Union, picked to finish 11th in the league by the coaches, plays its first ECAC games this weekend at St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Leaman’s varsity boasts two solid goaltenders, sophomores Kris Mayotte and Tim Roth, not to mention the ECAC’s leading scorer, sophomore Scott Seney (11 points).
“We don’t have that one player who’s going to change things for us, but the guys realize that they’re going to win and lose as a team,” Leaman said. “That’s really impressed me so far.”
Brains Behind the Bench
After a busy off-season that included coaching the US Under-17 National Team at the Five Nations Cup in Slovakia and a hectic first couple weeks as a Harvard assistant that included recruiting stops in Central Canada, Gene Reilly has finally unpacked his bags in Watertown and is hanging his skates and whistle at Bright Hockey Center.
Reilly is a well-traveled coach, with extensive experience at both the professional and college levels, not to mention a national championship ring from his work as an assistant at Maine in 1999.
Already, the Harvard players have noticed his expertise.
“He knows everything, and he’s been everywhere,” senior Tim Pettit said last week. “He knows so much about the game. He’s so good with the details, and the little techniques. It’s going to start showing over the weeks in our offensive strategy.”
Former Harvard winger Chris Bala ’01 has a unique perspective on Reilly’s coaching abilities, since he played for him during each of the last two seasons, with Ottawa Senators affiliates in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Binghamton, N.Y.
“I think he’s a great fit for that program,” Bala said. “The team really seems to be moving in the right direction, and he’s got a ton of experience to bring to the table. He’s very good with player development—I know I benefited from that. He’s going to be really good for the kids there. I hope they really buy into what he says.”
Bala said Reilly worked almost exclusively with forwards during his time in the Ottawa organization, which allowed him to tap into his expertise even more.
“He’s the kind of guy who’d grab you after practice and have you stay to work on a certain skill to use,” Bala said. “He knows a lot, and he loves passing around that knowledge.”
—Staff writer Jon Paul Morosi can be reached at morosi@fas.harvard.edu.
Editor’s Note: This column will appear regularly on the Harvard Hockey page.