There and Back Again: Steve Michalek

In the wake of a crushing 6-0 defeat to Northeastern in the first round of the Beanpot on Feb. 3, the silence in the Harvard men’s ice hockey team’s locker room suggested one thing: change was now necessary.

Having dropped five of its last six contests, the Crimson had things go from bad to worse, leaving the team in desperate need of a spark. With his squad sitting 10th in the ECAC at 6-12-3 overall, Harvard coach Ted Donato '91 looked to the end of his bench in search of a solution.

For much of the season, then-senior Raphael Girard had maintained a stranglehold on the starting netminding job, posting an impressive .924 save percentage on the year. But after a poor showing at Madison Square Garden against Yale on Jan. 11, the senior began to fall out of favor. Following the team’s latest loss at TD Garden, Donato elected to make a switch to then-sophomore Steve Michalek.

For Michalek, this was nothing new. The 6’2” goaltender from Glastonbury, Conn., had been down this road once before—just not this side of the street.

As a freshman, Michalek impressed right out of the gate, beating out Girard for the starting job and holding it for over three months. The rookie started 20 of the team’s first 23 games in 2011-2012, compiling a 6-6-8 record over that span.

However, after surrendering three first-period goals to Quinnipiac that February, Michalek discovered that his job status was hardly secure. The rookie was pulled in favor of Girard, who rose to the occasion in relief, stopping all 26 shots that came his way and making a strong case for playing time in the process.

“It felt great,” Girard said after the game. “I always have to be ready to jump in the game, and I just used my opportunity and played well.”

Liking what he saw from the Quebecois sophomore, Donato gave Girard the start in nine of the team’s final 12 games, including all five of its postseason contests. The Crimson went 5-2-2 in those matchups, making it to the ECAC championship game, which Michalek watched from the bench.

Fast forward two years to 2014, and the script had been flipped.

Four days following the Beanpot debacle, Michalek reclaimed his position between the pipes for a home tilt against Dartmouth and never looked back. The revitalized sophomore made 21 saves that night, the first shutout of his collegiate career.

With 56 saves over the course of the following week, Michalek seized the starting job for good. The goaltender aided the Crimson to a win over Boston University in the Beanpot consolation game and then another on the road against No. 14/15 Clarkson.

Led by this new presence in net, Harvard had its first three-game winning streak since 2011, when Michalek was watching Girard orchestrate the team’s improbable playoff run from the bench.

But now, it was Michalek in the spotlight—something that the fifth-best goalkeeping prospect in North America according to Central Scouting envisioned when he declined offers from several schools, including Yale, to play for the Crimson back in 2010.

The netminder was well prepared for this kind of attention, having arrived in campus with plenty of experience already under his belt. In 2010, Michalek suited up for the United States U-18 team in Slovakia, starting three of the team’s five contests at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament. He also received the nod in the gold medal game against Canada, in which he saved 23 of 24 shots in a 1-0 defeat.

The following summer, shortly after graduating from the Loomis Chaffe School, Michalek reached the pinnacle of his pre-collegiate career. In the sixth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, the Minnesota Wild selected Michalek with the 161st overall pick.

Playing in the NHL had always been a dream for Michalek, so there was no shortage of excitement from the goaltender after the draft. But following Michalek’s first couple years of college, that excitement had begun to evolve into uncertainty.

After Girard took over netminding duties in 2012, Michalek’s role shrunk significantly. Furthermore, the Connecticut native took a leave of absence the following year, instead playing for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL.

Thus, when Michalek returned to campus for his sophomore year, no one knew what the future held. But once given the chance, Michalek quickly provided an answer, posting a 1.66 GAA over his final seven regular season starts to get the Crimson, as well as himself, back on track.

“I try to take it as motivation,” Michalek said about his draft selection. “I obviously want to play at the next level, but if you start getting caught up in thinking about the future too much, it’s just unnecessary pressure.”

Aiming to reach that next level, Michalek will look to make this season his best one yet. For the first time in his time at Harvard, Michalek will no longer have Girard by his side. The junior’s competition will include classmate Peter Traber and freshman Merrick Madsen, who have just four collegiate starts between them.

“Ever since [Michalek has] played here, he’s played a lot of minutes,” junior defenseman Patrick McNally said. “It’s not like losing Girard means we’re going to throw a kid in there who doesn’t have a lot of experience. He’s a great goalie, and we know he’s going to be a big part of our team this year.”

With the other goalies’ lack of experience, Michalek surely will have a firm grip on the starting job. But given what the goaltender has been through in the past, Michalek is not jumping to any conclusions.

“It’s no one’s job, especially with the college season the way it is,” Michalek said. “Whoever’s winning is going to play, so it’s my job to keep winning.”

Predicted to finish ninth out of 12 in the ECAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll, Harvard will need Michalek to do just that in order to become a legitimate threat within the conference. In the goaltender’s opinion, that will not be a problem. He feels that the Steve Michalek who appeared down the stretch a year ago should be the one standing in net all season long in 2014-2015.

“I think everyone always has something to prove,” Michalek said. “We have a lot of high expectations for ourselves. We’re going into our season expecting to contend for the league title, and that’s all we’re really concerned about.”

—Staff writer Jake T. Meagher can be reached at jmeagher@college.harvard.edu.