Men's Hockey Seeks First Round Bye Against Quinnipiac, Princeton

Max Everson has what hockey players call a “playoff mentality.”

The co-captain defenseman approaches the No. 16/15 Harvard men’s ice hockey team’s final regular season weekend—a home double against No. 10/9 Quinnipiac and Princeton with postseason implications—ready to win the tough battles and play every shift like it is his last.

Everson’s mindset is appropriate. After all, there is a chance he will play his last regular season minutes in a Crimson uniform on Saturday.

Along with goaltender Steve Michalek and injured defenseman Patrick McNally, Everson will greet Saturday’s Senior Night with some uncertainty.

Now fourth-year academic juniors, the trio withdrew from the College at the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, yet are listed as seniors in the team’s media guide. Following the end of this season, they will appeal to the Ivy League for the reinstatement of their lost year of eligibility.

In the meantime, Everson and Michalek plan to play Senior Night like it is their Senior Night.

“If we were to get that year back, we’d regroup and reset our sights on another year of college hockey,” Everson said on Wednesday. “But as of now, I’ve kind of just been playing like this is it for me—this is my last opportunity to go out there and try to help the team as much as possible, [and] try to be a leader for guys and make sure that we’re playing well heading into the playoffs.”

It will be another difficult weekend for McNally, who will have to watch his Senior Night from the stands. The Long Island native led all NCAA defenders in points per game before injuring his right leg at Cornell on Jan. 23. Since then, Everson and other Crimson blueliners have gamely shouldered increased responsibility, yet the team has failed to put together back-to-back wins in his absence.

McNally declines to rule out a return this season, and the timetable for his rehab remains uncertain.

“Probably the hardest part of being injured is watching the guys out there and not being able to play with them,” McNally said. “I don’t want to say that I’m going to be back or I’m not going to be back; I’m just trying to rehab and get…better, whether it be in this year or in the future.”

Between eligibility and injuries, there are many aspects of the Crimson’s future over which the team has no control. Nevertheless, Everson and company enter this weekend very much in control of their immediate postseason future.

Harvard (14-10-3, 10-7-3 ECAC) would clinch a top-four finish in the ECAC and a first-round conference tournament bye with two wins this weekend. With Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence having locked up the first two seeds last weekend, the Crimson will be battling Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Colgate for the final two byes.

While Harvard could sneak into the top-four with fewer than four points this weekend, junior forward Jimmy Vesey considers both games must-wins.

“I think it’s very important at this time of year to kind of get in the mode of playoff hockey,” said Vesey, who leads the conference scoring race going into this weekend. “We’d just like to establish that we’re a very good hockey team and that we’re going to be a tough out in the playoffs.”

Sweeping Princeton (4-19-3, 2-16-2) and Quinnipiac (20-8-4, 15-2-3) would not be new for the Crimson, which beat the pair on the road on Dec. 5 and 6 to enter the exam break on a high.

Since then, however, things have changed. While the Tigers have continued to languish at the bottom of the standings, the Bobcats have not dropped a single conference contest since their 5-2 loss on home ice. Meanwhile, Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold and the five other USCHO.com voters who ranked Harvard No.1 that week have since changed their minds.

“We’ve had to deal with a little bit of adversity,” Everson said. “But I think that [weekend] gives us confidence going into this weekend, because as good as Quinnipiac has been, we all know that when we’re playing well and we’re playing our game, we can beat them.”

On Friday, the Bobcats will offer four deep scoring lines, headed by sophomore Sam Anas and captain Matthew Peca. Quinnipiac clinched the first seed in the conference tournament and a share of its second ECAC regular season championship with ties against Yale and Brown last weekend. A tie at Harvard would allow the Bobcats to clinch the Cleary Cup outright.

Princeton, meanwhile, has won only two conference games but has a habit of giving better teams fits. The Tigers nearly bested Harvard in their last meeting on the strength of a career-high 51 saves from sophomore goaltender Colton Phinney. Just two weeks ago, Princeton forced a 1-1 tie against St. Lawrence, the same team that routed the Crimson, 5-1, last Friday.

“We’re definitely not looking past Princeton,” Vesey said. “Both games are equally important.”

Everson considers this weekend a matter of execution—nothing more, nothing less. He is not worried about how many games he has left to lead his teammates, who have impressed him with their work ethic throughout the year. At the moment, he is focused on the job at hand.

“It’s a real privilege to work with this group of guys,” Everson said. “It’s a phenomenal group.”

—Crimson staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at michael.ledecky@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @mdledecky.