Revival After Slump Starts at Top

Following the Crimson’s 4-2 loss to cellar-dwelling Brown in early February, the hopeful 6-3-2 start of the Harvard men’s hockey team had started to look like the play of a different team. Reeling from an 0-7-2 performance over the previous two months that threatened to turn the Crimson into an irrelevance, head coach Ted Donato ’91 was facing his first real crisis since coming to Harvard in 2004. Preparing to compete in Boston’s Beanpot tournament and face a string of ECAC opponents until the end of the season, Donato stressed that only renewed focus and confidence could return Harvard to its potential that had already led the Crimson to victory over the likes of Boston University and Cornell. Time and again in this losing streak, Harvard had fallen thanks to crucial missteps—a slow start, costly penalties—and an inability to convert chances on offense. Instead of embarking on a massive overhaul, Donato stressed the importance of avoiding the little mistakes and winning individual matchups on the ice.

By the close of the season, Donato’s squad had transformed itself into a threat to win the conference by generating what looked to be unstoppable momentum. Though Princeton ultimately ended Harvard’s quest to hoist the conference trophy and kept the Crimson from the NCAA tournament, Harvard finished the season with the tenacity to compete in high-pressure games. The Crimson’s appearance in the Beanpot Finals brought Harvard back to the big game for the first time in a decade. The 6-0-1finish that followed the Beanpot included victories over nationally-ranked opponents Princeton and Quinnipiac, whom Harvard would later beat again in the decisive game of a three-game series in the first round of the ECAC tournament. Though Harvard’s players may have saved the season on the ice, Donato’s daily influence helped the Crimson turn frustration at defeat after defeat into focus and determination. For Donato’s fifth season, this year’s glimpses suggest that more milestones lie ahead for a coach whose team has proven it can fight through adversity.

—Staff writer Robert T. Hamlin can be reached at rhamlin@fas.harvard.edu.