Just when it seems you've left your old crowd behind for good, a familiar face pops up to remind you how small the world really is.

Jack Hughes and Jim Craig. A couple of Boston-area kids who got to know each other during some memorable college hockey games a few years back. Hughes played defense for Harvard, and Craig tended the Boston University goal like few

The two battled at hallowed Walter Brown Arena, where the ghosts of champions past gave the Terriers a seventh man on ice--sort of a perpetual power play.

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They battled at Watson Rink, the ramshackle ice palace that Crimson icemen called their own until the vagabond season of '78-'79 that made Walter Brown the home address for both clubs.

Most memorably, they battled at Boston Garden in a trilogy of Beanpot excitement. On Valentine's Day, 1977, Hughes--then a freshman--helped Harvard upset the Terriers after seven consecutive losses over a three-year span with a game-tying goal. On March 2, 1978, Craig kicked away 29 shots in a 7-1 laugher. And on February 5, 1979, the two met for the last time, B.U. bringing home a 4-2 victory on the way to its 11th Beanpot title.

Craig is back on Garden ice all the time these days--as goalie for the Bruins. And when the Colorado Rockies cruised into town last week in fancy, four-color uniforms, who showed up to grin at the former Terrier from left defense but his old buddy, Hughes.

The road to the top has been tougher for Hughes, and while Craig was winning the gold medal and the hearts of millions of Americans at Lake Placid, the Somerville native was riding buses in the Central Hockey League.

"I've had a couple of tough years," Hughes said in the Rockies' locker room after Thursday's game. "I always knew I could play, but things weren't going right." The last cut on the Olympic team, he seemed destined to play out a minor league career until a sparkling training camp brought him to the big time.

"I got a break this year--the management and coaches liked me," he said. "I'm very happy to be here, and it's great to be playing against Jim Craig."

Hughes hasn't completely overcome that streak of bad luck. Orthoscopic surgery on his knee sidelined him for nine games, and in the 4-2 loss to the Bruins--his first game back--the lack of mobility hurt his play.

But knowing Jackie Hughes, it won't keep him down. "I think (Colorado Coach) Billy (MacMillan) has been pleased with his play," Rockies' announcer Norm Jones said. "He's been playing with a little more confidence every time, even with the nine games out of the lineup. He's been a good, steady defenseman with the club," Jones added, "and coming back from surgery takes time."

Just as long as he's better by the next time he comes to the Garden. He wants Craig, and the rest of the gang, to see him at his best.

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The Harvard hockey team could use a Jackie Hughes right now.