BOSTON — In a room with two first-year head coaches and another in his second campaign, Harvard Crimson men’s hockey coach Ted Donato is somewhat of an elder statesman entering the 70th annual Beanpot Tournament. Donato is in the middle of his 19th season with the Crimson, after all.
And Donato, who was hired as head coach in 2004 long after winning an NCAA championship as a player at Harvard, has noticed the evolution of the Beanpot Tournament over the years. In early January, for example, NESN announced that Dunkin’ will be the tournament’s first-ever title sponsor with the event set to start Feb. 6 at TD Garden.
“Well, I would say the first thing would be that we took the red line to the game back in the day, so a little bit different,” Donato joked during Beanpot media day at TD Garden on Monday.
“But I think the meaning of it is certainly the same,” Donato continued. “Obviously with the great coverage and the fact it’s really shown internationally is incredible, but it means the same to the players and the university and it’s bragging rights locally. And quite frankly, there’s some fans that think this is the championship of Boston.”
Donato has helped the Crimson to one Beanpot title during his time at the helm. Harvard’s win in 2017 broke a 24-season stretch. The Crimson, however, currently sit in second place of the Eastern College Athletic Conference with an impressive 15-5-1 overall record after having won 13 of their 16 league contests.
“Obviously there’s a lot more hockey to be played on whether it’s the Hockey East championship, the ECAC championship and the NCAA tournament, but there’s no denying that success in the Beanpot has been a real stepping stone to success at the end of the season,” Donato said. “So everybody’s looking forward to it.”
Donato, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 1989 NCAA Frozen Four when Harvard won the national title, was selected by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round of the 1987 NHL Draft. The Massachusetts native went on to play 13 seasons in the NHL, including his final campaign with the Bruins in 2003.
“Yeah, it’s definitely a challenge to try to stay focused on the on the games at hand,” Donato said. “… But this is certainly something that we circle on the calendar. It’s just an incredible opportunity. We have a lot of local kids this year so guys are excited to have a chance to meet at the Beanpot.”
The 2023 Dunkin’ Beanpot Tournament will kick off Feb. 6. Boston College faces Donato’s Harvard team in Game 1 at 5 p.m. ET on NESN before Northeastern takes on Boston University in Game 2 at 8 p.m.
