Team Notes: Crimson Visit North Country on First Road Trip

Photo by Jim Rosvold

The Harvard men's hockey team hits the road for the first time this season, visiting New York's North Country to face St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Both games start at 7 p.m. 

Follow From Home
Links to pay-per-view video (Friday,Saturday) and free live statistics (Friday,Saturday) are available here on GoCrimson.com. WHRB-FM 95.3 and WHRB.org offer live audio, with Brendan Roche and Raafi Alidina on the call.

Behind the Bench
Former Crimson captain, NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player and 13-year National Hockey League veteran Ted Donato '91 begins his seventh season as The Robert D. Ziff '88 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Ice Hockey. He owns an 92-90-20 record, three ECAC title-game appearances and two NCAA tournament bids.

Coach Donato's Take
Scroll down to view video from Ted Donato's weekly interview with Brendan Roche of WHRB as he looks back at last weekend's performance and ahead to the games in upstate New York.

In the News
St. Petersburg Times: Dominic Moore '03 eager to get back to ice
Tampa Tribune: Lightning ready to get back Moore's energy

Last Weekend
The 111th season of Harvard men's hockey got underway with a visit from a pair of ranked league opponents. No. 15 Union needed a third-period power-play tally from Greg Coburn to hold off the Crimson, 2-1, in Friday's season opener. Kyle Richter (Calgary, Alta.) made 33 saves to keep Harvard close, and Danny Biega (Montreal, Que.) scored to tie the game earlier in the third, assisted by Daniel Moriarty (Bienfait, Sask.).

Alex Killorn (Montreal, Que.) scored Saturday's only goal with 8.2 seconds remaining in regulation, as Harvard defeated No. 18 Rensselaer, 1-0. Richter made 19 saves for his sixth career shutout, as the Crimson outshot the Engineers, 23-19. The winning tally came on a late power play. Conor Morrison (London, Ont.) held in an RPI clear at the point, and Michael Biega (Montreal, Que.) backhanded a pass through his legs and those of a defender to assist Killorn.

Balance of Power
Each of ECAC Hockey's 12 teams registered at least one point on the first weekend of league action. Harvard stands in a four-way tie for fourth place with two points.

Leading the Nation
The season is just two games old, but Harvard leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing just one goal per game. Kyle Richter leads NCAA Division I in both goals-against average (1.01) and save percentage (.963).

Elsewhere in the National Rankings
Harvard is tied for fourth nationally in fewest penalty minutes per game (9.0). Harvard killed all five RPI power plays Saturday, including one late in the third period, and ranks 12th nationally in penalty killing at 87.5 percent (7 for 8). The Crimson ranks second to Union in combined special teams at 61.5 percent (8 for 13).

Local Legends
Harvard's prolific "Local Line" of Bill Corkery '73, Bob McManama '73 and Dave Hynes '73 was inducted into the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame on Wednesday. McManama, a native of Belmont, Mass., centered left wing Hynes of Cambridge and right wing Corkery of Arlington for each of their three seasons on the Crimson varsity squad. They helped Harvard capture the ECAC title and reach the NCAA semifinals as sophomores in 1970-71 and share the ECAC regular-season crown as seniors in 1972-73.

The Crimson posted a 52-16-3 record in those three years as the members of the Local Line totaled 201 goals and 407 points. At the time of their graduation, McManama and Hynes ranked second and third, respectively, on Harvard's career scoring chart and were tied for second all-time in goals at Harvard.

Road Warriors
Harvard, which opened the 2009-10 season with five straight road games, is playing the first two of four straight road games. That stretch will be followed by a Nov. 26-27 home-and-home series against travel partner Dartmouth. The Crimson plays its next full home weekend Jan. 7-8.

Scouting the Saints
St. Lawrence began its season winless (0-4-3) in seven non-league games but opened league play with back-to-back three-goal wins, 3-0 against Cornell and 4-1 against Colgate. Kyle Flanagan was named ECAC Hockey MLX Skates Player of the Week after registering three goals and an assist in the weekend sweep. Matt Weninger stopped 60 of the 61 shots he faced to earn selection as both Rookie of the Week and Goaltender of the Week.

Sean Flanagan leads the Saints with 10 points and eight assists. Younger brother Kyle (3-4-7) and top goal-scorer Greg Carey (4-3-7) are tied for second on the squad in scoring. Weninger owns a .928 save percentage, good for 17th nationally, and ranks 13th with a 2.04 goals-against average.

Harvard vs. St. Lawrence Series History
The Crimson has faced only rival Cornell as often as it has St. Lawrence in the Ted Donato coaching era, with a 9-7-1 record against the Saints, including playoff-series wins in 2005 and '06. Harvard is 3-2-1 in its last six trips to Appleton Arena.

The Crimson holds a 50-38-6 all-time edge in the series. The teams first met Dec. 27, 1954, a 3-2 overtime win by Harvard. The Crimson defeated the Saints again later that season, 6-3, in the consolation game of Harvard's first NCAA tournament. The Crimson also posted a 6-3 win against the Saints in the championship game of the 1987 ECAC tournament.

Harvard vs. St. Lawrence in 2009-10
The Saints spoiled the Crimson's home opener, scoring twice on the power play and getting 42 saves from Alex Petizian to hold off the Crimson, 3-2, in front of a sellout crowd at Bright Hockey Center. Harvard held a 44-28 edge in shots and got power-play goals from Michael Biega and Alex Killorn. Kyle Richter made 25 saves.

In a penalty-filled regular-season finale at Appleton, Harvard fell behind by four goals before getting back in the game with scores by Louis Leblanc '13, Danny Biega and Chad Morin '10 in a five-minute stretch spanning the second intermission, but the Saints hung on, 4-3. St. Lawrence's George Hughes scored in each of the two meetings.

Scouting the Golden Knights
Clarkson's season has followed a nearly opposite trajectory to that of St. Lawrence. The Golden Knights defeated the Saints in a neutral-site, non-league matchup to take a 4-2-1 record into ECAC play. Clarkson opened league competition with a 4-4 tie against Colgate and fell to Cornell, 6-1, a night later.

Brandon DeFazio leads the team with seven points (3-4-7). He is in a four-way tie for the squad's goal-soring lead and a three-way deadlock for the team assists lead. Matt Zarbo ranks second in scoring at 3-3-6. Paul Karpowich owns a .918 save percentage and 2.71 goals-against average.

Harvard vs. Clarkson Series History
The Golden Knights hold a 49-45-11 series lead since the teams' first meeting, a 2-1 Clarkson win in 1935, and are one of just two ECAC teams with a winning all-time record against the Crimson. Clarkson is unbeaten (6-0-1) in the last seven meetings in Potsdam, N.Y., while Harvard is 3-2-1 in the last six at Bright. The last three meetings, including the last two at Clarkson, have gone to overtime.

Harvard beat Clarkson in the 1971 and 2004 ECAC championship games, and the Golden Knights downed the Crimson in the 1957 and '58 NCAA consolation games. Clarkson swept a pair of close games from Harvard in the 2007 ECAC quarterfinals.

Harvard vs. Clarkson in 2009-10
The Golden Knights' Bryan Rufenach and then‑senior Matt Beca scored 32 seconds apart late in the third period to overcome 56 minutes of Crimson dominance and tie Harvard, 2-2, Nov. 21, 2009. Louis Leblanc and Marshall Everson (Edina, Minn.) scored for the Crimson, and Ryan Caroll (Hackensack, N.J.) made 18 saves. Harvard held a 43-20 shots advantage, including a 29-7 edge during the first two periods, but Paul Karpowich made 41 saves. The Crimson killed all seven Clarkson power plays.

Clarkson defeated Harvard, 2-1, in overtime Feb. 26. The game was scoreless for two periods until Doug Rogers '10 scored in the opening minute of the third. Louke Oakley answered 11 seconds later, and Andrew Himelson went on to net the overtime winner. Rogers went 19-6 in the faceoff circle for a season-high wins total. Ryan Carroll made 20 saves, as each team recorded 22 shots on goal.

Happy 50th
The Crimson, like its fellow league members, is wearing a patch on its jerseys this season commemorating the 50th season of ECAC play. ECAC Hockey has been home to seven NCAA champions, witnessed over 15,000 games and produced more than 500 NHL players and nearly 300 All-Americans. The league will honor its rich history with initiatives throughout the season.