It didn't hurt Cleary's spirits a bit that Harvard won, 4-3.

Armstrong, on the other hand, saw room for improvement. Not a dining room full of improvement. Maybe just a closet-full.

"It's still early." Armstrong says. "Some teams don't come around until later in the year. I don't think we played well against St. Lawrence. But, for some reason, we won. Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was goaltending."

Or maybe it was because Harvard was home. Bright lights, big win.

"At home," Armstrong admits, "we're usually head and shoulders above the other teams."

Or maybe it was because Harvard has an aura. The Crimson has been on top or near the top of the league for five years. Harvard football may not make Oklahoma tremble. But Harvard hockey...

"Harvard hockey used to be a goal, now it's a serious thing," Armstrong says. "Being on the Harvard hockey team means something to everybody."

For Armstrong, a senior living in Kirkland House, Harvard hockey has meant four years of hard work. It's meant 36 goals (including a team-leading nine this season) and 38 assists. It's meant winning and losing. But mostly winning.

Clearly Clearyism

"Everyone talks about the Harvard style," Armstrong says. "There's definitely a Harvard style, a Cleary style. [Cleary] wants you to skate, skate, skate, skate until you can't skate any more."

In a game played on ice, it helps to be able to skate. And nobody skates better than Harvard.

"In a couple of years, you become accustomed to the routine and what it takes to win," Armstrong says.

Armstrong has been doing the hockey routine since age three.

"All my older brothers play," Armstrong says. "They were good players and I watched them. I only hoped I could be as good as they were. I still want to be as good as they were.

"We used to go down to the pond every afternoon and skate," Armstrong adds. "I loved to skate, and I loved to be with them."

Every time Harvard plays Cornell at Lynah Rink, Armstrong orders about 45 tickets, which he distributes to members of his family and to his friends.

He says his brothers are his biggest fans, but also his biggest critics. Not that he doesn't have enough of those at home.