Exam period can mean joy or disappointment for any student--especially Harvard hockey players.

Tonight Harvard will face off against Boston University in the opening round of the Beanpot Tournament at the Boston Garden at 9 p.m., following a Northeastern-Boston College contest. The finals and consolation round will be played next Monday.

A Crimson victory will avenge an 8-3 loss to the Terriers last month. Seven different BU skaters scored, as the Harvard goal was bombed by 43 shots. But the Beanpot, the championship of Boston, could be a different story.

One year ago, Harvard gave B.U. a 7-2 thrashing at Watson rink, but the Terriers returned the favor by the same score in the Beanpot.

To add to the problem of containing the top-ranked team of the nation, five Harvard players--Brian Petrovek, Kevin Burke, Kevin Carr, Kevin O'Donaghue and Tim McKenna--will have exams today.

Captain Kevin Carr has been preparing for a Gov 150 exam. "It is sort of a drain," he said yesterday. "It doesn't really conflict too much, though, because no one thought of trying to change exam times."

Coach Bill Cleary has held optional practices throughout reading period and exam period. Although attendance at the practices was low after the 7-4 victory over Boston College on January 21, senior Tim McKenna said that "for the last three or four days everyone has skated for at least an hour."

"Most guys have been skating as much as possible," freshman Gene Purdy said yesterday. "But exams are going to throw off our rhythm. It can't be used as an excuse; it's just one of those things we've got to deal with." Purdy finished exams last week.

But McKenna said that some changes should be made. "Something should really be done," he said yesterday. "Either the Beanpot should be moved to another date or Harvard exams should be rescheduled. Other schools have done it."

"The exams bother me quite a bit, because they put a lot of stress on a hockey player," McKenna said.

"It's like any other game," sophomore Kevin O'Donaghue said yesterday in a break from his History 1461 studies. "There are a lot of times when you've got two things to worry about. But the team is up."

But B.U. will be up too. The Terriers suffered its first loss at the hands of Vermont last Friday, 5-1, after 13 straight wins. "Vermont showed that they can be beaten," Carr said. "We've been skating pretty well and Billy Cleary has been pushing us pretty hard."

"When a team loses, they're always psyched for their next game," Purdy said. "We were all kind of hoping that they'd beat Vermont. They're a super team, and we're going to have to play a super game just to stay in it."

Not only are the Terriers a super team, but B.U. finals are held before Christmas.