Junior forward Jimmy Vesey and the Crimson head into the quarterfinals of the ECAC tournament. Harvard faces off against Yale starting on Friday evening.

It’s trophy season in college hockey land. The Minnesota bros are blow-drying their mullets, the Notre Dame gents are hitting the ice baths, and Seb Lloyd and the boys are signing three-year deals with Dunster House. It truly is a magical time.

Last weekend, the ECAC bid adieu to Princeton, Brown, Cornell, and Clarkson as Harvard, Dartmouth, Rensselaer, and Union moved on to face the conference’s top four seeds.

For the sixth-seeded Crimson (17-11-3, 11-8-3 ECAC), a sweep of the Bears marked an important change of pace. After the hottest start in the country propelled Harvard to No. 1 in the PairWise rankings in early January, the Crimson entered last week’s series without consecutive wins in 2015.  The squad led by coach Ted Donato ’91 now carries a three-game winning streak into Ingalls Rink with a chance to clinch a spot in the semifinals in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Although the wins came against the two teams at the bottom of the conference standings, Harvard displayed an electricity on the forecheck that has been fleeting this calendar year. While the Crimson’s top-line constants—juniors Jimmy Vesey and Kyle Criscuolo—turned in one of their best weekends of the season, perhaps the biggest spark came in the form of the team’s biggest unknown: fourth-year forward Colin Blackwell.

Coming back from an injury that left him in the stands for the better part of two seasons, Blackwell has been better than ever in his first three games on the Crimson’s second line.

His numbers—three goals and three drawn penalties last weekend—tell only part of the story; the five-foot-ten San Jose Sharks draft pick is simply the most fun player to watch on the Harvard roster. He brings a Vesey-level skill set yet chases pucks with an extra desperation, stick-handles with an extra flair, and finishes plays with an extra pop.  

Between injury and eligibility concerns, nobody can say for sure how many shifts Blackwell has left in a Crimson sweater. Per Ivy League rules, the Class of 2015 recruit would have just one semester of eligibility left after this season unless he obtains a rare medical redshirt. For now, however, Harvard fans can appreciate No. 63 as he flies up the right wing with reckless abandon.

On to the picks:

COLGATE VS. DARTMOUTH

I’d like to take this opportunity to give a well-earned tip of the hat to @Dartmouth_MIH.

If you are not following the official Twitter account of the Dartmouth men’s ice hockey program, then you are missing out on some dank memes. The account delivers the unfiltered observations of Big Green sports information director Pat Salvas in the form of clips, gifs, and sass. Last weekend’s offerings included a scene from Old School (“We gotta keep our composure”), a gif of Guns N’ Roses lead guitarist Slash (Princeton called for slashing), and multiple tweets featuring the phrase “Sooooo.”

Dartmouth will need all the moral support that Salvas can muster in its road date with Colgate this weekend. The Raiders entered the year as the coaches’ and media’s choice to win the conference but struggled to adjust after injuries to key players. Nevertheless, championship expectations have returned to Hamilton in recent weeks with the resurgence of goaltender Charlie Finn, the return of forward Tylor “I’m Not Tyson” Spink, and a 4-0-1 stretch to close out the regular season.

My college hockey spirit animal Josh Seguin, who covers the ECAC for College Hockey News, told me that he thinks the winner of this series wins the tournament. I don’t know about that, but for now, I’m picking the preseason favorite in two close games.

Pick: Colgate in two

ST. LAWRENCE VS. RENSSELAER