SPORTS BRIEF: MacDonald, Taylor to captain men's hockey

When the white smoke went up over the Bright Hockey Center, the Harvard men’s hockey team had an unexpected announcement to make: there had been a tie.

For the first time since the 1979-80 season, the Crimson will feature co-captains for the 2007-08 season, as juniors Dave MacDonald and Mike Taylor were named the 112th and 113th captains of Harvard hockey.

The defenseman and forward tied twice in voting by their teammtes and coaches before becoming the fourth set of co-captains in Crimson history.

The announcement was made at the men's hockey team's annual awards banquet Saturday at the Harvard Club of Boston.

The 111th captain of Harvard hockey, senior blueliner Dylan Reese, was named the winner of the John Tudor Memorial Cup as the team’s most valuable player. The defensive unit’s only senior was also a force on the Crimson’s special teams, finishing the season tied with senior Ryan Maki for the team lead in power-play goals with eight man-advantage tallies. In addition to being named to the All-Ivy first team and the All-ECAC second team, Reese was honored as part of the New England Hockey Writers’ Division I Men’s All Star team last week.

Classmate Steve Mandes was a repeat winner of the Ralph “Cooney” Weiland Award as the player that best represents Weiland’s love of the game, spirited play, and commitment to the team. The senior—who ranks fifth in Harvard hockey history with 134 career games played—skated in all 33 of the Crimson’s games this season and was an integral part of Harvard’s penalty kill.

Junior Alex Meintel was awarded the Donald Angier Trophy as the team’s most improved player. After two seasons in which the forward, marred by injuries, struggled with consistency, Meintel became one of the Crimson’s primary offensive weapons down the stretch, tallying 13 goals in a 15-game span.

Freshmen Alex Biega and Doug Rogers shared the George Percy Award as the team’s top rookies, mirroring the defenseman-forward split of the team’s co-captains. Biega earned an ECAC All-Rookie Team nod, and Rogers was Harvard’s second-leading scorer with 24 points.