Icemen Revel in National Polls

First, the good news.

After completing a weekend sweep, the first-place Harvard men's hockey team (14-4-6 overall, 13-1-6 ECAC) rocketed up the national polls this week, while other ECAC contenders dropped like rocks.

Depending on the poll, Harvard is now sixth (Albany Times-Union) or eight (NCAA coaches) in the country, while Clarkson (20-7-1, 14-5-1) fell to ninth or 13th, respectively.

Meanwhile, St. Lawrence (17-9-2, 13-6-1), which embarrassed itself this weekend with losses against Yale and Brown, dropped out of sight (15th in the NCAA Coaches poll).

Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni was typically dismissive of the new rankings.

"Obviously its a tribute to the way the these kids have played," Tomassoni said. "But these polls don't mean a lot. The only poll that means anything is the one that comes at end [the post-season NCAA tournament seedings]."

Healthy?

Now for the best news.

Harvard has reason to be elated no matter what the pollsters say. After a hectic post-exam game schedule left the Crimson bruised and exhausted, the team is now close to full strength.

Sophomore defender Lou Body, who went down against Yale with a broken hand, returned to the blueline this weekend in fine form.

"I though he's had a heck of a year. He just strengthens a position that's already darn strong," Tomassoni said.

Sophomore Brian Farrell, who has missed 17 games because of a thigh injury, has been the given the greenlight to start playing. Farrell showed signs of promise at the beginnining of this year, and his return will be an added boost to an already-strong Crimson offense.

"It feels great to be back," Farrell said. "It's been really tough. I've just been trying to stay focused. I'm excited to be back."

The only other remaining casualty is freshman forward Steve Martins, who sustained a shoulder injury at Yale. Martins said there is a slight possibility he could return this weekend.

"It's getting better slowly. I've been taking it day by day. If I don't come back this week, then next week," Martins said.

While this all comes as good news to Crimson fans, some Harvard players' spots on the team are now in jeopardy. Sophomore forward Chris Baird, sophomore forward Sean Wenham and freshman defender/forward Bryan Losinger have all received healthy minutes since the injuries.

Baird, in particular, has filled in nicely for Farrell on the second line.

"I have some tough decisions to make," Tomassoni said. "But they're good decisions. The kind of decisions you want to have to make."

New Coach for BC

Boston College announced yesterday that Steve Cedorchuk will take over for retiring Coach Len Ceglarski at the end of this season.

Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk said in a prepared statement, that Cedorchuk, currently an associate coach with the Eagles, "is the appropriate person to lead our program to the next level."

Ceglarski, the winningest coach in college hockey, will retire this year after 21 years at the helm of the BC program.

Hobey Baker Candidates

As the regular season winds down, the media blitz has already started for post-season awards. Yale has already started, touting forward Mark Kaufmann (17-18-35) as a candidate for the Hobey Baker award, given to the outstanding collegiate hockey player.

Harvard (which holds the record for most Hobey Baker winners) has no major contenders as it has in years past.

The player with the best chance of challenging for the award is goalie Allain Roy. Roy, currently the top goalie in the east, posts a 2.24 goals-against-average and a .914 save percentage.