After the initial practice session of hard skating and hard shooting, Coach Cooney Welland had every indication that the 1955-56 team will rank with last year's Eastern Champions. The long five weeks before the opening game with Northeastern will give Weiland plenty of time to prove it by finding the best combination of veterans and of sophomores from the outstanding 1958 freshman team.

It is certainly too early to tell much and it probably won't be until the Holiday Tournament games with Eastern powers Claikson and St. Lawrence in late December that the team will indicate its potential. As of the first of November, however, Welland is sure of one thing: he will have a good deal more depth in all positions, especially defense, than he has had for several years.

Integration Problem

By his own admission, Welland's biggest problem in the next month or so will be integrating the numerous sophomores with the veterans, most of them seniors. It hardly seems likely that more than four juniors will be on the final squad list.

One of the major reasons for any optimism that Welland may have about the coming season is Captain Charlie Flynn, who was named All-American goalie at the Colorado Springs Championships last year. Flynn, aided by defensemen like Peto Summers and Les Stevens, will be the backbone of a team that should be defensively strong. Whether the offense will be as powerful as it was last year is a question to be decided only by time.

Cleary Gone

Welland would "naturally like to play offensive hockey" and thinks he may be able to with the scoring punch more evenly spread out than it was last year. But Bill Cleary, who is now in the army, won't be around, and any team is going to miss a man who can score 89 points in a season.

The varsity also will have the opportunity to settle last year's unanswered question in local hockey circles: just how good is Tufts. The Jumbos' powerful sextet ran over teams like M.I.T. and Boston University last year, but it should be another matter entirely when they play the Crimson this year on Dec. 17 and Feb. 22. Two other new opponents are Williams and Middlebury. The latter sextet may well prove dangerous, since it has managed to hold its own with teams like St. Lawrence and Clarkson the past couple of years.

Eight of the varsity's 23 games will be played at the Watson Rink. Last February the Crimson defeated Northeastern in its only previous contest here. This year Middlebury, Dartmouth, Brown, Williams, Tufts, Princeton, and Northeastern will play on the rink.

Practice began so early this year that men, currently playing fall sports, will not join the team for another three weeks.