Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey

Harvard University team in 1901.

The Crimson hockey team was founded in 1898 making the team one of the oldest college ice hockey teams in the United States. The team played on a local pond and played their first recorded intercollegiate game against Brown on January 19, 1898, at Franklin Field in Boston.[4] The rivalry is the oldest continuing college hockey series in the country.[5] The Crimson lost that game 0–6 but the Brown-Harvard rivalry continued and later become US college hockey's oldest rivalry.[5]

The two teams played again the following winter; Brown won that game by a score of 2–1. The Crimson would get their first recorded win in program history in 1900 with a 10–1 win over MIT.[6] That same season Harvard beat Brown in back to back games. On February 26, 1900, Harvard played Yale for the first time.[4] The game was held at the St. Nicholas Rink in New York and the 4–5 loss was the Crimson's only loss of the 1899–1900 season.[4][6]

In 1903 Alfred Winsor became the team's first official head coach.[4] The team previously used captains in a player-coach role, including Winsor who served as the Crimson's captain from 1901 to 1902.[4] Under Winsor the team recorded a 22-game winning streak that spanned five and a half seasons and lasted from January 10, 1903, to Jan 19, 1907.[4][7]

Harvard hockey game at Harvard Stadium in 1910.

After beginning the program on a pond and playing on various outdoor rinks constructed on campus over the seasons, the university constructed two ice rinks inside Harvard Stadium for the 1904 season and move some old bleachers to the side of the rink. The university also began charging admission for select important games for the first time.[4] The Crimson later moved home games to the Boston Arena, the first indoor ice rink in Boston and one of the oldest in the United States.[8] A few years after moving into the Boston Arena, on March 14, 1913, the Harvard University Athletic Committee voted to make ice hockey a major sport in the university's athletic department.[4] Following the 1917 season Alfred Winsor stepped down as the head coach after compiling a 124–29 record in 15 seasons as Crimson head coach. The following season was suspended because of World War I with the team resuming play in 1919.[4]

From 1919 to 1921 the team went back to playing at outdoor rinks after the Boston Arena caught fire in the fall of 1918. The Crimson returned to the arena after it was rebuilt in the fall of 1921.[4] Following three seasons again with no official coach, William H. Claflin became the second coach in program history in 1921[9] On March 7, 1923, William H. Claflin and captain George Owen '23 substituted entire forward lines instead of individuals, in the first recorded use of a line change. The idea proved successful as Harvard defeated Yale 2–1 in overtime.[4][10]

On March 12, 1930, Harvard and Yale played the final game of a three-game series to end the 1930 season. The two teams split the first two games of the series.[4] The game was called off at midnight due to blue laws despite the teams being tied in the third overtime and a record crowd in excess of 14,000.[11] The resulting tie caused the two rivals to share the 1929–30 intercollegiate title.[4]

Joseph Stubbs became the fourth head coach in program history starting with the 1927–28 season.[9] He stepped down after the 1937–38 season with a record of 95–43–6 record in 11 seasons. Stubbs led the team to four seasons of double-digit wins, including two back-to-back 11-win seasons in 1930–31 and 1931–32, as well as a 12-win season in 1935–36,[9] and leading the Crimson to a 15–1 record in 1936–37.[4]

The Quadrangular League was created for the 1933–34 with Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth, the league is considered the predecessor to the Ivy League.[4] In 1936, the Council of Ivy Group Presidents agreed on the formal formation of the League, however the agreement did not go into effect until the 1955–56 season.[4]

The program was suspended for two years during World War II but then returned to the ice for an abbreviated 1945–46 season.[9] In 1950 Ralph "Cooney" Weiland became head coach, Weiland was a former NHL scoring champion who won Stanley Cups as both a player and a coach with the Boston Bruins. With the hire, Weiland became the first non-alumnus to become head coach of the program.[4]

Weiland guided Harvard to win the inaugural Beanpot hockey tournament on December 27, 1952, when the team defeated Boston University 7–4.[4] A few seasons later Weiland's Crimson team competed in the 1955 NCAA Ice Hockey Tournament. It was the first Frozen Four appearance by the university.[9] The 1954–55 season was highlighted by William J. "Billy" Cleary leading the nation in scoring with 89 points in 21 games, his point total still stands as the Harvard single-season record.[4] Cleary and classmate Chuck Flynn become Harvard's first All-Americans.[4] The team returned to the tournament in 1957 and 1958. All three tournament appearances under Weiland saw the Crimson exit in the semi-final round.[9]

In 1956 Harvard moved into the 2,000-seat Donald C. Watson Rink bringing hockey back on campus from the Boston Arena.[12] The rink was located north of Harvard Stadium.

Harvard became a founding member of the ECAC Hockey League in 1961.[13] That same season, on January 4, 1962, Harvard defeated Northeastern 6–1 for the program's 500th win. In its second season in the ECAC, Harvard won both the league regular season championship and, with a 4–3 overtime win over Boston University, won the league championship.[14]

At the conclusion of the 1970–71 season Weiland left the program after 21 years. He compiled a record of 316–172–17, six Ivy League championships, two ECAC championships, and five NCAA appearances.[4] Weiland was named coach of the year by the American Hockey Coaches Association in 1955 and 1971. In 1971 he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and received the Lester Patrick Award for contribution to hockey in the United States in 1972.[15]

Bill Cleary, former Crimson All-American, took over coaching duties for the 1971–72 season after serving as an assistant coach under Weiland.[4] On March 7, 1975 – Harvard defeated Cornell 6–4 to win the 23rd game of the season,[4] the first 20-win season in program history.[9] Unfortunately, the Crimson would lose in the finals the next day to Boston University and finish fourth in the NCAA Tournament with defeats to Minnesota and the same BU squad. The team was captained by All-American Randy Roth '75, who the previous year was named the Crimson's first ever ECAC Player of the Year.

By the mid-1970s the Donald C. Watson Rink was becoming outdated and the university made plans to construct a new hockey facility. A decision was eventually made to extensively upgrade the facility and in 1978 the walls were removed and the roof was extended before the new arena was installed at a cost exceeding $5-million.[12] During the renovation the Harvard's men's and new women's teams played out of various local rinks in 1978–79. Following the renovation the facility was named after former Harvard hockey player Alec Bright '19.[12] The Bright Hockey Center increased seating by more than 800 people The ice surface was extended by five feet to 204 feet by 87 feet under the direction of coach Cleary.[12]

Cleary lead the Crimson to their third conference tournament championship by beating Providence 4–1 in the ECAC Championship, sending the Crimson to the 1983 NCAA Tournament. Harvard first defeated Michigan State in the two-game quarter-final series by a combined score 9–8.[16] The Crimson advanced to the Frozen Four in Grand Forks, North Dakota and defeated Minnesota 5–3 to send Harvard to the program's first NCAA Championship appearance.[16] The Crimson was defeated in the NCAA final 2–6 by Wisconsin.[16] Despite the loss in the final, Mark Fusco became the school's first Hobey Baker Award winner.[4] Three seasons later, his brother, Scott Fusco became the second player and first ever pair of brothers to win the Award.[4]

Despite a 2–3 overtime loss to Vermont in the ECAC semifinals,[17] the 1988–89 team received an at-large bid to the 1989 NCAA Tournament, the team's fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.[9] Harvard swept Lake Superior State in the two game quarter-final round by a combined score of 9–4.[17] The team advanced to the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minnesota and defeated Michigan State 6–3 before facing the hometown Minnesota Golden Gophers in the championship.[18] Harvard won their first NCAA Championship on April 1, 1989 when senior forward Ed Krayer score in overtime to give the Crimson a 4–3 overtime victory.[4][17] Following the game, Lane MacDonald became the third player in program history to earn the Hobey Baker Award.[4]

Bright Hockey Center during a game versus Cornell.

Bill Cleary ended his tenure as head coach at the conclusion of the 1989–90 season to become the director of athletics.[4] In his 19 seasons as head coach for the program he won 324 games and took the Crimson to the NCAA Tournament nine times, the Frozen Four on seven occasions, and the first National Championship for Harvard.[9] The ECAC regular season championship, the Cleary Cup, is named in honor of the former Harvard player, coach, and Olympian for his efforts to form the conference.[19] Longtime assistant Ronn Tomassoni was named head coach for the following season. In his first season as head coach on February 1, 1992, Tomassoni guided Harvard to the program's 1,000 win when it defeats Union, 7–3.[4]

In 1993 the team returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since their championship in 1989.[9] The Crimson lost in double overtime to Northern Michigan 2–3.[20] Harvard returned to the NCAA the following season in 1994 and advanced to the Frozen Four with a 7–1 win over New Hampshire. In the NCAA semifinal the Crimson fell to Lake Superior State 3–2 in overtime.[21] finishing the year a record of 24–5–4.[4] The appearance in the 1994 Frozen Four was the last of the program to date.[9]

Mark Mazzoleni became the tenth coach in program history on July 16, 1999.[4][9] Under Mazzoleni the Crimson reached the NCAA Tournament three straight seasons in 2001–02, 2002–03, and 2003–04.[9] The streak was extended to five straight seasons, tying a program high, by Ted Donato in 2004–05 and 2005–06.[22]

Adam Fox played for the team as a freshman for the 2016–17 season, led all NCAA defensemen in the nation with 40 points, and led all NCAA defensemen and all NCAA freshmen skaters in assists with 34, as he played 35 games.[23][24] He was named 2017 ECAC Rookie of the Year and Ivy League Rookie of the Year.[23] In his junior 2018–19 season, he was the top scoring player and defenseman in the country with 1.45 points per game.[25][24] He led the NCAA in assists, while also setting school single-season records for assists by a defenseman.[25] Fox also broke the school record for points by a Harvard defenseman in one season, set by Mark Fusco in 1983.[24]

• 1-time NCAA men's champions: 1989

• 25-time Ivy League men's champions: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1974, 1975, 1982, 1983*, 1984*, 1985*, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2016*, 2017[27]

(*denotes tie)

• 10-time ECAC men's champions: 1963, 1971, 1983, 1987, 1994, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2015, 2017
• 11-time ECAC men's regular-season champions: 1963, 1973*, 1975, 1986, 1987, 1988*, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2017*[28]

(*denotes tie)

Championships: 1953, 1955, 1960, 1962, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1981, 1989, 1993, 2017

AHCA First Team All-Americans

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

ECAC Hockey Most Outstanding Player in Tournament

First Team All-ECAC Hockey

Second Team All-ECAC Hockey

Third Team All-ECAC Hockey

ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Minimum 40 games

Statistics current through the start of the 2018–19 season.