By the looks of it, the Harvard men's hockey team is playing its best hockey of the season so far.
It'll need to keep that trend up when the ECAC powerhouses from the North Country roll into Bright Center this weekend.
The Crimson (7-3-2, 7-1-2 ECAC) will play host to sixth-ranked St. Lawrence (11-3-3, 7-1-1) tonight and seventh-ranked Clarkson (13-3-0, 8-1-0) tomorrow night in the first Bright Arena contests for Harvard since Thanksgiving break.
And with only one point separating the three teams in the ECAC standings, it should be a great hockey weekend in Cambridge.
Harvard and Clarkson come into the weekend tied atop the ECAC with 16 points, while St. Lawrence trails them by one point.
"The kids have had a little extra jump in their skates this week," Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "They are really excited about it."
Coming off an extremely successful three-game road trip sweep, the team is hoping to skate the same way against considerably tougher opponents.
"We're definately looking for two wins this weekend," Tomassoni said. "We think we can do it."
Saints Come Marching In
The Saints are just as tough this year as they have been in the past.
St. Lawrence dominates the offensive categories in the ECAC, skating four of the top six league scorers and boasting the highest power play-efficiency percentage (31.5%) in the conference.
The offense is led by ECAC scoring leader Mike Lappin (8 points, 13 assists--21 points), Martin Lacroix (9-11--20) and Dan LaPerriere (2-17--19).
After losing star goalie Les Kuntar to graduation, the Saints have found Paul Spagnoletti (2.90 goals-against average), who has filled in between the pipes nicely.
"They are deep, they are strong, and they are definitely one of the best teams in the country," Tomassoni said.
Golden Knights Still #1
The last time Harvard met up with the Clarkson, the Golden Knights squeaked out a 3-2 victory in the ECAC semi-finals last year en route to its conference title.
Clarkson hasn't stopped since.
The team's only blemish on its ECAC record was a 4-3 loss to St. Lawrence on December 13. Besides that, the Golden Knights have been untouchable within the conference.
Last weekend, the team blanked Princeton, 3-0, and then dealt Yale its first ECAC loss of the season with a 6-5 win.
"Clarkson had a very good recruiting season," Tomassoni said. "They are solid from top to bottom."
The Golden Knights are lead offensively by sophomore center Craig Conroy (9-6--15) and junior forward Hugo Belanger (5-9--14).
In goal, Clarkson features ECAC leader Jason Currie who has maintained a 2.00 GAA in league competition.
All Sold Out
The Harvard Athletic Ticket Office reports that both of this weekend's games are sold out.
Students who don't have tickets can go standing room only by turning in Coupon #5 (tonight) and Coupon #6 (tomorrow night) at the gate at Bright Center.
