Biega Named MVP, Captain at Harvard's Annual Banquet

Alex Biega (l) is presented with his captain's jersey by head coach Ted Donato. Photo courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications

BOSTON — Alex Biega was named the Harvard hockey team’s 2008-09 most valuable player and its 2009-10 team captain at the Crimson’s annual awards banquet Monday night at the Harvard Club of Boston.

Biega was the recipient of the John Tudor Memorial Cup as team MVP, while senior Jimmy Fraser, sophomore Ryan Carroll, freshman Daniel Moriarty and junior varsity MVP Mark Rinaldi were also honored with awards. The banquet also served as a last chance for the program to honor seniors Fraser, Nick Coskren, Brian McCafferty, Steve Rolecek, Bill Keenan and Chris Kelley.

The event was emceed by Bright Hockey Center public address announcer John Dolan. The festivities included video retrospectives on the season and the history of Harvard hockey as well as words from Robert D. Ziff Head Coach of Harvard Men's Ice Hockey Ted Donato and his staff and each of the seniors.

Biega, who was an assistant captain this season, is the 116th captain of Harvard men’s hockey. It will be the seventh straight season that a defenseman has served as captain, including each of the past two seasons, when a forward and defenseman shared duties as co-captains.

The Montreal native was named to the New England Division I All-Star team, All-Ivy League second team, All-ECAC Hockey third team and ECAC Hockey All-Academic team as a junior. He led the Crimson with 16 assists and ranked second on the team with 20 points this season, skating in power-play, shorthanded and even-strength situations.

Biega has skated in all 98 of Harvard’s games since his arrival in Cambridge, registering 13 goals and 47 assists for 60 career points.

Assistant coach Sean McCann presented Fraser, who captained this season’s Crimson alongside McCafferty, with the Ralph “Cooney” Weiland Award. The trophy, named in honor of the former Harvard coach and Hockey Hall of Fame member, goes to the player or players whose devotion to the game has repeatedly been evidenced by aggressive and spirited play and by selfless contribution to the total team effort representative of “Cooney’s type of hockey player.”

Fraser skated in 128 career games for the Crimson, missing just one game due to injury and four in order to participate in the 2007 World Junior Championship in Sweden. He played through injury throughout the stretch run of this season, leading Harvard to a 4-0-2 record down the stretch of the regular season. He logged four goals and five assists while matching up as a defensive forward against opposing teams’ top players.

Carroll received the Donald Angier Hockey Trophy as Harvard’s most improved player from assistant coach Patrick Foley. Carroll played in just one game as a freshman in 2007-08, missing much of the year due to injury, but started the Crimson’s final nine games this year. He finished with a 4-3-2 record, .933 save percentage and 2.31 goals-against average.

Foley also presented Moriarty with the George Percy Award, given annually to Harvard’s top rookie. Moriarty recorded six goals and seven assists for 13 points. He owned a plus or even rating in 19 of his 25 games and was a key cog in the Crimson’s league-leading power play. He scored the game-winning goal and added an assist to help the Crimson defeat rival Cornell at home Feb. 14.

Before the evening closed with Donato announcing Biega as the winner of the team’s vote for captain, each of the seniors had a turn to address and thank the teammates, coaches, parents and support staff in attendance. The seniors were part of the 2006 Ivy and ECAC champion Crimson team and posted a 39-19-2 home record in their careers. Kelley, former Crimson defenseman, served as an administrative volunteer in 2008-09.