Dad Donato full of pride
No Crimson curse for son
In the winter of 1993, Ted Donato was a rookie Bruins forward in his first full season of what would be a 13-year NHL career. It was also a year in which Harvard, Donato’s alma mater, captured its 10th Beanpot Tournament championship.
Donato, and anyone else with an allegiance to Harvard, would have called you crazy if you’d suggested that it would take 24 years for the Crimson to get their next Beanpot title — or 13 seasons for him to bag one as their coach.
As even casual fans of the annual February tourney know, Boston University has won the majority of the Beanpots in all these intervening years. And there certainly had to be plenty of folks who figured the Terriers, their roster loaded with NHL prospects — a record four guys picked in the first round of last summer’s draft — might have their way against the Crimson last night at the Garden.
Instead, it was Harvard, with a terrific three-zone effort from the first minute to the last, that skated away with the trophy after a convincing 6-3 victory against the Terriers.
Ted wasn’t the only member of the Donato family who had himself a night to remember. His son Ryan scored a goal that has to rank with the prettiest all season in college hockey, a goal that more or less ended any hopes of a late BU comeback, making it 5-2 at 12:47 of the third period.
There were those around town who criticized the Bruins for using a second-round pick on Ryan Donato in 2014, crying that it was a selection born in some sort of nepotism. No one’s saying that stuff any longer — not as Donato turns into an excellent NHL prospect.
Indeed, the Crimson lacked the bigname players sprinkled up and down the BU lineup. But it turned out that big names didn’t amount to much when the other team wanted the game more.
“That’s a team that will be around at the end of the season, in the final four and all that kind of stuff that great teams get the chance to try and accomplish,” Ted Donato said of the Terriers. “But I thought up and down the lineup, we have some pretty good hockey players, as well. I really felt we won a lot of the races for pucks. Yes, it’s about speed, but I really felt it was also a level of conviction that our leaders brought and everyone else seemed to follow. “This was something they really wanted. They wanted to leave this kind of legacy that they were the group that was going to break the curse, so to speak. I’m really happy for them. I’m happy for the guys throughout the lineup. But that senior class has a special place for me.”
Donato’s team was put to a stern test with the way this game unfolded. The Crimson, skating better and winning battles, dominated the first 20 minutes — to the tune of an 18-2 edge in shots — but only led 1-0.
And BU came out in the second period and potted two quick goals to take the lead at 4:22. Maybe the Crimson could have crumbled, but they showed no sign of it, continuing to pile up enormous edges in puck possession, zone time and shots (46-17 for the night).
Harvard tied the game on a Luke Esposito goal, took a 3-2 lead on Nathan Krusko’s second goal, then drew clear via a score from Alex Kerfoot and Donato’s play-of-the-day beauty.
Donato, the dad, wasn’t about to go overboard talking about his son’s sprint down the right side, cut to the middle and brilliant finish. But Donato, the coach, knew how big the goal was.
“It was obviously a big goal,” he said. “We knew BU was going to keep coming, and they have so many talented guys. We wanted to play smart, stay out of the box and keep applying pressure. It was a big goal. I don’t think any of the goals (last night) I would characterize as anything (else). But that made the light at the end of the tunnel look brighter.”
Ted Donato talked about growing up in the Boston area and playing, “a million street hockey games being one of these Beanpot teams.”
No doubt he dreamed about winning the tourney, which he did as a player. As a coach, he had to wait awhile.