Weekend of Redemption?

Four years ago four wide-eyed players stepped onto the ice at Bright Hockey Center for the first time.

Although they were only 18 years old, they already had dreams of four glorious years of college hockey. Then again, who could blame them?

They had been recruited with tales of a national powerhouse that had finished third in the country that year. They would be wearing the same jerseys of players who had raised the NCAA Championship trophy high over their heads just five years previous.

They were only 18, but they could see the future.

This weekend, the four seniors--Jeremiah McCarthy, Henry Higdon, Doug Sproule and Geordie Hyland--will take to that same ice for what will be their final homestand at Harvard against St. Lawrence and Clarkson.

Unfortunately, there will most likely be very few of their peers there to notice.

To say that it has been a frustrating four years would be an understatement for a team that has accumulated an uncharacteristic 46-65-8 record during that time. Coupled with the burden of a dismal record, however, has been the onslaught of questions and criticisms about a national contender turned mediocre. And most of that burden has fallen straight on the shoulders of the four individuals who have endured the most, the worst.

"In many ways the crowd reflects your success," Sproule said. "Our crowd has suffered over the years, and you can probably trace that back to our lack of success over the last few seasons."

The attendance figures always seem to float above the 2,000 mark, yet how can that one statistic explain the real faces who journey across the river to Bright?

Only then, when you realize that over half of those fans wear the visiting colors, does the impact hit home. Schools located over six hours away bring busloads of supporters who easily outnumber the few Crimson faithful.

The players are getting used to it.

"It's something that we have come to expect over the years," Sproule said. "We play for ourselves. Whether the crowd is there or not, we play just as hard."

Two years ago, standing outside the lockerroom after his final game at Bright, goaltender Tripp Tracy '96 looked solemn when asked if he would miss his home barn.

It didn't bother him. He actually preferred to play on the road because at least then there were crazy fans.

What Tracy was remembering were the classic rinks such as Vermont's Gutterson, Cornell's Lynah and even Yale's Blue Whale that instill fear into anyone rooting for the opposition. Those teams are lifted by a bunch of crazies who rival those made famous at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"We like to play in front of a packed house. Sometimes over the years we have played better on the road because they have so many fans there," said Higdon, who has endured four seasons of raw fish being thrown at him when playing in Ithaca. "It would be great to have support like that or even just to have fans there for us."

What those fans would see is a team rich in talent with players who never say die. The Crimson disposed of No. 6 Boston College and then took No. 2 Boston University to overtime in the Beanpot Tournament. That's just one example, and there are many more.

Two years ago, after battling a barrage of injuries which left fewer than 10 players healthy, the Crimson went on a nine-game losing streak to end the regular season. Everyone expected them to fall in the quarterfinals, but that year the Crimson beat the odds, and only in the ECAC championship game were they finally ousted.

This season, seven freshmen have added a fire under the Crimson and the team is playing its best hockey in recent memory.

The players know it. The four seniors feel it more than anyone.

Almost every other ECAC team has a tradition of staying on the ice until the opposing team leaves. Only then, clustered in the center-ice circle, do the players turn to their fans and raise their sticks in salute.

This weekend marks perhaps the last time on their home ice for McCarthy, Higdon, Hyland and Sproule.

And after four years of battling the critics while rebuilding a once great hockey program, wouldn't it be nice for them to raise their sticks to a crowd of supporters?

It would be a first, but at least then the dreams of four long years ago would finally come to fruition.