Looking to Tear Down the Draper-y

The two best goaltenders in the country square off tonight at Bright Center at 7:30 p.m.

The stat sheet says that if Harvard's Grant Blair plays his standard game and Vermont's Tom Draper his, the Crimson will squeak out a hard-fought defensive battle.

The stat sheet also says that the score will be 2.85-2.50.

And that's why you have to look at more than that.

First, Blair and Draper are not the only players on the ice tonight. Sure, they have well-padded ottomans strapped to their legs, but that doesn't make them that much cooler than everyone else.

And Harvard's got it all over UVM in the everyone-else column.

Start with Scott Fusco, he's the ECAC's leading scorer, he may be the best player in college hockey--everyman he's not.

Look at Al Bourbeau, who's scoring more than a goal a game and may return to the ice after a three game absence tonight.

That pair heads up a an offense that has rapped in a league-best 100 goals in league play.

Guess how many Vermont has?

Seventy-five, maybe 80, right?

Try 49, as in San Francisco, as in 11 less than you need on a test for a solid 'D.'

Now Vermont does have defense. Only one team in the ECAC has surrendered fewer scores than Draper and his solid blue-line corps.

Harvard.

Fusco doesn't even think that comparison is fair.

"I don't think he's that good," the captain said. "The fact that they play a defensive style helps them. They don't have the big guns out front. It's tough to get rebounds when their forwards are coming back to help the goalie."

But Vermont did beat Harvard in Burlington in the beginning of January, 3-2.

"He played well up there," said Tim Smith, another Harvard forward who's scored a lot--an ECAC fourth-best 32 points. "But seemed more like a hot dog. Blair's more a classic goalie, Draper played up a lot of easy saves."

Smith's also Blair's roommate, so he's probably a little biased.

One Crimson player used to play on the same team with Draper back in junior hockey, so let's check in with him.

"We know we're a much better team than them," said Tim Barakett, 12-15--37, sixth-best in the league. "They caught us when we were pretty down."

The Crimson took to Burlington after stopping RPI in Troy, N.Y., the night before. And after beating the defending national champs, Harvard turned in one of its worst performances of the year.

In in its only other league loss, the Crimson finally statred scoring goals in the final period, coming back from a four-goal deficit to fall 7-5. Only at Vermont did the Crimson scoring machine falter.

"When we first played them all you ever heard about was Draper, Draper," Crimson senior Peter Follows said. "And he played well--but we made him look good."

Tonight, the Crimson will be trying to make Blair look good.

"I'm sure Grant will be ready," Harvard defenseman Don Sweeney said. "It's all a matter of pride. The goals-against average reflects on the whole team not just the goalie."

And, to be fair, Draper's had a lot of help; the Cats do have a top-notch defense all around.

For Draper, tonight's game is a chance to test himself against the best.

"Tom definitely gets up for these games," Barakett said. "It's a way for him to show he deserves the attention he's getting."

Tonight, Draper will be getting lots of attention. Attention from a packed Bright Center crowd that won't know him from any other sieve.

And attention from the most potent offense in the ECAC--an offense that has something to prove after Draper turned out its lights seven weeks ago.