You've heard the rumors.

Last year, the Harvard men's hockey team made the NCAA Final Four. This year, the Crimson will be lucky to make the ECAC Tournament.

You've seen the facts.

Last year, the Crimson had the most efficient power play in the ECAC. Harvard had the league's top goalie and second-leading scorer. This year, all five of the power players are gone. So are the goalie and the second-leading scorer.

You've witnessed the predicament.

This year, the starting goalie was injured in an exhibition game and has seen no action. The team is starting a host of freshmen and sophomores.

You've made the judgment.

The Crimson is a sad replica of what it once was. The Harvard whirlwind, which blew to three NCAA tournament appearances in the last three years, has run out of air.

You've made the decision.

You're going to spend your Friday and Saturday nights playing pinochle and writing long, introspective letters to your grandmother instead of making the trek to Bright Center. You're going to retire your Crimson pom-poms. You're going to save your cheers for next football season.

You've made a mistake.

The Crimson may not be as good as last year. Or the year before. Or the year before that. But good boys don't play hockey. They play pinochle with their grandmothers.

This year, the Crimson has been winning by being bad. No more fancy-pants skating. No more pretty two-on-one breakaways in which every pass is perfect. No more behind the net, slip it past the goalie while his head is turned, raise your stick and smile for the cameras.

This year, the Crimson is playing hockey the hard way. Guys are hanging out around the net, taking shots as cheap as J.C. Penney suits. Guys are pinning others guys to the boards and reading them their rights. Guys are going into the corners like there's gold buried there.

The Crimson may not be as good as it was last year, but it's badder. And badder may be better.

The Crimson is so bad that it is 5-0 and sitting alone atop the ECAC. There are no big names on the team. Dickie McEvoy, last year's leading ECAC goalie, has graduated. Lane MacDonald, the ECAC's second-leading scorer, is playing for the U.S. Olympic Team.

But a team of no-names has turned in some fine games. Maybe, just maybe, Harvard will snag another ECAC championship this year. And maybe, just maybe, the Crimson will be back in the NCAA Final Four.

Or maybe the Crimson will fall as far as the critics say it will--to third place in the ECAC. Or worse. But whether the Crimson grabs a crown or gets crowned is immaterial. The ride will still be fun.

Here's five reasons why seeing Harvard hockey beats playing pinochle any night.

Freshmen: After then-freshman C.J. Young scored a pair of goals to lift the Crimson to a 5-2 triumph over Colgate last year, Red Raider Coach Terry Slater muttered, "For every Scott Fusco Harvard loses, it gets another one."

Fusco, who graduated in 1985 (the same year he won the Hobey Baker Award), owns every major Harvard scoring record and has a special place in Crimson annals. Nevertheless, the Crimson--thanks to Associate Coach and chief recruiter Ronn Tomassoni--has churned out a bunch of Fusco play-alikes over the last several years, including a handful this year.

Peter Ciavalglia, Ted Donato, Mike Vukonich and John Weisbrod make up a recruiter's dream team. All four have stepped into starting forward roles. And freshman goalie Michael Francis, who took over for injured John Devin, wears Dickie McEvoy's old number (1) and occupies the same place on the ECAC goalie chart.

Big is Better: Harvard Coach Bill Cleary has always emphasized the skating game. He favorssmall, quick players over big brutes.

But when a big guy or two knocks, Cleary'snever been one to slam the door. Chris Biotti--all6-ft., 2-in. and 200-Ibs of him--showed up twoyears ago and brought the Crimson more stature ifnot more goals. Biotti jumped to the big leaguesthis year, accepting a spot in the Calgary Flames'minor league organization, so there was a big gapin the Harvard roster.

But this year, Cleary's doorbell went "Ding,dong" and there stood Kevan Melrose, a 5-ft.,10-in., 205-lb. transfer from North Dakota.Melrose makes a Mack Truck look like a Tonka Toy.

And he's as tough as he looks. Melrose leadsthe team in penalty minutes. In the Crimson's gameagainst Dartmouth last Saturday, he was hit withthree penalties in a row.

When Melrose is at the door, heads startringing.

Captain Courageous: He's from Ithaca,N.Y.--Cornell's playground--but he decided to goto Harvard. He heads the Crimson's penalty killingunit. He's the king of the no-names.

For an all-expenses-paid trip to Ithaca and achicken dinner (courtesy of Lynah Rink), nameHarvard's 92nd captain.

Steve Armstrong, Harvard's chief cornerman(Armstrong is to corners as Harvard square is totraffic), has done what any self-respectingpotential captain should do. In his three years atHarvard, Armstrong has hustled. And hustled. Andhustled.

In his freshman year, Armstrong scored sixgoals and recorded five assists. In his sophomoreseason, his numbers were 10 and seven. Junior yearthey were 11 and 15. Statistics concentrators canplot out Armstrong's steady improvement foryourself.

And you'll see--this year, he'll only getbetter.

Underdogs: For the first time in threeyears, the Crimson is not the favorite to capturethe ECAC title. Poor St. Lawrence. Poor Colgate.When these squads--the league frontrunners--enterBright Center, they're liable to play fire hydrantto the Crimson's underdog.

1988: MacDonald and Allen Bourbeau, theteam's top two scorers a year ago, are coming backnext year. They'll have a year of Olympic Teamexperience behind them. They'll have the hockeyknow-how to led Harvard to the gold.

And that wouldn't be at all bad