Olympians Fly By B.C.; Janney Leads 12-4 Rout

Craig Janney showed his appreciation for his former teammates last night by bombarding them with three goals and an assist.

Janney, formerly of Boston College and now of the United States Olympic Hockey Team, netted a goal only 59 seconds into the contest to begin a night-long scoring festival at Walter Brown Arena. The Olympians spread the scoring out among nine players and shot down the Eagles, 12-4, in front of 2313 spectators.

Janney's heroics gave the Olympians victory number 13 out of 25 games on their 60-game U.S. tour. The tour, which has included dates with both professional and college teams, will end in February, just prior to the start of the Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

Lane MacDonald, a Harvard senior, and Scott Fusco, who graduated in 1985, scored goals within six seconds of each other in the third period. And Allen Bourbeau, also a Harvard skater, added three assists for the Olympians.

Fusco is one of two U.S. players who participated in the 1984 Games and is the front-runner to become U.S. Captain.

"Both he and [the other '84 Olympians] have played and they understand what's going on," Olympic Coach Dave Peterson said. "They understand what we're trying to, accomplish."

Even those who did not see action in '84--skaters like MaDonald and Bourbeau--are aware of the U.S. objective: a gold medal. But the road to Calgary is paved with four dozen games, a demanding and grueling schedule.

Last night's game was typical of the games the Olympians have played against college clubs. Two nights ago, the Olympians bumped off the University of New Hampshire, 15-3. The U.S. Team is 7-0 against college teams, and has outscored its collegiate opponents, 65-16.

The Olympians began their tour in September with games against Team USA (a collection of U.S. pros) and National Hockey League clubs. In nine games against pro clubs, the Olympic Team won two--against the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings.

"[Games against colleges] give us a chance to work on some things and not really have to worry about the outcome," Fusco said. "When we got ahead of UNH, we worked on controlling the puck, regrouping and moving it to the center area. When you're playing a tough game against a pro team, you can't afford to do that."

"It gives us a lot of our scoring confidence back," said MacDonald, who will return to Harvard next year. "We didn't score a lot against NHL teams, and it seemed like a lot of guys lost confidence. But now a lot of guys are scoring and finishing [a play] off around the net."

The Olympians have hit the colleges right at the start of their seasons. Last night, B.C. was playing in only its second game.

"We're way ahead of them in terms of time, in number of games played," Peterson said. "We try to do certain things with each game. We try to get some things out of a game other than just a win."

B.C. may have been just another sparring partner for the Olympians, but it did manage to net four goals, more than any other college team has managed against the Olympians.

Three Eagles--Janney, Greg Brown and Brain Leetch--are now on the Olympic Team, but B.C. still has a strong club. The Eagles proved it by slipping in three goals in the third period, including David Emma's with eight seconds left in the game.