Lane MacDonald, the 1989 Hobey Baker Award winner who led Harvard
to its only national championship that year, was named
assistant coach to the Crimson's new head man, Ronn Tomassoni.
He will be involved in both the recruiting and practice
aspects of the game and is apparently Tomassoni's right-hand
man. Tomassoni, of course, has taken over for long-time
Harvard coach Billy Cleary who is now the school's athletic
director.
MacDonald, 24, is from Mequon, Wisconsin, and is Harvard's
second all-time leading scorer with 111 goals and 114 assists
for 225 points. He scored six goals in the 1988 Olympics in
six games for Team USA, including two against the USSR. He
was a two-time All-American, New England Player of the Year,
ECAC Team of the Decade member, and the MVP in both the 1989
Beanpot and the ECAC tourney. He played for Harvard from 1984-
1987 and then in 1988-89, taking 1987-88 off to train with
the Olympic team.
After graduating from Harvard, MacDonald turned down an offer
of around $700,000 from Hartford to sign with Lugano in
Switzerland. This decision was mainly due to his problems with
concussions, which he suffered easily and which caused him splitting
headaches for days after a game. As it turned out, MacDonald
suffered two more dangerous concussions in Switzerland, and doctors
advised him that for his own safety, he should retire. Ever since,
rumors have been that he would return to coach at his alma mater -
those of you who've been on this list for a while will recall
seeing that posted here. He was a classy player and I enjoyed seeing
him play, and I'm not surprised at this move at all.
- mike
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