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.
Whittet wants his team to play each shift with undying passion. Last year, we played about half our shifts with such passion, and, accordingly, ended up with a last place finish. The disappointment on Whittet's face was not hard to see, even from across Meehan Auditorium.
Throw in the Roy debacle from this summer, and you have a coach who not only loves his place of employment more than anyone, but you have a coach who's pretty ticked off, as well. This, I think, will play a major factor this season.
The 2012-2013 Brown men's hockey team will be very young, but very talented. There's no denying either of those facts. However, we've had youth-centric teams for the past three years, and have failed to see any sort of measurable regular season success. That could change this year, as Whittet will no longer accept encouraging play without results.
Whittet wants his team to play each shift with undying passion. Last year, we played about half our shifts with such passion, and, accordingly, ended up with a last place finish. The disappointment on Whittet's face was not hard to see, even from across Meehan Auditorium.
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| Brendan Whittet has been in charge for three full seasons now. He's given the program hope, but the results have yet to come with any consistency. Photo credit to www.brownbears.com |
Throw in the Roy debacle from this summer, and you have a coach who not only loves his place of employment more than anyone, but you have a coach who's pretty ticked off, as well. This, I think, will play a major factor this season.
The 2012-2013 Brown men's hockey team will be very young, but very talented. There's no denying either of those facts. However, we've had youth-centric teams for the past three years, and have failed to see any sort of measurable regular season success. That could change this year, as Whittet will no longer accept encouraging play without results.
There is not a whole lot in terms of natural leadership on this team. There are no guys to whom one could point and say "this is HIS team." And that is exactly why we have a junior serving as captain in Dennis Robertson, and four (yes, four) assistant captains in Richie Crowley, Francis Drolet, Chris Zaires, and Garnet Hathaway.
I think this is suitable for this team's identity. It's a lot of new faces, and the guys who do have experience are being asked to step up big time. Those four assistant captains are, in my eyes, players that Whittet wants to take a major step forward this season. Only Crowley has ever truly fulfilled his potential, and Whittet wants the other three to live up to theirs and provide a good example for the young talent we have (which, as was previously stated, is plentiful).
This year, the team's success lies more in the hands of the coaches than in the hands of the players themselves. Can Brendan Whittet will his team to win? We'll have to hope so, because young teams rarely compete for home ice, let alone first round byes.
With all of this being said, here is my prediction for this season:
12-13-4 overall, 8-11-3 ECAC (which should put us somewhere between 7th and 10th place).
I would like to say I think we can overcome to loss of the Roy brothers and come together as a cohesive unit to finish in the upper half of the league, but I just don't see it this year. We have a pretty light non-conference schedule (Ivy Showcase, Army, Holy Cross, Providence, Minnesota St., AIC/UConn), so we shouldn't have any truly taxing games there that will wear us down. Our focus will be exclusively on league play, which will be good, but we play in a league where any team can win on any night, and that can either work for or against us. It's up to the team to decide its own fate, but I see us making some small progress this year, without blowing anyone's mind.
With all of this being said, here is my prediction for this season:
12-13-4 overall, 8-11-3 ECAC (which should put us somewhere between 7th and 10th place).
I would like to say I think we can overcome to loss of the Roy brothers and come together as a cohesive unit to finish in the upper half of the league, but I just don't see it this year. We have a pretty light non-conference schedule (Ivy Showcase, Army, Holy Cross, Providence, Minnesota St., AIC/UConn), so we shouldn't have any truly taxing games there that will wear us down. Our focus will be exclusively on league play, which will be good, but we play in a league where any team can win on any night, and that can either work for or against us. It's up to the team to decide its own fate, but I see us making some small progress this year, without blowing anyone's mind.
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