“We had a lot of captain’s practices when we first got here, and since the season started its been going really well,” Blackwell said. “We’ve had a lot of tough practices and everyone’s working hard. We’re anxious to get on the ice and get things rolling.”

On the sideline, Harvard also welcomes in some new faces with assistant coaches Albie O’Connell and Jerry Forton. In just their first season, the two are already making their presence felt.

“One [of the coaches] is a defensemen coach and the other has been working with the systems,” Blackwell said. “I think if we listen to them and stick to the systems that they’ve implemented, then we’ll be successful.”

To prepare for Princeton, the Crimson coaching staff has held video sessions to familiarize the team with the Ancient Eight foe.

“We’ve been going over their film from past years, and hopefully we can learn a little bit about them and use that to our advantage,” said Blackwell said.

Tonight’s battle on the ice will be the opener to Harvard’s season, while the Tigers enter the matchup with three games already under its belt. To counter Princeton’s experience on the ice this season, the Crimson will look to adjust quickly and capitalize early on to put the Tigers under pressure.

Harvard will specifically try to tame Princeton’s sophomore standout forward, Andrew Calof, who led the Tigers with 33 points last season.

“Princeton’s a big physical team and they’re an Ivy League school, so this is a big ECAC matchup,” Blackwell said. “We’ll want to get off to a good start.”

With tonight representing the first hockey of the season and the student rewards game of the week, Harvard is hoping to have an advantage on its home ice with a strong fan turnout.

“Hopefully we can get a lot of people there,” Blackwell said. “I know it should have a good atmosphere, so we’re really looking forward to it.”