College Hockey News: "Red Alert"

Beeeej · March 07, 2007, 03:28:30 PM

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

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2007/03/07_redalert.php

ugarte · March 07, 2007, 03:30:23 PM

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

JasonN95 · March 07, 2007, 04:33:29 PM

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: http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/preview.php?d=2007-03-09-ec

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.

theforgottencowbell · March 07, 2007, 04:39:56 PM

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

calgARI '07 · March 07, 2007, 05:00:23 PM

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

Beeeej · March 07, 2007, 05:03:36 PM

[quote theforgottencowbell]I wish a certain wanna-be columnist could write as well as Avash.[/quote]

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.

Jim Hyla · March 07, 2007, 05:16:51 PM

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

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?

calgARI '07 · March 07, 2007, 06:09:09 PM

[quote 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?[/quote]

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.

Josh '99 · March 07, 2007, 06:31:53 PM

[quote 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.[/quote]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.

daredevilcu · March 07, 2007, 08:33:28 PM

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.

Dpperk29 · March 07, 2007, 08:40:12 PM

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

redhair34 · March 07, 2007, 08:52:14 PM

[quote 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[/quote]

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

calgARI '07 · March 07, 2007, 09:03:57 PM

[quote 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.[/quote]

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.

calgARI '07 · March 07, 2007, 09:07:21 PM

[quote 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.[/quote]

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.

daredevilcu · March 07, 2007, 11:41:32 PM

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.