"I don't think he's that good," the captain said. "The fact that they play a defensive style helps them. They don't have the big guns out front. It's tough to get rebounds when their forwards are coming back to help the goalie."

But Vermont did beat Harvard in Burlington in the beginning of January, 3-2.

"He played well up there," said Tim Smith, another Harvard forward who's scored a lot--an ECAC fourth-best 32 points. "But seemed more like a hot dog. Blair's more a classic goalie, Draper played up a lot of easy saves."

Smith's also Blair's roommate, so he's probably a little biased.

One Crimson player used to play on the same team with Draper back in junior hockey, so let's check in with him.

"We know we're a much better team than them," said Tim Barakett, 12-15--37, sixth-best in the league. "They caught us when we were pretty down."

The Crimson took to Burlington after stopping RPI in Troy, N.Y., the night before. And after beating the defending national champs, Harvard turned in one of its worst performances of the year.

In in its only other league loss, the Crimson finally statred scoring goals in the final period, coming back from a four-goal deficit to fall 7-5. Only at Vermont did the Crimson scoring machine falter.

"When we first played them all you ever heard about was Draper, Draper," Crimson senior Peter Follows said. "And he played well--but we made him look good."

Tonight, the Crimson will be trying to make Blair look good.

"I'm sure Grant will be ready," Harvard defenseman Don Sweeney said. "It's all a matter of pride. The goals-against average reflects on the whole team not just the goalie."

And, to be fair, Draper's had a lot of help; the Cats do have a top-notch defense all around.

For Draper, tonight's game is a chance to test himself against the best.

"Tom definitely gets up for these games," Barakett said. "It's a way for him to show he deserves the attention he's getting."

Tonight, Draper will be getting lots of attention. Attention from a packed Bright Center crowd that won't know him from any other sieve.

And attention from the most potent offense in the ECAC--an offense that has something to prove after Draper turned out its lights seven weeks ago.