After a freshman season at Harvard that included a stint as the leading scorer for the United States at the Olympics in Beijing, Sean Farrell is taking his game to another level.
With a 7-11-18 line in 11 games, Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) is averaging 1.64 points per game, second in the country.
He’s coming off a weekend where he set up a goal and scored in overtime in a 2-1 win at Cornell on Friday and then scored twice and added an assist in a 6-4 loss at Colgate on Saturday.
As the Crimson hit the semester break with an 8-2-1 record, Farrell has 14 points in his last six games.
“We’re sitting with two losses through the first half of the year. I think in the grand scheme of things we’re pretty happy about that. There’s still a ton of room to grow, which is good, but at the same time we were able to grind out some wins early in the year when maybe we weren’t at our best yet,” he said.
A fourth-round pick by Montreal in 2020, Farrell says last season was one he’ll never forget.
“The year in general was such a whirlwind. Starting out in college with COVID kind of still going on and all the uncertainty around that and then in the second half to be fortunate enough to make the Olympic team and head to China for a few weeks,” he said.
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“And then I thought my season was over after we lost to Mankato in the NCAAs and I got a call a month later saying I could be going to (the IIHF World Championships in Finland) and that ended up working out. It was just a crazy year of hockey. I was really fortunate for those experiences because it opened my eyes to how it gets harder at each level as you go up.”
Befitting an economics major at Harvard, Farrell is a cerebral player.
“First off, I’m a playmaker. I like to get the puck to my teammates and hopefully find them in spots where they can score. Growing up, my vision’s always been my best attribute,” he said.
“Now I think I’m just trying to round out my game a little bit more and become more of a 200-foot player. I try and do the little things right, be a guy that’s reliable on the (penalty kill) and can play in all situations as well.”
Farrell, who turned 21 in November, is undersized at 5-foot-9, 175 pounds, but doesn’t believe that’s held him back, an opinion that’s certainly borne out by his numbers over the last few seasons.
“I’ve learned to navigate the game pretty well to the point where (size) is not really a disadvantage. I think you just have to be smarter about where I put myself on the ice and how I approach stick battles and stuff,” he said.
He played his youth hockey with the 2001 Minuteman Flames, alongside Harvard teammates Henry Thrun (Southborough, Mass.) and Ian Moore (Concord, Mass.).
“We had a really good team. There were probably 12 of the same guys from when we were 6 until a bunch of us moved on to high school. It was really special growing up with that many good players to play with and a bunch of good guys as well,” Farrell said.
As an eighth-grader he played for the Junior Bruins U16s before enrolling at St. Mark’s School for ninth grade.
“I was really lucky to have a bunch of good coaches growing up. Mike Moore coached us on the Flames, Ian’s dad. He made hockey so much fun for us when we were kids. We’d play three on three and four on four all the time. That’s probably the reason we were so good, we had so much fun with it,’’ Farrell said.
“I played for Topher Bevis with the Junior Bruins and Carl Corazzini at St. Mark’s. They both helped me out a ton in those two years. Both those years were adjustments for me, getting used to playing against older players and they both helped me so much.”
After a freshman season at St. Mark’s, scoring nearly two points per game – 27-28-55 in 28 games – he was invited to play for the U.S. National Team Development Program.
“It was a no-brainer for me. I loved St. Mark’s, but at the same time playing at (the NTDP) and for my country in general was always a dream of mine. To be able to play with the best players in the country and practice against them every day was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up,” he said.
After two seasons with the NTDP and one with the Chicago Steel of the USHL, Farrell was set to go to Harvard until the school canceled its hockey season because of COVID. He had little choice but to play another season for the Steel, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
“Looking back on it, it’s probably one of the best things that could have happened to me as a player. I learned so much in Chicago my first year and we didn’t even get the full season because of COVID,” he said.
“Obviously I was really excited to go into college and play in college, but at the same time when the season at Harvard got canceled, I knew I had a great place to be in Chicago. It was a really good group, too. A lot of us had unfinished business there -- to win a Clark Cup -- and we got that done, which was really special.”
The Steel have become a model for development in recent years and Farrell is one of their success stories. In his last year in Chicago, he led the USHL with 29-72-101 in 53 games. He was named USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year and USHL Player of the Year.
“There was so much emphasis every day in practice and in skill sessions a couple of days a week on making plays and possessing the puck. I also learned so much doing video. A combination of all those things really improved my game in all aspects while I was there,” he said.
Now the Crimson are reaping the benefits and Farrell doesn’t sound like he’s in any hurry to join ex-NTDP teammates such as Jack Hughes, Trevor Zegras and many others in the pro game, at least not yet.
“Balancing school and hockey is definitely a challenge, but I love it here. Cambridge is an awesome spot and we have a really good group of guys. Coming to the rink every day is a ton of fun,” he said.
