Never mind the names of the teams.

The Harvard men's opponent this weekend will be the road.

Last year, the Crimson shined with an impressive 10-2-0 mark at Bright Hockey Center during the regular season. On the road, however, it was a different story.

Away from Cambridge, the team was 3-7-2, including its horrific 0-for-January road trip which crushed Harvard's chances at an ECAC championship last year.

This weekend, Harvard begins its four-month ECAC journey on the road and will try to set a new tone for the new season, when it faces Union tonight and Rensselaer tomorrow night.

"If you want to be a good team, you've got to win on the road," Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "We struggled on the road last year, especially early. This year, we'd like to get off to a good start."

The Skating Dutchmen and the Engineers provide the Crimson with a perfect opportunity to get off to a good start, since neither opponent figures to skate one of the ECAC's top teams.

Union is still adjusting to the jump from Division II to Division I, and Rensselaer is reeling from the loss of nine out of its top 10 scorers.

The Crimson will face off tonight at Achilles Rink in Schenectady, N.Y., for its first-ever game against Union, which replaces Army in the ECAC ranks this year.

The Skating dutchmen (0-2-0, 0-1-0) are feeling the difference between Division I hockey and Division II, where the team amassed an impressive 16-5-3.

Now Union finds itself skating with the big boys, and it is having considerably more trouble.

The team has dropped its first two games, including an ECAC match to Vermont, 3-1, and will have a tough time squeezing a win our of its home opener against Harvard.

But don't mention a Crimson cakewalk to Tomassoni.

"We're going to be walking into a buzz-saw," said Tomassoni. "It's their home opener. They are going to be high, so we have to be higher."

"We have to score quickly in the first period and try to take their fans out of the game," Tomassoni continued.