Stickmen's Depth, Scoring Punch To Challenge Cornell in Ivy Race

Kent Parrot, one of the greatest scorers in Harvard hockey history, is gone this year, but the Crimson hockey team probably doesn't know it. Deep at all positions, blessed with speed and quickness, and laden with scoring power, the Harvard varsity hockey team stands a chance of cracking Cornell's Ivy League dynasty.

Cornell, the perennial powerhouse of the circuit, is its old self this year. All-American Ken Dryden will be in the goal again and Coach Ned Harkness has a flock of sophomores who should dominate the league.

The Crimson has ten letterman returning from last year's 15-9 season and a high-scoring freshman line to replace scoring greats Parrot and Jack Garrity. It has four lines and six defensemen who Coach Cooney Weiland says could all play.

But if they are to top last year's second place finish and move into the lead in the ECAC as well as in the Ivy League, Harvard's stickmen are going to need more consistent and more clutch performances than they have ever shown in previous years.

Captain Bobby Bauer, son of NHL great Bobby Bauer, recognizes what lies ahead for Harvard. "On paper we're better than any team in the Ivies," he said yesterday. "We can beat Cornell, but it'll take a real effort to do it. Because of (Ken) Dryden, we can't be as good as Cornell--we have to be better."

Bauer will center one of the Crimson's four tentative lines. The average-sized center, who scored 12 goals and 16 assists last year, will have Ron Mark and Jim Hornig on the wings.

Another line will be the Ware-Turko-Mueller trio. Jack Turko led the team in scoring last year with 17 goals and 19 assists as a sophomore. A smooth passer, he will work with Pete Mueller and Dwight Ware.

The sophomore line may become one of the most explosive in Harvard history. Joe Cavanagh (26 goals, 40 assists), Joe DeMichele (32 goals, 18 assists), and Steve Owen (17 goals, 24 assists) racked up a total of 167 points to lead the freshmen to a 15-4 season.

The fourth line will be include Chip Otness, George Murphy, and Andre Lemieux.

Harvard has just as much depth at defense. Chris Gurry and George McManama are two returning lettermen who played last year as sophomores. Gurry, a lean 5'11", 170-pound defender, is famous for his bodywork. He racked up 40 minutes of penalties last year--second only to fellow sophomore Terry Flaman, who acquired 49 minutes.

Behind these two are sophomores Terry Driscoll and Dave Jones, who formed the defensive backbone of last year's freshman team. Skip Freeman, used mainly as a penalty killer last year, and Tom Micheletti fill out the defensive corps.

In the goal the Crimson has two first goalies. Senior Bill Diercks, who started 20 games last year, is fighting off a challenge from sophomore Bruce Durno. Right now, Weiland says the two are even.

Harvard's strongest challenges will not come within the Ivy League, except for Cornell, but from B.U. and B.C., which are especially strong this year.

Yale is supposed to be on the way back with its own sensational sophomores, but it doesn't have the depth to take Harvard. Dartmouth is not the force it once was and Penn never was. Brown is good but never plays well against Harvard. That leaves Princeton, never overwhelming but always scrappy, rough, and "up" for Harvard. But with two years of famine in the freshman ranks. Coach Bill Quackenbush won't pull it out.

The varsity opens its season unofficially against St. Nick's, a club of former college players whose ranks include Parrot and perhaps Garrity, this Saturday at Harvard.