Seeking a Bit of Bright Delight

Two months ago, the Harvard men's hockey team climbed to number one in the national polls for the first time in history. Three weeks later, the Crimson lost to Yale.

Two weeks ago, number-two ranked Harvard dropped an overtime contest to Northeastern in the Beanpot. When the polls came out, the Crimson had slipped to third in the nation.

This weekend, Harvard (15-2 overall, 13-1 ECAC) will have to overcome its apparent distaste for national rankings if it's going to have a chance to knock off Army--which visits Bright Center tonight at 7:30--and Princeton, tomorrow night's guest.

Each of Harvard's two losses this year were greeted with a subsequent one-place drop in the national polls. Two more defeats this weekend, and Harvard will likely find itself shut out of a national ranking altogether.

On the other hand, if reverse logic applies, the Crimson--with two wins this weekend--could climb back to the number-one spot in the country.

Harvard should have a decent chance of grabbing those victories, since neither Army (8-12-1 overall, 5-9 ECAC) nor Princeton (6-11-1 overall, 5-8-1 ECAC) has the record or the personnel of the talented Crimson. Besides, Harvard thumped Army, 6-3, and Princeton, 6-2, in late November.

And the Crimson will be skating on home ice for the first time in a month-and-a-half. Harvard has not lost at home since December of last year, and owns a 23-game unbeaten streak at Bright.

"Army's tough because they're big, "Harvard Captain Peter Chiarelli said. "Princeton clutches and grabs and they always play us tough. We've just got to get things rolling again."

"It's going to be a tight-checking weekend," Harvard forward Tim Barakett said. "They know we've lost twice, and they'll be ready."

The first showing of "Back to Bright" begins tonight when the Cadets step on the fast ice.

Harvard will sport a different look than it did in the first round of the Beanpot. Defenseman Chris Biotti will replace Ed Krayer, who elected to take this semester off, as the second-line center. Biotti's statistics--on goals and three assists--aren't as impressive as they might be. Still, Biotti's size (6-ft., 2-in. and 215-lb.) should intimidate any defenseman bold enough to step in his way.

Jerry Pawloski, who took Krayer's place in the 'Pot, will return to his defensive position, and will be paired with Butch Cutone. And John Devin, who hasn't played in almost a month, will start in goal.

Army's biggest claim to fame is its goalie. His statistics--a 3.57 goals-against average and a .878 save percentage--are fairly impressive. But even more impressive is his name (Paul DeGironimo) and his nickname ("The Chief").

At West Point, the crowd does war whoops when DeGironimo steps on the ice. At Bright tonight, he's likely to hear a different kind of whooping.

The Crimson hopes to jump on the scoreboard early against Army and Princeton--something it didn't do against either Yale or Northeastern. Harvard thrives on an early lead. In its first 12 games of the season, the Crimson scored first--and never trailed after.

"Both teams are conservative," Harvard forward Lane MacDonald said. "They use different defensive styles against us. If [those styles] aren't successful, we should be able to score. But we really have to be careful because Yale and Northeastern played conservatively and kept the game close."

If forwards MacDonald (18 goals, 13 assists for 31 points), Barakett (16-13--29) and Allen Bourbeau (10-15--25) show their usual flash, DeGironimo will have his hands full.

Devin (1.80 goals-against average, .924 save percentage) is capable of stopping most Cadet threats. He'll have to contend with Matt Wilson (16-14--30) and Kevin Keenan (10-14--24), but he'll get ample help from his defense, led by Mark Benning and Randy Taylor.

Princeton sports one of the most potent first lines in the ECAC. First-line center John Messuri leads the league in scoring with a 15-18--33 line. His linemate, Greg Polaski, is among the top 10 ECAC scores with 13 goals and 11 assists.

Rounding out the first line--whose members all hail from the Boston area--is Bart Blaeser.

"They've done a lot of our scoring, "Tiger forward Tim Driscoll said. "Because they're all from the area, they'll really be up for this weekend. We all have a lot of respect for Harvard, but we think we can stay with their forwards and play a tight-checking game."

Unlike Army and Princeton, Harvard is already guaranteed a place in the ECAC playoffs. But a permanent spot in the nation's top 10 is another matter.