Boy, Did You Miss Out!

Did you have trouble getting to sleep last night? Are you still shaking your head and smiling every time you think about it? Did you call up guys that you haven't talked to since those seventh grade Bar Mitzvah parties and gloat for 15 minutes about what you saw and what they missed?

You didn't? Well, I did (even though Mel Shalek wasn't home).

People have said everything about Harvard's upset win over Boston College last Monday night, and it still isn't enough. Tom Aronson described the game as "classic", and with the many individuals that skated their way into the limelight that night, it was a fitting epithet.

There were so many factors that fed this sixty-minute spectacle with emotional fuel. It would be a crime to brush it off with the superficial characterization that "Both teams played real strong hockey." Tangible examples of expertise abounded. Among them were:

a) The Conspicuous Absence of Penalties: Approximately 55 out of the 60 regulation minutes featured five-on-five hockey. Cheap shots were replaced by legal, stiff checks. The only violence in this game was the way both teams churned perpetually up and down the ice like men possessed.

The penalty box, which had resembled a Howard Johnson's Motor Inn in the B.U.-Northeastern fracas, was delightfully vacant. Nobody seemed to miss seeing a power-play.

b) Uncanny Backchecking: I don't know about you guys, but there's nothing I like better than seeing three-on-two breaks in a hockey game, and there were enough Monday night to fill up an entire season. But even more inspiring was the way those breaks were foiled by both teams, notably Harvard.

Here's helmets off to the entire Crimson defense, especially Bob Leckie and Jimmy Trainor, who really rose to the occasion. In addition, Jon Schuster and B.C.'s Joe Augustine, who were their usual animal selves.

c) Uncannier Goaltending: Harvard's Charley Petersen and the Eagles Joe Mullen must have both come off the ice after the game saying the same thing, "I should've had at least one hat trick!" Although Mullen did score once early in the opening stanza, Crimson netminder Brain Petrovek seemed to be saving his best stops all night for the Boston College winger.

As for Petersen (honorable mention to Jon Garrity), he was the runaway winner of the "Hard Luck Harry" Award, B.C.'s Paul Skid-played Nadia Comaneci in the cage, stopping almost everything in sight, and several shots that couldn't be seen.

d) The Absence of Cheap Goals: See c), and films of Petrovek in last year's Beanpot opener. 'Nuff said.

e) The Score in The Final Half-Minute: A fitting way to end a flawless game. It took a super pass from transplanted soccer star Lyman Bullard (via Gene Purdy) and a seeing-eye snapshot from George Hughes to find the hole in Skidmore's dike. Hughes typified the emotion of the contest as the usually calm scoring machine went tapioca after firing in the winner.

And finally, one intangible factor:

f) The Crowd: There were thirteen thousand six hundred and seventy-four manic screaming fans on hand for the Harvard-Boston College showdown, and every single one of them realized that nowhere else in the athletic world was there a game being played that remotely resembled this one in intensity, excitement, or calibre of play. And they were absolutely right.

I don't think I'll get to sleep tonight.