Yale's slumping hockey team, with no more to lose than it had last Saturday at New Haven, faces ECAC-bound Harvard tonight at Boston Arena in the final regular season game for both. Last week, at Ingalls Rink, the two squads played almost a period and a half of good, clean hockey. Tonight, one can consider himself lucky if he sees that much.

Referees Bell and Barry called 54 minutes in penalties during last Saturday's game, a 5-1 Harvard victory, and the majority were for roughing, high-sticking and tripping. Not surprisingly, the contest ended with Harvard's Leif Rosenberger and Yale's Dean Boylan brandishing sticks, as Crimson coach Bill Cleary tried to get his team off the ice and into the dressing room as quickly as possible.

Consequently, on Tuesday, at the weekly hockey writer's luncheon in Boston. Clearly said that he wouldn't mind if the traditional post-game handshaking line was abolished. He may have a point. It seems hypocritical, and not a little dangerous, to be obliged to congratulate a man who was penalized for spearing you a few minutes earlier.

The hostility, not generally endemic to the Harvard-Yale rivalry, stems specifically from the quality, or lack thereof, of the Bulldogs' performance this winter. With ten lettermen returning, and a group of fine sophomores from a 17-2 freshman team that beat Harvard twice last year, Yale was understandably optimistic last November. A position among the ECAC's top eight was not entirely unrealistic, nor was a respectable finish in the Ivy League.

But now, through a series of incredible third-period collapses, and a general malaise that many at New Haven, including one former Yale starter, attribute to dissatisfaction with coach Dick Gagliardi, Yale's season has degenerated into ruin, as it usually does by this time. The Eli record is 9-13, and the squad has lost five straight games.

So it was not surprising that the Bulldogs, after seeing yet another first-period lead go down the drain last Saturday under a flurry of second-period goals by their opponents, were feeling frustrated and rather vengeful. And nothing has happened over the past week to change the circumstances.

Yale still his nowhere to go, no matter what the outcome of tonight's game. Harvard, with the third seed in the ECAC playoffs sewed up after its 3-2 victory at Brown Wednesday, still has a chance at a share of the Ivy title, but it depends upon Cornell losing to Brown at Ithaca tonight. Essentially, the game has little bearing on anything of consequence, and that is precisely what makes the situation so volatile.

There are two factors, however, which could contribute to keeping the game under control. Giles Threadgold, who has refereed his share of Harvard-Yale contests in the past, will be one of the officials to-night. He has a reputation for brooking no nonsense, and presumably will take appropriate measures to see that the game stays reasonable peaceable.

In addition, Yale will be reluctant to risk penalties as long as it has a decent chance of winning. Last week's problems began only after Harvard had blown the game open with three goals in a five-minute period, and Yale considered the contest out of reach. Hopefully, the game will be played without incident. A respected, traditional rivalry deserves as much.