The Cleary Clan Finally Comes Home to Bright for Christmas

Following on the heels of the Harvard men's hockey team's critical Saturday meeting with Dartmouth, a squad of Soviet professionals will challenge the Crimson to a long-awaited contest at Bright Arena on Sunday.

In the 11th game of a 14-game American tour organized by the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS), the experienced Sokol-Kiev team will take on Harvard in a special exhibition match.

"I'm a strong proponent of international play," Harvard coach Bill Cleary said. "Facing any foreign team is a good thing for us, but facing a team of this caliber is especially valuable because it really challenges us to perform."

The Sokol-Kiev club is on its second North American tour in four years. In its last American campaign, the soviet team tallied eight victories against only one loss. This time around the results have been similarly positive--the club is coming off two straight wins against Boston College and the Maine Mariners, a farm club in the Boston Bruins organization.

Competing in the prestigious Soviet Elite League, Sokol-Kiev has enjoyed mixed success against powerful rivals such as Central Red Army and Moscow Dynamo. Last year, Sokol-Kiev finished fifth out of 14 teams with a 16-11-9 record.

The upcoming game will mark the Crimson's second meeting with a Soviet team. Three years ago Harvard suffered a 5-4 defeat against a team which Cleary characterized in an interview yesterday as "an outstanding group of athletes."

Cleary said that he views Sunday's contest primarily as an educational experience for his players, rather than as a critical game for the team.

"I'm more concerned with the Dartmouth game," Cleary said.

A proponent of wide-open hockey rather than the tight, agressive NHL style, Cleary praised the Soviets for their emphasis on team play and their skillful movement without the puck.

"They have a much more wide open style of play than American teams have. Their skating ability is great," Cleary said. "They move and weave over the ice as well as some NHL teams do and then they seem to strike when you least expect it. We're going to have to work hard to keep them away from the puck."

Harvard Captain C.J. Young echoed Cleary's sentiments, emphasizing the Soviets' speed and dexterity.

"They are a good skating team--they the flow well, and they're very-well conditioned," the Harvard captain said. "When we played them in my freshman year they were very tough."

Young also considers the Soviet game far less important than the match against Dartmouth, now that the Crimson's fortunes have taken a downturn from the euphoric ending of last year's season.

"We've got our work cut out for us," Young said. "Right now we're really struggling, and we've got to use this game as an opportunity to find ourselves. The Dartmouth game is first on the schedule and first on our minds at this point."

After Sunday's meeting the Soviets will play two more games against a select group of American all-stars and one more against the University of Lowell before rounding off their U.S. visit at Walt Disney World.