M. Hockey Aims for Best Upstate Trip in Seven Seasons

Historically speaking, the trip to North Country to faceoff against St. Lawrence and Clarkson is usually one of the most dreaded road trips for the Harvard men's hockey team.

Or is it? Maybe not this year.

With the Saints (2-5-2, 1-1-1 ECAC) and the Golden Knights (4-3-2, 1-1-1 ECAC) only mere shadows of their former greatness, the No. 13 Crimson (4-2-1, 3-1-1 ECAC) has a prime opportunity to knock off the perennial ECAC powerhouses, a feat the squad has not accomplished since the 1993-94 season.

Tied for seventh in the conference, neither St. Lawrence nor Clarkson have had any luck climbing the rankings, while Harvard is in the driver's seat for first place just behind a reinvigorated Vermont squad.

Despite a tough 3-2 overtime loss to cross-town rival No. 4 Boston College last Saturday, the Crimson can take solace in the fact that its gritty and aggressive performance launched the team into the national spotlight for the first time this season, surpassing Ivy nemesis No. 15 Yale in the process.

"A win over B.U. any time is huge, and despite our loss to B.C., we proved we are right up there," sophomore center Dominic Moore said. "It was a huge confidence builder, and we're looking to keep rolling."

Senior goaltender Oliver Jonas has been the key to Harvard's recent success. Jonas, whose consistent effort between the pipes has often kept the Crimson afloat in close games, turned in another stellar performance in the loss to the Eagles. He notched a career-high 44 saves on the night and currently boasts a .941 save percentage.

However, Harvard's blueliners have to be careful not to slow down during the third period--six of the 10 goals-against the Crimson in ECAC play have come in the final stanza.

Unfortunately, the Crimson may be crippled in back if sophomore defenseman Aaron Kim is slapped with a mandatory one-game suspension for his spearing major and game disqualification against the Eagles. His status is unclear at this time.

The offense has also experienced no shortage of effort. The rookies have stepped up and become instrumental in winning games. Freshman winger Rob Fried, who is still out due to injury, netted the game-winning goal over Dartmouth. Classmate Tyler Kolarik had a hand in a pair of game-winning tallies that secured victories over Colgate and the Terriers.

Despite a first-place ECAC prediction, St. Lawrence has not been living up to expectations. With only two wins in their pockets, the Saints are currently in a three-game tail spin after suffering defeats at the hands of rival Clarkson and reigning national champion North Dakota.

"Even though St. Lawrence is going through a rough time, they are still a good team," Moore said. "They made it to the Final Four last year, so we're not taking them lightly."

What hurts the Saints most right now is the absence of netminder Derek Gustafson. The 1999-00 ECAC Rookie of the Year and a top NHL draft pick, Gustafson jumped ship after last season to sign a contract with the Minnesota Wild. St. Lawrence's top sniper Brandon Dietrich was soon to follow, snagging a contract with the New York Rangers.

While St. Lawrence still boasts some offensive talent, as indicated by the fourth-best scoring offense in the conference, the Saints are lacking on the blueline.

St. Lawrence lost Dale Clarke and Justin Harney to graduation, leaving the team with only a handful of solid defensemen. The Saints' scoring defense, averaging 4.67 goals-against per game, is second-to-last in the conference.

And although senior goaltenders Jeremy Symington and Sean Coakley are solid between the pipes, they don't inspire the sort of confidence in their blueline that Gustafson did last season. Coakley sports a .875 save percentage, while Symington ekes out a .833 to round out the conference in last place.

One redeeming feature of the Saints is their league best power play, which averages around 44 percent. However, the success this unit will have is questionable, given the near-perfection of the Crimson penalty kill unit.

"B.C. had a 25 percent power play, and they went 0-for-6 last week," Kolarik said. "Not that we want to take penalties, but we have confidence in who we put out on the unit."

Clarkson will prove to be a slightly more challenging contest, considering that the Golden Knights trounced the Saints 7-2 last week. However, offensive sniper Erik Coles will be sorely missed by the men up front.

The Golden Knights have their work cut out for them in terms of the conference hunt. Losses to Princeton and Cornell have dropped Clarkson to the bottom half of the league standings, and its win over lukewarm St. Lawrence did little to boost its ranking. Goaltender Shawn Grant has provided some help in back, boasting a .909 save percentage with wins in half of his starts. However, Clarkson has not been much better than the Saints in keeping the goal count down, allowing 3.67 goals-against per game, good for eighth in the ECAC.

"Both teams are questioning their goaltending right now," Kolarik said. "But they are desperate teams, and those are the most dangerous ones to play."

However, a potent offense has put the Knights on top of the league in terms of scoring output. Clarkson has notched five goals per game against its opponents.

The Crimson already made history once in upstate New York this season, garnering three points against Colgate and Cornell, something that Harvard had not been able to achieve since the 1992-93 season. Given the Crimson's steady stream of success against scorching hot teams, a pair of wins over two fledging former mainstays of the ECAC is hardly out of the question.