After an up and down season last year, the Harvard men's hockey team hopes to turn things around in 2010-11

It’s that time of year again. As the temperature drops and the leaves start to change, people begin to question why there is already “snow” near the athletic fields across the river. The answer is simple: it’s almost hockey season.

In the final days before games begin for Ivy League teams, the Harvard men’s hockey team is gearing up for the start of its new campaign. The Crimson hopes to improve upon last year’s roller-coaster season, in which Harvard finished ninth in the ECAC with an overall record of 9-21-3 (7-12-3 ECAC).

“I think overall we have very high expectations for the season, with the players we have from last year maturing a little bit,” junior forward Alex Killorn says. “We’re a little disappointed by the way things ended last year, so we’ve been working really hard this summer.”

Despite several disappointing losses in 2009-10, including being swept by Cornell in the ECAC quarterfinals, the Crimson did some good things last season. Just before losing to the Big Red, Harvard ousted Princeton in two games in the first round of the ECAC Championships. The Crimson also claimed a four-game win streak in league play near the middle of the season and posted an impressive 3-2 victory over eventual regular-season champion Yale.

“[This season] our goal is to win every game, but, more importantly, to get better every day and learn from our mistakes,” says co-captain Chris Huxley, who led Harvard defenders last season with 13 points.

The team will face the first of many challengers on Monday, as the 2010-11 campaign begins with a matchup against the Swedish U-20 national team.

This year, while recent favorites look to maintain their dominance in the ECAC, the Crimson will attempt to re-establish itself at the top of the conference. Two-time defending ECAC champion Yale is predicted to win the league once again, while Cornell and Union are preseason favorites as well.

Even with these tough tests looming ahead for Harvard, the Crimson is taking its season just one game at a time.

“Before you play anyone, you can’t really say [who the biggest competition is],” Huxley says. “Every team is going to be the toughest. You can’t really single out one game as being the most important, because, when it comes down to it, all of the games are equally important.”

This is especially true for Harvard, because, due to the nature of the ECAC, the five non-Ivy League competitors in the conference have their first few games under their belt already. The Crimson’s second contest, and first league test, comes against Union (5-1, 0-0), which has gotten off to a strong start.

“They just get a little bit of a head start,” sophomore forward Luke Greiner says. “I don’t think in the long run it makes a big difference, but definitely in the beginning [of the season] we’re going to have to adjust a little bit quicker than they might have to in order to come out prepared.”

Harvard will begin the season without several key players from last year’s squad.

The Crimson graduated six seniors, including last year’s captain, Alex Biega. Louis Leblanc, who paced last year’s team with 11 goals and 12 assists, will not return for Harvard either after signing with the Montreal Canadiens for the upcoming season.

Luckily for the Crimson, reinforcements are available.

“Freshmen play a big role on this team, on any team,” Huxley says. “It’s a big step from wherever they came from—high school or junior hockey...There’s a little adjustment period, but the goal is to make the adjustment period as short as possible for each guy.”

Harvard returns strong leaders in co-captains Michael Del Mauro and Huxley, along with assistant captain Kyle Richter. The Crimson also boasts a core of 21 players from last season, including senior forward Michael Biega and sophomore defender Danny Biega. Every player is expected to contribute to the team’s leadership.

“One of the focuses of our team this year is that everybody’s going to have a leadership role and a following role,” Del Mauro says. “So it’s going to be different people at different times [stepping] up.”

“We have some good team chemistry,” Huxley adds. “We’ve had about a month or two together, which is a good amount of time to get to know each other. Everyone’s been working hard and getting better every day, and that’s what’s important.”

—Staff writer Catherine E. Coppinger can be reached at ccoppinger@college.harvard.edu.