seems squarely in Clarkson's favor to me.

16-3-4 since Thanksgiving, I'll take that kind of "inconsistency" anytime. Clarkson is also 10-3-4 at home this year, so while they aren't AS good at home as they were last year, that's still pretty darn good. Could Harvard take the series? Yes, but it's going to take a stellar effort, and I don't think they have a distinct edge in any specific area. Tobe played well the last four, if he can keep it rolling that will help Harvard a lot, but I'm not sure it will be enough to win the series.

I won't lie, Harvard scares me. however, I think tech is the better team. I think the coaching staff will have this team ready for the series and they will come out hard and fast. Harvard might get one game, but I think they will have trouble winning the series

Dpperk29
I think tech is the better team. I think the coaching staff will have this team ready for the series and they will come out hard and fast. Harvard might get one game, but I think they will have trouble winning the series

I agree. I don't think Harvard matches up well against Clarkson. I'm also not sold on Tobe in net.

Josh '99
Huh? Ted Donato, despite his promising start, is still in only his third year doing coaching of any sort. George Roll has been the head coach at Clarkson for four years now, was the head coach at Oswego for six years before that (including an appearance at the DIII championship game in 2003), and was an assistant under Mark Morris at Clarkson for six years before *that*. Harvard's players have more postseason experience, certainly, but the coaching edge seems squarely in Clarkson's favor to me.

Ted Donato has taken his team to ECACHL Championships in each of his years of as coach with a lot of Mazzoleni players. His teams have not had the talent of the top echelon of the conference yet he has been in the title game each year despite poor starts. I'd say he is doing a pretty good job - superior to that of Roll at this point. I think very highly of Roll too but Donato has clearly proven himself despite having less coaching experience. Donato killed Cornell with matchups in the Championship game last year despite having the last change. He is a damn good coach regardless of how long he has done it for.

daredevilcu
16-3-4 since Thanksgiving, I'll take that kind of "inconsistency" anytime. Clarkson is also 10-3-4 at home this year, so while they aren't AS good at home as they were last year, that's still pretty darn good. Could Harvard take the series? Yes, but it's going to take a stellar effort, and I don't think they have a distinct edge in any specific area. Tobe played well the last four, if he can keep it rolling that will help Harvard a lot, but I'm not sure it will be enough to win the series.

I'm not trying to take away from their impressive season so far. Their PWR speaks for itself. It'd be one thing if those losses were close games, but getting blown out by teams Clarkson should beat is unacceptable for the caliber of team they have. They won a lot of games, but when there are pockets of getting blown out, that is something along the lines of inconsistent. They are 6-2-1 in their last ten with blowout losses to Cornell and Princeton. Their tie was with RPI. An elite team may not win every game but they beat RPI's into the ground and at least are in games against Cornell's and Princeton's.

You can look at records all day long and talk about consistency. But the quality of their non-wins since January should be somewhat alarming. They are unquestionably the best team in the conference in my opinion, but that doesn't mean a whole lot at this time of year, particularly when you're going up against a team that has played in the championship game five straight seasons.

The real question in my mind is will Clarkson show up for game 1? I could see Harvard taking the first game if Clarkson is a little rusty from the weekend off. I do, however, think that the extra rest and time to heal (flu bugs gone, Grenzy back from a fractured wrist) will make a huge difference for Clarkson. The times when Grenzy has been out this year have been our most inconsistent ones. By far the most overlooked player on the Clarkson squad, if you ask me. The four game losing streak first semester, Grenzy's out. The tie against RPI, Grenzy got hurt, didn't play much if at all toward the end of the game, then at Princeton and Qunnipiac, he didn't play... two more bad games from Clarkson. With Grenzy, we've got 3 losses. Without him, we have 5. There's probably something to that. He's both a solid defender and contributes greatly on the powerplay. Having him back will be a difference-maker against Harvard.

I'm also taking the Colgate upset over SLU. The Saints have been quite consistent this year, but nothing about them has really impressed me. I think Dex can steal one, and give Colgate a fair shot at winning a 2nd.

I also like Clarkson to hold serve in what I hope will be the most interesting series this weekend. Clarkson has too much firepower and being home for the QF will pump them up.

Dartmouth-Princeton. While I like the confidence Princeton has shown late in the season, I just don't see Dartmouth losing after Princeton had to come up huge in the 9th period vs. Brown.

Q-C...yikes. Although Cornell is as inconsistent as they've ever been, I don't trust Q's defense at all, and I think Cornell is feeling comfortable at home. That said, it just feels like a heartbreaker coming up. I'm planning on staying in town Sunday.

calgARI '07
Ted Donato has taken his team to ECACHL Championships in each of his years of as coach with a lot of Mazzoleni players. His teams have not had the talent of the top echelon of the conference yet he has been in the title game each year despite poor starts. I'd say he is doing a pretty good job - superior to that of Roll at this point. I think very highly of Roll too but Donato has clearly proven himself despite having less coaching experience. Donato killed Cornell with matchups in the Championship game last year despite having the last change. He is a damn good coach regardless of how long he has done it for.

In case I wasn't clear on this point, I certainly agree that Donato deserves credit for what he's done in his first couple of years. I don't think you're being realistic in your assessment of the talent he inherited though. Harvard's team in Donato's first year had 9 draft picks, including some pretty good (by ECAC standards, anyway) talent like Tom Cavanagh, Jon Pelle, Dylan Reese, Peter Hafner, and (much as I personally think these last two guys suck) Noah Welch and Dov Grumet-Morris. He took over a good team that had won 2 of the last 3 ECAC tournaments (NCAA tournament choking aside).

I think Dartmouth and St. Lawrence are safe (or at any rate, as safe as anybody not playing Union can be in the playoffs). The other two series look like 50/50 toss-ups for the same reason -- Clarkson and Quinnipiac are the better teams, top-to-bottom, but Harvard and Cornell have enormous experience and playoff confidence.

One of those two home teams is probably going down. I just hope it isn't us.

Josh '99
In case I wasn't clear on this point, I certainly agree that Donato deserves credit for what he's done in his first couple of years. I don't think you're being realistic in your assessment of the talent he inherited though. Harvard's team in Donato's first year had 9 draft picks, including some pretty good (by ECAC standards, anyway) talent like Tom Cavanagh, Jon Pelle, Dylan Reese, Peter Hafner, and (much as I personally think these last two guys suck) Noah Welch and Dov Grumet-Morris. He took over a good team that had won 2 of the last 3 ECAC tournaments (NCAA tournament choking aside).

I never said those weren't quality players he inherited. My point was that like any coach he came into a situation where it was all players someone else targeted and recruited. Not an easy situation though it worked out for both Schafer and Donato.

Trotsky
I think Dartmouth and St. Lawrence are safe (or at any rate, as safe as anybody not playing Union can be in the playoffs). The other two series look like 50/50 toss-ups for the same reason -- Clarkson and Quinnipiac are the better teams, top-to-bottom, but Harvard and Cornell have enormous experience and playoff confidence.

Agree. The problem for us will be: even if we get past Q, we're gonna be stuck with either SLU (C beats H) or D (H beats C) in the semis. Those two are our worst possible match-ups, although Dartmouth's record in ECAC semifinals this century rivals Harvard's in the NCAAs.

One can hope, I suppose: P is 1-0-1 this year against D.

Al DeFlorio

One can hope, I suppose: P is 1-0-1 this year against D.

And Yale was 2-0 against Harvard. I think you're overlooking Colgate, though. It's not out of the question that they could provide some matchup help by knocking off SLU.

Al DeFlorio
The problem for us will be: even if we get past Q, we're gonna be stuck with either SLU (C beats H) or D (H beats C) in the semis.

"I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow."

Chris '03

Al DeFlorio

One can hope, I suppose: P is 1-0-1 this year against D.

And Yale was 2-0 against Harvard. I think you're overlooking Colgate, though. It's not out of the question that they could provide some matchup help by knocking off SLU.

Nothing's ever "out of the question" (see HC vs. Minny), but in my opinion that's even less likely than P over D. But I'm hoping for either or both.

As I said above, though, I agree with Greg that SLU and D are relatively "safe." Certainly as compared with the other two series. Q and C are very even and Harvard has a recent record of over-achievement in the ECACs much like Cornell once did.

Speaking of "Rebuilding Year"

The team's practice jerseys have "N.E.X.T." stenciled on the bottom. Any guesses as to what this means to them?

LaJollaRed
Speaking of "Rebuilding Year"

The team's practice jerseys have "N.E.X.T." stenciled on the bottom. Any guesses as to what this means to them?

Dunno, but I hope the lacrosse team has "T.H.I.S." stenciled on theirs.

Al DeFlorio
Nothing's ever "out of the question" (see HC vs. Minny)

I had to go listen to "Holy Cross homer call" again.