Harder Era Underway

Mike Harder ’97 had a busy summer. 

Days after he took the job to become the next head coach of Colgate Men’s Hockey, he was on a Zoom call with the returning members of the team, roughly 20 in all. It was the start of the summer, and everyone had returned home.

“It was a massive Zoom call,” Harder said. “I got to see every player’s face. Some were working their construction jobs, some were in the gym, some had the rink in the background.

“It was great to connect and to see them. Some of them I had recruited, so it was good to see them again. It was special.”

It was his first time meeting his players. He congratulated them for winning the ECAC championship in March, and talked about his excitement as a Colgate hockey alumnus in watching the team’s magical run toward the Whitelaw Cup. 

He spoke about his vision and goals for the upcoming season. He expressed his excitement in meeting each member of the team in person. The meeting was not going to wait until the team returned to campus for the fall semester.

When the Zoom call was complete, Harder used a map to figure out the best way to visit the homes of his players, including first-years and recruits who were a season or two away from joining the Raiders. In all, he had 31 stops to make. 

He began in western Canada and made his way east, with stops in Minnesota and Michigan. It was an effort that was done in pieces, visiting a few student-athletes at a time before returning to his home in Nevada to prepare for his move to Hamilton, N.Y.

For Harder, it was a special moment to pull up at each home, knock on the door, and be greeted by a fellow Raider. He met the entire family, stayed for lunch or dinner, and talked Colgate Hockey. 

His goal was to learn as much as possible about each student-athlete and begin establishing a relationship.

“I wanted to see every student-athlete in their natural habitat,” Harder said. “I wanted to meet their parents. I wanted to see their dog or their cat. I wanted to know everything about them.

“It was wonderful to make that connection. For us, it was about building trust and a little culture building — understanding where they’re coming from and where I’m coming from.”

And from there, it was on to the next player, who might have been a few towns or a province away. It was an arduous job, but Harder would not have it any other way.

As an undergrad, Harder played at Colgate and after graduation became an assistant coach under Don Vaughan, who stressed the value of knowing each student-athlete and where they came from.

“The importance of getting to know people and their families and where they come from — Don instilled that in me even as a player,” Harder said. “He spent a lot of time on that. That’s really important. That’s why we find ourselves in a really good place right now with a group of young men who are exceptional.”

Colgate Hockey Star Returns

There are many reasons why Harder was the right choice to be the next Donald F. Vaughan Head Men’s Hockey Coach.

He’s been heralded for his high energy and enthusiasm, his player development, his passion for the sport, and his ability to connect with players. 

But Harder brings another quality that separated him from the pack: his love for Colgate. 

In 1994, he arrived at Colgate as a kid from a tiny town in Manitoba. He went on to become the program’s all-time leading scorer with 214 points. When he graduated with a degree in international relations, he was ranked fourth all-time in goals with 88 and second in assists with 126. He was a Hobey Baker finalist in 1997.

At the time, his head coach was Vaughan, who led the Raiders from behind the bench for three decades before retiring in May. After Harder’s stellar playing career at Colgate, he went on to play 13 seasons professionally across North America and Europe. 

He returned to Colgate in 2013-14 and spent six seasons as an assistant coach. In five of those seasons, he also served as the director of recruiting. 

As an assistant coach, Harder earned Vaughan’s trust. He was granted freedom to introduce new ideas and develop his own voice with the team. 

Now he’s back, but this time he will helm the men’s hockey program. He’s tasked with building its future, and continuing the proud history and culture that was established by Vaughan, his former coach and mentor. 

Harder said he’s honored to return to a program that has meant so much to him. As alumni, he’s always wanted an opportunity to help Colgate, and he’s thrilled to do it as the head coach of men’s hockey.

“I always hoped I could contribute to the Colgate community,” Harder said. “A lot of alums feel that way. We want to contribute and make things better. And I’m super thrilled to help provide those things.”

Gearing Up For New Season

While he slowly met the team, Harder found time to move his family to Hamilton, N.Y. He was living in Nevada, where he founded and directed Hockey Club Reno Ice. He spent four years building the program from the ground up.

As a professional player in Europe, Harder played in Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden, and Italy. The experience made his move to New York easier.

“My wife and I are used to moving from city to city,” Harder said. “When I was applying for my U.S. citizenship, we had to write down how many cities we lived in in the last 20 years, and it was over 35.”

After meeting his team and moving to Hamilton, Harder embarked on another important job: recruiting. 

He spent two weeks in August on the road, scouting for players who could join the program in the future. Much has changed with recruiting over the years. In the past, coaches only recruited players who joined the following season.

Today, coaches recruit athletes who are still a few years away from joining their program. And even if a player commits to a college, coaches will continue to recruit them until they walk through the door. 

When meeting a potential player, Harder spoke of the energy and enthusiasm of the team’s young coaching staff. He spoke of the team’s recent conference championship and the eagerness to defend the title.

“It’s great to know that we can recruit kids into a winning tradition, a winning team,” Harder said. 

Now with the fall semester underway, Harder can focus on developing the skill of his student-athletes and preparing for the upcoming season. Thanks to the work of his predecessor, Harder won’t have to spend much time on building culture.

“With the culture we already have, and all the work Coach Vaughan did to create that amazing culture, I don’t have to spend time — and nor do the other coaches have to spend time — in the locker room or the lounge being around the guys too much to change the culture because we have it already,” Harder said. “We can focus more on on ice and special teams.”

The Raiders kick off the season on Oct. 7 when they host UConn for back-to-back matches. Harder is inheriting a non-conference schedule that Vaughan created. The schedule includes matches against Sacred Heart, UMass Lowell, Maine, Niagara, and LIU. 

Harder said he’s excited about the schedule.

“In Division I men’s hockey, anybody could beat anybody,” he said. “In the last 10 years, if you look at who has won the national championship, three ECAC teams have won it and not one Big Ten team has won it in that time frame. Any night, anyone could win. Goaltending can often change the result really quickly.”