Don't Take Dartmouth Lightly

Don't think that the 1-3 Dartmouth hockey team, in town tonight to play the Crimson (7:30 at Bright Center, 7:25 on WHRB, 95.3), isn't capable of walking away with a victory like it did the last four times the teams met in Cambridge. That losing record only indicates the slow start that always plagues the Hanoverians--and they always seem to break out of it against Harvard.

"Dartmouth is the same as it has always been," Northeastern coach Fern Flaman, whose Huskies overpowered the Green, 10-6, December 3, said yesterday. "They force you to make mistakes in your own end by sending everybody at you."

The return of senior co-caption Bob Gaudet, perhaps the ECAC's finest goaltender, will give Dartmouth an emotional lift. The Saugus, Mass., native stretched ligaments in his left knee in a November 24 contest against Clarkson, and has not played since. Despite continued soreness, he is scheduled to start tonight.

No Flops

"I'm going to give it a shot," Gaudet said after working out in practice yesterday. "I guess the knee will be okay, although I may not be able to flop as much as usual,"

Gaudet is gunning for his third straight Canterbury Trophy, given annually to the top Ivy netminder by a group of ex-Harvard goalies. His 3.03 goals against average two years ago led the ECAC, and a superb pressure performance in last year's playoffs (including a shutout of RPI) helped the Green to the conference finals.

"Obviously, he's got to be one of the top goaltenders around," Crimson coach Bill Cleary said. "Look what he's done for that team--he's won a lot of key games for them."

Apparently, Cleary isn't finished mixing up his lines in an effort to generate more offense tonight. "I haven't really come to any set idea yet," he said early yesterday. "I'm just moving people around right now to see what I can come up with."

Harvard's top line, the "Instant Karma" connection of captain Tom Murray, Michael Watson and Greg Olson, will not be broken up. That line has tallied the squad's last six goals (all four against New Hampshire last Wednesday and both against Brown Saturday) and 17 for the season--against 12 for the rest of the team.

While tonight's game is not sold out, a good crowd is expected. Cleary and his charges (now 4-3) were obviously pleased by the support they received Saturday (a medium-sized crowd that grew frenzied as the game progressed) and the Crimson coach stressed that the backing helped the team's play.

"That was one of the nicest and most enthusiastic crowds of students we've seen in a long time," he said. "The kids were really appreciative of it--they thought it was super. If we could get that every time, it could really help."

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Marc Sobil '80 will return to the microphone this evening and join Denis Kennedy on WHRB. Sobil has returned from Chicago and graduate for this one-night comeback.