Take a deep breath, Harvard men's hockey fans.

The Crimson is now second in the nation, the team's highest ranking since (you knew this was coming) the 1990 pre-season, when Harvard was defending national champions.

No one could have predicted at the beginning of the season that this team would jump to such prominence in so little time and with such ease. Harvard has now made mincemeat of the ECAC, going undefeated in 12 league games, and is a sure-bet for the NCAA tournament in March, barring a natural disaster or an outbreak of bubonic plague.

The team, of course, doesn't see it that way. With constant admonitions from Captain Ted Drury and Coaches Ronn Tomassoni and Jerry Pawloski, the young Crimson has been duly warned to keep its killer edge, lest the best of complacency (the worry of all athletes) rear its ugly head.

Collision Course with Maine: Fans and sports-writers, however, do get to think about the polls. With that in mind...

If Harvard keeps up its pace (taking the number two seed in the East and advancing to the Final Four), it will meet its biggest test only in the finals of the NCAA tournament. That test? The University of Maine, the best team in college hockey.

Maine has won 34 consecutive, regular-season games in a row. Going into a weekend series against Clarkson in Orono, Maine (guess who'll win?), the Black Bears are 21-0-1 overall, 9-0-1 Hockey East.

Harvard doesn't give up too much ground in statistics, however. Maine freshman Paul Kariya leads the nation in scoring with 2.85 points-per-game, with 13 goals, 36 assists in 16 games. Drury (the ECAC Player of the Week) tallies 2.43 points per game, with 13 goals and 21 assists in 14 games.

Maine's man-down unit has scored 14 goals in 22 games, Harvard's 7 in 14. Maine's power-play clicks at 29.4 percent, Harvard's at 31.6 percent. And the Black Bear goalies have a .899 save percentage with 2.35 goals-against-average, while Harvard is at .913 and 2.61.

Then again, Maine has beaten Boston University, Lake Superior State, and Miami (Ohio), and has crushed the rest of its competition easily. Harvard hasn't met regular challenges like that and won't until the tournament comes around.

Just something to think about.

Tripping Up the Competition: Harvard freshman goalie Tripp Tracy brought his undefeated streak to six with the 4-1 win over Clarkson Saturday. He's now the second-rated goaltender in the league with a 1.98 goals-against-average and .931 save percentage.

Tracy, with the modesty of a freshman, is more than pleased with his performance so far, and he's quick to dismiss any comparisons between this year's freshman goalies (Tracy and Aaron Israel) and Allain Roy '92 and Chuckie Hughes '92, who led Harvard to the NCAA championship in their first years.

"Chuckie and Allain were practically legends. To try to even think about replacing them is asking a tough thing. People mentioned it at the start of year, but we just have to try to do our own thing," Tracy said.

It's working so far. ECAC LEAGUE STANDINGS