HOCKEY PREVIEW 2007-08: Weapon of Choice

As the Harvard men’s hockey team tries to establish itself as an offensive force in one of the nation’s most competitive leagues, the Crimson is looking to senior forward Alex Meintel for a campaign even more successful than last year’s breakout season.

Following a year in which he played in 32 games and scored a team-leading 14 goals, Meintel is eager to fulfill the high expectations set by last year’s stellar offensive performance. Meintel’s leadership comes at an especially crucial time, given that Harvard lost Ryan Maki—the team’s second-highest goalscorer last season—and Kevin Du to graduation.

Meintel, who racked up seven power-play points on the season, also notched five assists for a total of 19 points, making him the fifth-highest scorer on the team.

In an offensive rotation that includes six seniors and three juniors, Meintel and the Crimson can rely on tremendous experience once they get the puck inside the opposing team’s blue line.

Even though last season’s surge makes Meintel an obvious go-to scorer this season, he is quick to recognize the tremendous talent surrounding him.

“We don’t really have one guy we’re looking to—we have a lot of guys,” Meintel says.

Other offensive threats include co-captain Mike Taylor, who scored 10 goals last season, and senior forward Jon Pelle, who had nine goals.

“This year, we have a lot of seniors that can score,” Meintel says. “We have a pretty dominant attack throughout the lineup, so I think you’re going see a lot more disparity in the scoring this year, and there’s going be some big opportunities.”

Given that Harvard’s offense ranked sixth in the ECAC last season with 67 goals, the Crimson needs those scoring disparities to increase a great deal—especially since the team also allowed 65 goals.

Meintel’s development as a dominant offensive threat began after he recovered from an injury that kept him off the ice for the first half of his sophomore year. Although he scored only five goals in the second half of that season, Meintel surged to the top of the offense just one year later.

“He had a good summer, and his confidence is still carrying high from last year,” Taylor says. “He could definitely be a guy to put in 20 goals this year.”

Statistics do not reveal the full extent to which Meintel’s tenacity and hustle facilitate an effective offensive attack, and Harvard hopes that forcing defensemen to cope with such a prolific scorer will allow Meintel’s teammates to put more quality shots on net.

“[Meintel] does a lot more than just score goals for us—he’s really an energy guy for us that draws a lot of penalties and really is a great forechecker,” says Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91. “We’re counting on not only his offense in terms of scoring goals, but also in getting assists and creating opportunities.”

The end of every season opens new holes as seniors leave for graduation, and Harvard is counting on Meintel’s drive to surpass last year’s strong performance in order to recoup those losses. As the team prepares to face the best of the ECAC, how Meintel steps into his new role will prove critical to the team’s quest to return to the NCAA Tournament after failing to qualify last season for the first time since 2001.

“We definitely need someone to fill those scoring roles,” co-captain Dave MacDonald says. “Alex is definitely a guy we’re going to look to do that.”

—Staff writer Robert T. Hamlin can be reached at rhamlin@fas.harvard.edu.