Inconsistent Larries Face Icemen As Crimson Seeks High Seeding

If it proved nothing else, Harvard's 8-1 hockey triumph over Dartmouth last weekend indicated that whether the Crimson wins or not is largely a question of its own attitude.

When Harvard wants to, it can blow opponents off the ice, and tonight, when the Crimson hosts unimpre?? St. Lawrence, it will receive another chance to do so.

On paper Harvard is clearly the superior team. The ?? 7-6 record in Division One play, while nearly as good as Harvard's, will scarcely earn them a berth in the E?? ?? next month, and their performances this season have not been models of consistency. The same St. Lawrence team that rallied three times to edge Boston College last Christmas lost to Middle bury by three goals two weeks ago, and an overall view of the Larries' season shows that this is not an unrepresentative example.

But it is this very unpredictability that makes St. Lawrence potentially dangerous, especially to Harvard, since the Crimson has not been extremely consistent itself this winter.

Harvard's weak point, generally, has been its inability to sit on a lead at crucial times and the Larries' biggest virtue is their explosive quality. No squad knows better than the Crimson that this is so.

Last winter, apparently home free with a 4-1 lead on the Larries' home ice, Harvard sat back and watched St. Lawrence slowly chip away at the deficit until the game was tied, and then barely held on in overtime to preserve the deadlock, as Crimson goaltender Bruce Durno was forced to stuff a pair of breakaways in the extra period.

A year earlier at Cambridge; a casual approach lost the game, 6-4, and in 1966, at Canton. St. Lawrence won another, 3-2.

So the Larries seem to have been comparing notes with the boys at Chestnut Hill recently, but if Harvard maintains the form and aggressiveness it showed at Dartmouth. It should break what has been rapidly becoming a St. Lawrence hex.

Harvard coach Cooney Weiland apparently intends to keep intact the McManama-Mark-Turco line which scored six goals at Hanover, and will continue to play center Joe Cavanagh at defense. Both moves worked surprisingly well last Saturday, and there is no reason to believe that they will not continue to do so.

A victory tonight would run Harvard's victory skein to four straight, and keep alive its chances for fourth spot in the ECAC. But if the Crimson loses, it can forget home ice for the playoffs.