Who would have guessed, ten weeks ago, that the Harvard hockey team would be fighting down to its very last game for a shot at the bottom position in the ECAC hockey tournament? On December 15 it seemed as if Harvard could almost back into the number three spot in the East. B.U. and Cornell were clearly the top two from pre-season on (and they were seeded in that order last week by the selection committee). But B.C. started slowly, Yale and Brown were bombed in several early games, Clarkson we'd disposed of, St. Lawrence lost the goalie who beat us and would surely start losing.

Then a supposedly meaningless exhibition game with the Eastern Olympics turned the tide -- awfully. Harvard dissipated a 7-3 third-period lead and lost in overtime, 8-7. Exhibition or not, Crimson confidence was hurt. Hurt most of all was goalie Bill Diercks. Under pressure from the television crew to let Eastern network fans see the young star, Coach Cooney Weiland threw Diercks on the ice for the final minutes. With no chance to warm up or get emotionally prepared, Diercks let in three goals on four shots. It may be coincidential, but the mystique that was building around Diercks has yet to reappear.

The Arena Tournament revealed the Crimson's inability to win a big game, and then one-goal losses to B.C. and Northeastern plunged Harvard to depths from which it is still struggling. Meanwhile B.C. took off, and was a clear choice for third seed in the ECAC's. Yale upset Cornell and avoided being upset in later games. The Elis will be the fourth home team if they beat Harvard tonight, fifth if they don't. St. Lawrence and Clarkson kept plugging away up there in the woods: The Larries will be fourth or fifth; the Golden Knights sixth. Brown found a powerful first line and put on a strong last-season surge that will lift it to the .500 level and the tourney's seventh spot, unless Dartmouth pulls a miracle tonight to honor is departing coach Eddie Jeremiah. That leaves only the eight spot. If Harvard beats Yale in the 8:30 p.m. game at New Haven, the Crimson will get that spot and will play against B.U. in the Arena Tuesday night. If Harvard loses, the nod will go to Northeastern, which has three losses against Division II teams to offset three impressive wins over B.C.

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Harvard shouldn't lose tonight, but if it does an end at least will be put to one of the winter's tragedies. No one has ever claimed to understand Coach Weillands many personnel shifts, but an extreme of incomprehensibility was reached when he benched his captain, Dennis McCullough. McCullough was the team's goal leader his sophomore year, was third in that department last year, and was second high scorer this season when Weiland stopped giving him regular turns late in December. Since then, McCullough has been used only to kill penalties, and Weiland even avoids him occasionally in that capacity.

McCullough's ability and experience merit a starting role, but his position as captain requires it. Weiland is a string-puller, not an inspirer or a leader of any kind. By sacrificing his captain, he removed any leadership or unifier that might have benefited his team, and created a disorganization that is not the least of the squad's problems.

McCullough is a dedicated hockey player and respected individual, who took his position seriously. Again it may be only coincidence, but the one pep talk of the hockey season was delivered by McCullough in the bus before the Crimson players pulled their one upset of the year, against Clarkson. Giving experience to another sophomore on a predominantly underclass team is no excuse for benching McCullough, and the deterioration of Kent Parrot's first line, on which McCullough normally winged, into the weak spot of the team has certainly provided no justification.