Redemption Time

Two long years have passed since Ed Krayer's slow wrist shot in St. Paul lifted the Harvard men's hockey team to its first-ever national championship.

The younger Harvard players who were a part of that championship squad--including then-sophomores Peter Ciavaglia, Ted Donato and Mike Vukonich--have been living in the shadow of The Goal ever since. Last year, a disappointing sixth-place ECAC finish and a premature season finale at the hands of Cornell caused the Crimson to fall way short of its championship expectations.

And this season, the now-seniors Ciavaglia, Donato and Vukonich--united on Harvard's Superline--get their last chance at redemption. But a return to the NCAA tourney will require Harvard to win its fifth ECAC tourney. Harvard's 0-4 non-conference record is unlikely to attract any second looks from the selection committee.

If the Crimson's bid for a return to St. Paul--the site of this year's NCAA finals--is to continue any longer, tonight's matchup with ECAC regular-season winner Clarkson at 8 p.m. at Boston Garden has enormous implications.

"It's do-or-die time. It's a chance for us to redeem ourselves.' --Harvard Captain Ted Donato

"It's do-or-die time," Harvard Captain Ted Donato said. "It's a chance for us to redeem ourselves."

Subtract the Causeway St. Curse (see related story) and there is every reason to believe that Harvard can advance to tomorrow night's ECAC final. The Crimson beat the Golden Knights, 5-3, just two weekends ago at Bright Center.

Harvard is 4-1-1 against league opponents since consecutive dead-locks against Colgate and Cornell in upstate New York February 8-9. The Crimson's prolific attack has regained its bite, and the Crimson defense has recently been Tomassoni's pride and joy.

Over the season-ending stretch, Harvard's two junior goaltenders, Chuckie Hughes and Allain Roy, have boosted Harvard--as they did freshman year--by holding opponents to 2.67 goals-per-game. Hughes, who remains undefeated in the Boston Garden going back to his high school days, will start between the twines for the Crimson tonight.

With a Harvard victory, Roy will play tomorrow.

Harvard and Clarkson split the season series, as the Golden Knights won a 7-5 decision January 5 in Potsdam, N.Y.

Ciavaglia, Donato and Vukonich finished 1-2-3 in the ECAC scoring race, and will skate on the same line the fifth straight game. Earlier this season, the senior triumvirate netted 94 points in a 10-game span, before being broken up by Tomassoni in an effort to achieve a more balanced attack.

Individually, each of the trio set new career marks. Ciavaglia led the ECAC in scoring and is also present leader of the national scoring race. Vukonich scored 30 goals to lead the league in that department, and Donato's 34 assists tied him with classmate Ciavaglia for the ECAC lead. All three seniors are in the top 11 for career scoring at Harvard.

Twenty-seven of the trio's combined 72 goals have come on the power play, which was the second most effective man-up unit in the league, behind Clarkson. Special teams play is the Golden Knights' bread-and-butter.

Clarkson led the ECAC in power play efficiency, tallying 38.7 percent of the time. But the defensive statistic is more telling. The Golden Knights killed off 81 percent of its penalties. The Crimson could only manage 73.2 percent efficiency--finishing ahead of only lowly Dartmouth in this department.

The Clarkson goaltending duties will be shouldered solely by Chris Rogles, who edged Roy out for the regular season goals-against crown. The sophomore held league opponents to 2.98 goals-per-game.

The Golden Knights will look to Hugo Belanger (10-25--35) and Dave Trombley (18-16--34) for offensive production, although the scoring load is spread more evenly throughout the top three lines than ECAC Crimson's.