Boston Bruins NY TIMES: How Ryan Donato balances being a Harvard student and a Boston Bruins forward

[Fenway]

First, Final Exams. Then, Perhaps, the Stanley Cup Finals.

BOSTON — Ryan Donato played his first Stanley Cup playoff game for the Boston Bruins last Saturday night, 29 days after his Harvard season ended with an overtime loss to Clarkson in their conference tournament semifinals.

Although he left college hockey, he remains one of Harvard’s 6,700 undergraduate students trying to finish class work at the end of the spring semester and get through final exams in May.

The Bruins have allowed Donato to miss occasional practices that conflict with his classes, and he stays in contact with his professors to keep up on class assignments while on the road with the N.H.L. team.

“He’s wired a special way to deal with everything that’s been going on in the last couple of months,” said Donato’s brother Jack, his teammate this year at Harvard. “He’s a driven kid, and he always has been, whether it’s hockey or academics.”

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