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.

Even without the Roys, we still have an impressive freshman class coming in. I've heard nothing but rave reviews about forwards Nick Lappin and Mark Naclerio, as well as defenseman Brandon Pfeil. Those three players should be able to crack the lineup almost immediately, and who knows what the other two members of this freshman class can do? 

Ryan Jacobsen was Brown's second-leading scorer as a freshman.
Can someone from the class of 2016 provide similar offensive prowess?

Photo credit to brownbears.com, the Official Site of Brown Athletics.
http://www.brownbears.com/sports/m-hockey/2011-12/releases/201112068rt2ls

Every year since Brendan Whittet has been coaching at Brown, the freshman class has stepped up and performed beyond reasonable expectations. We’ll have to hope that the less heralded recruits, forward Joe Prescott and defenseman Nate Widman, will be pleasantly surprising. Lappin and Naclerio should provide boosts to the offense just like Matt Lorito and Ryan Jacobsen did last year, and Pfeil should round out our defensive core as part of the third pairing.

While the success of the freshman class is hardly guaranteed, this is a class with some extremely exciting prospects. Hopefully, they’ll be inspired by their predecessors, the classes of 2013, ’14, and ’15, who as a whole performed admirably in their freshman seasons.