Louis Leblanc Taking His Talents to Montreal

After a couple of months of speculation, it's now official. Harvard's top scorer, rookie Louis Leblanc, will forgo his remaining three years of college eligibility in order to sign a three year professional contract with the Montreal Canadiens. It is believed that Leblanc will be sent by the Habs to the Montreal Juniors of the QMJHL, who earlier this summer traded for the young Quebec native, at least according to RDS Canada (link, French), as well as TSN. Both TSN and the Canadiens own website confirm the signing, though as per the club policy, no terms of the deal were released.

For Harvard, as we highlighted when these rumors first started swirling, this leaves the Crimson in a pinch. Last year's 9th placed Harvard team will now have to replace its top two centers (with Doug Rogers graduating), with no incoming forwards scheduled for this year's incoming class. That leaves P.O. Michaud and Colin Moore as the two most experienced centermen, but the two are injury risks and missed 25 games combined last season, presumably for health reasons, and there is little depth behind them in terms of quantity. We expect to see Alex Fallstrom and Luke Greiner to get increased time at center, along with David Valek, but not a great situation for a team that struggled at the face off dot. Harvard now also loses their top scorer, and it's top productive line, the West Island Connection, will need to be redistributed, hurting chemistry. With no exhibition game currently on tap (though we still believe one is in the works), Coach Donato will no longer be able to rely on the instant chemistry of that line to give a boost against Union and RPI, teams that will have played for about a month when they come to the Bright Center to open Harvard's regular season and ECAC campaigns. Just about everything will have to be recreated on the drawing board, and the Crimson had plenty of work to do anyway, as they were 47th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 2.48 goals per game. They need to get the puck in the net more, and now they need to find other players to do it. Lastly, of course, there's a question of recruiting- a first round NHL prospect is a rare get for Harvard, but it will be even harder now to get that level of talent when the whole hockey world has seen Leblanc get out of Cambridge after a whole year, with the collective opinion of the mainstream hockey media world behind him. It will be interesting to see the level of talent Coach Donato can bring in for future years in spite of that.

We'll have more on the Louis Leblanc story here on the blog and on Twitter.com/WHRBSports as things get closer to our season previews for hockey, or if any news breaks.  As for Harvard fans (or fans of rivals) let us know what you think- do you think Louis should have stayed? And what's your emotion toward this signing? Let us know in the comments or send a tweet to @whrbsports.

Here's hoping this decision works out for Louis.

Leblanc Leaving? Looking Likely

If you follow our Twitter account and have a working knowledge of the French language, then you know that for days, the buzz in Montreal has been all about what will happen this summer with Montreal Canadiens prospect and Harvard forward Louis Leblanc. Rumors began swirling around in Quebec that Leblanc was soon to depart for a pro contract in the AHL or would head north of the border to play in Major Juniors. None of the signs were looking good for the Crimson, but Leblanc had continued to state that while he was looking at other options, he was expecting to be in Cambridge in the fall. But, a major trade today in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, featuring the rights for the Crimson's leading scorer last year, means the Magic 8 ball has switched from "Ask Again Later" to "Outlook Not So Good" when asked if the talented center will be in a Crimson uniform next year. Below, we'll take you through the week of news and analyze today's trade, and give a look at what losing Leblanc means for the Cantabs.

View From the Booth: Crimson drop two in two different ways

Harvard hockey skated against Dartmouth and Brown on Sunday and Tuesday, and dropped their tilt against the Big Green 6-2 and their meeting with the Bears 4-1. The two results are disappointing for different reasons, which we explore after the jump. Read on to get our five thoughts, as well as some Canadian national team news regarding Louis Leblanc.

Hockey Headlines - September 29

After a quiet first few weeks of September, there's been an influx of Harvard hockey-related news in the last couple of days.

After the jump, you'll find the preseason ECAC picks, some good news about a recent alum, and even more good news about a star freshman.

Hockey Headlines - August 27

Two bits of Harvard hockey-related news to report - one regarding incoming freshman Louis Leblanc, and another on college hockey jerseys.

The Winnipeg Free Press notes that today is freshman move-in day at Harvard, and so Louis Leblanc is transitioning to another stage in his career. Says Leblanc of arriving in Cambridge: "It won't be the same. Nobody will recognize me, and it might do a bit of good to relax a little bit, prove myself again."

Expectations are high for Leblanc in Canada, and though he will probably only be at Harvard for two seasons - these years are critical to his development as a player, and we'll see how much of an adjustment to the college game he'll have to make.

The Hockey News is surveying jerseys at all levels of hockey, and today they're ranking ECAC jerseys. Harvard's threads come in 10th place, ahead of only Colgate and Cornell.

But I take greater issue with the top of the rankings. In second place is Union, and one spot behind them is Princeton. The Dutchmen's uniforms are a shapeless and bland mish-mash of crimson and black - not clever or original as THN calls them. I could never put Princeton's on-ice look above any school, simply because I believe orange and black is an unfortunate color combination that can never look good (see the Cincinnati Bengals over the years).

So I'll concede that Harvard's threads might not be inspired or unique, but in my opinion the Crimson has a crisp and collegiate look that works just fine - and much better than the Dutchmen or Tigers.

Now, draw up a third jersey in black and crimson, and then I'd argue for higher placement.