The hockey squad which turned out for its first meeting in the Varsity Club last night has prospects for a better season than Harvard's pucksters have had for many long years. The reasons for this are two in number: the graduation of only five lettermen from last year's varsity, and the fact that last year's freshman team was stronger than any Crimson yearling outfit in several seasons, winning every official game it played.

Graduation Losses in Defense Positions

The losses through graduation will be most keenly felt in the defense positions, where both Dick Dow and last year's captain Bill Watts will be sorely missed. Ready to fill their positions, however, are Thernton Brown and Jim Roberts, who made their letters last year, Russ Allen, freshman captain last year, and Sam Hicks of the yearlings.

The forward line lost only Bill Lincoin, a wing, and Dunbar Holmes, a center. Among the new sophomores to replace them are several men, notably Ed Cutter, Ralph Pope, and George Roberts as wings, and Johnny Mechem at center. The veteran forward wall promises plenty of power with captain Freddy Moseley, the Ford-Ecker and Hallowell-Hovenanian combinations, plus the Callaways, Sam and John, Al Dewey and Arthur Duffey.

New Deal--And No Jayvee Squad

Coach Joe Stubbs says that everyone will start from scratch this year and, with almost a month to go between the first practice next Tuesday and the opener against Tech on December 11, entirely new forward wall combinations are likely to be formed. Because there will be no official Jayvee team again this year, Coach Stubbs will keep his eye on a large Varsity squad of 25 or 30 men.

One hazard to the chances for a good season is the fact that so many of the potential varsity men are playing football. "There are more hockey men on the football squad than ever before, so far as I know," said Coach Stubbs, "and there is no telling when one of them will suffer a broken collarbone that will put him out for the season.

"There will be only one major change in the schedule this year. Instead of playing the Yale games in a single series as we have done previously, we are going to have our first encounter with them on February 15, and sandwich games with McGill and Princeton between that one and the next one."