Intangibles

Maine certainly has more NCAA experience than Harvard, and is making its fourth straight trip to the Big Dance and sixth overall to the Centrum for an NCAA East Regional.

However, none of those berths came with Whitehead at the helm. He took over this fall following the death of Former Coach Shawn Walsh on Sept. 24 due to complications from renal cell carcinoma.

Whitehead will be making his first appearance in the NCAAs as a head coach, but has assisted behind the bench during tournament games at both Maine and UMass-Lowell.

Mazzoleni is making his second trip to the NCAAs and first in the East Regionals.

Mazzoleni took Miami (Ohio) to the NCAA West Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich. in 1997 before losing to Cornell, 4-2.

Prior to that, Mazzoleni led Division-III Wisconsin-Stevens Point to three consecutive titles in 1989, ’90, and ’91.

So it seems that Maine has the more experienced team, but Harvard may have the more experienced coach.

And maybe that’s best for the Crimson. Mazzoleni has been here before and has what it takes to guide them.

Mazzoleni’s team, though, is young enough not to worry too much about what he—or anyone else, for that matter—has to say right now. Harvard is playing with a hot goaltender and nothing to lose, and that’s the best place for a hockey team to be.

“Harvard has to play their game,” Gaudet said. “They skate well. They have excellent forwards and a pretty solid defense and goaltending. At a NCAA level, they just have to go into the game and get after it. They have to play an aggressive game and take it to Maine. [Mazzoleni] will probably have them playing a good skating game.

“I think they match up well with Maine,” Gaudet continued. “I hope that they do well. I’d like to see them advance. They’ve got a nice team. They deserved to win the [league] championship and be in the national tournament.”

The Crimson is confident that it can beat anyone in the nation right now. I’ve learned not to doubt it.