It might have taken for the calendar to turn to 2010 but the promise of a talented team and one of the brightest prospects in ECAC Hockey are starting to show. The Harvard Crimson have won three straight conference games and first-round NHL Draft Pick Louis Leblanc is the reigning ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week after scoring two goals in each of his last two games – Crimson victories over Yale and Dartmouth.
Louis Leblanc
For Leblanc, the college adjustment, a return to health and a bit of motivation have combined at just the right time. His recent four-goal binge has moved him into the team lead in that category with eight and he is second overall in points with 14, in 14 games played.
Leblanc’s college career got off to a flying start. He had at least one point in each of his first five games and totaled two goals and seven points in that stretch. Things quieted after that, as he had just three points in his next seven games. During that time, Leblanc battled a wrist injury and participated in Canada’s Selection Camp prior to the World Junior Championship in mid-December. Leblanc went to camp still healing that injury and hadn’t played meaningful hockey in two weeks leading up to the camp. He was one of the last cuts from the team – and is eligible to play in next year’s event – but the idea of rejection stung.
“I was a little rusty and didn’t have the best camp but they told me to keep working and to come back next year,” Leblanc said. “It was still the first time for me getting cut from a team and I think that left me with a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I want to show them that I deserved to play on that team.”
The Crimson and Leblanc are finding their way. Leblanc is playing on a highly-skilled line with Michael Biega and Alex Killorn and there has been strong leadership from senior captain Alex Biega. Leblanc grew up nearby the Biega family and has been lifelong friends. Brothers Alex, Michael and Danny Biega are all regulars in the Crimson lineup.
After struggling in the 2008-09 season and crashing out in the first round of the league playoffs, Harvard started its 2009-10 campaign with a road win at Dartmouth and things were looking up. But a 10-game winless streak followed during November and December and it appeared the Crimson were headed for another disappointing year.
“It was tough. We knew we had a good team and had good players, but we didn’t have a great start,” Leblanc said. “For sure the mood’s happy right now. Things are starting to click, we’re improving as a team and we want to leavue upstate New York with four points this weekend, but it will be tough. We want to get back in the race for a top-four spot.”
Even Harvard’s only two losses during its last five games – back-to-back defeats at Minnesota – yielded some positives. It was the team’s first road trip of the year via plane and allowed the Crimson to spend some quality time together and focus for the second half. An increased sense of team camaraderie within social and academic settings has the Crimson poised for another second-half run in ECAC Hockey.
GOOD, BAD, UGLY
The Good: Union keeps rolling along and Jason Walters is pacing the Dutchmen offense. He has a 13-game point-scoring streak. The Bad: Dartmouth dropped the annual Battle of the RiverStone game against in-state rival New Hampshire for the sixth time in nine meetings. There was one tie. The Ugly: Fans at ECAC Hockey rinks over the past week and in upcoming games have been and will be sure to buy a program to re-acquaint themselves with the rosters of their local clubs. Six of the teams haven’t played a home game since or prior to Dec. 11.
