Donato skated four years at Harvard before 13 years of employment in the NHL. Now he’s back at school, this time behind the bench. Last year’s 21-win campaign was the best of any rookie coach in school history.

The collegiate captain, the NCAA champion, the NHL veteran—he’s all of these things, but last year Harvard men’s hockey coach Ted Donato ’91 was just another rookie.

He stepped into the office he knew only as a player, back when Bill Cleary ’56 paced the bench and the Crimson won its only national championship in 1989. Named Harvard’s coach in July 2004, Donato became a man paid to give answers.

But in that office again, this time under a pile of paperwork and with precious weeks to do months worth of recruiting, the man with the answers had to ask a question.

What am I doing here in a suit?

Donato wore a jersey in his first rookie campaign with the Crimson, when he came to Harvard to play hockey in the fall of 1987. His office was the locker room, his paperwork the typical sort for a college freshman. He began his second rookie season in 2004, without so much as a day of coaching experience or even the learning curve given to an 18-year old rookie in a Crimson uniform.

“As a coaching staff, we realize that it’s not an easy transition to Division I college hockey,” Donato says. “I don’t disagree with anybody who doubted whether I could coach. I’d like to think I had a lot of experience playing and played enough hockey, but I think a coach is somebody who manages people and tries to get the best out of what he has to work with.”

He made a name for himself doing just that last season, guiding a squad with few preseason expectations to four victories over top-10 opponents.

On Nov. 17, Harvard stunned No. 1 Boston College with a 3-1 win at the Bright. Exactly one week later the Crimson dispatched No. 10 Boston University, 2-1, at Walter Brown Arena.

Two more victories over Vermont and Maine—both No. 10 at the time of the games—gave Harvard a 9-3-1 record, its best start since the 1993-1994 season.

“I realize that you have to win hockey games,” Donato says. “It’s nice to have a good time, but the bottom line is you have to be successful to have a great atmosphere.”

Donato, the 1989 NCAA tournament MVP, had done the job for Harvard once again. But this time he did it from the bench, and the Crimson’s 21-10-3 final record gave him more first-year wins than any coach in the program’s history.

“We had a pretty successful season last year,” Donato says. “Anytime you can claim victories over BC, Cornell, BU, and Maine in one year, there are not a lot of teams that will take you for granted. We’re not going to sneak up on anybody this year.”

That transition from giant-killer to national contender is one Donato is ready to tackle this year, despite the graduation of one of the finest defensive units in all of college hockey. The coach lost Hobey Baker finalist Dov Grumet-Morris in goal. He lost defensemen Noah Welch and Ryan Lannon, whose blueline corps allowed just 1.88 goals per game.

“I think there’s no denying the fact that we lost some very key guys,” Donato says. “I think we have some real good guys returning, and we’ll have some guys step up and take on bigger roles.”

Donato looks to retain last season’s up-tempo offense, and four of the last year’s top goal scorers—Ryan Maki, Jon Pelle, Charlie Johnson, and Kevin Du—return to an offense that was second in scoring in the ECAC last year.

And for the first time, one of Donato’s recruiting classes will hit the ice. The honeymoon—the first season, the triumphant wins over the nation’s best, the return to the NCAA tournament—is over for Donato.

“He did an excellent job his first season, which is really hard to do,” captain Peter Hafner says. “I don’t see any reason why he won’t have another excellent season. I don’t think there will be a lot of pressure—nothing he’s not used to from 13 years in the NHL.”

And the coach’s expectations keep rising. Harvard was bounced from the NCAA tournament with a first-round, 3-2 overtime loss to New Hampshire, and the Crimson lost the ECAC title game to Cornell.

“When you’re the coach at Harvard, there are always a couple of things you want to accomplish,” Donato says. “You want to win the ECAC title, you want to make it deep into the NCAA tournament, and you want to win the Beanpot. We didn’t accomplish any of those things last year.”

Donato, it seems, is ready to begin his second sophomore campaign for Harvard. That’s good news for the Crimson: the last time he was a sophomore, Harvard ended the season with a national championship.

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.