Billy O'Dwyer of South Boston, the team's leading scorer with 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points, centers for linemates Mike Ewanouski (9-16-25) on the right and Brian Burns on left.
Based on past experience, fans and Harvard defensemen should watch for the O'Dwyer combination if things get tight in the late going. Against the Terriers January 18, probably the biggest game of the regular season for the Eagles, O'Dwyer evened the score at six apiece with just a few minutes left in regulation. Then Ewanouski popped home a loose puck in overtime for B.C.'s first win ever at Walter Brown Arena. "I really enjoyed that," Ewanouski said recently, admitting that "the effect was beginning to wear off" two weeks after the fact. You can bet B.U. still smarts.
So, for that matter, does Harvard. Billy Cleary's skaters remember well the 6-2 decision they dropped to B.C. January 9, a game closer than the final score and representative of both the strengths that have bolstered and the problems that have plagued the Crimson.
First the positive. "We're not a big team," says Cleary, "and we're not a physical team, but we're a scrappy team and a gutsy team." During the first period, Harvard dominated play through sheer hard work, digging in the corners, forechecking and back-checking with authority, willing to spend 30 seconds fighting for a loose puck in order to set up an opportunity, rather than trying all game long for a picturesque goal. The Eagles were caught off guard, and showed it. Yet...
...the score after one period was 2-2. Harvard had nothing to show for probably one of the best periods it played all year; B.C., though taken aback by the aggressiveness of their opposition, adjusted accordingly and eventually wore Harvard down. A frustrating evening for the Crimson. Cleary: "We just haven't capitalized on the opportunities. We've had good opportunities--I don't mean shots from the blue line or from behind the net, but real opportunities to score...."
The elusive goal, the failure to convert pressure into something that shows up on the scorecard, leaves a nagging anxiety even with a team, like Harvard, that is unified and confident of its own abilities. "That's the frustration," commented one player, "you never know whether things are going to click or not."
But if the Crimson doesn't always win--it stands at 4-10-1 overall, a more competitive 4-7-1 in ECAC. One--they are consistently interesting. Last year, a hodge-podge selection of weary veterans and green youngsters charted separate paths both on and off the ice, sliding, stumbling and skidding to a monotonously miserable 7-18-1 record (5-16-1 ECAC), the worst since Harvard hockey began in 1896. "The team didn't stick together," says sophomore goalie Wade Lau, expected to start tonight. "Some guys got to the point where they came into the locker room before a game wondering how many goals we were going to lose by. When you accept losing, you're not going to win very often."
Then came this year. At first, the most obvious shift was geographical rather than attitudinal: after a year of playing the interloper at B.U.'s Brown Arena, it was return of the native time as the newly renovated Alexander H. Bright Hockey Center (formerly Watson Rink) opened for business. But the change became apparent in other ways. The old guard, or most of it, had graduated (and standout defenseman Jackie Hughes went out for the U.S. Olympic Team). A corps of hungry freshmen took its place. The 1979-80 version of Harvard hockey is the youngest ever, with ten first-year men (including three of the top four scorers) on the squad. Only four seniors--co-captains Graham Carter (forward-defense) and John Hynes (goalie) among them--remain.
At its best this season--and there have been high points, like freshman left wing Dave Connors scoring with 45 seconds left in overtime to vanquish B.U., 4-3, December 5 and a team effort overcoming the University of New Hampshire, 4-1, six days later--the Crimson can play with anyone. In molding and directing the energies of his youthful squad, Cleary must perform the hockey equivalent of a delicately controlled fusion reaction. "This is one of the best years I've ever had coaching," says the former Harvard, Beanpot and Olympic star. "I've never had so much fun. The kids have been great, super."
Yes, the "kids" are alright. One freshman, defenseman Mark Fusco, leads the team in points with 17 (eight goals, nine assists), while another, opportunistic right winger Greg Olson (9-5-14) heads the goals department. Other freshmen--particularly Jim Turner (4-11-15), the smooth left wing from Melrose who joins Olson and sophomore center Mike Watson (4-8-12) on the Crimson's second line--have also carved niches for themselves.
In addition to the Watson-Turner-Olson connection, two other lines have remained relatively stable. On line one, Burke (5-11-16) centers for junior right wing Tom Murray, one of the squad's best stickhandlers, and freshman Greg Britz, who replaced junior Rick Benson in late December. Coach Cleary may decide to shift Britz before tonight's game. Freshman wingers Derek Malmquist and Connors will likely join playmaking junior center Bob McDonald. Look for Neil Sheehy, freshman brother of former NHLer Tim, to throw his weight around on a fourth line.
For keeping the puck out of Harvard's net, Mitch Olson (Greg's brother) qualifies as Harvard's only true "defensive defenseman." Fusco, on the other hand, has solidified his hold on the right point of the Crimson power play with his booming slap-shots, and has been urged to give his game more balance.
Finally, Wade Lau makes his Beanpot debut tonight. Like B.C.'s Doug Ellis, Lau uses a loose style that relies more on instinct than form. Between the twines for all but two Harvard contests, he has kept the Crimson in many games, but has also let in some inopportune goals. His performances aginst B.U. and Vermont show that he reacts well to pressure, a necessary trait for any effective Beanpot competitor.
But somehow, playing a big game against Vermont or even B.U. doesn't compare with the Beanpot. The setting and the occasion elevate and magnify the strengths, weaknesses and importance of people and events. So it is with the Beanpot--imagine your midterm rescheduled to the Taj Majal. Both Harvard, winner of seven Beanpots, and B.C., which has won nine, feel due for another.
In a few hours, one team will start wating for a week from tonight, the other for a year from tonight. Like any game, Harvard vs. Boston College could be a blow-out, 6-2 or 8-1, the result never in doubt. But it could also be one of those Beanpot classics they'll talk about when the next generation of Burkes and Laus and O'Dwyers and Antetomasos meet on Garden ice on the first two Mondays in February. As nine o'clock approaches, all the ingredients are there--except perhaps the snow. But remember, the blizzard was optional.