There's No Doubt About It

Before the men's hockey season started, there were a lot of questions surrounding the Harvard squad.

No one really knew how successful the veteran defense and the young offense would be when they skated together against ECAC competition.

With six games and a 4-1-1 record under Harvard's belt, many of the questions have been answered and the early results are in.

Harvard has a good team. Not a great team. Not a mediocre team. A good team.

Certainly, Harvard's offense is no longer a question.

Averaging 5.2 goals a game, the Crimson offense has combined a bit of old and a bit of new in a successful mix.

Senior Tim Burke and juniors Matt Mallgrave and Steve Flomenhoft are leading the team's offensive production, while newcomers Brad Konik, Perry Cohagan, Cory Gustafson and Steve Martins have carried their portion of the scoring burden.

"We've put up our fair share of goals," Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "Recently, we've been seeing a balanced attack by all four lines."

Led by the play of Captain Kevin Sneddon and sophomore Sean McCann, the blue liners have held their opponents to two goals or less in four of the team's first six contests.

Solid performances by goalies Chuckie Hughes and Allain Roy have also helped assure the Crimson of low opposing scores.

"Our strength is on defense. This is a darn good hockey club on defense," said Tomassoni.

What's the problem?

Concentration.

As Saturday's loss against Brown showed, the Crimson doesn't have enough talent to sleep-walk past ECAC competition.

This is a Harvard team that will have to work for its wins.

"We're a lunchpail team. We've got to work, and if we don't work, if we try to get too pretty, we're not going to be very effective," said Tomassoni.

Up 2-0 in the first period against Brown on Saturday, Harvard played like it already had won the game.

Unfortunately for the team, there were about 45 minutes of hockey left, and that time ended up being dominated by Brown.

In most of its first five games, Harvard showed why it is a good team--execution.

In its last game against Brown, the Crimson showed why it has to execute.

It's not a great team.

"Hopefully, this will be a wakeup call for us," said Tomassoni. "Hopefully, we'll use this game as a lesson learned."