One to Forget

Yale and Harvard met for a men's ice hockey showdown at Madison Square Garden for the third time since 2014 (YWAA photos)

It wasn't supposed to pan out the way it did.  This was supposed to be the third renewal of The Game on Ice at Madison Square Garden, having been titled "Rivalry on Ice" by non-Ivy League organizers. After Yale won the first two Rivalry games at MSG in front of excited, large crowds in 2014 and 2015, the Midtown Manhattan, right-after-the-holidays showdown went on hiatus for various reasons. 

Organizers decided to try it again in 2020. Bring the euphoria of the The Football Game to men's ice hockey. Over 10,000 Yale and Harvard fans (mostly Yale) filled just about all of the lower bowl of the Garden and prepared for a fierce confrontation.  Both schools brought their bands and their raucous cheers and laced the Garden in crimson and blue and the requisite "Y" or "H" banners and sweaters. Young alumni and students who had not yet returned to campus from the holidays joined older alumni.  Yale president Peter Salovey '86 Ph.D. joined his counterpart from Harvard to drop the first ceremonial puck.

The Crimson scored a first goal. And then a second, a third, a fourth...

The Bulldogs, coached by Keith Allain '80 (who presided over Yale's NCAA championship in the past decade), were shell-shocked.  Late in the game, tempers flared.  There was a scuffle in the goal. Yale just wanted to end the Garden nightmare and return to regroup in New Haven. 

To their credit, most Yale fans stayed until the end, just hoping their team would plant one puck in the goal to avoid a shutout.  Final score, Harvard 7, Yale 0.  A Game to forget. 

The 2020 roster includes Westchester's Eddie Massaro '21 from White Plains, who also played at Rye Country Day.