Bye Allows Wounded M. Hockey To Recover For Playoff Run

When the Harvard men’s hockey team last skated off the ice in Burlington on Feb. 26, Crimson captain Noah Welch had acquired a slight limp in his left leg, sophomore Kevin Du had recovered his strength only with the help of an IV, and their teammates who weren’t injured or sick with the flu were fatigued after playing 10 games in 25 nights.

Oh what a difference a bye makes.

“I think having the time off is great. We didn’t have anything major [to recover from] this year,” sophomore defenseman Dylan Reese said. “So anybody that has anything nagging is pretty much one hundred percent right now. I don’t think there’s anybody that’s not.”

Which, of course, leaves Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 facing the very same problem he encountered in the final weeks of the regular season: who to bench.

Down the stretch, the odd-man out proved to be senior Andrew Lederman, second on the team in scoring when he was first lifted, though Donato suggested that he might shuffle his forwards throughout the post-season if he feels a shakeup is required.

“At this time of year, [those decisions are made] on a night-to-night basis,” Donato said. “Whoever I think can help us the most that night, we’ll go with.”

RUSTED CRIMSON

Though a weekend off may be a blessing, Harvard hasn’t fared particularly well this season following extended layoffs, managing a 3-2-1 record in its three weekends following breaks of 11 days or more.

Just how accurately that record will forecast the team’s performance beginning tonight against St. Lawrence is unclear, however, given the variables that no doubt affected the Crimson’s performance.

Two of those three wins came against ECAC bottom dwellers Princeton and Yale, hardly an indication of how Harvard might fare against a more competitive opponent in a pressure situation, as will be the case this evening.

Of course, the Crimson’s record isn’t as bad as it would seem after factoring out that weekend sweep. Riding a five-game winning streak entering the Dodge Holiday Classic, Harvard’s lineup was crippled by the flu and subsequently managed only a 0-0 tie against Northern Michigan before a stunning upset loss at the hands of Merrimack. Regardless, the Crimson can ill-afford a slow start against the Saints, who scored 11 goals last weekend and will look to slide right into their up-tempo offense from the opening faceoff.

“I’d say [we have to] just focus on a quick start,” Welch said. “The first five minutes, if we get in and everyone’s banging and getting the puck deep, we’ll get right into it that way.”

X’S AND O’S

The Crimson and Saints last played just three weeks ago—Harvard won 5-2 at Bright Hockey Center—so few elements of either side’s style of play will be unknown to the other. That said, St. Lawrence does have one particular quirk defensively that the Crimson rarely sees and has focused on over the course of the past week: its forecheck.

“They kinda send two guys hard, and they leave three guys back and pinch their ‘D,’” Reese said. “We really haven’t played any other team this year like that. So it’s a really hard forecheck to break out against.”

That, in turn, allows the Saints to keep the puck hemmed in at their opponent’s end of the ice and, if successful, dictate the pace of play and cash in an opportunistic goal or two.

“I mean they really keep the puck in there and when they get buzzing it can be really challenging,” Reese said. “We’ve been working on ways to beat that...and I think that’s probably the strongest part of their game. The whole key to their game is to try to get the puck in deep and control it.”

TALKING ’WISE

Despite its long weekend, the Crimson actually moved up a spot and into seventh in the pairwise rankings (PWR), used to forecast NCAA tournament invitees, while solidifying its hold on several of the head-to-head comparisons that determine precisely where a team falls among other teams under consideration.

Last Saturday alone, losses by U. Mass-Lowell, New Hampshire, and Dartmouth—all of which were within striking distance in the PWR—improved Harvard’s relative standing, a perfect evening besmirched only by a Boston University win and two third-period Ohio State goals, which earned the Buckeyes a tie with Miami.

“I think it’s been great the last week and a half, the teams that have won for us,” Reese said. “I feel like every team that we want to win has won. So I don’t think it can work that much better. As long as we win this weekend, I have no doubt that we’ll make the tournament either way but we want to win the conference again and then get ourselves the automatic bid. Obviously that’s the main goal and it starts this weekend.”

OF NOTE

Harvard seniors Dov Grumet-Morris and Brendan Bernakevitch were named to the ECAC’s All-Academic team yesterday. Members must maintain a grade-point average of 3.0 or above while competing in half their school’s games, or, in the case of goaltenders, playing a third of the team’s minutes in net...Grumet-Morris continues to lead the nation with a .947 save percentage. He is second with a 1.58 goals-against average...With his goal against Dartmouth on Feb. 25, sophomore Ryan Maki tied assistant captain Tom Cavanagh for the team lead with nine.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.