No Holiday for Icemen Tonight

If the Harvard men's hockey team has not realized Winter Break is over, this weekend's road trip will make it clear that the holidays are over.

Harvard, ranked third in the nation and still undefeated in the ECAC, confronts its biggest league challenge of the season tonight and tomorrow in the North Country.

The Crimson (10-1-1 overall, 9-0-1 ECAC) plays ninth-ranked St. Lawrence (9-4-1, 5-3-0) in Canton, N.Y. tonight, and then takes the short trip down to Potsdam to meet Clarkson (6-6-2, 2-4-2).

In recent years, Harvard has not had much luck playing in the hockeycrazed region of the North Country, where sticks, pucks and pads, constitute a way of life. But this season, the Crimson carries a six-game winning streak into upstate New York and could very well extend its seven-point lead in the race for the league title.

The Crimson started out 1993 with a relatively easy 5-2 win over Boston College Sunday, but that victory was in the comfortable confines of Bright Arena. Harvard has not played a road game since late November, when Boston University handed the Crimson its only loss of the season.

And neither Appleton Arena (the Saints' ill-light, all-wood hockey cave) nor Cheel Arena (the Golden Knights' cafeteria/student center/hockey rink) is the type of place Harvard enjoys visiting.

Although students at both schools are still on winter break, St. Lawrence and Clarkson expect the rinks to be packed for the battles against Harvard this weekend.

Local fans and alumni boosters in Postdam and Canton follow college hockey religiously, and the Crimson can expect both rinks to be swarming with puck zealots.

Of course, Harvard will most likely have to worry more about the Saints and Golden Knights themselves than their fans.

Picked by some to garner this year's league title, St. Lawrence currently holds fourth place in the ECAC. The Saints, however, are the only other league team to be ranked in the top 10.

St. Lawrence is undefeated in Appleton Arena this season and its three league losses have come by a total of four goals--not a welcome thought for Harvard.

Continuing in a long-tradition of solid Saint goaltending, Brady Giroux has been the glue for this team. The Franklin, Vt. native leads the ECAC with a 1.80 goals against average and a 5-0-0 record.

On offense, the Saints are led by Captain center Greg Carvel who has scored 11 goals and notched two assists in the league this season.

Not Much of a Problem

If the Crimson can get by the Saints all right (last year, Harvard lost 4-0), eight-place Clarkson shouldn't be much of a problem.

The Golden Knights under Coach Mark Morris were predicted to finish somewhere near the top of the league this season, but in his fourth year, Morris and the team have struggled--to put it mildly.

"We haven't had the greatest of luck this year," said Morris, whose perennially talented teams have yet to truly shine under his reign. "Obviously, the guys at Harvard have."

But Morris said the Golden Knights are antsy and anxious to face the Crimson in what he called "a huge game."

"I think Harvard is definitely beatable, and we're going to our damndest to make it happen this weekend," Morris said.

The Crimson has to watch out for Clarkson's main scoring threats, senior center Steve Dubinsky and sophomores Mark Tuomainen and Todd Marchant. The trio has scored 29 of the team's 66 goals, but none of the other Golden Knights have much to offer in terms of offense.

Harvard, on the other hand, boasts four of the league's top 10 scorers, including the ECAC's most productive offensive force in Drury. Seniors Matt Mallgrave and Steve Flomenhoft and junior Brian Farrell are the other three on the list.

If the Crimson can keep scoring and playing defense the way it has, and if rookies Tripp Tracy and Aaron Israel tend the net the way they have, Harvard should be able to weather any North Country storm the Saints or Knights can brew.

Of course, those upstate New York hockey fans are another matter.