“If anything, I think that would favor Harvard,” he said. “If Harvard stays in their trap, I’d give the advantage to [Harvard power forwards Dennis] Packard, [Rob] Fried and [Rob] Flynn. Those guys will be more effective.”

MATCHMAKERS

You know you’re talking playoff hockey when terms like match lines and last change are tossed about.

And, in the spirit of midterms, here they are in a sentence: Harvard hopes to match lines to combat Dartmouth’s top line of Hugh Jessiman, Mike Ouellette and Lee Stempniak, even though, as the lower seed, it doesn’t have the last change.

When Mazzoleni had the benefit of the last change in the final game of the regular season, he countered the J-O-S line with his own sizeable unit of Dennis Packard, Brendan Bernakevitch and Ryan Maki, along with defensive-minded blueliners Peter Hafner and Ryan Lannon.

The result was a 0-0-0—zero output for the Big Green’s Big Guys, which has become somewhat of a custom against Harvard. In the four games Jessiman, Ouellette and Stempniak have skated together against the Crimson, they have combined for only one even-strength goal.

“We matched up pretty well against them in the game, and part of that was we played them a little more physical,” Lannon said. “They’re bigger guys, but I don’t think that’s particularly their style, so we were able to take away their space, and they weren’t able to do much.

“It wasn’t just what myself and Pete did as the defensemen, but all the forwards coming back and locking out their guys. It made everything a little bit easier on us.”

Mazzoleni doesn’t think Dartmouth’s ability to make the last change will make a big difference. “Well, you’ve got your captain [Kenny Smith] and Noah Welch as your next defensive partners, so by sheer odds, you’ll get one of those two sets out against them,” he said. “But who knows. He [Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet] may go a different avenue and split them. Traditionally against us, he’s stacked that line, but at times against other teams, he’s split them.”

WORDS BETTER THAN AWARDS

Never mind the fact that Welch received only honorable mention at the ECAC awards banquet last night. Consider these words from Brooks:

“Noah Welch is the best defenseman in the league, bar none, without a doubt. Use that as a direct quote…He’s big, he’s tough, he’s mean. I don’t want to face Noah Welch…I mean, he does it all. He passes the puck. He has an absolute intercontinental ballistic missile for a shot. He has tremendous on-ice vision. His defensive play is outstanding.

“We’re going to pay money to watch him play someday. Well, maybe not us because Noah’s going to give us tickets. But other people are going to pay to watch him play,” he said.

Welch has been—above all things—consistent since Mazzoleni sat him in the final game of the regular season. More and more, Welch is realizing he’s at his best when he keeps his game simple.

“I put a lot of weight on my shoulders this season, and I think I started out trying to do too much,” Welch said. “I’m being more successful now because I’m keeping my game simple.