Last winter in the midst of Princeton's fifth straight disastrous hockey season, besieged goalie Chad Swift paused to reflect on the Tiger woes. "Princeton hockey interest isn't high," he said. "Most of our players end up quitting or getting kicked out, Losing is a tradition here."

Two months later, Tiger coach Bill Quackenbush played out the script of Swift's analysis perfectly, as the Princeton athletic department announced that Quackenbush and freshman mentor John Semler were to play a little game of coaching musical chairs. Quackenbush will step down to take Semler's job as freshman hockey coach at Princeton, and Semler will assume the varsity position. The change is effective immediately.

It isn't clear whether Quackenbush decided to call it quits on his own, or, to use Swift's words, was "kicked out." Nevertheless, when the Tiger icemen face off on the next season, Quackenbush will be on the bench of the Tiger freshmen rather than leading the varsity.

Horror's in Tigerland

Semler joined the Tiger coaching ranks in September 1972 and last year directed the Bengal freshmen to a 15-5 record. He must have impressed a lot of people down in Tigerland, because it didn't take long for the Princeton athletic department to decide that it would much rather entrust the fate of the varsity to Semler rather than extending the horror show overseen by Quackenbush.

Quackenbush had been at the helm for six years, and only in one of them--his first--did he put together a winning record. The 13-10 record that year was the best showing for Princeton since 1936 and was good enough to give the Tigers a slot in the ECAC playoffs. It was the only time in Tiger history that Princeton has made it into the ECACs.

Since then, however, things have not quite measured up to that first year of the Quackenbush regime. Quackenbush's teams in the last five years have strung together a record of 21 wins, 103 losses, and 2 ties.

Besides assuming the freshman job, Quackenbush will wile away the hours with a new position; he will become director of Princeton's Baker Rink. It seems that if Quackenbush can't shape up the icemen, he will at least be able to shape up the ice.