Taking Stock of Recruits

Well, with the new year only a few days away and the Harvard team playing very anemic as of late, I thought it would be healthy to take stock of the incoming recruits and how they have performed year to date.

Name Games Goals Assists Points Pts / Game

Forwards
Alex Killorn 9 14 12 26 2.8
Marshall Everson 12 21 5 26 2.2
Sam Bozoian 30 13 24 37 1.2
Eric Kroshus 9 2 7 9 1.0
Rence Coassin 24 8 9 17 0.7
Colin Moore 26 3 0 3 0.1

Defensemen
Dan Ford 26 3 18 21 0.8
Ryan Grimshaw 25 2 4 6 0.2

Goalie
Matt Hoyle 3.27 90.4%

Harvard looking at Starrette

USHR mentioned recently that both BU and Harvard are taking a very hard look at current Catholic Memorial Senior Peter Starrette.

Starrette is described as follows: The 6-3, 212-pounder moves and handles the puck like someone 6 inches smaller, and reminds him of Chris O'Sullivan, the CM standout who was selected 30th overall in the 1992 NHL draft.

Given the fact that as of now, Harvard has only 7 defensemen on the roster for the 2008-2009 season, and they lose a big body in Co-Captain Dave MacDonald, I would think Starrette would be a very attractive addition for the Crimson.

Coassin to the Crimson

New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (EJHL) forward Rence Coassin has committed to Harvard for the fall of 2008. He is described by his current coach as follows: "I would say he might be one of the hardest working players I have ever coached."

Coassin, a left-shot center, is in his second year with the Monarchs after graduating from Choate in 2006. As a senior at Choate he was an assistant captain and was selected to the All-Founders League Team. He compiled a line of 10-17-27, good for third on the team, and was around the same point totals as Sam Bozoian and Joe Smith (junior at the time). Doug Rogers had a line of 25-37-62.

"I realized I wanted to attend Harvard when I was 11 years old and watched a family friend, Brett Nowak, play in his first Beanpot for Harvard,” stated Coassin. “Being able to go to a school with a nationally ranked hockey program and outstanding academics is a dream come true. I would like to thank Coach Donato and his coaching staff for giving me this unbelievable opportunity. I cannot wait to compete for a National and Beanpot Championship every year."

A 6’1”, 197 lb. native of Hamden, Conn., Coassin is a 2/20/88 birthdate. In 24 games with the Monarchs this season, he has a 8-9-17 line, good for 4th on the team.

My guess is that barring a real blue chipper, Harvard is likely done at forward for the Class of 2008.

Welcome to Harvard Rence!!

Harvard Recruiting Hotbeds

I did an analysis of Harvard recruits from 2000 - 2009 (thus far), in order to determine in which leagues Harvard has had the most success. This is more of a quantity than quality exercise. Also, I tried to focus on when someone signed with Harvard - if a player signed while at Deerfield, but then spent a year in the USHL before matriculating, that player counted towards the Prep tally. Results are as follows:

Preps - 23
USNDT - 9
USHL - 9
EJHL - 7
AJHL - 5
OPJHL - 3
BCHL - 2
Minny - 2
NAHL - 2
Midwest - 1
ATJHL - 1

I'm not sure what conclusions you can make and it would be interesting to compare Harvard relative to the other Ivies who are competing for similar talent based on a certain academic threshold. It does appear that the farther West you go, Harvard's success wanes.

Anyone have any thoughts? Where does Harvard need to bolster its recruiting? How can it achieve this?

George Hughes to St. Lawrence

George is currently a senior defenseman at Taft and will be a freshman at SLU in the Fall of 2008. As many of you know, George's father was a former Harvard hockey player and his Uncle, Jack Hughes, was a spectacular defenseman at Harvard who was one of the final cuts for the 1980 Olympic Team.

Harvard will have 7 defenseman on its roster next year as of now - Dave MacDonald, JD McCabe, and Chris Kelley graduate and Ryan Grimshaw matriculates. Given the length of the season, Harvard will want at least 8 defenseman on its roster. There may be some forwards that can play defense, but this certainly would not be a long term solution.

Minnesota High School Hockey Forum

I don't know how reliable this is, but there is an entire link dedicated to Edina High School and it may be a great way to keep tabs on incoming recruit, Marshall Everson. He is off to a great start and scored 5 goals in a recent game. The link is as follows:

http://www.ushsho.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12981

Also, incoming recruit Alex Killorn out of Deerfield, scored 4 goals in his opening game.

Looks like Harvard has some snipers coming in. A win is a win, but it looks like we will be giving Kyle Richter some more breathing room next year and the year after.