Here is a guy who saw limited varsity experience his junior year, filling in when Doug Eliot was injured and taking a shift here and there. He was barely noticed by the fans, and when his name was brought up it was usually as an afterthought. Some questioned his ability to become a varsity starter.

Well, Byrd was thrust into the starting position this season after graduation had claimed Eliot, Kevin Hampe and Bob Muse. Only Mark Noonan returned with varsity experience. To the surprise of many, Byrd fit in well. After overcoming the mistakes that come with lack of experience, he has become a very solid defenseman.

Byrd is not flashy. He's no Bobby Orr by any means, but his steady play the second half of the year has earned him honors as an All-Ivy first team defenseman.

The rest of the defense, Steve Janicek, Ed Rossi and Dave Hands, has also shown marked improvement this season. Again, they had to overcome the mistakes that come when you're suddenly playing varsity hockey after a season of J.V. The Crimson icemen dropped several of the early games because of bad clearing passes, defensemen getting caught up ice or being bothered around the net by opposing forecheckers.

Before the Beanpot Finals, writers who were not familiar with Harvard this season were warned a head of time about a defense that was somewhat suspect. But after Harvard won that game not one of them could see anything to complain about. The defense improved tremendously after that tourney, as the players were making smarter clearing passes along the boards and weren't getting caught out of position (as often).

The team had to pull together in front of a pair of sophomore goaltenders, John Aiken and Jim Murray. Cleary rotated the varsity newcomers in the first half of the season, but increasingly went with Murray in the nets down the stretch.

Murray played a good season overall, but had his hot and cold moments. He was hot up at Cornell, for instance, and cold in New Haven. But good games and bad games happen to everybody. Murray's problem was that he could be hot and cold in the same contest. After making some great saves, his concentration could lapse and a garbage shot would sneak past him.

But nobody is going to hang goat horns on the netminder's head for any of the losses this season, especially Cleary. Murray will be back next season with some experience behind him and should develop into one of the better goaltenders in the East.

So with all that going for Harvard, you ask, how come the squad finished only second in the East and fourth in the nation?

That, perhaps, is an unfair question. Considering most people were counting Harvard out of contention at the start of the season, it might be more appropriate to ask how come the team went as far as it did. Without experienced defense or goaltending and lacking a "Local Line," the 1973-74 squad was expected to finish no better than third in the East and not even go to the NCAAs.

So the season should be looked at as a rally that didn't quite make it all the way. Cleary expresses it perhaps as well as anybody who is groping for a way to sum up a wild season. "We just fell a little short. It just wasn't to be."