“I was chasing Dufault, Taylor and Pelle around in captain’s practice and it was a pain in the butt,” Welch said. “They’re little skilled guys, but they compete, and sometimes those are the toughest guys to play against.”
Welch won’t have to worry about covering his own teammates come game time, but the Crimson certainly hopes opposing defensemen have similar difficulties with the speedy freshmen.
And the taller skaters in the group of forwards? Tyler Magura, the 6’1 native of hockey heartland Fargo, N.D., also brings USHL experience to the front line.
He spent his junior and senior seasons with the Lincoln Stars, tallying five goals and seven assists in his final season.
And then there’s Dave Watters, a skinny 205 pounds at 6’4, who was named the offensive MVP of his team at Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota.
In the U.S. Under-18 exhibition, he racked up four points, including an empty-netter that sealed the 7-4 victory for Harvard.
Harvard returns a veteran corps to its blueline, a group of looming upperclassmen who look to be particularly stingy this winter.
But when one of your freshmen was drafted by the NHL—well, you might be able to spare some minutes for him.
Dave MacDonald, a 2003 product of St. Paul’s School (N.H.), spent last year with the New England Junior Coyotes and was named an EJHL All-Star. In June, the San Jose Sharks selected the 6’3 blueliner in the seventh round of the National Hockey League (NHL) draft. But the pros will have to wait for MacDonald, and Harvard coaches have no problem with that.
Joining MacDonald on the blueline are J.D. McCabe and Chris Kelley.
The two rookies, both well over 6’0, will be ready to contribute as Harvard shifts towards a more aggressive offensive style of play.
Kelley managed a +5 in the plus/minus column, good for fourth on the Gamblers. He joined the team after high school but before joining the Crimson.
Playing behind a slew of talented upperclassmen, the incoming blueliners might have to wait to show off their skills.
Not that they won’t try, though.
“When you are a freshman, you try and just do the little things to get into a lineup, and I think they’re going to be key to that,” Welch said.
For the rookies, there’s no time to wait. The once senior-laden Crimson must now rely in part on youth, while last year it had the luxury of experience on both ends.
Small or not, these freshmen have got big shoes to fill.