Call Me Doctor

It was one of the all-time, all-night, pot-limit poker games, and Lincoln "Mack" Kinicutt was locked into an unbeatable hand. As he glanced at his hole card, and suddenly realized that there was no way he was going to lose 50 per cent of that heavy $150 pot. he threw his hands into the air, thrust his head back and bellowed, "All right! Call me Doctor!"

So late Wednesday night, when a gloomy rink attendant at Boston College's McHugh Forum told me that, yes, B.U. had beaten the Eagles 8-1, and yes, he was quite sure, it occurred to me that Harvard hockey coach Cooney Weiland must have called himself Doctor a few times on the way back from Ithaca two nights ago. Because now that B.C. has blown three straight hockey games, and five of its last six, only a flagrant misplay of its cards will deprive Harvard of the home-ice advantage in next month's ECAC playoffs. And the Crimson's first opponent there will be... Boston College. Call Harvard Doctor.

Playoff Spots

Next week, the ECAC seeding committee will select eight Division One squads that it feels have merited playoff spots by past record and strength of schedule. The top four teams will have the privilege of playing the opening round on their own home ice-a privilege that Harvard seemed to have little hope of gaining last week.

But losses to both Clarkson and St. Lawrence last weekend, and the trouncing it received Wednesday night, have knocked Boston College from second place in the ECAC's jumbled standings to fifth. and even conceding the Eagles a victory at Army this Saturday, their best possible record will be 14-7.

If Harvard, on the other hand, defeats Princeton next Wednesday, and takes both games with Yale, the Crimson's final ECAC record will stand at 14-6. and will assure Harvard of fourth place and home ice. And if the Crimson kicks away any of its last three games, it does not deserve a place in the top four anyway.

No Challenge

As the rankings stand now, and as they are likely to end up. Cornell will receive the top seeding without challenge. Boston University and Clarkson are fighting for second, with B.U. in a slightly more favorable position, especially if the Terriers defeat the Golden Knights next Thursday night. Brown, riding a five-game winning streak through the easiest homestretch in the East, is sixth. New Hampshire, on the basis of a 9-5-2 record and recent victories over B.U. and St. Lawrence, takes seventh, and St. Lawrence, its season completed, has nailed down eighth.