Men’s Hockey Honors its Winningest Coach, Ted Donato '91, While Harvard Downs St. Lawrence

The Harvard men’s ice hockey team (8-7-1, 6-4-0 ECAC) soundly defeated the St. Lawrence Saints (2-19-2, 1-10-0 ECAC) with a final score of 5-1 as the Crimson honored its Head Coach, Ted Donato ‘91, for becoming the winningest coach in program history. Donato surpassed his own coach and predecessor, Bill Cleary, with his 325th win against Brown University. With the win tonight, Donato has now tallied 326 victories at the helm of the program.

Reflecting first on Cleary’s impact on him as a player and coach, Donato said, “I think Coach Cleary really had the blueprint for success at Harvard. And he inspired with confidence.”

“Obviously, the success he had, but more so how he treated people, I think is something that, as a player for him and as a coach now, I really appreciate,” Donato added.

In 1989, Coach Cleary led then-sophomore Donato and the Harvard team to an NCAA Championship win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Donato earned the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honor.

Tonight, Donato was brought onto the ice alongside his family and Coach Cleary shortly before puck drop for a tribute video featuring notable alumni, including Adam Fox of the New York Rangers, Alex Killorn and Ian Moore of the Anaheim Ducks, and Alexander Kerfoot of the Utah Mammoth, among other players who have gone through the Harvard hockey program under Donato’s tutelage.

Despite the accolades, the Crimson entered the night in search of its first win since early December.

Prior to tonight's game, Harvard had lost four straight, bringing its record to an even .500. St. Lawrence, meanwhile, had lost 13 of its last 14, only tying Stonehill College in the second game of its back-to-back contests on Jan. 3, where it ultimately lost in a shootout.

Scoring started quickly for Harvard as freshman forward Richard Gallant got his fifth goal of the season.

A couple whacks at the puck brought the Saints’ freshman netminder Colin Winn out of the crease, catching him in the butterfly position with both pads laid out on the ice, where he was unable to stop Gallant from flipping the puck into the net.

Harvard’s rookie started on the second line tonight next to fellow freshman forward Heikki Ruohonen, this time with the addition of their captain, Joe Miller, who swapped with freshman Aidan Lane. Lane played on the third line.

When asked about the change to the lineup tonight, Donato said, “Lost a couple games in a row, so we’re looking for maybe a little bit of a spark.”

“I think Joe’s been playing well as of late, and I think that line looked good, obviously, got us off to a good start. And I thought they were a threat every time they were on the ice,” the winningest coach in Harvard history explained.

Closing in on the first ten minutes of play, captain Mason Langenbrunner tallied the Crimson’s second goal, firing the puck past Winn from the middle of the blue line off an early pass from a faceoff.

A whiffed shot by sophomore forward Mick Thompson is all that prevented Harvard’s lead from growing even further.

Despite its momentum, Harvard actually let up an untimely goal on a quick breakaway by the Saints’ freshman forward Filip Juříček.

Yet still, a penalty with 1.7 seconds remaining in the period called against St. Lawrence for slashing ultimately closed out the period, putting the Crimson on the power play.

The penalty was just the first of the Saints’ several miscues in the middle of the game, which put Harvard on the man-advantage in costly situations for St. Lawrence.

Though St. Lawrence killed its first penalty, the team was quickly hit with an interference minor in the second period, as Lane was illegally impeded during a breakaway.

Harvard’s second line, spurred by Ruohonen, made the Saints pay. The rookie recorded his third goal of the season and first point since playing the University of Vermont on Nov. 22 and returning from the World Junior Cup earlier this month.

Ruohonen highlighted his experience on the line with Gallant as the key to success tonight.

“I thought our line stayed on the puck really well in the O-zone. I think me and Richard have had that for a while now. I think we know what we want for each other,” the Helsinki, Finland native explained.

“When the other guy’s in trouble, Richard’s there to support me, and the other way around,” the rookie added.

St. Lawrence took its third penalty just 20 seconds after the goal, as a skater was cited for cross-checking. While Harvard did not convert on the opportunity, the Saints’ freshman defender, Andrew Brown, was injured by a puck to the side of the face in a diving attempt to block a shot.

Brown did not return to the contest and was replaced by freshman defender Sam Frandina.

Despite the score, physical play continued between the two teams, as a major scrum broke out in Harvard’s corner, sending multiple players to the box.

Harvard came out of the scuffle a man down after junior defenseman Matthew Morden took two separate minor penalties, one for roughing and another for cross-checking. The penalties put St. Lawrence on the power play for the first time.

Even during the kill, Ruohonen managed to skate into the offensive zone undefended and fire off a shot on net.

Donato confirmed after the game that the skirmish was merely caused by heightened tensions between the teams.

Up 3-1 to start the third period, Harvard’s focus should have been on shutting down St. Lawrence defensively. Aside from the scrum, the Crimson had played a clean game through the first two periods.

But three penalties in as many minutes, all called on Harvard’s defensemen, left the team shorthanded at a critical moment.

With multiple skaters sent to the box, Harvard was forced to defend 5-on-3 until a seventh penalty called against St. Lawrence closed the gap to 4-on-3 play.

Although the Crimson was still shorthanded, the man-down deficit was much easier to defend than the 5-on-3.

Miraculously, Morden broke through the Saints’ defensive line to put the game out of reach at 4-1, redeeming himself from earlier penalties.

An empty-net goal by sophomore Will Hughes sent the Saints on their way home, putting Harvard back in the win column with a 5-1 victory.

The team hosts Clarkson and Union next, starting Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Monday at 4:00 p.m., respectively.

Looking ahead to those games, Donato said, “We’ve really tried to kind of be efficient, whether it's in practices or meetings, to make sure that we have something in the tank for three games in four nights. And I think Union will be in the same situation.”

These upcoming games are especially important for Harvard to improve its 5th-place position in the ECAC, as both opponents trail the Crimson by just a couple of points in the standings.

—Staff writer Nate M. Bolan can be reached at [email protected].