A Killer B Who's Not Afraid to Sting

Like Muhammed Ali, he floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.

Or, in his case, a "Killer B."

And like the former heavyweight boxing champion, he's not afraid to charge into the corners to tangle with an opponent.

But skates and a stick--not gloves--are Harvard men's hockey wing Tim Barakett's chief tools of success.

And the rink--not the ring--is where he is making a name (and a nickname) for himself.

With fellow "Killer B" and linemate Allen Bourbeau, Barakett, a junior and a resident of Mather House, is carving out a place in the hearts of Harvard fans while carving up opponents' defenses.

Barakett's 13 goals and 15 assists this year have helped lift the Crimson (10-4-1 overall) into first place in the ECAC with a 10-2 mark. He is third behind Harvard Captain Scott Fusco and Bourbeau in league scoring and ranks among the top 20 scorers in the nation with an average of almost two points a game.

"Tim's really good with the puck," linemate Ed Krayer says. "He handles it well and passes well. He's always a threat."

In just 15 games this season, Barakett already has more points than he did last year when he racked up seven goals and 11 assists.

"Last year, he got pushed off the puck and out of the corners a lot," Harvard Assistant Coach Ronn Tomassoni says. "But this year he's doing the pushing."

"I'm happy for Timmy," says Yale Coach Tim Taylor, who recruited Barakett at Loyola High School in Montreal. "Things are finally falling in place for him. He's finally adjusting to Division One style of play."

Credit Barakett's marked improvement to a summer spent working out in weightrooms in Montreal.

"Getting the extra strength allows me to do much more on the ice," Barakett says. "It gives me more confidence to do a little extra, to hold on to the puck a little longer and to go into the corners."

Barakett came into the Crimson's opening contest against Yale 25 pounds heavier than he was in last year's opener. And while the extra weight couldn't prevent his team from falling to the Elis, 7-5, his hefty performance in later games--especially against Cornell in early December when he recorded a hat trick--helped lead Harvard on a 7-0-1 tear before Christmas break.

Although he earned a game puck from the Cornell contest, Barakett downplays his role in that game and others in which he has been his team's leading scorer.

"The Cornell game was great because we won 11-3," Barakett says. "But I didn't have to do much, just stand in front of the net and bang home rebounds. I think there's an emphasis too much on points. My best games are those where I work hard on every shift and do all the little things. Not scoring necessarily, but making good passes and hustling."

Barakett has lost 15 pounds during the course of the season. But despite the abundance of exercise he gets playing hockey, he continues to work out in the weightroom after practice, building strength to fight off defensemen who would rather see him groveling on the ice than grooving shots into the back of the wines.

"Timmy's so much stronger this year," Tomassoni says. "And that's given him a lot of confidence."

Not just Barakett, but the entire Crimson team is playing more aggresively this season, matching check for check and even punch for punch with physical squads like RPI and St. Lawrence. And Barakett isn't the only iceman thawing out in the weightroom after practice.

"It's pretty hard to stay in lifting shape when you're trying to play hockey," Barakett says. "But half the team goes to the weightroom after almost every practice."

His workouts before and during the season are not the only factors helping Barakett this year. Much of his success, as he is quick to point out, is the result of plying with two fine linemates--Bourbeau and Krayer.

"Playing right wing with a center like Allen, I know I'm going to see a lot of the puck," Barakett says. "And I don't have to worry that much about face-offs and defense. I can just skate into open ice and I know that someone is going to hit me with the pass."

Barakett and Bourbeau have made Harvard's second line one of the most terrifying and productive in the country, and earned the nickname "Killer B's."

Although Barakett doesn't like to be singled out in this way--"There are five guys on the ice, not just Allen and me," he says--he enjoys the notoriety the nickname has brought him.

For his part, Bourbeau thinks "Killer B's" is an appropriate epithet.

"It's a good nickname because we work well together," Bourbeau says. "And we both put a lot of pucks into the net."

Barakett's Killer B line is challenging Fusco's Firing Line as the premier Harvard scoring machine.

Last year, the Firing Line of Fusco, Tim Smith and Lane MacDonald accounted for 83 goals. But this season, there is more distribution in the scoring with Fusco's line collecting 31 goals, Barakett's line 28 and the other two lines 27.

"The Fusco line has been working well together for awhile," Bourbeau says. "And now we're working well together."

A strong performance from all four lines will be needed in the weeks to come.

Coming off a three-week layoff for exams, the Crimson faces Yale tomorrow and Brown Saturday before the first round of the Beanpot Tournament Monday night at Boston Garden.

Harvard will play Boston College--which it tied, 4-4, earlier in the year--in the second game of the Beanpot, following the Northeastern-Boston University clash.

"I'm excited about the Beanpot," Barakett says. "Every game we've ever played against B.C. has been really good. I'm anxious to beat them."

Although Barakett has won only one Beanpot game--in last year's consolation match against B.U.--he has played on more than his share of winning teams in his hockey career, which began 17 years ago.

"I started skating when I was three," Barakett says. "And I've played organized hockey since I was five."

Hockey for five-year-olds?

"The league was called Peanuts," Barakett says. "We played on half-ice. We had coaches, practices, the works. Montreal is hockey crazy."

Although an economics concentrator with his eye on law school, Barakett doesn't plan to let his hockey career end at Harvard.

"If I have a good year this year and a good year next year, I'd love to try and continue playing hockey," Barakett says. "I haven't thought about whom I'm going to play for or for how much money. I just want to play for as long as I can. Whether I'm good enough, I don't know yet."

Unlike Bourbeau, a fourth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, Barakett was not drafted by a National Hockey League team. He is now a free agent and can be signed by any club.

If the NHL doesn't come calling, Barakett may take his skills to Europe.

"I just want to get hockey out of my system," Barakett says.

In the meantime, he will continue to push Harvard to the top. And like many Crimson watchers, Barakett thinks his team has a better than fair chance of bringing Harvard its first NCAA title since the golf team won one in 1906.

"If we don't make it to the Final Four, I'll be disappointed," Barakett says. "And if we don't make it that far it won't be because we were beaten by a better team but because we didn't play up to our potential."

With Barakett providing a new sting to the Crimson's offense, it seems unlikely that any team will repel the Cantabs' charge.

And the killer B's, the Firing Line and the rest of the icemen aren't about to impose the death penalty on themselves.