Few outside the program gave Harvard a chance.

The Crimson’s 2001-2002 season hinged on whether or not it could upset top-seeded Cornell in the ECAC championship game. The Big Red entered the contest on a 15-1-1 surge and had destroyed Harvard in the teams’ previous meeting that February. While Cornell cruised through its ECAC semifinal the previous night, Harvard looked exhausted in a 3-2 overtime win over Clarkson.

The task of designing a strategy to beat the Big Red rested on the shoulders of Harvard assistant coaches Ron Rolston and Nate Leaman.

With three seasons of experience in breaking down tape and preparing game plans for the Crimson, Leaman and Rolston presented their ideas to Harvard head coach Mark Mazzoleni. Central to their strategy was a proposal to take full advantage of Lake Placid’s Olympic-size rink and spread out the slower Cornell defense.

Mazzoleni liked what he heard. And the plan worked perfectly.

Harvard outplayed Cornell for the entire game, and its efforts paid off in double-overtime as the Crimson earned an improbable automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

It was a triumph of strategy that might not have happened under a different type of head coach. In the biggest game of the year, Mazzoleni had placed the bulk of the responsibility for preparation on his assistants.

“A lot of other coaches want to control just about everything,” Leaman said. “One of the best things about Mazzoleni is that he’s open to new ideas, and he’s really good at delegating responsibilities.”

For his extensive contributions as the chief assistant of Mazzoleni’s valued staff, Rolston was sought out and hired as an assistant at Boston College after last season. The Eagles boast one of the nation’s elite programs and were national champions in 2001.

Mazzoleni replaced Rolston with Sean McCann ’94, one of Harvard’s all-time great defenseman, a Hobey Baker finalist and the team captain in 1994. McCann joins the Crimson recently retired from seven years in minor-league hockey.

Despite his lack of coaching experience, he must handle one of the most demanding assistant’s positions in the country.

Harvard’s success depends on it.

Sharing The Load

Each week Leaman and McCann are responsible for breaking down tape of Harvard’s previous games and presenting the most important lessons to the team. They must then analyze the Crimson’s upcoming opponents, studying tape and tendencies to design the weekend’s game plan. Mazzoleni has input and final approval, but his assistants do most of the work.

Leaman manages the forwards in practice and from the bench during games, while McCann oversees the defense and faceoffs. The two split special teams duties with Mazzoleni.