Should He Stay Or Should He Go?

There are the college seniors who are out of eligibilty and are going anyway. There are the average underclassmen, who know that turning pro would be akin to career hara- kiri.

And then there are the stars. The Bledsoes, the Webbers, the Kariyas. The guys that can light the lamp, the scoreboard, even the fireplace for touchdowns, hoops and goals.

Whether to commit to the draft in football and basketball or to play for one's draftee out of baseball and hockey, more and more juniors, sophomores, and even freshmen leave school early every year.

Including, one guesses, Harvard hockey's own Ted Drury.

Drury has handled the process well, although he could have eliminated a lot of questioning by taking a Jamal Mashburn-esque stance of committing to a course of action before his junior year began. But as it is, Drury has three clear-cut options.

1. Join the Calgary Flames, who were outgunned by the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and would love the addition of Drury's all-around oftensive package as soon as next season.

2. Play for the 1994 Olympic Team in Likehammer. Norway, where as the only returning member from the 1992 squad he would most likely become the team's captain.

3. Return to the Crimson for his final year of eligibility, where he would always risk a career-threatening injury while his competitive skills would stagnate against a lower level of competition.

Face it, he's out to here.

"But what about his education?" the cynics ask, knowing that the vast majority of athletes who leave school early never return for their degrees.

This line of thinking ignores that as far as Drury's career is concerned, his thesis was already written on the ice at Meribel, France in 1992, his education was learned on roud trips to Clarkson and RPL and his sheepskin will be measured in terms of dollar value when he eventually signs with the Flames.

And that htree years of balancing that education with his studies at one of the world's premier institutions in right up there with a triple summersault with a three- quarter twist in terms of degree of difficulty.

Which brings us back to parts 1 and 2. By all accounts, Drury's game is ready for the pro ranks; according to Harvard goalie Tripp Tracy, Drury has "an NHL- type game with very few weaknesses, especially on defense."

So why would be even consider expanding next winter in frigid Norway?

Tracy has some ideas. "He made some close friends on the team last time around. He likes the thought of playing for Tim Taylor [Yale's head coach]. But basically, he'll probably only consider the Olympics if he thinks he can win a gold."

With the Canadians, Russians, Finns, Swedes and Czechs still on the prowl, they would probably have to move the competition to Lake Placid to gave the still-upstart Americans half a chance.

So look for the new (Theo- Fleury- Drury line next year in the Suddledome (how can Doug Riesbrough and the Flames' coaching staff resist?), pushing the biscuit up ice in the new Western Conference.

Anyways, Harvard won't exactly be in poor shape next year. Seniors Man Mallgrave and Steve Flomenhoft leave fillable holes, and the Tracy Aaron Israel duo in goal should keep improving.

So the Ten Thousand Men of Harvard became 9,999 a year too soon.

For all involved, big deal.

Darren M. Kilfara is a Crimson staff writer. Although he hails from Atlanta, Ga., he loves ice hockey.