Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

[selfesteam]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

For starters you shouldn't be talking to the players regarding their injuries....its none of your business.....after they respond to your self serving interrogation you find it necessary to blab on the thread that they do indeed have a concussion...why would you want to broadcast something like that??? Don't bother the players ...just be a spectator

[Trillium]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

Especially against Wisconsin. They got away with against Yale because the Eli do not have firepower up front. Cornell does and Wisconsin most certainly is a very talented team. Stands to reason that if you are missing an important player who kills penalties and plays on your PP, you will feel it. Doesn't mean Harvard can't win but their strategy of shortening an already short bench flies in the face of reason when you are going up against a deeper team.

It's interesting how we all tend to have pre-conceptions of teams based on history that are not always accurate, as well as personal biases obviously.

I have not watched Wisconsin in a couple of years, but i too had assumed that Wisconsin would have had a lot of firepower and roster depth, more like Minnesota.

Having watched the Gophers live this season, I would have to say they are head and shoulders above any other team I have seen, and other than Wisconsin, I've seen the other 7 in the tournament. (The next best in my opinion would be Clarkson, who are quite a ways behind, then a bunch of others another step behind....but that's a whole other post.)

To keep this discussion about Harvard's upcoming challenge relative to its past ones as objective as possible, I decided to crunch some numbers to assess its relative "firepower" to use Skate's term and depth through the lineup. I calculated goals per game per player based on their games played and grouped them in units, to see whether our assumption that Wisconsin was significantly different than Cornell, or for that matter, Yale. The assumption in all cases is that all rostered players are healthy and available to play. Here's what I learned on an equivalized goals per game basis:

From Top 3 Forwards Harvard (w MP) 1.64 Harvard (w/o MP) 1.46 Yale 1.53 Cornell 1.90 Wisco 1.39
From 4th to 6th Forwards Harvard (w MP) 0.72 Harvard (w/o MP) 0.62 Yale 0.70 Cornell 0.64 Wisco 0.81
From 7th to 9th Forwards Harvard (w MP) 0.42 Harvard (w/o MP) 0.25 Yale 0.19 Cornell 0.31 Wisco 0.36
Additional Forwards Harvard (w MP) 0.00 Harvard (w/o MP) --- Yale 0.03 Cornell 0.09 Wisco 0.16

Goals from All Defense Harvard (w MP) 0.33 Harvard (w/o MP) 0.33 Yale 0.44 Cornell 0.73 Wisco 0.36

TOTAL Goals per Game Harvard (w MP) 3.11 Harvard (w/o MP) 2.66 Yale 2.89 Cornell 3.67 Wisco 3.08

As has been discussed, Mary Parker has not yet been able to play in the post-season, and her presence does have a significant impact on Harvard's lineup as the numbers do clearly illustrate.

Surprisingly, assuming healthy line-ups all around, Wisconsin really doesn't have anywhere near the firepower of Cornell, either in their Top 6 forwards, or even moreso in their Defense. They really don't seem to have any significant advantage vs Harvard offensively at all, except perhaps in their ability to use extra forwards to rest key players.

If she is cleared, Harvard seems to match up just fine vs Wisconsin after all. Even if she isn't, at least offensively, Wisconsin doesn't look particularly daunting as compared to Cornell.

[KTDC]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

Surprisingly, assuming healthy line-ups all around, Wisconsin really doesn't have anywhere near the firepower of Cornell, either in their Top 6 forwards, or even moreso in their Defense. They really don't seem to have any significant advantage vs Harvard offensively at all, except perhaps in their ability to use extra forwards to rest key players.

If she is cleared, Harvard seems to match up just fine vs Wisconsin after all. Even if she isn't, at least offensively, Wisconsin doesn't look particularly daunting as compared to Cornell.

Those are interesting stats and it's a good analysis. But the strength of Wisconsin all year has been their defense, and their downfall has been lack of firepower. They were rated number one defensively all year until the final series against Minnesota in mid-Feb. Wisconsin can skate, and can apply pressure, it's just if they can put it in the net. Or as Mark Johnson said, "get the fish all the way into the boat".

[KTDC]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

Wisconsin doesn't look particularly daunting as compared to Cornell.

………………….or to put it another way, Wisconsin is beatable because they have trouble scoring, but they are very difficult to beat because it's so hard to score on them.

[Trillium]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

………………….or to put it another way, Wisconsin is beatable because they have trouble scoring, but they are very difficult to beat because it's so hard to score on them.

I expected as much though I hadn't analyzed the numbers. That's why I said "at least offensively, Wisconsin isn't as daunting as Cornell". A team doesn't get ranked consistently in top 5 all season without having one or the other.

[Watson Rink]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

Hey folks, Wisco fan here looking for perspective on Maschmeyer. We obviously don't get to see any of your games out this way. She wasn't really on my radar until the Patty nod. Then we hear she was benched. Then she returned against Cornell. So what should we expect to see.
It's likely she starts, correct?

It's difficult for someone who never sees her play to understand that Patty Top 10 when you look at stats that say she wasn't even the top goalie in her conference. But I'm guessing it wasn't a bribe or a fluke.

So can someone who has watched her all season tell us the situation with what got her the national attention, what's the situation with the "benching" - is it streaky play, etc ... - and what should we expect to see on Saturday?

Thanks!

Thanks for the question. Here's her biography from the team website. It's prolix, but her chief collegiate accomplishments are set forth at the beginning of "Sophomore" and her Canadian U-18 and U-22 credentials at "Before Harvard."

Best of luck, by the way, and hope the Wisco-Hvd game this year may be as exciting as the 4OT game in 2007!


Sophomore • 2013-14
Named a Patty Kazmaier Top-10 Finalist ... ECAC Goaltender of the Year ... ECAC Player of the Year Runner Up ... First Team All-ECAC ... Co-Ivy League Player of the Year ... First Team All- Ivy League ... Three-time ECAC Goaltender of the Week; Goaltender of the Month of December ... Denied 19 shots, allowing just two goals to No. 8 Quinnipiac in the season opener (W, 4-2) on Oct. 25 ... Set a new career high with 44 saves against Princeton, recording her sixth career shutout in the process on Oct. 26 ... Named ECAC Goaltender of the Week on Oct. 29 ... Stopped 13 shots, but gave up two in the 2-1 loss at RPI on Nov. 1 ... Blanked Union in the 3-0 win, recording 18 saves in the process on Nov. 2 ... Stopped 26 shots en route to a 3-2 win at St. Lawrence on Nov. 8 ... Shut out No. 6 Clarkson, 2-0, behind an impressive 36 saves against the Knights in Canton on Nov. 9 ... Was named ECAC Goaltender of the Week on Nov. 11 ... Steered away 28 shots in the gritty 3-3 tie against No. 3 Cornell at home on Nov. 15 ... Held No. 9 Boston University to a single late goal in the 3-1 win, padding away 34 shots on net to earn the win on Nov. 22 ... Stopped all 25 shots to come her way to earn her sixth win and fourth shutout in the 5-0 victory on Dec. 1 ... Ended the game against No. 6 Boston College with a career high 51 saves for the tie ... The two performances earned her ECAC Goaltender of the Month honors for the first time in her career (Jan. 3) ... Stopped 30 shots en route to Harvard's 3-2 win over Northeastern on Jan. 4 ... Earned her fifth whitewash of the season, stopping all 17 of Brown's shots in the 3-0 victory on Jan. 10 ... Allowed two goals but recorded 29 saves against Yale on Jan. 11 ... Let through four goals, but picked up 25 saves in the winning effort at Colgate (W, 5-4) on Jan. 17 ... Played brilliantly, racking up 30 saves to just one goal allowed against one of the nation's premier offenses in No. 3 Cornell; Harvard's 3-1 win over the Big Red was its first in Ithaca since 2008-09 ... Duplicated the 30-save, one-goal-allowed effort a week later in the Crimson's 3-1 win vs. RPI on Jan. 25 ... Picked up the win against Princeton, allowing two goals while stopping 22 shots (Jan. 31) ... Steered away 30 shots against high-powered Quinnipiac to earn the tie (Feb. 1) ... Handed the loss after yielding three goals in the first round of the Beanpot against Northeastern (Feb. 4) ... Bounced back with a 27-save, 1-goal allowed effort at Dartmouth to earn the 4-1 win (Feb. 7) ... Stopped 39 shots against BU in the Beanpot Consolation, earning the win over the Terriers in overtime (Feb. 11) ... Allowed just two goals, but earned a loss to No. 3 Clarkson on Feb. 14; made 37 saves against the Knights ... Tallied 47 saves in the 5-2 win over St. Lawrence on Feb. 15 ... Earned a tie after giving up three goals, stopping 23 shots, at Yale on Feb. 21 ... Stopped 45 shots (the fourth time reaching 40+ saves), but picked up the Game 1 loss to Yale in the ECAC Quarterfinals on Feb. 28 ... Allowed five scores to offensive-minded Cornell in the ECAC Semifinals, stopping 19 shots (March 8).

Freshman • 2012-13
Named to the ECAC All-Rookie team ... First goalie to win Ivy League Rookie of the Year since 1995 ... Made 16 saves in her winning debut to become the first Harvard goalie to win her first start since 2006 in a 9-1 win at Princeton Oct. 27 ... Recorded her first career shutout with 12 saves in a 4-0 win at Yale Nov. 3 ... Voted the Harvard COOP Athlete of the Week Nov. 6 ... Briefly led the NCAA in goals against average at 0.67 and tied for first in save percentage (.961) after a 21-save effort against Cornell Nov. 24 ... Named the ECAC Rookie of the Week after beating No. 2 Cornell, 3-1, Nov. 24 ... Earned her second straight win over a ranked team by taking down No. 9 Northeastern, 3-1, Nov. 27 ... Made 19 saves to beat RPI, 2-1, Jan. 5 ... Shut out Quinnipiac, 4-0, with 18 saves Jan. 12 ... Blocked a career-high 34 shots during Harvard's 2-1 loss to No. 2 Boston College in the Beanpot semifinal Feb. 5.

Before Harvard
Played on the varsity hockey team as a goaltender at John Paul II High School ... Member of the Bantam AA All-Star team and Bantam AAA All-Star team ... Won gold medals at the Alberta Winter Games and Canada Winter Games ... Captured a gold medal as part of Team Canada in IIHF U18 tournament in 2012 ... Played for Team Canada U-22 in a three-game series against the United States.

[robertearle]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

………………….or to put it another way, Wisconsin is beatable because they have trouble scoring, but they are very difficult to beat because it's so hard to score on them.

(This also assumes that the defenses Wisconsin is trying to score against are 'equal' to the defenses Harvard, et al. are trying to score against.)

[Watson Rink]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

(This also assumes that the defenses Wisconsin is trying to score against are 'equal' to the defenses Harvard, et al. are trying to score against.)

True enough. The not very robust body of data involving CoP trends in Wisco's favor (only common opponents were BU and NU, Wisco had a 2-0 record with an average 4 GF and 1 GA while Hvd had a 3-1 record with an average 3 GF and 1.75 GA) and I imagine SOS, a much more robust body of data, trends heavily in Wisco's favor.

[Trillium]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

Hey folks, Wisco fan here looking for perspective on Maschmeyer. We obviously don't get to see any of your games out this way. She wasn't really on my radar until the Patty nod. Then we hear she was benched. Then she returned against Cornell. So what should we expect to see.
It's likely she starts, correct?

It's difficult for someone who never sees her play to understand that Patty Top 10 when you look at stats that say she wasn't even the top goalie in her conference. But I'm guessing it wasn't a bribe or a fluke.

So can someone who has watched her all season tell us the situation with what got her the national attention, what's the situation with the "benching" - is it streaky play, etc ... - and what should we expect to see on Saturday?

Thanks!

I'll leave it someone with goaltending expertise to speak to her particular technical strengths.

There is no doubt she is a top-notch goaltender. She has definitely come up huge in some games. Most notable among these would have been her 36 save shutout performance against Clarkson very early in the season, and 1 GA in 31 shots vs Cornell in January.

The simplistic answer to your question may be that she performed much better in the 1st half than in the 2nd half.

In her first 12 games through to early Jan, she gave up only 14 goals for a stratospheric .960 save percentage. In that period, she only gave up 3 goals once, in a 3-3 tie vs Cornell. Besides the Clarkson game, she had 3 other shutouts albeit against weaker teams. Her only sub-par performance (statistically at least) in the front half was giving up 2 goals in 15 shots in a 2-1 loss to Rensselaer.

However, in the back half of the season though the strength of schedule was comparable, her stats definitely came back down to earth somewhat because she was not nearly as consistent. In her next 12 games, she did not attain another shutout, and gave up 25 goals for a save percentage of .933. Her weakest performances were giving up 4 to Colgate in an eventual 5-4 comeback win for Harvard, allowing 3 goals on 13 shots to Northeastern in the Beanpot before being pulled in a 4-3 loss, and 3 goals versus Yale in her last start of the regular season in an eventual 3-3 Tie.

In 2 post-season games so far she has given up 8 goals on 72 shots for .889%. After giving up 3 goals again versus Yale in a 3-2 Harvard loss, she did not play in the remaining 2 games of the series. She played next in the 6-4 loss to Cornell.

It's open to much debate as to whether she herself has become less effective as the season has worn on (perhaps nagging injuries taking a toll?), or if it is the team defense in front of her that has weakened, or both. There is some suggestion statistically as to her ability to rise to the occasion under late season and playoff pressure relative to some other goalies. Though in fairness she may not yet have had sufficient opportunities to draw any clear conclusions, she hasn't yet proven the ability to elevate her play in these conditions either.

[dave1381]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

I agree completely with all that Maschmayer has yet to really prove herself as a top flight goalie in high pressure situations. The NCAA QF loss to BC last season was no good for sure.

I agree it was good to start Laing against Yale since Laing had proven she could handle teams of Yale's caliber, and Maschmayer seemed to perform better against better teams.

Maschmayer deserved her Kaz top 10 & ECAC first team based on regular season games she stole against the best. I think you have to go with Maschmayer going forward since you gave only her the chance against these teams and she excelled.

Harvard gave Maschmayer basically zero D support vs. Cornell, so stats alone are not representative of her ability there, but I also would agree she didn't bail the team out like they needed at the time.

So I hope that clears up what to expect - someone capable of greatness who hasn't done it on the biggest stage just yet.

[Veritas]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

Trillium -
Thanks for that statistical analysis. It provides some reassurance that Harvard might be matched fairly well versus Wisconsin. I did notice that that the Wisconsin bench has 7 D and 13 forwards. I could not find any data on minutes played but did note that most of those players have played in every game or almost every game so it would appear that Wisconsin does favor a longer bench.

[robertearle]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

Trillium -
Thanks for that statistical analysis. It provides some reassurance that Harvard might be matched fairly well versus Wisconsin. I did notice that that the Wisconsin bench has 7 D and 13 forwards. I could not find any data on minutes played but did note that most of those players have played in every game or almost every game so it would appear that Wisconsin does favor a longer bench.

7 D and 13 forwards?

13 forwards, yes; seven D, no.

They dress 12 forwards per game, with the non-dressing forward 'rotating' between Kim Drake, Rachel Jones, and Mikayla Johnson (unless somebody's injured - Molly Doner off and on the last few weeks.)

But unless you're including Stephanie McKeough (who has unfortunately missed the entire season with concussion problems, and is likely done playing hockey forever), only six defense. The fourth line plays, though obviously less than the others.

[robertearle]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

7 D and 13 forwards?

13 forwards, yes; seven D, no.

They dress 12 forwards per game, with the non-dressing forward 'rotating' between Kim Drake, Rachel Jones, and Mikayla Johnson (unless somebody's injured - Molly Doner off and on the last few weeks.)

But unless you're including Stephanie McKeough (who has unfortunately missed the entire season with concussion problems, and is likely done playing hockey forever), only six defense. The fourth line plays, though obviously less than the others.

You can see who did and didn't dress by clicking on the player's names here (and in doing so, I probably overstated things by including Drake on that 'list'; she only sat out twice this year.)

http://www.wcha.com/women/wis/stats14.php

[YabaDabaDoo]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

Skate79 ???

Who is the 9th forward then? #14? Frazier?

They only have 15 skaters and 2 of them are White and #14. White's a D and #14 plays very little.

I watched the game in person, and I thought both goalies played well.

This was wide open offence with great scoring chances both ways.

The goals on Maschmeyer were:

1st 5 - 3 with a goal mouth pass, 2nd was a D backing into Maschmeyer and the Fulton ripping one shelf, 3rd was a 2 on 1 with Saulnier shooting blocker (1.5' of the ice), 4th was where Maschmeyer made a blocker save and was then taken out by her D (lost stick) and then puck goes to the corner and get passed out to Saulnier (where a Harvard D could have picked her stick/and didn't) and 5th was a 5 on 4 shot from the point and deflected over Maschmeyre's blocker (Brown makes a pass out of the corner and then goes to the net without being picked up). Cornell could have scored 8 - 10 (scored 5). Harvard D although a young D, should really focus on their assignments in front of the net (I didn't see sticks being controlled, I saw loose gap from the red line in.

Does anyone understand goaltending out there??? Have any of you played. It's like everyone just looks at #'s, but I would like to hear from real students of the goaltending game.

Slobodnik played well and gave up 4 goals. Harvard could have scored easily 6-7 (scored 4). I can review those goals as well if you would like.

Howe had 1 goal in 40 shots over the weekend and ends up the loser, but she had the best save %. Slobodnik wins goalie of the tourney (with 4 goals against). I don't disagree that Slobodnik should be the goalie MVP. Observers have to look at chances and really study them. If not, then really your just a fan talking trash.

I thought she (Slobodnik) deserved it, but people really don't seem to know what are great scoring chances, and what are just shots. Just saying

I agree with your observation regarding goaltenders!
Regarding the Patty Kaz I think that there are several deserving goaltenders, I feel that the Patty Kaz committee in selecting a goalie or even considering them cannot spend to much time on stats. Both Harvard Goaltenders are very good a lot of time it is really about who's in front of them, not only the D but are the forwards fore and back checking, does the team have the ability to compete? Look at Brown's Moore or Union's Lundberg both teams are in the cellar but their goalies give them a chance. Rigsby, Howe or Slobotnick look at the team in front of them? if they give up a goal chances are they can get it back. The whole goalie of the week/month is really a mess as is probably the selection of goaltenders for the the Patty Kaz. The person with the stats wins, whats up with that? so a team plays Brown and Union, the goalie sees 40/45 shots gets 2 shutouts "Goalie of the week" while the brown/union goalie sees 60/65 and loses 1 or 2 to 0 against a team like Clarkson or Cornell and gets passed over?

[Trillium]

Re: Harvard Crimson 2013-2014

Trillium -
Thanks for that statistical analysis. It provides some reassurance that Harvard might be matched fairly well versus Wisconsin. I did notice that that the Wisconsin bench has 7 D and 13 forwards. I could not find any data on minutes played but did note that most of those players have played in every game or almost every game so it would appear that Wisconsin does favor a longer bench.

I really wish the NCAA kept stats on minutes actually played like the IIHF. The WCHA fans could tell you how much the third, and fourth, line players for Wisconsin actually see ice in a typical game. The problem with the "games played" stat alone is that it doesn't account for instances where a player was merely dressed and on the bench but not on the ice at all, or only played rare minutes during the games. As a result, some players who may seem of limited offensive value actually have significant untapped potential to contribute more significantly in the event of injuries, etc. Similarly, some players' stats may be somewhat inflated moreso because of disproportional minutes rather than huge talent disparities between players.