Beanpot

For those that don't know, the Beanpot is an awesome tournament to decide who is the best team in Boston each year. It's played at the T.D. Garden between Northeastern, BU, BC, and Harvard and has been taking place since the 50's.

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1. 1-0 Harvard - This first goal has a few lessons. First of all, its a 5v3 so there is a ton of space out there. This makes it crucial to get the puck over "glory road". I like how the D are moving their feet and making crisp passes to create that opportunity. Then there is the play through the whistle persistence by their forward. We are going to need a goal like that in the state tournament.. Never quit on a puck until you here that whistle.

2. 1-1 Tie - Great puck movement here by BU. They use the Umbrella Power Play formation which looks like this:

The idea is to have outside shots fired while player 5 and 4 converge on the net for rebounds. Nice job by player 2 to get a hard low shot pass onto the stick of player 5. This is a good example of just getting the puck on net by that player. He redirects the puck towards the net and they capitalize on the scramble. One of the takeaways here is the urgency to get the puck on net.

3. 2-1 BU - Can't stress this enough: D who get pucks to the net quickly stack up points. Clearly this was an elite deflection but it is created from the D-mans urgency to get he puck off his stick. I also liked Greenway's entry into the zone. He gets a pass with very little space and puts the puck to an area where he can recover it.

4. 2-2 Tie - Theme has been consistent in this game. The D are very active in scoring at the high levels of hockey. Really like the D's shot placement here. He has his head up and finds the lane where the puck will not be blocked. Often, the puck doesn't have a direct path to the net. D should be looking to shoot through lanes that insure the shot doesn't get blocked and the play can continue in the offensive zone.

5. 3-2 Harvard - Awesome job here gaining the zone off of a neutral zone by the Crimson D. No delay in pushing the pace up the ice. We see a lot of this from J.C. Turnovers converted into sustained offensive pressure. Chaos goal but the turnover and quick zone entry were key.

6. 4-2 Harvard - Harvard uses the box and 1 powerplay here:

Honestly, this is classic glory road. Moving the puck quickly to create opportunities. Forward "2" lured the defense out of position which set up the point blank opportunity. Like the persistence by player 3 at the net as well.

7. 5-2 Harvard - Beauty goal which started again with a neutral zone turnover. Love the wide drive with speed and the cut back but this goal is really on the Terriers defensman #8. He completely quits on the play after he is beaten to the outside.

8. 5-3 Harvard - Keller was ready to pounce on this goal. I really like the mentality and game awareness he shows here. BU is down 3 goals with 7 minutes left. In a situation like that, you have to take chances that you would not normally take. He pinches immediatley and gets a nice low hard shot off to bring the game within 2.


Best in the NHL at shooting the puck quickly and through screens:

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