As the 2006-2007 Harvard men’s hockey season begins, there are several things a Crimson fan can count on, such as a dynamic offense and a program that will compete for the ECAC Championship and perhaps a sixth straight NCAA berth.

And, for the second year in the row, there will be intra-team competition for the starting goalkeeper position.

“It’s always an open race with goalies—that’s the way it should be,” captain Dylan Reese says. “You need competition…whoever is better is going to play.”

Last year’s Harvard squad entered the season without a cemented starting netminder, thanks to the graduation of Hobey Baker finalist Dov Grumet-Morris ’05, a four-year starter for the Crimson.

Coach Ted Donato ’91 experimented with then-junior Justin Tobe and John Daigneau ’06, and the latter eventually won the job. Despite little playing experience before the 2005-2006 season, Daigneau posted solid numbers between the posts—including a 2.48 goals-against average and 19-10-2 record—and led his team to the NCAA tournament, where Harvard suffered a first-round loss to Maine.

Daigneau also won the John Tudor Memorial Cup, given to the team’s most valuable player, at the annual year-end banquet.

This season, with Daigneau lost to graduation, the Crimson finds itself in a nearly identical situation.

Harvard has no starter with significant experience, and given the glut of important games early in the season, Donato has not ruled out the possibility of platooning two goalkeepers until a clear favorite emerges.

“At the end of the day, just like with any other position, we want to give our team the best chance to win every night,” Donato says. “So, if that means that there’s one guy that ends up playing a lot more than two guys, then that’s the way it is. If we feel like both guys are going real well, then there will be two guys.”

Tobe has the most ice time under his belt for the Crimson, with four starts in eight games last season for 309:24 minutes.

His 2.52 GAA nearly matched that of Daigneau, and although he saw only limited action, Tobe stopped a season-high 43 shots in a 4-3 win at St. Lawrence.

“Justin, in the games he’s played for us, has played very well,” Donato says. “I thought by and large he was very good for us. He’s a guy that’s going to get an opportunity to be a key guy for us.”

Although conventional wisdom would point to Tobe—a senior with the most experience—as the favorite, he will be challenged by freshman Kyle Richter, of Calgary, Alb.

Richter played in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, where he set a record for minutes played in a season and also competed on the league All-Star Team.

Both coach and teammates are already singing Richter’s praises.

“Kyle has a chance to be a big-time goaltender and has a chance to compete for the starting job from day one,” Donato says. “[He has] good size, great athleticism, [and he] put up great numbers.”

Rounding out the Crimson goaltending quartet are sophomore Mike Coskren—a Massachusetts native who saw two minutes of ice time last season—and rookie John Riley, a veteran of Team Illinois.

Donato has relied on Tobe and Richter thus far. Tobe took the season-opening 5-2 loss to Dartmouth, and Richter was between the pipes the following Friday for a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Clarkson. The next evening, it was Tobe’s turn for a 5-4 loss.

It’s early in the season, of course, and dreams of league titles and NCAA berths remain. But one crucial piece of the puzzle remains unsolved: who will be the primary puck-stopper for Harvard this season, if there is one?

—Staff writer Julie R.S. Fogarty can be reached at fogarty2@fas.harvard.edu.