The One Xcel National Championship Hockey Trophy made an appearance
at the Harvard/Union game on Saturday night - a large, lucite pyramid
resting on a walnut base with the past winners inscribed on the base.
Winners of the Division I,II and III titles will receive replicas at
the American Hockey Coaches Association banquet in April. This is
in addition to the NCAA trophy, BTW.
 
My thoughts on the trophy? I like the basic structure, but the AHCA
and Xcel logos in the lucite pyramid look kind of cheesy. I suspect
that it will be at the Beanpot, so some of you might get to judge
for yourselves.
 
As for the Harvard games themselves, previously posted comments captured
the tenor of the action. It was an interesting contrast to Harvard's
last home weekend - an emotional, well-played loss to Vermont on
Friday followed by a phoned-in no-hitter against Dartmouth on Saturday.
This time, Harvard used the obvious lift of coming from behind against
Rensselaer as motivation for Union. An absolutely magnificent effort
from the bit players on Harvard -- guys like Brian Adams, Doug Sproule,
Geordie Hyland, et al worked their butts off to make up for the losses
of Nielsen, Holmes and Pete McLaughlin (who left the Union game in the
first period with an apparent rib injury).
 
After seeing Matt Garver of RPI and Brent Ozarowski of Union, I still
don't have a favorite for ECAC rookie of the year. Candidates include
Garver (7 pts/11 ECAC games as of 1/31), Ozarowski (11/11), Mikko
Ollila (Clarkson 11/11), Kyle Knopp (Cornell 15/12), Craig Adams
(Harvard 9/13) and Alex Westlund (Yale 3.76/88.2%). I've been most
impressed by Ben Storey at defense for Harvard, but I don't think
voters will appreciate his contributions.
 
Geoff Howell
Drop the Puck Magazine
 
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