At 3 p.m. yesterday, the Harvard hockey team boarded a bus and departed on their last--and longest--road trip of the season, a 500-mile jaunt to upstate New York. The icemen close out their 1979-80 season this weekend, facing St. Lawrence tonight in Canton, and driving down the road tomorrow to play the Golden Knights of Clarkson in Potsdam.

Because coach Billy Cleary wisely chose to fly to Maine and back the weekend before the Beanpot a month ago, what could have been a relaxing one-hor flight this morning was a nine-and-a-half hour nightmare on the bus last night. With the Crimson eliminated from playoff possibilities and--in effect-just playing out the string, these games are meaningless. If a possible playoff spot had been at stake, however, Cleary might have come under fire from the unknowing for his decision to use the one flight allowed by the athletic department earlier in the season.

Wade Lau will don the pads tonight against the Larries, owners of the worst record in Division 1--3-17. Lau played magnificently in his last effort, turning away 35 shots in the overtime loss to Dartmouth back on February 27.

Who?

Insiders say that the probable starter for tomorrow night's game is Giff Duffy, a sophomore who has seen limited action this season. With the Crimson defense still ailing, the North Oaks, Minn. native will be prepared by plenty of shots from the powerful Knights, who lead the ECAC in scoring. Bill O'Flaherty's squad has already clinched one of the eight ECAC playoff spots with a 13-7 record.

Two other upstate New York teams are in the playoff picture. Colgate, one of the hottest teams in the East, has clinched the number seven spot. The other spot remains up for grabs, but if Cornell (10-11) beats B.U. at Walter Brown tomorrow night they're in. If not, Maine--in its first season of Division 1 play--will make the playoffs with a record of 10-11-1. HARVARD VARSITY HOCKEY STATS

(24 games: 7-14-3 overall; 6-10-3 ECAC; 3-4-3 Ivy)

INDIVIDUAL SCORING No. Name  Pos.  GP  G  A  Pts.  PM  GW  Career Totals 8 Greg Olson  W  24  16  10  26  6  0  16-10-26 6 Mark Fusco  D  24  11  13  24  20  0  11-13-24 10 Dave Burke  F  24  8  16  24  26*  1  24-30-54 12 Jim Turner  W  24  6  16  22  18  0  6-16-22 5 Mike Watson  C  23  7  11  18  8  1  23-21-44 7 Dave Connors  W  24  7  7  14  16  2  7-7-14 16 Tom Murray  W  24  8  5  13  12  0  19-15-34 11 Rick Benson  F  23  4  9  13  4  0  19-20-39 9 Rob Burns  W  20  4  9  13  14  1  4-9-13 19 Greg Britz  C  24  7  5  12  15  1  7-5-12 4 Graham Carter  D  24  4  7  11  16  0  6-7-13 21 Bob McDonald  C  21  4  7  11  8  1  11-32-43 25 Mitch Olson  D  23  2  8  10  42*  0  2-11-13 20 Derek Malmquist  W  16  3  6  9  0  0  3-6-9 17 Jon Garrity  W  11  0  6  6  6  0  15-22-37 2 Bobby Fowkes  D  19  2  3  5  36  0  3-8-11 18 Pete Evans  D  17  1  2  3  8  0  1-2-3 22 Scott Sangster  D  20  0  2  2  18  0  0-2-2 24 Paul Mangano  W  9  0  2  2  0  0  1-4-5 1 John Hynes  G  4  0  1  1  0  0  0-1-1 3 Scott Powers  D  20  0  0  0  12  0  3-4-7 15 Neil Sheehy  W  11  0  0  0  8  0  0-0-0 30 Doug Horton  D  4  0  0  0  0  0  0-1-1 14 Alan Litchfield  D  1  0  0  0  0  0  1-1-2 27 Wade Lau  G  19  0  0  0  0  0  0-0-0 26 Giff Duffy  G  1  0  0  0  0  0  0-0-0 Team            2 HARVARD TOTALS  24  94  147  241  295 **  7 Opponents Totals    24  114  181  295  382  14 *--not including a 10 minute misconduct penalty

INDIVIDUAL GOALTENDING No. Name  GP  Mins.  Saves  GA  Pct.  Avg. 27 Wade Lau  19  1177  547  89  .860  4.54 1 John Hynes  4  249  108  18  .857  4.34 26 Giff Duffy  1  60  25  6  .806  6.00 3--Empty Net-1 HARVARD TOTALS  24  1489  682  114  .857  4.59 Opponents Totals  24  1489  669  94 *  .877  3.79 *--including 2 empty net goals

SCORING BY PERIODS:  1  2  3  OT  Totals  POWER PLAYS:  Att.  Goals  Pct. HARVARD  31  29  33  1  94  HARVARD  143  24  .168 Opponents  42  31  39  2  114  Opponents  107  30  .280