Big Game Tonight

Let's hope to see a repeat of this. 

Disaster, Followed by Domination

Results:
Providence 7, Brown 0 (Mayor's Cup)
Brown 3, Holy Cross 2

What a crazy weekend at Meehan. After getting absolutely trampled in the third period against Providence, the Bears fought back from a two-goal deficit early on against Holy Cross and pulled out the win. 

Despite being outshot by just five (40-35), the Bears lost by a touchdown Saturday afternoon.  Brown looked shaky from the start, and Providence jumped out to an early lead on a goal from a mad scramble in front of Marco DeFilippo. Though Brown never seemed to be playing its best, it was still in the game in the middle of the second period, when a brawl broke out to the right of Providence's rookie goalie Jon Gillies. This was the breaking point for the Bears.

After receiving three roughing penalties on the play, including a ten-minute misconduct to Captain Dennis Robertson, Brown took a couple more trips to the sin bin due to some really undisciplined play. The Friars took full advantage, scoring two power play goals in the second period and never looking back. 

The Bears had three great opportunities early in the third period. A shot rang off the post as Gillies was caught out of his crease; a PC defenseman cleared a puck essentially off the goal line in the midst of a scrum in front of the net; and Gillies absolutely robbed Matt Lorito on a powerful one-timer. Had those three opportunities gone Brown's way, it could have been a tie game. 

Time to Earn Some Respect!

Nate Owen, in his weekly ECAC game picks over at USCHO.com, has picked Brown to lose to both Providence and Holy Cross this weekend. 

Week in and week out, forum members pick the Bears to consistently get swept in league play in the "ECAC Pick 'Em" weekly contest. 

Brown was picked last in every poll preceding the season, and the general prognosis is that there is no reason to think otherwise at this stage in the season. 

All of this had really ought to piss Brendan Whittet and his boys off. I mean really: Owen claims the Bears won't be able to defend against Holy Cross, but will be able to score easily? Come on! The strength of this team has been defense, while the offense has struggled most of the time. This ignorant "analysis" (and I'm not necessarily picking on Owen, here) shows that nobody even respects the Bears enough to do them the kindness of watching some highlights, or even checking statistics. 

And it's about time the team took notice of little things like that. It's about time they developed an overwhelming sense of pride for their team and channel it into the relentless energy that spurred the playoff runs from 2008-10. 

Brown 3, Army 0

Marco DeFilippo has achieved something that no Brown goalie has in the regular season since Dan Rosen in 2008: kept an opponent off the scoresheet. Brown beat Army, 3-0, for the first shutout in the regular season since that 2-0 victory over Union to close out the 2007-2008 season. 

And furthermore, Matt Lorito got himself a hat trick! There was a lot to be pleased with in the Bears' victory Saturday night. Yes, Army is a weaker opponent than most of the teams in the ECAC. But the team played well in all facets of the game. 

Brown scored all its goals on special teams, with two coming from the power play and one shorthanded. DeFilippo made 25 saves for the shutout, and Lorito netted three to boost his points total on the season to 6-1-7. 

The guys who provided the assists to Lorito are all big names we've been waiting to hear from: Jacobsen and Zaires; Wahl and Robertson; and Lamacchia. If those five players can keep getting involved on scoring plays, we're in good shape. 

The Bears now have a short week of classes before Turkey Day, and then will take on Providence in the Mayor's Cup Saturday. The Friars have impressed early on in the season, going 5-4-1 with some close losses against tough competition (Miami, BU) and garnering 23 votes in the most recent USCHO rankings. 

On Sunday, we'll face a Holy Cross team that has gotten off to a flying 8-2-1 start, including wins against Clarkson and perennial AHA champion RIT. However, they lost to the same Army team that Brown just disposed of, 7-2, and were blown out by a strong Air Force team, 7-0. So goals shouldn't be too hard to come by. 

It should be a fun weekend of hockey on College Hill! Both games are 4:00 starts, so make sure you prepare accordingly if you plan to go. 

3000!

I often check my pageviews, just to see how I'm doing and if people have been reading lately. There's always a big spike when I post new content, but this past week has been unprecedented. I was at 2,400 or so when the week began, and when I checked this morning, it had reached over 3,000! 

I'd like to give a huge thank you to everyone who reads this blog, because when I decided to start it back in August, I really didn't think it would generate the levels of interest that it has. It means a lot that people are frequently checking it, and I'm pleased to see so much interest in Brown hockey.  

Thanks again for all your support!

Now let's go beat Army. 

What Effect Will All These Injuries Have on Brown?

Brown had a promising start to the season, beating a Princeton team that has since ascended to fourth in the ECAC in this young season; losing tight contests at Harvard and Dartmouth, historically two places where Brown plays poorly; and earning two hard-faught draws against nationally-ranked St. Lawrence and its travel partner that always gives us fits, Clarkson. 

However, with a young roster, the Bears were expected by many (if not most) to struggle at times this season. That was before the roster was decimated by injuries. 

Already, we've lost promising freshman Nate Widman for the year, and sophomore Kyle Quick, who had looked greatly improved, for a long time, if not the whole season. Nick Lappin was out for a game or two, and was not at 100% this past weekend.

The Achilles' heel for Whittet's team these past three years has been a team-wide lack of depth. It is a great irony that in the year in which the stars have seemingly faded into the background and the strength of the team has become its depth, injuries are already decimating the roster. We could be down to just six natural defensemen for the whole season. 

Thoughts After Week 3

Results:
Brown 3, St. Lawrence 3
Brown 3, Clarkson 3

It was a weekend of parity for the Bears, as they played to a pair of draws with the North Country teams. One can hardly complain about Friday night's come-from-behind tie against the 16th-ranked Saints, but Saturday's result left a slightly sour taste in the mouth, as Brown coughed up a 3-2 lead to the Golden Knights. 

Brown looked to be no match for St. Lawrence 15 minutes into the second period, as the Saints had stormed out to a 3-0 lead, and looked to be running away with the game. However, Taki Pantziris scored his first in a Brown uniform with under a minute to go in the period, and in the third the Bears continued to claw back into the game. 

A pair of goals from Matt Lorito and Nick Lappin within three minutes of each other brought the score level and gave Brown hope for an upset. While Bruno was aggressive in pushing forward for a winner, outshooting the Saints 34-20 in an upset attempt, the effort fell just short, and the two teams settled for a hard-fought tie. 

On Saturday, Brown again had to overcome an early deficit, as Clarkson tallied just 2:41 into the contest. Michael Juola knotted the game at 1-1 about halfway through the period, but the Knights would strike again before the period's end, taking a 2-1 lead into the second period. 

Mike Juola '14 had a career day against Clarkson, netting
two goals in a 3-3 tie with the Golden Knights.

Sophomore Ryan Jacobsen struck under two minutes into the second period , tying the game for Brown on his first of the year. Juola would add his second of the game about six minutes later, giving the Bears a 3-2 lead. But Clarkson would equalize just a minute later, and the two teams would not find the net again, as the game ended 3-3. 

After a great effort on Friday night, it was slightly disheartening to see Bruno get outshot by 'Tech, 48-30, and surrender a lead so quickly after taking it. But two points is not the worst outcome in the world, especially against a ranked opponent (SLU) and a team that always gives us fits, regardless of where they are in the standings (Clarkson). 

Thoughts After Week 2

Results:
Harvard 3, Brown 2
Dartmouth 2, Brown 1


It was a tough weekend for the Bears, as they dropped two closely-contested games with Ivy rivals Harvard and Dartmouth. However, the greatest loss was seeing freshman Nate Widman go down with what appears to be a season-ending knee injury. Classmate Nick Lappin also left the Harvard game early, apparently with some sort of hamstring injury. 

The Bears struck first in both games this weekend, and could/should have gotten better results. Marco DeFilippo had a fantastic pair of games, allowing just five goals on 74 shots. Not bad at all. It looks like Anthony Borelli will be on the bench for good, contrary to some of Whittet's preseason comments regarding the goaltending situation. 

It's good to see Matt Lorito keep scoring. He could be a really important piece to build around for the next three seasons. Last year, he was hampered by a broken wrist before the season started, but he seems to finally have recovered all his wrist/forearm strength and has even better hands than last year. 

Ryan Jacobsen is someone who needs to step up soon. He was our second-leading scorer last year, and hasn't put up a single point through four games. I expect him to get going relatively soon, but a quiet start is never a good thing, especially since we've had three one-goal games already. We've been outscored 9-5 so far, and while that's a great defensive number through four games, five goals is unacceptable. The offense simply has to improve, and Jacobsen is a big part of that. 

I am not trying to pick on Jacobsen, because he obviously isn't the only one struggling. But it's a little disappointing to see him not living up to expectations so far. Hopefully he kicks it into high gear sooner rather than later, because he is one of our more talented players. 


Looking forward, Brown hosts St. Lawrence and Clarkson this weekend in its conference home openers. St. Lawrence has been red-hot to start the season, going 5-1 with impressive wins at Western Michigan and Maine (outscoring the Black Bears 10-1 over a two-game stretch). However, Clarkson is still looking for a win at 0-4-3, which is good news for an injury-stricken and young Brown team. Three or four points is ideal for this weekend, but realistically, we should expect two. I'll have a more intensive preview later in the week. 

Thoughts After Week 1

Results: 

Brown 2, Princeton 1

Dartmouth 4, Brown 0

Two recent trends remained true this past weekend: Brown and Princeton played a low-scoring affair dominated by defense, and Dartmouth beat the crap out of Brown. 

I was not able to catch the Princeton game, but after seeing the highlights, I was impressed by a couple things: 

First, the new highlight format is terrific! I'm hoping that this is a constant thing for the rest of the season, though it wasn't as comprehensive for the Dartmouth game. 

Second, Nick Lappin had a terrific goal in the second period. Great hands. 

The new jerseys, however, are hideous. One poster on the USCHO forum mentioned that he was told these were the alternate home jerseys, but the team wore them again against Dartmouth Saturday. I'm hoping he was right, because I really don't like them at all. 

Now, for Saturday: 

I was able to watch the first and second periods of Saturday's game, and I was actually pleased with the way we were playing. We had some great energy and chances in the first, and Marco DeFilippo was playing great. However, we never were able to capitalize on our opportunities, and once again, Dartmouth proved too strong as the game wore on. 

It's getting really old, losing to the Green almost every time we play them. I don't know what hex they have over Brown, but we need to find a way to break it. Fortunately, we have a chance this Saturday, as the Bears travel to Hanover a night after meeting Harvard in Cambridge. 

I'll have more later in the week about this weekend's games. It was a pretty "meh" start to the season for Brown- a close win over a middle-of-the-pack opponent followed by a shellacking at the hands of a longtime nemesis. We'll see how the team improves in Week 2!

Mark Your Calendars, Part 2

This is part two of a series of installments previewing potentially-exciting Brown hockey games in the upcoming season. The previous post focused on Brown's opponents in the Ivy Shootout at Meehan Auditorium. 

Jumping forward a week, the Bears will open league play at Harvard on Friday, November 2. Harvard emerged victorious in Cambridge in a game where every officiating call possible went against Brown. I won't get into it because it's water under the bridge, but I was at the game and watched the replays on the Harvard jumbotron, and I could not have been more displeased with the missed calls. 

In Providence, the Crimson jumped out to a 3-1 second period lead before Brown rallied for a spirited 3-3 tie. This series hasn't had as much bite in it as in previous years, but the results have still been extremely close and hard-fought. In the 2009 playoffs, 12th-ranked Brown went into the Bright Hockey Center expected by many to be swept away by a clearly superior Harvard team. However, the Bears managed to do something no one had done in Harvard's storied 100-plus-year history: shutout the Crimson in back-to-back games at home, largely on the back of Mike Clemente's stellar goalkeeping. 

Brown would go on to be swept by a juggernaut of a Yale team in the quarterfinals, but beating Harvard on its own home ice was inspiring enough (and, perhaps, exacted a measure of revenge for their victory over Brown in the 2004 playoffs, when the Bears were one of the favorites to win the ECAC Tournament). 

Mark Your Calendars

Now that the season is approaching rapidly, I figured it would be a good time to write about some of the most intriguing and exciting games Brown will play this season. Some of the obvious rivalries will be included, as well as some potentially-overlooked games and any with an interesting twist, either on the ice or off. This is the first installment, with more to follow in the coming days. 

Right off the bat, Brown faces an interesting first weekend of play. On Friday, October 26th, the Bears host Princeton in the first game of the Ivy Shootout at Meehan Auditorium. While Princeton is an Ivy League rival, the two potential matchups on Saturday really grab my attention. Brown will play either Dartmouth or Yale, depending on Friday's results. 

Ever since Bobby Gaudet was left Brown to coach Dartmouth following the 1996-97 season, Dartmouth has essentially owned the Bruno. The Bears have an absurdly abysmal record of 6-19-3 against the Green since the 1998-99 season (I couldn't find a record of the 1997-98 season online, though I remember a 6-5 home overtime win and I believe a 4-2 loss on the road. Don't quote me on that). Gaudet has had no problem mercilessly beating his former employer, and his success has extended into the Whittet era. The Bears just cannot seem to buy a win against Dartmouth, which is frustrating because they always seem to play a somewhat dirty game (against Brown, anyway- I admittedly haven't seen them play anyone else). 

Let's Go!

It's been well over a month since my last post, and for that, I apologize profusely. I've been very busy lately and haven't had much free time. Additionally, there hasn't been a whole lot of Brown hockey-related news worth writing about. 

But now that the beginning of the season is in sight (we're just a week away from the Ivy Showcase), it's time to start writing about and discussing Brown hockey. 

Brown has been picked last by just about everyone. Coaches, media, Brian Sullivan, members of the USCHO Fan Forum- no one seems to have any faith that the Bears can take the next step this season. Unlike in previous years, the pundits seem to have respect for the way Brown plays, but simply do not think Bruno can compete based on its perceived lack of talent and youth. 

I suppose it's easy to understand most people's reasoning: this is a program that hasn't hosted a home playoff game, had a winning season, or finished any higher than 9th since 2005. It hasn't been nationally ranked since 2004. It hasn't seen a 40-point scorer since Damian Prescott in 1998. It hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 1993, and has never won an ECAC Championship. Why should any neutral observer think there's any chance of any of these things happening this season? 

What Can We Expect?

Now that I've reviewed all four classes that comprise the Brown men's hockey team, I think it's time to discuss what our expectations for the 2012-2013 incarnation of the team should be. 

A quick preface:

Head coach Brendan Whittet is a Brown grad who played under Bob Gaudet in the mid-'90's. Those Gaudet teams saw some modest success, including Brown's most recent trip to the NCAA Tournament in 1993. He was born and raised in Rhode Island, playing for Mount St. Charles and winning four State Championships in high school as part of legendary coach Bill Belisle's unreal 27 consecutive titles with the Mount. 

The point is, Brendan Whittet has incredible pride for both Brown University and Rhode Island. He has been trying to instill that same pride in each and every one of his players since day one, and now that every single player on the team has been hearing this message for his entire Brown career, the message is deeply embedded. 

Senioritis

Over the last several days, I have given an overview of the classes of 2014, 2015, and 2016. 

Now for the class of 2013; the seniors. This class fell victim to a coaching change, and because of that, it is relatively small and weak. Chris Zaires and Richie Crowley have proven to be indispensable over the past three years. However, Jeff Ryan, Francis Drolet, and Anthony Borelli have never become reliable players, and accordingly have never been ingrained in the lineup. 

Chris Zaires '13 has shown flashes of excellence over the
course of his Brown playing career. He needs to step it
up and take on a leadership role in 2012-2013.

Photo credit to brownbears.com,
the Official Site of Brown Athletics

Zaires has shown his immense talent at times throughout his career, but will have to take on a leadership role this year and pick up some of the offensive slack that Jack Maclellan left behind. The coaching staff seems to have been puzzled over the years about whether to play him on the wing or at center. In my opinion, he seems like a more natural center, but in the past he’s had some good production coming from the wing. I suppose there is no clear-cut answer to this problem; at least not yet.

Richie Crowley will have a mystery partner on the second defense tandem, but he has always been quietly consistent. If either Wahl or Robertson were to (God forbid) miss time due to injury or ineligibility, I would have no reservations about plugging Crowley into the top pairing. He is reliable and steady, though not very flashy.

Whittet's First Class is All Grown Up

There’s a lot of promise for the future of Brown hockey in the classes of 2015 and 2016. There are some budding stars (Ryan Jacobsen, Matt Lorito), as well as some talented prospects (Mark Naclerio, Nick Lappin). There has already been an extraordinary amount of discussion regarding the incoming freshman class, mostly because of the Roy brothers, but also because of theoup’s talent as a whole.

Meanwhile, Whittet's first recruiting class is now entering its third year at Brown. This class has some established starters in Dennis Robertson, Matt Wahl, and Garnet Hathaway, as well as some guys looking to finally put it together in Mark Hourihan, Mike Juola, and Marco De Filippo. 

Dennis Robertson '14 is one half of Brown's shutdown
 defensive pairing. While he provides some offense out of
 the back for Brown, his partner, Matt Wahl '14, is a
more traditional shutdown defender with a huge slap shot.

Photo credit to brownbears.com 

Wahl and Robertson form one of the best shutdown defensive pairings in the league, and they eat up a TON of minutes (perhaps too many). Hathaway is an effective power forward who was missed dearly last year while out due to injury for a few games. He doesn't provide much scoring, but his contributions on the penalty kill and on the forecheck are vital. 

As for Marco De Filippo- he appears to have the starting job in net, which is both terrifying and intriguing. He showed what he can do against New Hampshire, Quinnipiac (at home), and Clarkson last year, but also showed us his worst against Dartmouth, Colgate, and Quinnipiac (away) down the stretch. And his worst was discouraging. He'll have to put it together this year, because we have but two goalies on the roster (the other being perennial backup Anthony Borelli) now that the Roys are gone. 

How Sophomoric!

Yesterday, I previewed what should be a strong, albeit small, freshman class. Last year, Brown had a rather large freshman class, with nine members. Six of those players saw plenty of playing time, while Chris Draper saw the ice occasionally, and Taki Pantziris and Greg Tang spent most of their time up in the stands, watching the games from afar. 

However, in the players who did see a lot of ice time, there is plenty of reason for optimism. 

The sophomore class boasts some of the more impressive offensive prospects not just on the team, but in the league. Ryan Jacobsen was our second-best scoring threat last year, totaling 21 points in 32 games, while Matt Lorito managed 17 points despite missing 8 games. His .71 Points Per Game average was second only the incomparable Jack Maclellan, who will be sorely missed. 

Moving On

There has been a LOT of discussion about the Roy brothers this offseason. Far too much discussion about them, in fact. They've been a distraction and perhaps even a morale killer for the past half-year or so with their noncommittal verbal commitment to Brown. Finally, after claiming all summer to be devoted to and proud of their choice, they backed out, essentially saying "it's not you, it's me" or some other woefully cliché breakup cop-out. 

After all these lies, deceit, and classlessness, I have but one thing to say about them:

Forget about 'em. 

There's no reason to continue dwelling on the star that could have been in Kevin Roy, or his brother (whose name I can't even remember), the goalie with stats so mediocre even Brian Eklund or Scott Stirling look like solid starters in comparison. 

Instead, I propose a new outlook on this upcoming season: one that celebrates all the young talent we've stockpiled over the last couple years, and can hopefully now unleash. 

I am going to post an analysis of each class over the next few days, starting with the incoming freshmen.

Welcome!

Hi there!

I'm a dedicated Brown University Men's Hockey season ticket holder, and I recently decided it was time that the oldest college hockey program in the country had somewhere where fans could come to talk about the team. I participate in discussions on the USCHO fan forums, but thought that a blog would be a more appropriate setting for my typically-lengthy posts about games and the state of the team. My intention is to provide analysis and news about Brown's hockey team, as well as any of its alumni who do anything notable in the world of hockey.

I'm new at blogging- I've never actually done it before. But I love to write, and I love Brown hockey, so I will try my hardest to make this blog a reliable source for all things Bruno.

This upcoming season should be very exciting, for a variety of reasons- we have some great talent (even with the de-committment of the tandem of brothers who shall remain nameless); more home games than away games for the first time in years; seven afternoon games (apparently an attempt by the school to draw bigger crowds); and to top it all off, on a personal level, a new reason to get even more excited about the college hockey season than ever- this blog.

I cannot wait for this season to start! Bring on November!

And let the Meehan Madness begin.