Happy New Year for Icemen

Yesterday, the Harvard men's hockey team made good on its first resolution of the new year: Beat Boston College.

Check that off the list.

Happy New Year, everybody, and so far, it's very happy: 1-0 in 1993. The Crimson's collective conscience remains clear.

At least for five days, when the next resolution (St. Lawrence on the road) comes due.

With hard checking and effective-if-not-pretty offense, Harvard turned the visiting Eagles into another stuffed-bird feast, oven-roasted in the cold confines of Bright.

"It was good to come back, skate hard and get the win," said sophomore forward Perry Cohagan. "This was the kind of win we wanted to get."

It sure wasn't a gift-wrapped affair for the Sunday afternoon crowd. Except for the power-play passing that led to Captain Ted Drury's second period score, the elite types (wasn't that Governor and former puckster William F. Weld '66 in Section 16?) were granted very little finesse play.

But for those box-lunch hockey boosters, Harvard put together some awfully tasty sandwiches--holiday leftovers that really filled the stomach.

Sophomore Steve Martins made his season debut, back from an ankle injury that's kept him sidelined since the opening practice. Martins didn't burn holes in the scoring sheet, but his intensity sure helped melt BC's hopes.

All of Martins' classmates--from forward Ben Coughlin to impressive newcomer Keith McLean--also showed character with their fiery backchecking and gutsy physical play.

As far as scoring goes, sparky freshman Tom Holmes was the top turkey. With a lucky bounce and loads of spunk, Holmes tallied his first collegiate goal by rolling a puck past Eagle goalie Josh Singewald.

With one under his belt, Holmes later picked up another and then added an assist. By the end of the game, Coach Ronn Tomassoni was so pleased with Holmes that he sent the undersized rookie out looking for the hat trick.

"Tommy played hard and it was nice to see him get a couple," Tomassoni said. "He showed a lot of hard work. The whole team skated hard."

All smiles on the Crimson bench. And 1993's just arrived.

Unfortunately, the festive atmosphere never spread through the whole building. (Are there any acoustic experts out there who can explain how a house packed with 3,125 fans could remain that quiet?) Then again, maybe it was just the adults who needed rest because the kids--and there were lots of them, mostly wearing youth hockey jackets, in attendance--had loads of fun.

And for the Crimson, maybe that was the most important thing: fun.

Even with all the penalties (it was BC, after all), the Crimson showed that work ethic brings results. And success usually lifts the spirit.

"In the first period, everyone was a little rusty," Cohagan said. "Sometimes you lose a step over the break. But we kept working hard. It was exactly what we needed."

One resolution down, many more to go. But maybe this drive for success doesn't have to be about sacrifice at all.

"As long as we keep working, we'll be all set," Tomassoni said. "This team still hasn't played its best hockey. I think that's very encouraging."

G. Bart Kasowski is a Crimson Staff Writer. ECAC TEAM LEADERS (44 of 132 GAMES PLAYED)

Offense (goals/gm) 1. Yale  4.91 2. Harvard  4.63 3. Brown  4.38

Defense (allowed/gm) 1. St. Lawrence  2.25 2. Harvard  2.56 3. Rensselaer  2.57

Penalty Minutes/Game 1. Princeton  29.5 2. Colgate  23.5 3. Rensselaer  22.0

Power Play 1. Yale  41.5% 2. Harvard  28.8% 3. Rensselaer  27.0%

Penalty Killing 1. Rensselaer  92.3% 2. Brown  85.4% 3. Harvard  83.3% St. Lawrence  83.3%

Home Attendance 1. Rensselaer  4,368 2. Vermont  4,035 3. Cornell  3,733