After going 3-2 in the Sochi Olympics and bringing a silver medal back to the United States, Stone, Fry and Picard are back at home in the Bright-Landry Hockey Center for the 2014-2015 season. Both Fry and Picard posted ice time in all five of Team USA’s contests, although neither of the duo managed to tally any points for the Olympic squad.
The transition back to the Crimson has been seamless for both players and coach, as they return to familiar surroundings with a renewed appetite for success.
“Coming back is awesome,” Fry said. “I absolutely love it…. I missed these kids so much. It’s just so fun, and we have a blast every day. During those months that we were training [for the Olympics], four people still had to get cut. That was really stressful, so it’s nice to be able to play, have fun, and work hard.”
The returners certainly have some catching up to do with the team both on and off the ice. After a year away from Harvard, they join a team that includes two classes of players whom they must become acquainted with.
Since the 2012-2013 season—the last time Fry and Picard took the ice for Harvard—14 players have joined the roster. This includes six freshmen and eight sophomores who have yet to play a game under Stone’s coaching style.
“There are two classes of kids that need to get to know me and I [need to] get to know them, versus just one freshman class,” Stone said. “With the sophomores there’s an adjustment period, and we’re sensing it now. So I’m going to try and spend a fair amount of time with them so they can get to know what my expectations are.”
Under Crowell last year, the Crimson notched the team’s second-highest winning percentage in the last five seasons, while finishing second in the ECAC regular season behind Clarkson, the eventual national champion.
A 2-1 loss to Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA tournament proved that Harvard could compete with some of the top hockey programs in the country.
This year, the hopes of maintaining that competitive edge have prospered, as the Olympians return to Cambridge with a renewed energy and excitement that comes with being back around a team they love and know well.
That said, the overall mindset of the team has not changed drastically since last year.
“I think every year we try to instill some key work ethics into our program,” Crowell said. “Number one is working hard. We have a bigger roster this year and a lot of depth. With that comes a lot of new faces and making sure that they’re brought along and taught how to be fast, be aggressive, and be a really good puck possession team. I think we’re heading in that direction.”
A silver medal is not the only thing that the Olympians have brought back from Sochi.
Competing for Team USA gave the trio a chance to bring invaluable of the sport knowledge back to Harvard, and they are eager to share those tips with fellow teammates and coaches.
For Stone, the time with Team USA allowed her to become acquainted with a new and different mode of training.
“[When you coach an Olympic team], you’re really coaching for a 10-day tournament in February as opposed to coaching for the team to play every week,” Stone said. “It’s a different mindset and a different preparation model, but I enjoyed it. It gave me an opportunity to focus on coaching and learn more about the sport.”
This season’s squad will continue to strive toward and improve upon the success of last year’s team.
Looking to pick up right where it left off two seasons ago, Harvard women’s hockey now occupies center stage for all members of the team.
“Our goals are definitely to win as many games as we can,” Picard said. “At the end of the day, we want to win a national championship. We just have to take it one day at a time and makes sure we are playing Harvard hockey every day and getting better every day.”
—Staff writer Ariel Smolik-Valles can be reached at asmolikvalles@college.harvard.edu.