Last winter, while dozens of munchkins busily readied Boston Garden for the ritualistic Beanpot extravaganza, a small group of coaches and captains sat unnoticed in Jonathan Swift's, quietly outlining the preliminaries for the first Women's Beanpot.

And they were serious.

The next few weeks saw the sketchy dream unfold into a potentially unporfitable but ultimately highly successful reality. Granted, during that first tourney last March 16-17 fireworks didn't flare and the sea didn't part--hockey fans associate those phenomena only with the venerable men's competition.

But the tournament did produce a unique result: Northeastern breezed by Harvard (4-0) and B.C. (3-1) to grab its first Beanpot title of any variety.

Now the coaches and captains of the Harvard, Northeastern, Boston College and Boston University women's hockey squads are in the final stages of planning for the 2nd Annual Women's Beanpot, which Harvard will host on the weekend of February 23-24.

Although Hockey fans will undoubtedly see structural similarities in the two Beanpots, the planners of the women's event are quick to point out that they aren't striving for a carbon copy of the men's version.

And some of the differences between the two events should prove that.

To begin with, the relationship between the four Boston women's teams is a somewhat tenuous one at present. There are no established leagues in women's hockey, so the keen rivalries will take time to develop.

One of the primary purposes of the Women's Beanpot is, as Harvard coach Rita Harder puts it, "to increase the competition and rivalry and yet at the same time bring the teams together. The Beanpot's an attempt to establish something to look forward to."

One thing the teams did not look forward to last year, however, was Boston Arena, the decaying home of the Northeastern Huskies, who hosted the first tournament. Because the women can't afford the overhead necessary to rent out a permanent site like the Boston Garden, they have agreed to rotate the Beanpot from school to school and compress it into a two-day invitational tournament.

Northeastern coach Paula Dumont offered to host the Beanpot at the Arena-coincidentally the site of the first men's Beanpot in 1952. The surroundings of that hockey center are somewhat less safe at night; only about 700 fans attended. Joe Bertagna, last year's Harvard coach, says he believes attendence this year should be up around 800-1000, both because of this year's location--Bright Hockey Center--and increased publicity.

This year's Women's Beanpot should cost about $1500, Harder says. The teams are hoping to pull in $700 from sales of programs, tickets, and T-shirts--but each school will have to chip in to meet the rest of the costs. As Bertagna understates, "It certainly won't be a big profitable event."

Maybe not financially. But, as Harder notes, the chance to provide an annual local tournament for the fledgling women's teams is worth the costs. This year, Harvard can look forward to an always-awesome Northeastern squad--something the Harvard men have never had to worry about.

And who knows? Maybe 26 years from now, the women's beanpot will have grown in to a full-fledged tradition of its own.

"The Beanpot's kinda magical," Bertagna explains, adding, "We're hoping people who are too busy to come to regular women's games will say, 'Gee, I think I'll check it out."'