In case you've been in Cabot Library too long and just happen to see this between Chemistry study sessions:

The Harvard men's hockey team starts its road to Lake Placid and the ECAC Championships this weekend.

Princeton invades Bright Hockey Center for a first-round ECAC playoff series tonight, tomorrow, and possibly Sunday, but the Crimson would like to think it won't go that far.

You see, this is the way it works. The first team to take three points out of the series wins. That means two wins or a win and a tie from the first two games sends you to Lake Placid next weekend.

No overtimes will be played in the first two games, but if the teams split the first two contests (or both ate tied), the finale will have unlimited sudden death to determine the winner.

Think Harvard won't have much trouble dispatching the 10th-seeded Tigers in two games? Go straight to the UHS memory loss department.

Harvard senior Matt Mallgrave's overtime goal at Princeton back in November was the only thing that kept the two teams from tying both regular season meetings this year.

The Tigers broke the Crimson's streak of 12 wins in 13 games four weeks ago, costing Harvard its first home point of the year in a 3-3 tie.

So look for Princeton to come out with that Pete Carill spoilers mentality. Meanwhile, Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni has stressed to his troops the importance of not looking past anybody.

"We can't afford to worry about who we're playing," freshman net minder Tripp Tracy said. "All year long, we've played out best hockey when we've just played out game and not been concerned with the other teams."

(For a more in-depth look at the series, see The Crimson's ECAC Supplement).

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Speaking of Tracy, he has become the first freshman goalie since Allain Rov '92 in 1989 to finish the ECAC regular season with the best goals, against average in the league (2.46). His 9-1-2 ECAC record between the pipes also give him the league's best winning percentage.

Freshman Israel finished fifth on the list with a 289 average. In other statistical categories, Junior Captain led Drury lost the FCAS scoring race on the final evening to Yale's Mark Kaufmann, but his 17 goals and 27 assist still put him com fortably in second with 44 points.

Senior Matt Mallgrave's 18 goals give him fifth on the scoring ladder.