Brown Hockey 2016-17: The Importance of Being Ernst

[kdiff77]

Mike Hutter, you are correct! Which Dartmouth team will show up, the one that spanked Harvard or the one that got spanked by Yale. As for Yale, they were by far the better team. I would say bad D zone coverage and goaltending were the root causes although that was NOT the sole reason for the loss...it was a total team effort that looked tired and uninspired. It should be very interesting tonight and would expect some lineup changes. Good Luck!

It seems like no matter where the teams are in the standings, Dartmouth simply always has Brown's number! I don't expect this to change in Hanover. Perhaps in Providence next month!

[BIG Green]

Re: Brown Hockey 2016-17: The Importance of Being Ernst

Although disappointing on our end, congrats on a great comeback victory. I do not know what was said or done after the first period but whatever it was, it definitely worked as Brown controlled play mostly thereafter. Willman was the best player on the ice last night.

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2016-17: The Importance of Being Ernst

I'm happy to be proven wrong! The team grew up to an extent last night, as it faced adverse conditions and managed to prevail. Nieto had an excellent weekend overall.

BIG Green, I have often felt as though Max Willman is the best player on the ice throughout his career, but it doesn't always translate to goals. Glad to see he had himself a nice night on the scoresheet. Now we need to get Tommy Marchin scoring consistently. The Corcoran-Lafferty line was also silent this weekend, which is worriesome.

If Nieto can keep up the good work, this team has enough talent to be a tough out down the stretch. I am still very concerned about our apparent lack of a defensive structure and our overreliance on cycling the puck in the offensive zone, but goaltending and opportunistic offense is a good blueprint for success at this level (see the 2012-13 season for reference).

We're not far out of a home ice spot. I think that's a good goal to set for the rest of the season.

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2016-17: The Importance of Being Ernst

I'm happy to be proven wrong! The team grew up to an extent last night, as it faced adverse conditions and managed to prevail. Nieto had an excellent weekend overall. BIG Green, I have often felt as though Max Willman is the best player on the ice throughout his career, but it doesn't always translate to goals. Glad to see he had himself a nice night on the scoresheet. Now we need to get Tommy Marchin scoring consistently. The Corcoran-Lafferty line was also silent this weekend, which is worriesome.
If Nieto can keep up the good work, this team has enough talent to be a tough out down the stretch. I am still very concerned about our apparent lack of a defensive structure and our overreliance on cycling the puck in the offensive zone, but goaltending and opportunistic offense is a good blueprint for success at this level (see the 2012-13 season for reference).

We're not far out of a home ice spot. I think that's a good goal to set for the rest of the season.

Fully agree with you on the talent. I also am starting to believe we can get home ice for the first round. It looks like RPI, Princeton, Colgate, Dartmouth and Brown will be fighting it out for 8th place. I like our chances. Now, how does Brendan get Marchin untracked. Weekend games with Yale will be a good test.

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2016-17: The Importance of Being Ernst

Fully agree with you on the talent. I also am starting to believe we can get home ice for the first round. It looks like RPI, Princeton, Colgate, Dartmouth and Brown will be fighting it out for 8th place. I like our chances. Now, how does Brendan get Marchin untracked. Weekend games with Yale will be a good test.

Yale is rounding into form - they're 4-1-2 since the start of 2017, with the only loss coming against Providence (the same team that just swept Lowell). Next weekend could be very tough for us if we don't get good goaltending and can't dictate the pace of the games. We're 4-2-1 when outshooting opponents and 0-11 when being outshot. That says everything you need to know about this team.

Looking ahead, Princeton fortunately appears to have cooled off in recent weeks. Quinnipiac is also in the midst of a rebuilding year. We could conceivably pick up points against either (or both) of these teams.

Unfortunately, we still have games against Harvard and Cornell on the schedule, and there's almost no chance we'll take points from both Quinnipiac games (even one would be an accomplishment). If we can capitalize on our remaining games against lower-tier teams (namely Princeton and Colgate, as well as one more against a seemingly better Dartmouth team), we could find ourselves well-positioned for the playoffs.

But these are all speculative scenarios, of course. It's fun to lay out the path to the playoffs, but the team now has to go out there and execute. If they can build on the Dartmouth game, they can make a run at home ice. Time will tell.

[turk181]

Re: Brown Hockey 2016-17: The Importance of Being Ernst

Well this sucks Mike.......

ICYMI, report: @AlbanyDevils moving to Binghamton https://t.co/Qi5wsZ146H #AHL #ADevils pic.twitter.com/lclQ7VEmin

— Ken Schott (@slapschotts) January 26, 2017

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2016-17: The Importance of Being Ernst

Well this sucks Mike.......

ICYMI, report: @AlbanyDevils moving to Binghamton https://t.co/Qi5wsZ146H #AHL #ADevils pic.twitter.com/lclQ7VEmin

— Ken Schott (@slapschotts) January 26, 2017

Tough loss with all of the former Brown players on the team or on other teams playing here. But I won't be going to Houston to get my hockey fix

[kdiff77]

Re: Brown Hockey 2016-17: The Importance of Being Ernst

I try to avoid being the "refs ruined the game" guy at all costs.

But.

The refs ruined this game.

[Brownfan14]

I try to avoid being the "refs ruined the game" guy at all costs.

But.

The refs ruined this game.

More than ruined.

Call on Mcardle lwas very shaky, cost Bears the game.

[kdiff77]

More than ruined.

Call on Gottlieb was very shaky, cost Bears the game.

I posted that long before the atrocious game-ending call. Can't remember the last time I was so angry about a Brown game.

[BrunoFan00]

Re: Brown Hockey 2016-17: The Importance of Being Ernst

I posted that long before the atrocious game-ending call. Can't remember the last time I was so angry about a Brown game.

The officiating was the difference, without question. The call on Gottlieb was marginal. The call on Lafferty was confusing- the Yale guy tripped on his own stick. The call on Dichiara of Yale in the third was ridiculous - he didn't even touch Bird (for Brown), and Izmirlian, who was there, was maybe holding a touch. There was an icing call on the Bears that was not icing - the replay was obvious.

For a team that averages just about 10 minutes per game to be penalized 14 minutes in the second period alone - and then for Josh McArdle to take an elbowing penalty for a hip check in the third, leading to the game-winning goal, was just puzzling.

I just hope this team keeps fighting. Five on five, we had our moments. Need to salvage a split tomorrow.

And I concur. I can't remember the last time I was that annoyed either.

[kdiff77]

The officiating was the difference, without question. The call on Gottlieb was marginal. The call on Lafferty was confusing- the Yale guy tripped on his own stick. The call on Dichiara of Yale in the third was ridiculous - he didn't even touch Bird (for Brown), and Izmirlian, who was there, was maybe holding a touch. There was an icing call on the Bears that was not icing - the replay was obvious.

For a team that averages just about 10 minutes per game to be penalized 14 minutes in the second period alone - and then for Josh McArdle to take an elbowing penalty for a hip check in the third, leading to the game-winning goal, was just puzzling.

I just hope this team keeps fighting. Five on five, we had our moments. Need to salvage a split tomorrow.

And I concur. I can't remember the last time I was that annoyed either.

I'm still pretty mad, so I'll wait until tomorrow to post my thoughts. But I'm glad to see the team has been playing better and competing hard the past few games. It's a good sign. Let's hope it continues tomorrow night.

[LTsatch]

Re: Brown Hockey 2016-17: The Importance of Being Ernst

Brown had a nice payback penalty at the end which did not pay off. As always a hard fought game between the teams. Spano was shaky tonight. Yale still needs to protect him.

[kdiff77]

Brown had a nice payback penalty at the end which did not pay off. As always a hard fought game between the teams. Spano was shaky tonight. Yale still needs to protect him.

For the record, Yale did nothing wrong and mounted a hard-fought comeback. It was a clean, fast-paced, FUN game for the most part. But some of the calls made that benefited Yale were inexcusable.

Of course, one could make the argument that a good team would overcome so many penalties. Well, Brown isn't a good team. We have a thin margin of error to begin with, and we need the playing surface to be even to have a chance. When the opponent is given any sort of advantage - deserved or otherwise - we will likely falter. So it sucks to play really well for the bulk of the game's first half only to have "questionable" officiating kill the momentum.

At the end of the second period, a group of about 10 people gathered above the referees' gate and screamed expletives at them. BF14 and I are apparently not alone here in our outrage.

The nice news is that students actually came out last night! Meehan had an energy buzzing around it that I haven't seen in quite literally years. It wasn't a huge crowd or anything but it beat the heck out of an empty and silent mausoleum. I'm hoping they come back next weekend, and especially for the Harvard game in a few weeks.

[Mike Hutter]

Re: Brown Hockey 2016-17: The Importance of Being Ernst

For the record, Yale did nothing wrong and mounted a hard-fought comeback. It was a clean, fast-paced, FUN game for the most part. But some of the calls made that benefited Yale were inexcusable.

Of course, one could make the argument that a good team would overcome so many penalties. Well, Brown isn't a good team. We have a thin margin of error to begin with, and we need the playing surface to be even to have a chance. When the opponent is given any sort of advantage - deserved or otherwise - we will likely falter. So it sucks to play really well for the bulk of the game's first half only to have "questionable" officiating kill the momentum.

At the end of the second period, a group of about 10 people gathered above the referees' gate and screamed expletives at them. BF14 and I are apparently not alone here in our outrage.

The nice news is that students actually came out last night! Meehan had an energy buzzing around it that I haven't seen in quite literally years. It wasn't a huge crowd or anything but it beat the heck out of an empty and silent mausoleum. I'm hoping they come back next weekend, and especially for the Harvard game in a few weeks.

!400 in attendance!! Wow!! Was there a big promotion by the AD?
The upcoming Princeton/Q weekend should be interesting with Q coming off a loss to Arizona St and Princeton beating #4 PennState.