Two years ago Harvard experienced some prettyrough times. With only 11 skaters on the team,everyone knew they would play. They also knew theywould be exhausted.

Now with 25 players on the roster and only 20players permitted to dress for each game, thingsare a bit different.

"With 25 or so people out there every day, weall know that we need to work and we all know thatwe have to prove ourselves every day," Mleczkosaid.

"If the power-play group isn't performing, thencoach has other options that she can put outthere. That kind of competition goes a long waytowards preventing the complacency we want toavoid," she added.

And complacency is a thing to be averted at allcosts this year, because the ECAC is, in a word,stacked.

"There aren't any holidays any more," Stonesaid. "You have to be on every day.

With the likes of last year's national championNew Hampshire, last year's ECAC champion Brown,third-ranked and crosstown rival Northeastern andteams like Dartmouth, Princeton and Providencepeopling the league, Harvard has little breathingroom.

"Every game is going to be crazy competitionbecause we're going to be the team to knock off,"Asano said. "All these Olympic players are back.All the teams are getting filled with greatplayers. There's lot of parity in the league now;everyone is going to be very good, and we have tobe prepared for every game."

To combat the competition, Harvard has beenworking new forechecks and a zone defense ratherthan a man-on-man backcheck. Despite thosechanges, Harvard will not be unrecognizable to theCrimson faithful.

"We had a very potent attack last year andsolid goaltending," Stone said. "We just feel asthough we've upped it a notch. We have a few moreweapons now than we used to but we're going toplay the same hard, aggressive hockey we alwayshave, only with a little more skill now."

The team seems ready emotionally, too.

"Frankly we have a really fun team," Mleczkosaid." We have a lot of fun together, and thatreally helps in making the long road trips and thehard times less of a drag."

"If you put 25 good kids in a room they'regoing to make it, and they can figure out how toget through the tough times," Stone said. "We'vegot solid character in that locker room andoftentimes the chemistry and the dynamic take careof themselves when you've got such good kids."

The Crimson has all the makings of a greatteam. It has talent, it has unity, and perhapsmost important of all, its players are aware ofthe things that can go wrong. They know that outon the ice, anything can happen.

So far, Harvard is doing its best to avoidthose pitfalls, and the only question that remainsis, how far can the Crimson go?