Yet, this is not the same team that played Brown nearly three months ago, and Brown is not the same team that lost to Harvard. Senior Brian Eklund, Brown’s goalie at the time, has since been replaced by Danis.

Harvard’s offense has shut down in the past two months. The Crimson’s eight NHL draftees (the most in the ECAC) and highly touted freshman class have failed to generate goals and have oft committed stupid penalties at inopportune times. Sophomore Will Crothers and freshman Dov Grumet-Morris were two of the best goalies in the conference after thirteen games. They are two of the worst, statistically, since exam break.

Nevertheless, Harvard heads into next weekend’s series as favorites once again. Despite the team’s best efforts, the Crimson has a legitimate shot to advance to Lake Placid and even make a run at an ECAC Championship and an automatic NCAA Tournament birth.

Senior captain Pete Capouch realizes Harvard’s fortunate position.

“The playoffs are kind of like a whole new season,” Capouch said. “Obviously, we would have liked to beat Yale and Princeton to have some momentum going into playoffs. But we just have to regroup and try to play our best hockey of the year. It is always better to be playing at home in the playoffs, and I expect that we’ll be ready to compete hard in the series.”

The Harvard men’s hockey team heads into the playoffs as cold as ice. Only in hockey could that be a good thing.