The puck ricocheted, then bounced forward off Rennselaer forward Jeff Gabriel's stick. It careened five feet ahead, across the chewed-up ice of Bright Arena, across the extended leg of Harvard goalie Allain Roy '92, and across the red line etched in the rink floor.
And as the heavy disc slid into the back of the net and as the goal light switched from off to bright red, the Harvard men's hockey team saw its 1992 season in a way no one had imagined.
A 4-3 overtime loss in the first-round of the ECAC playoffs. A loss to the 10th-seeded Engineers, a squad the top-seeded Crimson had clobbered 6-0 and 5-1 in its two earlier meetings.
For Harvard the memories of that abrupt, painful loss remain through this year. It ended what had been a dream season. In 1991-2, Harvard began with only hope on its side--an untested class of freshmen and an offense lacking a star.
It came out with more stars than it could handle and the newly-fashioned ECAC regular-season trophy to boot. An NCAA bid was all but assured, with a possible chance to do what it had done the three years before: win the national title.
Those hopes came to a shocking halt on that chilly March night in Bright. The Crimson continued to skate, like forlorn lovers, on Bright's empty ice for two more weeks, hoping desperately that the NCAA tournament committee still had the Christmas spirit. But the boys who dole out the tournament bids (including BU's Jack Parker) had about as much St. Nick in themselves as Michael Milken.
Harvard's season ended that Saturday in March. The team ended the season with the consolation cry of runners-ups, also-rans and losers everywhere: next year, next year, next year. Just wait till next year.
Now, seven months and one Presidential election later, it is next year. And the Crimson, ranked sixth in the country, looks ready to write history anew. No one wants to talk about the 1989 NCAA title. Heck, no one but Tomassoni was even there. No one wants to talk about the 1992 ECAC playoffs. It's just too painful.
Instead, Harvard--young but loaded with talent on both offense and defense--is setting its sights on a goal that, for the first time in years, seems realizable: the NCAA finals in Lake Placid, N.Y,. to be held at the end of March.
"Knowing how we performed last year, our goal is to win the ECAC's and, more importantly, win the NCAA championship," says sophomore forward Brad Konik, who will skate on Harvard's first line. "If we don't accomplish that goal, we'll be letting ourselves down. The season will be a failure."
Those are big words, especially considering Harvard lacks the star-power of Maine, Of course, everyone's keeping it all inperspective. Players dismiss the polls and suggestthat the competition around the league is as toughas ever. "You can be the most talented team in theworld, but it means nothing if you don't work. Ifyou're not the hardest working team, you're notgoing to win," says senior forward SteveFlomenhoft, perhaps the Crimson's most dedicatedand determined student of hockey (as well asresident thug). What, then, is there to work on? Offense Tomassoni, following in the skates of formerCoach Bill Cleary '56, refuses to call his linesby number. To emphasize the need for a balancedattack--four "equal" lines--Tomassoni does notrefer to them as 1 or 2 or 3 or 4; just red, blue,gold and green. There's both an element of truthand fantasy in that tactic this year. Harvard's biggest strength, no doubt, is whereit has always been: its forwards. This year's teamfeatures a bevy of speedy, skilled wings andcenters, with talented members on each of the fourlines. Even the fourth, err, green line featuressome potent scores: junior Chris Baird, a highlytouted recruit his freshman year who looksprepared to make his big break through; andfreshman Jason Karmonos, who tallied twice againstDalhousie in an exhibition game. Read more in Sports
