It's tough to say what gives away John Weisbrod's status as a true hockey fanatic.

Is it his 6-ft., 3-in., 210-lb. hockey build? His hockey attire? His hockey necklace? His Hockey News?

Or is it the way his face lights up like a flashbulb when the sport is mentioned?

"I love the game," the junior forward says eagerly. "There's no question in my mind that I'm going to keep playing hockey until they don't let me play anymore. They'll have to kick me out. There's nothing in the world I'd rather do than play hockey."

That's why John Weisbrod is at Harvard. Not to graduate summa cum laude, but to play hockey. The English concentrator says he's here to win national championships, not to read British novels.

"I realize school's important, and I try to do well, but I don't get bent out of shape over it," he says. "But I'm pretty obsessive about hockey."

No, it's not a question of economics. No, he isn't looking for fame. He just adores hockey.

"He lives for the game," says Weisbrod's friend and linemate, center Pete Ciavaglia. "All day long he is watching tapes of the game, thinking about the game, talking about the game, going to see the game. His mind works in hockey terms."

Weisbrod's passion for the ice began at an early age. As a two-year-old, he was already zipping around rinks near his home in Woodbury, N.Y. At age three, he fell in love with hockey through his family's television set.

"I'd be crying, and my parents would just sit me in front of the TV to watch hockey," Weisbrod remembers. "It was the only way they could get me to shut up."

Long Island has never been considered a hockey hotbed, but Weisbrod joined a remarkable Oyster Bay travelling team populated by 15 future Division I icemen. He stuck with the squad through Mites, Squirts, Bantams and Juniors, enjoying several state championships and three national titles. Of course, his team won its league every year, as has every team Weisbrod has ever played for.

But despite the squad's aberrational success, Weisbrod knew he had to leave the Island to get the national exposure needed to further his hockey career. So in ninth grade, Weisbrod enrolled in Choate Rosemary Hall, a prep school with a reputation as one of the nation's finest--which meant next to nothing to the driven young athlete.

"I didn't go to Choate for academics or because I wanted to go to prep school," Weisbrod says. "I went there 100 percent to play hockey."

At Choate, Weisbrod attracted the attention of the Minnesota North Stars, who selected him in the fourth round of the 1987 NHL draft. His parents urged him to attend college, but Weisbrod resisted. Professional hockey was his only goal in life. What would the NCAAs do to get him into the NHL?

Anyway, Weisbrod had always thought that the only pro-style college hockey was played in the West. The Ivy League? Forget about it. Under parental pressure, the burly forward made a verbal commitment to the University of Denver, which offered a scholarship and a chance to play in the NHL-feeder WCHA.