Out of quarantine, Canton’s Harding soaks in UMass hockey title

UMass forward Jerry Harding (#22) scores a goal in a game against Northeastern.

It didn’t quite play out the way he pictured that it would, but Canton’s Jerry Harding is now an NCAA hockey national champion — and a deserving one at that — after his UMass teammates came together to help finish the job at this year’s Frozen Four in Pittsburgh.

Harding, a key forward in his first season with the Minutemen, had played in 25 of 27 games leading up to the Frozen Four and had every intention of being on the ice at PPG Paints Arena for the final two before a surprise COVID diagnosis derailed his plans. Making matters worse, three of his roommates — including one of the nation’s top goaltenders as well as the Minutemen’s leading goal scorer — were also ordered into quarantine as they were deemed close contacts.

“It was a complete shock,” Harding said of his diagnosis, which came less than a week after UMass had knocked off Bemidji State in the Bridgeport Regionals to punch their ticket to the big dance. “We hadn’t had a positive test all year and we had done a very good job of just staying with the team and following all the protocols. I literally did the same exact thing as every single person on the team.”

Harding said he was initially optimistic that the test would be found to be a false positive, but was later told that he would be ruled out regardless, per NCAA rules.

“It was crazy how quickly it ended,” he said. “We had been together since August and we literally won just a few days earlier to go to the Frozen Four. It was a horrible feeling, almost like we had lost the game.”

Although devastated he would not be headed to Pittsburgh, Harding said he quickly shifted his focus to supporting his teammates and “rooting on the guys for negative tests.” And when the shorthanded Minutemen knocked off Minnesota-Duluth in overtime in the national semifinals, Harding was especially thrilled for his roommates, who were eligible to come off quarantine in time to suit up for the title game.

Bolstered by these reinforcements, UMass would go on to demolish St. Cloud State 5-0 to claim its first ever national championship, capping off a storybook season that also included the program’s first ever Hockey East title. Five different Minutemen found the back of the net in the win, while goalie Filip Lindberg (25 saves) recorded his fourth career tournament shutout, a new NCAA record.

For Harding, who streamed the game on his laptop from his Canton bedroom, there was nothing but elation as he celebrated via Facetime with his teammates while they stormed the ice and hoisted the national championship trophy. All of the hard work and sacrifice, the grueling practices, the time away from family and friends, all felt worth it in that moment, he said.

Then again, Harding said he knew he had found a home at UMass almost immediately after transferring there from Providence at the start of this season. He had built a strong connection with the coaching staff during the recruiting process and found that he meshed well with his teammates, who he described as hardworking, high-character guys who all love the game of hockey.

Harding said it all flows from a team-first culture established by head coach Greg Carvel, who recently took home USCHO Coach of the Year honors.

“The good thing about playing for Coach Carvel is it doesn’t matter who you are,” he said. “There are no [anointed] superstars. There are no promises and no shortcuts.”

Jerry Harding poses with the NCAA national championship trophy.

Harding said he came into the season “pissed off and embarrassed” after a challenging freshman year at Providence and committed himself to getting bigger, faster and stronger with the goal of earning steady playing time for the Minutemen. He would find himself in the lineup for game one against UConn and maintained a key role throughout the season, finishing with two goals and four assists, including one helper each in both the Hockey East Tournament and the NCAA Bridgeport Regional.

Prior to playing college hockey, Harding played for a season in the USHL, scoring eight goals and 11 assists in 54 games split between Omaha and Cedar Rapids. A fixture on the Canton Youth Hockey circuit in his younger days, he also suited up for the Bulldogs for two seasons and went on to finish his high school career at Noble & Greenough, where he registered 69 points in 72 games.

Now a national collegiate champion, Harding said he has every intention of finishing out his career with the Minutemen and he is looking forward to making the rounds with the championship trophy this spring and summer. Just this past week, Harding joined some of his teammates and coaches at the Massachusetts State House for a meet and greet with Governor Charlie Baker, and the team has been invited to attend a Bruins game courtesy of B’s legend Ray Bourque.

While many of his teammates live in other states or other countries, Harding said he is happy to attend college close to home and is looking forward to having a “normal” summer with family and friends. “I’m a homebody,” he admitted. “I love being home. I love Canton, and I think Boston is the best city in the world.”

As for his long-term hockey aspirations, Harding said he hopes to play professionally one day and would love to follow in the footsteps of other Minutemen alum who have made it to the NHL, including former teammate Zac Jones, who is slated to join Canton’s Kevin Rooney in New York after signing a contract with the Rangers. Another teammate, defenseman Marc Del Gaizo, also recently landed an NHL deal after signing a three-year contract with the Nashville Predators.

“I think everyone in college hockey wants to play pro,” said Harding. “We’ll see how everything goes. But I definitely want to play hockey until they have to rip the skates off my feet.”

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