The Options of Turning Pro

The Hartford Whalers. The Philadelphia Flyers. The Minnesota North Stars. The Los Angeles Kings.

Ten different NHL hockey teams have drafted 14 of the Harvard hockey players currently on Coach Bill Cleary's roster.

How many of them will make the pros?

With all the great Harvard teams in past years, only one Crimson graduate--Hartford's Neil Sheehy '83--is now playing on an NHL team.

Captain Lane MacDonald is Harvard's big pro prospect of the moment. Drafted in the third round by the Calgary Flames in 1985, MacDonald had his rights dealt to the Hartford Whalers last year.

The Whalers want MacDonald to come to Hartford as soon as the Crimson's season is over. Assistant General Manager Bob Crocker would like to see MacDonald in a Hartford uniform for this year's NHL playoffs. But Crocker is not likely to get his wish.

"We've talked about whether I would consider playing at the end of this year in the playoffs," MacDonald said. "Right now, I'm thinking about Europe as well as the NHL. I'm not that excited about the NHL, I'm not sure that it's all I want to do."

"I have to make a decision very soon," MacDonald continued, "but it's not like the NHL is the end-all for me. I just want to keep all my options open."

For MacDonald, the decision does not rest on money or big contracts, but on where he will be happiest next year. And he's not sure the NHL is the job for him.

"When things are going well you are treated very well in the NHL, but if things aren't going that great they become a little careless in how they treat you--sending you to the minors, getting down on you," MacDonald said. "You just don't have any control. That's a down side to the NHL."

MacDonald, who took last year off to play for the Olympic team, plays hockey with speed and finesse and is arguably the best skating player in the college ranks.

Both the Harvard and the Olympic systems--patterned after the international-style skating game--have highlighted MacDonald's talents. And like for most Harvard players, the physical game that is the trademark of the NHL would force him to make adjustments in his style of play.

"Lane's forte is his skating," Crocker said. "He is an excellent skater and a bigger player than we thought. He is also stronger for having gone through the Olympic program."

"We are hoping he would be able to make a contribution right off the bat," Crocker continued. "Tomorrow, he could skate in this league. The big question is the adjustment to the physical aspects of the game."

European teams are allowed two "imports," or foreign players, each year. Several Harvard graduates have taken advantage of that option, including 1986 Hobey Baker winner Scott Fusco and Andy Janfaza '88.

"My decision will depend on what kind of situation I'm offered," said senior Allen Bourbeau, whose rights are held by the Philadelphia Flyers. "The money and the extra stuff, like the location and the people and the organization, are factors [in Europe]. In the NHL, it's money and the two-way contract and how they think of me, how I fit in their organization."

"We are definitely interested in Allen," said Roger Gottleib, director of public relations for the Flyers. "We have been following him and envision him being at training camp next year for us."

But Bourbeau, like most Harvard hockey players, has other options. Like Europe. Or even a postgraduation job.

Many past Crimson players have bypassed the NHL option and spent job-hunting time at the Office of Career Services, like any other Harvard senior. MacDonald himself is not a stranger to the building on Dunster Street.

But the variety of options open to Harvard hockey players may be a key to Harvard's lackluster history in the NHL, and may actually decrease the pro chances for those currently in the Crimson ranks.

"Going to Harvard may work against our players in some instances," MacDonald said. "For example, [Mark] Fusco ['84] left Hartford when he got sent to the minors because he had other options and didn't want to play in the minors. The NHL sees that attitude, and we all kind of get grouped together. If I decide to go play in Europe it would work against some of [the other members of the Harvard program.]"

MacDonald worries about how his decisions will affect the current sophomore core--several of whom have high hopes for an NHL career.

"I'm different from [MacDonald and Bourbeau]," said sophomore John Weisbrod, who was a fourth-round draft choice of the Minnesota North Stars in 1987. "I love to play hockey so much that I would play anywhere the [pros] put me as long as I'm playing hockey for a living."

"The main goal in my life right now is to play pro," Weisbrod said. "Right after I got drafted, I almost wanted to go straight to the minors and go pro. But I decided I shouldn't pass over college."

Weisbrod, along with MacDonald and Bourbeau, was one of the current Crimson players to go in the early rounds of the NHL draft, and his 6-ft., 1-in., 205-lb. frame has a lot to do with it.

"It's tough to predict how well a player will do when he's still in high school," Weisbrod said. "It's hard to tell, so teams are more liable to draft the bigger guys higher."

Indeed, Gottlieb admits that Bourbeau's size--he's 5-ft., 10-in. and 180 lbs.--was a concern for the Flyers before Bourbeau proved himself in the Olympics, while the North Stars organization is confident that Weisbrod will make a smooth adjustment into the NHL.

"We have been very pleased with Weisbrod's development," said Dean Lombardi, assistant general manager of the Minnesota club. "We're always doing projection charts, and John Weisbrod figures very heavily in that. There are no guarantees, but he seems to be developing along the lines we have anticipated."

"I think guys with size like John Weisbrod and Mike Vukonich have a pretty good chance," MacDonald said. "The pros like their size. But all the sophomores--Peter Ciavaglia, Teddy Donato--have a shot."

Or at least have the options.

Harvard NHL Draft Selections Player  Team  Year  Round Lane MacDonald  Calgary  1985  3rd Forward  (Hartford)* Allen Bourbeau  Philadelphia  1983  3rd Forward John Weisbrod  Minnesota  1987  4th Forward Ted Donato  Boston  1987  5th Forward Mike Vukonich  Los Angeles  1987  5th Forward Richie DeFreitas  Washington  1987  5th Defense Peter Ciavaglia  Calgary  1987  7th Forward Tod Hartje  Winnipeg  1987  7th Forward Kevan Melrose  Calgary  1984  7th Defense Brian McCormack  Detroit  1988  8th Defense Ed Krayer  New Jersey  1985  8th Forward Scott McCormack  New Jersey  1986  9th Defense Chuckie Hughes  New Jersey  1988  11th Goalie Mike Francis  St. Louis  1988  12th Goalie *Calgary traded the rights to MacDonald to Hartford