Icemen to Battle Bulldogs

You'll be seeing a lot more of the Harvard hockey team this season. But not until next year.

The three-time defending Ivy League champions open their season this weekend by hosting Yale tonight and Brown tomorrow at Bright Center.

And instead of the football-style face masks of the past, they'll be sporting plastic visors.

But if you want to see their faces, better do it now. They won't play on home ice again until January.

With the season not yet started, the Crimson has already incurred a serious loss. Defenseman Butch Cutone, the 1983-84 Ivy Rookie of the Year, will sit out the season due to injury. Cutone's 13 points (tied for seventh on the team) and outstanding defensive play were key factors in carrying Harvard to an Eastern College Athletic Conference Ivy Division title for the third straight year.

On the positive side, the return in goal of Ivy Player of the Year Grant Blair helps make the Crimson a favorite for yet another league crown. Blair, a junior, had a 91 percent save rate last year.

On offense, U.S. Olympian Scott Fusco--number nine--should give the Crimson some of the scoring power it lacked last season. Fusco led the 1982-83 Crimson to the National Collegiate Athletic Association final with a team-high 55 points.

Last year's scoring leader, senior Brian Busconi, had only 18 points. Fusco, a junior, and Busconi, a senior, should provide much of Harvard's offensive power.

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Yale won't be surprised by the Fusco style. Eli Coach Tim Taylor served as an assistant coach on the Olympic team that included Scott and brother Mark Fusco '83.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard was 10-14-3 overall last season. The icemen lead Yale, 103-55-12, in a series which dates back to the 1899-1900 season. The Crimson played Yale to a 1-1 tie in New Haven last year, after downing the Elis 2-1 at Bright Center ... Brown was only 6-19-1 last year, but the tie came against Harvard.