(This is the first of a series of articles previewing the winter sports.)

When Bowdoin College's hockey team faces the Crimson in this season's opener, the Polar Bears will be taking on one of the most powerful varsities in Crimson sports history, squad offering Coach Cooney Weiland a wealth of talent unprecedented to his 12 years at Harvard.

Although five lettermen left the Crimson at the end of last winter, sophomores Gene Kinasewich, Bill Lamarche, Ike Ikauniks, and Barry Treadwell will more than fill the gaps in the forward positions; and Weiland can now call on Chuck Keesler and Mike Patterson to help at defense.

Although he is still shifting men back and forth in an effort to come up with the winning combinations, Weiland has set up three strong lines. The fastest-skating and hardest-hitting of the three at this time has Tim Taylor and Kinasewich on the wings with last year's leading Harvard scorer, Jim Dwinell, at center. Another line puts veterans Bill Beckett, Dave Morse, and Dave Grannis together; Tom Heintxman, Gerry Jorgenson, and Dean Alpine form the third unit.

Bill Cleary, a member of the great Harvard teams of the 50's and of the 1960 Olympic squad, has described Kinasewich as "the greatest skater I have ever seem in amateur hockey." Weiland feels that Gene will make "an already excellent team into a spectacular one."

The team should gain valuable experience this Christmas when it heads out West to play four games against. Minnesota and Colorado. What use it will make of the experience remains to be seen: Weiland, cautious about his predictions at this early stage, suggested yesterday that Yale might prove to be an Ivy opponent requiring most of it.