Tobe Has Bad Homecoming for M. Hockey

MINNEAPOLIS—In his first pair of starts for the Harvard men’s hockey team, sophomore goaltender Justin Tobe let only three pucks slip past his pads. Factor in one more game, a contest against Merrimack in the consolation round of the Dodge Holiday Classic Dec. 23, and Tobe’s goals-against average has more than doubled.

The Northville, Mich., native and Crimson transfer let in six Warrior goals en route to a 6-4 loss, marking a not-so-happy return to the Midwest for the goaltender who played one year for Michigan State and another for the USHL’s Danville Wings before joining Harvard (9-4-2, 6-3-1 ECAC).

“Usually, when you score four goals, you should win the game,” Tobe admitted, “so a lot of that falls on the goalie.”

Merrimack (7-11-2, 1-8-1 Hockey East) converted on four of its five power-play opportunities, employing strong screens and eluding, for the most part, Harvard’s defensive efforts.

After the third Warrior goal found the back of the net at 18:41 in the second period, giving Merrimack a two-goal lead, Crimson blueliner Dylan Reese angrily batted the puck back towards center ice. The Warriors had taken just three shots in that middle frame and scored twice.

“I didn’t think they were getting a ton of opportunities,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91, “but it did seem that when they did, they cashed in on them.”

Donato left Tobe in for the third period, choosing not to substitute in his usual starter, senior Dov Grumet-Morris, and the Warriors would strike three times more, the first goal just 1:29 into the final frame, a shot top-shelf that drew a late reaction from Tobe.

Just over eight minutes later, Merrimack’s Brian Schmidt would notch the eventual game-winner, all the more back-breaking because Schmidt was just seven seconds out of the penalty box—an all-but-shorthanded goal for the Warriors.

“I could stay here and second-guess myself all night,” Tobe said after the game. “It’s not going to do much good.”

UNDER THE WEATHER

Apparently not enough of the 33 shots the Crimson managed in its 0-0 tie against Northern Michigan (9-5-4, 7-3-2 CCHA) were flu shots.

Ravaged en masse by what Donato labeled “a nasal infection,” Harvard’s skaters were noticeably a step slower than usual, struggling to crash the net and generate traffic just beyond the Wildcats’ netminder Tuomas Tarkki’s crease. Soft rebounds left on Tarkki’s doorstep that would otherwise have been pounced upon and poked home were regularly corralled by Northern Michigan’s blueliners and cleared from harm’s way with minimal challenge from the Crimson’s forwards.

“Some of our top guys that are usually going at top speed,” Donato said, “were a little below that.”

Harvard’s collective health began to deteriorate last week in the wake of its victory over then-No. 10 Maine. Prohibitively shorthanded by the rash of illnesses, Donato ended practice early on Dec. 15, and estimated yesterday that 80 percent of his active roster was still hindered by antibiotics.

“From an energy standpoint, I don’t think we were in top form,” Donato said. “We’ve had a tough week of practice with having 14, 15 guys out all week sick, and it looked it.”

MORE MORRIS

Grumet-Morris must have been confident that he would eventually notch his first shutout of the season. Then again, he must have thought he’d get a win in the process.

“Obviously, when your team hurls a shutout, you expect to win,” said Grumet-Morris, who recorded 37 saves against the Wildcats, two short of his season high against Maine. “But this is an unusual circumstance. It’s what happens when you play in a tournament. It’s what happens when you play against great opponents.”

Of course, Grumet-Morris has had his share of success against “great opponents.” Four of the six teams he has held to one goal were ranked in the top-15 at the time, and Northern Michigan received the most votes out of any team in the country that is not ranked.

Though on the short end of the shootout, Grumet-Morris, now second in the country with a .942 save percentage and sixth-best with a 1.82 goals-against average, was as spectacular during that “fifth period” as at any point during the season.

With the Wildcats leading 1-0 entering the third of five rounds, winger Jamie Milam appeared to have Grumet-Morris beaten just inside the right post. But Grumet-Morris fully extended his left leg to block the puck at the last moment, preserving the Crimson’s hopes.

WELCOME HOME

Though the Crimson skaters were generally treated as visitors by the Mariucci Arena crowd, the homecomings of the team’s native Minnesotans were audibly appreciated.

Both nights he was introduced as a starter, Crimson freshman Mike Taylor drew marked applause at the announcement of his hometown, Maple Grove.

“It was really nice to come back home and be able to play in front of all my family,” said Taylor, who added that he viewed the home-town showdowns just as he viewed high school games.

“The same people were in the stands watching me when I was playing in high school, so I just looked at it as the same. You can’t get too nervous, or else you won’t perform up to your full capabilities.”

Taylor was one of the lone bright spots in Harvard’s loss to Merrimack, frequently showing an aggressive instinct that his entire team could never consistently produce. He assisted the last goal of the game, scored by Andrew Lederman with 11.4 seconds left.

Also enjoying a chance in front of the local crowds was fellow freshman Dave Watters, from Eden Prairie, who skated in senior Rob Flynn’s stead on the fourth line and scored his team’s second goal 6:02 into the third frame.

“Anytime you lose, it’s definitely not fun,” Watters said, though he had notched his first collegiate goal. “No matter how well you do individually, it’s still a team game.”

AROUND THE BOARDS

Despite sending the Crimson to the consolation round, the Northern Michigan contest’s result officially enters the record books as a tie and the second scoreless draw in Harvard history. The Crimson last skated to a 0-0 finish on Jan. 3, 1929 against the University of Toronto... Harvard scored once in four man-advantage situations against Merrimack. This showing, combined with a 0-for-2 performance the previous afternoon against Northern Michigan, drops the Crimson’s conversion rate to 23.1 percent, still good enough for fourth in the country...Harvard is last in the country in penalty minutes per game with just 13.3 averaged per game…The Merrimack contest marked the first meeting between Harvard and the Warriors, both Boston-area schools. Crimson assistant coach Bobby Jay graduated from Merrimack in 1988.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Rebecca A. Seesel can be reached at seesel@fas.harvard.edu.