JONNIE ON THE SPOT: Bagging Eagles Is Step One

The Harvard men’s hockey team made a statement in its 2-2 tie with No. 6 Boston College last night. No. Check that. To call it a “two-part statement” would be more appropriate.

Part I of that statement, of course, was the way the Crimson played. There was a lot of “ebb and flow” to the game, as BC coach Jerry York said afterward. Harvard fell behind early, tied it, fell behind again, tied it again and nearly won it, both in regulation and overtime.

BC, for its part, played pretty well, too. By all rights, it was a pretty even game.

“We had our chances, they had their chances,” said Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni. “We did some things well, and we didn’t do some things well.

“A tie’s a tie, you know?”

Yep. Ho-hum. Just tied BC.

And that’s Part II, which was the real statement in this game. Mazzoleni didn’t make a big deal out of tying the No. 6-ranked team in the country because, well, he didn’t have to.

When he took over the Harvard program three years ago, that wouldn’t have been the case. Against a Top-10 team, the Crimson would have been looking to prove that it was making progress and getting back to the level it was playing at in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

But now there’s no need to worry about proving that. Harvard’s No. 11 ranking in both national polls this week, along with last season’s NCAA appearance, speaks to that just fine.

So that’s why last night’s game was what it was. Some ebb and flow. Some good things and some bad things.

Two good hockey teams.

And no one among the 2,776 at Bright Hockey Center would know that better than BC assistant coach Ron Rolston.

The name sound familiar, you ask? There’s a reason. Just last season, Rolston was one of Mazzoleni’s assistants, and his recruiting prowess was a big reason he was staring at 13 NHL draft picks on the other bench yesterday night.

Rolston had helped build Harvard’s program up, and last night the first time he saw it from the other side.

“It’s a little weird coming back,” Rolston said. “Obviously, having been in the process of recruiting kids [at Harvard], being with that staff for three years, and watching that team grow over three years. It’s just tough to come back.”

But aside from any emotions that would have made it tough to stand behind the visiting bench at Bright, Rolston said just being behind the visiting bench at Bright—period—is difficult enough.

“They’ve got a good team,” Rolston said. “That was just another good challenge for us.

“That’s a tough battle and we want to challenge ourselves. They play a little different style that we do.”

Harvard? Challenge?

You got it. And Rolston was not just saying that to send some feel-good vibes to his old team. He meant it.

And he meant this, too:

“Their top three lines are as good as any team we’ve played so far,” Rolston said. “By far.”

For the record, BC has played No. 1 Maine, No. 5 New Hampshire, No. 7 Denver and No. 15 Boston University.

That’s high praise to say the least, but it’s deservedly so. Harvard played a pretty good game yesterday—not its best, but good. It was certainly a good segue into the Crimson’s showdown with No. 1 Maine on Sunday, another game between two good hockey teams.

And Harvard’s taking it for what it’s worth.

“We were really excited for [the BC game] and now Sunday’s game,” said Harvard captain Dominic Moore. “We love to get chances to play against the top teams. It gives us a chance to prove how good we are.”

It certainly does, and Harvard needs to keep playing the BCs and Maines of the world—but not because it has to prove it’s capable of making the NCAA tournament. Not anymore.

Now it has to prove just how far it can go.

Because the Crimson was not all that thrilled last night, even after it tied one of the best teams in the nation.

And that, in and of itself, is a victory.

—Staff writer Jon P. Morosi can be reached at morosi@fas.harvard.edu.