From Birth to Beanpot, Gustafson Carries Stick

Maybe it was fated that Cory Gustafson would be a hockey star.

The senior, who lines up on the right wing of the Harvard's men's hockey team's second line, didn't start playing hockey in junior high. He didn't even start playing in elementary school.

He started from birth.

"When I was born, I got a little hockey stick from my parents signed by all my relatives," Gustafson recalled. "I was always fooling around with that stick."

It wasn't long before Gustafson went from fooling around to honing the shot that would turn him into Harvard's sixth-leading scorer a year ago and a consistent offensive threat.

"My dad put a rink in my backyard and built boards around it," Gustafson said. "I grew up shooting the puck non-stop after school--shooting, shooting, shooting."

Opposing goalies weren't the first to feel the wrath of Gustafson's shot.

"As I shot harder, my dad put carpet on the boards so that I wouldn't wake the neighbors," said Gustafson, smiling.

Gustafson's career took him to Notre Dame Academy, "a hockey factory for college players," as he described it.

There Gustafson continued to improve his offensive skills, and, in 12th grade, became a member of the school's AAA Midget Team. He became its second-leading scorer.

Such feats caught the eyes of many college scouts eager to see him join the offensive line of their teams. Gustafson was approached by 25 different schools. In fact, Harvard was one of the later schools to call him. But once it did, Gustafson's mind was almost made up.

"As soon as I heard the name [Harvard], I was like, "This was something I had to consider because not everyone gets a chance like this," Gustafson said. "Hockey was important to me, but the school was always in the back of my mind."

There was one other draw for Gustafson: the opportunity to play in the Beanpot.

"I really wanted to play in Boston Garden," Gustafson said. "I came to both weeks of the Beanpot, and I thought it was really something I wanted to play in."

In the fall of 1991, Gustafson suited up for the crimson for the first time. Despite a broken wrist he suffered that summer, he didn't miss a game.

In fact, he had a streak of participation that would make Cal Ripken proud. From that first night in 1991, Gustafson played in every Crimson contest until the final weekend of the regular season last year, when, after spraining his shoulder, he was benched on the advice of the team medical staff.

"It was definitely the right decision, but it was difficult," Gustafson said.

Gustafson started slowly in his first two seasons at Harvard, not becoming the scoring machine everyone expected he would be. But at the begining of last season, he went caught on fire, scoring in each of Harvard's first five games.

And he didn't stop there.

It was Gustafson who netted the overtime gamewinner in last year's opener against Brown. Later in the season Gustafson notched a hat trick and an assist in Harvard's 7-6 downing of Maine.

He finished the year with 32 points, good for sixth place on the team's scoring ladder.

"It burns me every time I don't score in a game," Gustafson admitted.

Gustafson combines a hard shot with an on-ice savvy that allows him to score even when there appears to be no opportunity.

"I figure out where the goalie probably will be and what will be the highest probability shot," he said.

His goal ten seconds after the end of a Brown five-on-three advantage on December 3 was just such a score. He fired a laser beam into the upper right corner off a pass from junior Brad Konik, sending Brown goalie Mike Parsons' water bottle airborne.

"I took the pass from Brad and I didn't even look at the net," Gustafson said. "I just shot."

The Tremendous feats of last season have led to lofty expectations for this year's team, and that has put more pressure on this year's seniors.

Gustafson has not been immune.

"The way things have been going this season, when things are not going as well as everyone expected, there is the added weight that you need to be one of the leaders," Gustafson said, "But it's not something we don't want. We willingly accept it."

As a senior, Gustafson is looking ahead, and he wants hockey to be a part of his future.

"Anybody who puts in the time that we do, it's a dream to play professionally," Gustafson said. "I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get to the next level."

Gustafson admits a certain amount of concern for his and his teammates' professional futures in the wake of the NHL labor situation.

"I don't know if it will be a good thing or a bad thing," Gustafson said about the lockout which threatens to wipe out the 1994-1995 NHL season. "It concerns all of us graduating next year, especially if things don't get cleared up by the end of this season."