November
18, 2004
On-Ice Education
By
Joe Gladziszewski
Classrooms,
lecture halls, and laboratories aren’t the only rooms
at Harvard and Princeton where there’s plenty of learning
taking place. Check the coaches’ offices at the Bright
Hockey Center and at Baker Rink and you’ll find first-year
coaches Ted Donato and Guy Gadowsky doing some learning
of their own.
Donato
returned to Harvard and the ECAC Hockey League after a professional
hockey playing career. Gadowsky came to Princeton from the
other side of the continent where he was coaching Alaska
Fairbanks of the CCHA.
Advance
scouting has never been more popular in hockey. Teams are
using video tape analysis and keeping tabs on the rest of
the league more than ever. You would think that new coaches
would be at a great disadvantage. Gadowsky doesn’t
really buy into that theory.
“It’s
a fun learning curve. Being in the CCHA for five years,
you learn the coaches, their systems, and what they do.
But I’ve always believed that concentrating on what
you do is more important. Since we don’t have a frame
of reference with practically an entirely new staff it ensures
that we can concentrate on what we do,” he said.
Gadowsky’s
staff includes assistant coaches Jason Lammers and Andre
Faust. Both assistants were players in the ECACHL, but only
Lammers has coaching experience in the league, as he spent
two years at Clarkson.
Donato’s
case is similar, although assistant Sean McCann and volunteer
assistant Bruce Irving are in their third years at Harvard
and have some knowledge on the inner workings of the league.
“Certainly
it’s a disadvantage not to have a built-up stash of
information on players, teams, and systems,” Donato
said. “To a great extent I do depend on Sean McCann
to have everything on the ball as far as other team’s
tendencies and what they’ve done in the past. From
my perspective it certainly can be tough.”
With
each passing weekend, Gadowsky and Donato get more and more
familiar with the ECACHL and get first-hand experience against
their new league foes.
But
don’t feel sorry for the times when those two new
faces might be surprised by something the opponents are
throwing at them, because it works the other way too.
Gadowsky
and Donato bring new systems and styles to the league and
it forces the other 10 coaches to come up with new scouting
reports on what they do. Nate Leaman, who faced some of
the same learning curve last year in his rookie season at
Union, had a long week of preparation for tonight’s
game at Princeton. These aren’t the same Tigers that
Leaman faced when Len Quesnelle was in charge.
“With
Guy coming into the league, and Teddy, there are two new
things to prepare for. Our league has more coaching turnover
than any other league and it keeps things fresh,”
Leaman said. “Princeton is playing an entirely different
style than they did under Lenny.”
SEEN
AND HEARD IN THE ECACHL
Union
on top – The Union Dutchmen have a perfect
4-0-0 record in league play through the first two weekends
after sweeping St. Lawrence and Clarkson two weeks ago,
then winning both ends of a home-and-home series against
Rensselaer last weekend.
The
usual suspects are leading the way for the Dutchmen, as
Jordan Webb, Scott Seney, and Jonathan Poirier top the scoring
charts. Junior goaltender Kris Mayotte and freshman Justin
Mrazek have been very good while sharing time between the
pipes.
Things
didn’t start very well for Union, which lost its first
four games – two games at Colorado College and two
at home against Bowling Green. Those losses turned into
important lessons for the Dutchmen.
“We
learned two things. The second night against CC we learned
we need to work extremely hard. The second game against
BG we learned we need to be committed to team defense,”
Nate Leaman said.
Union’s
lineup, especially at the forward positions, is much deeper
this year and it’s helped keep the top players fresh.
Leaman no longer needs to rely on a handful of guys to play
in all of the special teams situations as well as skating
a regular shift.
Team
unity is also emphasized. After each game, and after film
sessions on Mondays, players are asked to mention something
a teammate did to help the team be successful.
Knocking
off No. 1 – Tuesday’s 3-1 win by Harvard
over Boston College marked the second time this season that
an ECACHL team has beaten the top-ranked team in the country.
On Oct. 29, Vermont beat then-No. 1 Minnesota Duluth 3-2.
Harvard
had three power-play goals in the win. Freshman Jon Pelle
continued his hot streak with two goals and an assist in
the win by Harvard. Pelle also factored in all three Harvard
goals last Friday in a 3-1 win over Yale with a goal and
two assists. He was named as the ECACHL Rookie of the Week.
Those
wins by Harvard and Vermont are most noteworthy, but St.
Lawrence has also posted important non-conference wins against
ranked opponents. It’s a good sign for the league
as a whole.
“We
have some good wins out of the league but we know very well
that when you get back in the league it’s a dog fight
every single night,” St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh
said. “I think our league is very strong this year
and it’s been proven with some of the success we’ve
had outside, but more importantly, every single night it’s
well-balanced.”
FRIES
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
|
Great Weekend Getaway |
 |
|
Cornell
at Vermont (Fri.); Colgate at Vermont (Sat.)
Prior
to the start of the season it seemed like this would
be a big weekend when the Central New York-based schools
headed to Dartmouth, but we’ll look at the games
in Burlington as the can’t-miss games on the
schedule instead. The Catamounts are 3-0-1 in the
league and host Colgate and Cornell, both 2-0-0, in
a series that will help define the top of the standings
early in the season.
While
You’re There: Throw down a couple of bucks and
enter the “Ride the Zamboni” promotion
at Gutterson Field House. For each donation of $2
or more, fans will be entered in a raffle for the
chance to ride the Zamboni between the second and
third periods. Proceeds are donated to the Make-A-Wish
foundation.
|
| Stick
Salute |
|
St.
Lawrence sophomore forward Max Taylor scored the game-winning
goal for St. Lawrence in Wednesday night’s 3-1
with a mid-air deflection of a point shot by Matt
Macdonald, but we’ll raise our sticks to Taylor
for the two times he sacrificed his body to block
Clarkson point shots while SLU was short-handed and
holding a 2-1 lead.
|
| Bench
Minor |
| The
bench minor goes to Yale’s offense.
What was expected to be one of the highest-scoring
teams in the ECACHL, especially considering the crackdown
on obstruction, has produced just 8 goals in six games.
The defense is also shoddy, with 35 goals against.
The Bulldogs are 0-6-0 on the year.
|
•
Cornell meets surging Vermont on Friday night in its return
to ECACHL league action after earning only a point in two
games at Michigan State. Even after the disappointing trip
to East Lansing, Mich., the Big Red rank first in the nation
in defense (1.17 goals per game) and are tied for second
in offense (4.0 goals per game).
•
Goaltending has been key to Union's revival, as the Dutchmen
have alternated between junior Kris Mayotte and freshman
Justin Mrazek during their four-game winning streak. Union,
alone in first place in the ECACHL heading into games at
Yale and Princeton, has rebounded from an 0-4-0 start that
included close losses to Bowling Green and Colorado College.
•
For years, Harvard hockey players never
got to enjoy the spectacle of the Harvard-Yale football
game but recent schedule adjustments give the Crimson this
weekend off. They've earned the chance to relax and watch
their gridders go for a perfect 10-0 season –
the hockey team has won three straight, including Tuesday
night's upset of No. 1 Boston College.
•
Brown takes a shot at duplicating Vermont's success in the
Land of 10,000 Lakes this weekend with a two-game series
at Minnesota Duluth. The Bears have made trips to WCHA country
each of the last three years to play in holiday tournaments
(twice in North Dakota, once in Wisconsin), but this is
their first trip to Minnesota since dropping two games at
St. Cloud State in 2000-01.
•
Offense plagued Princeton last season, when the Tigers were
ranked tied for last in the nation in goals per game (2.00).
So far this year they're up to 13th in the country, and
a much-improved power play is a big reason why. Princeton's
25.0% power play ranks third in the nation.
•
Dartmouth's next eight games are all at home, a good chance
for the Big Green to gain some momentum.
•
Rensselaer senior forward Nick Economakos has a nine-game
point-scoring streak headed into this weekend's Yale-Princeton
trip, including six multiple-point games in that time (3-13-16
total). Friday's game at Yale should mark the 100th of Economakos'
career.
•
Vermont's six-game unbeaten streak is the longest at the
school since the 1996-97 season.
A
variety of sources were utilized in the compilation of this
report.
