Harvard Gets Some Moores

When the Moore brothers - Mark, Steve and Dominic- take the ice Saturday for the Harvard men's hockey team at Brown, they will be only the second set of three brothers ever to play NCAA hockey on the same team at the same time.

If they wanted to know what it felt like to be on the first trio, all they need do is ask at a family reunion. The Demarcos, who played together for Michigan State in 1969-70, are cousins of their mom, Anna.

As far as Harvard is concerned, the more Moores the better.

"Now that all three of us are here, it's a family affair," said Mark, the eldest. "And familial pride, besides my own and the team's, is at stake. And so I will take it even more personally than before if we lose."

Each Moore brother differs from the other two in position and personality and each will assume an important role this season, as the Crimson looks to adjust to a new coach.

Mark, a senior defenseman, is one of the team's leaders on the blueline. At 6'4" and 210 pounds, the big defenseman plays a physical game

Steve, a junior center, is Harvard's star. He has led the team in scoring each of the past two seasons and will be expected to provide the offensive punch again.

Dominic, a freshman winger, is the smoothest skater of the group. The smallest Moore at 6' and 180 pounds, he is a quick forward who will be counted on to score goals for the Crimson this season.

For the first time since they were very young, the Moores will skate on the same squad.

" Being very close, it's a lot of fun to be able to do and share so much together," Steve said. "It is very special. We always play together, but have never played for real together, on the same team, in competition. I'm very excited."

The three brothers are the only children of Jack and Anna. They grew up together outside Toronto in Thornhill, Ontario. While their parents encouraged them to play many sports--hockey quickly became their favorite.

While the children have always made their own choices about athletics, as the oldest child, Mark's preferences influenced his brothers as his love of hockey grew.

"Hockey literally is life, in Canada," Mark said. "Nothing in the United States resembles the primacy of hockey in Canada."

"It is like being a soldier in ancient Rome," he added. "If you're a boy, that's just what you do, it's that simple--and if you're good at it, your

ambition is to become a famous hockey player rather than a famous general. That's why I play hockey."

All of the brothers learned hockey young. And all three would go on to graduate from the famous St. Michael's College School, which has produced 150 National Hockey League players.

Mark learned how to skate before he was two, and he said he could outskate his mother, who is an accomplished skater herself, by the time he was five. He played in his first organized hockey league when he was four or five.

Before coming to Harvard, Mark played on a Canadian Junior A League team, the Thornhill Islanders, which was coached by former NHL defenseman Brad Selwood. Steve joined him in his last year, a frequent occurrence before high school.

On the Crimson, Mark has earned the reputation of being a quiet but steady leader. His teammates have watched him improve significantly each year, and they will count on Mark to lead an inexperienced defense this season.

"Mark will definitely assume a leadership role this year," said junior defenseman Tim Stay. "I think he has the quiet-but-respected sort of personality."

His stoic role on the ice fits his interests off it. Mark by far is the most pensive of his brothers--he is a math concentrator who likes to ponder "arbitrary facts of existence."

Despite his frustration with some humanities classes, Mark also loves the arts and regrets how schools like Harvard present them.

"I do have a strong artistic bent, but modern school is the enemy of creativity," he said. "And creativity is the essence of art, therefore I prefer art in a setting other than the classroom."

He often simply finds himself sitting back and reflecting on life. When asked what he does in his spare time, he replies "Well, I don't know whether I like it or not, but mostly what I do is think."

His younger brothers certainly admire their philosophical sibling as both a player and a leader.

"I regard Mark as one of the most talented and skilled players I know," Dominic said.

"Mark is a leader on the team both on and off the ice," Steve said. "He leads by example and he's one of fittest and hardest workers on the team."

Mark has made it a point to be a guide for his brothers on the team. Indeed, he considers himself to be very close with both of them. In past years, he roomed with Steve on road trips.

"Steve pretty much didn't need any help and he adjusted well to begin with," Mark said. "My involvement has been that he asks me when something comes up from his perspective, and I tell him things if something induces me to from my mine. Otherwise I leave him alone."

In terms of hockey, Mark said he benefits most from playing against his brothers because they improve his game. Of course, Mark is glad they are on his team for games, but he said he feels more pressure to win when his brothers play with him.

He doesn't care about personal awards or his Harvard legacy. In the words of a true leader, Mark said, "Winning that national championship is my only goal."

Like Mark, Steve started playing hockey when he was four or five and hasn't stopped since. Early on Mark and Steve played on the same teams because Steve was playing with kids a year older than he was.

Although all three brothers haven't played together since they were young, Steve remembers playing 'shinny' (a Canadian term for pick-up hockey) with Mark and Dominic.

"We did, and still do, a lot, a lot, a lot of things together," Steve said. "We're very close."

While Steve made his own choice to come to Harvard, Mark's experience played a factor in Steve's decision.

"I knew I wanted to come to the States," Steve said. "And Mark being here was definitely a positive thing for Harvard in my deciding which school to go to"

Harvard is certainly glad that Steve followed his older brother to Cambridge. Probably the best player on the team, he was drafted high in the second round of the 1998 NHL draft by the Colorado Avalanche and stands the best chance of fulfilling what Mark has described as the dream of every young boy in Canada.

"He's the rock," Mark said. "You can count on him to score and make hits every game, and to compete at 100 percent--100 percent of the time."

But Steve is not just a wizard on the ice.

He is also a skilled tennis player and trains with the Harvard varsity tennis team. He loves tennis and regrets that he can't play more of it due to the long hockey season.

Steve concentrates in Environmental Science and Public Policy because he thinks the environment is becoming more and more of an important problem for people and thinks it will only get worse until people start changing their behavior.

"Also, I'm a big fan of nature," Steve said.

Steve finds it helpful to have his brothers on his team because they let him know when he needs to be playing differently.

"For the most part we don't fight or yell at each other," Steve said. "But we do know what the others are capable of, and if they're not doing it, we'll let them know."

After playing the younger brother role for two years with Mark, Steve is now ready to be the older brother.

"It's quite exciting and interesting to now be one of the ones who's gone through it already," Steve said.

He is looking forward to playing with Dominic again, and he enjoys the chance to play the roles of older and younger brother. He is trying to do as good a job at older brother for Dominic as Mark for him.

"I have tried to do what Mark did for me," Steve said. "I give him some insight and advice, and then let him learn most of it on his own. I'm not sure he needs any advice from me anyway."

Dominic certainly doesn't need any advice in making friends. By his brothers' accounts, Dominic is the most outgoing of the three brothers. He likes to impersonate people, and Mark and Steve both called him "quite a character."

He's also quite a Canadian, when his roommates want to know what's all the fuss aboot, ey?, Dominic has been known to defend his northern country unfailingly.

"Both my roommates are from California," Dominic said. "So I don't think they're in any position to argue with me."

Dominic played three years of Junior A hockey in Ontario after playing for St. Michael's in grades nine and 10.

In his first year, playing with Steve on the Islanders, Dominic learned a lot from his older brother, who was--by Dominic's account--the premier player in the league that year. The next year, Dominic switched teams to play for the Aurora Tigers.

Last year, Dominic was third in the league with 36 goals and 64 assists. He was selected runner-up for Player of the Year in the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey Association.

While it is too early to tell what Dominic's role will be on the Crimson, he "is a very, very, very talented player," according to Mark.

Although Dominic was recruited by former Coach Ronn Tomassoni, his resignation did not sour Dominic on the school. He chose Harvard for its excellence in academics and athletics and he is pleased with the direction Mark Mazzoleni, his new coach.

"We all have been thoroughly impressed and are excited about heading into the season with the great people that are leading Harvard hockey

now," Dominic said.

Personally, Dominic expects a lot from himself this season.

"I set high goals for myself," Dominic said. "I have a lot of confidence in my ability."

Of course, having his two brothers around certainly helps foster enthusiasm. His love for his older brothers is something an ancient Chinese poet could appreciate.

"I can't think that brothers could be any closer than we are," said Dominic. "I don't think there can be anyone who understands me better than my brothers."

He said his brothers have provided an "unbelievable" amount of help with regard to life, school and hockey.

With all three Moores on one team, the stands at Bright Hockey Center may seem a little crowded. It is a safe bet that the huge extended Moore family will be coming down from Canada to see a lot of games. Anna has 12 siblings, each of whom has a family. Nine of them are bringing their families down for the games against Dartmouth and Vermont Nov. 5 and 6.

Win or lose, the Moore family will spend its time together in the spirit of love that the three brothers so obviously share.

"I feel eternally grateful to have them both," said Dominic.

If all three play up to their potential, by the end of the season, Harvard might be grateful as well.