Jonas is the Key to Crimson's Early Success

The Harvard Crimson is enjoying one of its best seasons in recent memory, thanks in large part to senior goaltender Oliver Jonas.

Jonas, in his first year as a starter, has exceeded almost everyone's expectations in helping lead the Crimson (6-4-1, 5-3-1 ECAC) to first place in the ECAC and a No. 14 national ranking in the USA Today college hockey poll.

"I had very high expectations for him, and he's impressed even me," said captain Steve Moore.

Senior defenseman Tim Stay, in assessing Jonas' impact thus far this season, was in total support of his goalie.

"He's had a great season; he's stepped it up," Stay said. "He has kept us in a lot of games. Ollie has been the strongest part of our team."

The most noteworthy example of Jonas' ability to always keep Harvard in contention was witnessed during the Crimson's trip to upstate New York in the first weekend of December.

Jonas entered the weekend series against St. Lawrence and Clarkson with a .941 save percentage. Over that weekend, with the Crimson splitting a pair of games, Jonas recorded 44 saves in a lost to St. Lawrence and 34 saves in the win over Clarkson.

In addition to the barrage of shots faced on the road trip, Jonas also routinely faces the most shots per game of any ECAC goalie, roughly 30 per outing.

"When you play good teams, you're gonna face a lot of shots," Jonas said.

Currently, Jonas has a .925 save percentage and also sports a 2.48 goals-against-average. But numbers aside, the senior netminder's most important results are in the win-loss column.

"He's keeping the puck out of the net," senior forward Chris Bala said. "When we've needed him, he's always come up with the saves."

Despite the stellar play of late, there were some doubts about Jonas coming into the season. Sitting for three years in the shadow of J.R. Prestifilippo '00, Jonas saw little to no action. This season, however, Jonas knew he was the Crimson's starting goalie from day one.

This season, Jonas has also assumed Prestifilippo's old job as mentor to the backup goalie.

According to freshman goalie Will Crothers, Jonas does a great job as both a tutor and a teammate.

"I've picked up some of his practice habits. On the ice, I've started to work on the mobility drills that he does," Crothers said. "The best part about Ollie is that he's been my friend, taken me under his wing."

Coach Mark Mazzoleni also noted Jonas' practice habits as worthy of praise.

"He's prepared himself well. He came into camp noticeably much stronger," Mazzoleni said. "He's taken the ball and run with it."

Starting with the Crimson's 1-1 tie with Cornell on November 17th, Jonas has caught the attention of many with his phenomenal play. After limiting the Big Red to a single goal, Jonas helped the Crimson edge perennial power Boston University 4-3. In the ensuing game, he posted a career high 44 saves against Boston College, the team currently ranked No. 2 in the country.

Jonas tries to deflect much of the praise he receives, attributing his success and the team's record to the resourceful play of his defense and the team as a whole.

"I've been playing well, but [our success] is more a reflection of how our defense has played," Jonas said.

And he is clearly excited about the second half of the season, looking forward to competing in the ECAC tournament.

"I think we're gonna do better in the second half of the season," Jonas said.

Jonas and the other Crimson players will have their work cut out for them if they are to improve on the team's ECAC-leading record.

Harvard's second half of the season features some tough opponents and will prove to be a test for the young team.

Harvard's game tonight is a difficult contest in New Hampshire versus UNH, the No. 5 team in the country.

The schedule doesn't get any easier after Christmas. The Crimson will travel out west to face No. 7 Colorado College in a pair of games.

For his performance thus far this season, Oliver Jonas deserves the accolades of the fans and his teammates.

"You can't understate how valuable he is to the team," Moore said.

Far from understating his significance to the Crimson, Oliver Jonas is arguably the MVP of the Harvard men's hockey team at the season's mid-point.