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.
Then his father walked out.
John Weisbrod V had always worshipped John Weisbrod IV, and the elder Weisbrod had always encouraged the younger's interest in hockey. It was Weisbrod IV who bought season tickets to the beloved Rangers and the hated Islanders.
"My father was without question my main motivator," Weisbrod says. "He was an inspiration to me. He instilled the kind of character you need to be an athlete in me when I was young. He was my idol. He's the one who got me going and kept me going. He's very responsible for me being the kind of hockey player I am now."
After his father left his family--"without warning, for no apparent reason," according to Weisbroad--the Woodbury native decided he could not leave his mother, Patricia, alone in the East. Suddenly, Harvard was the obvious alternative. He already had two sisters in the Boston area--one at B.C., one at Springfield College. And the Crimson's hockey program was already a force in the ECAC.
"I wouldn't have come here unless I thought we'd have a reasonable chance of winning a national title," the Kirkland House resident says. "There are a lot of great hockey players here that are really into school--they're true student-athletes. I couldn't honestly call myself that without a smirk on my face. My first priority was to pick a school that would be on the doorstep of a championship. I would never, never go to a school that was going to go 3-25."
He came to Cambridge in emotional turmoil, but he took his frustrations out on the ice, scoring seven goals in his first seven varsity games before a crippling knee injury forced him to watch the Crimson from the press box. By that time, he was estranged completely from his father and has not seen him or spoken to him since. That was the hardest period of his life.
Harvard Associate Coach Ronn Tomassoni realized that Weisbrod had a lot on his mind. He called him into his office and provided support as Weisbrod broke down and got his troubles off his chest.
"If I were in the pros, playing in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where hockey's a business, no one would care what was going on with my family or anything else, as long as I was out there on the ice," Weisbrod says.
Personal loyalty keeps Weisbrod at Harvard despite yearly contract offers from the North Stars. He will not rule out turning pro after the season, but says his present plans include graduation.
"I'm not an Ivy League kind of student, and I don't get into the social atmosphere as much as some people here," he says. "I can't say that I love the school, but I can say without question that I love every person in the hockey program, every player and every coach. I'd go through a wall for any oneof them. I think a lot of us feel that way. And Ithink that's why we were so successful last year."
Ah, last year. After his freshman year injury,Weisbrod came back to Cambridge in 1988 "ready toexplode." And explode he did, tallying 22 times toplace third on the team goal-scoring list despitehis exclusion from the power play unit.
This year, Harvard Coach Bill Cleary has placedWeisbrod on a line with his two best friends onthe team, junior wing Mike Vukonich and Ciavaglia.And he will join the man-up squad as well.
Weisbrod describes himself as a moderatelyskilled "plugger" who scores goals by being in theright place at the right time. Speed may not behis forte, but he is selling himself short.
"He's a big, strong player who can reallyskate," Cleary says. "I think he has the abilityto play [in the NHL].
They look for guys with size who can put thepuck in the net."
Weisbrod may have the best shot of any ofHarvard's superstars to make it in the NHL. Unlikehis former teammates who are trying their handabroad, Weisbrod is much better suited to theclose-checking NHL game than the wide-openEuropean style.
"I'm going to make a run at the NHL," Weisbrodvows. "I'd rather play ten years in the minorsthan play in Europe. That's always been my dream,what I've aspired to. I don't think I'd get muchpersonal satisfaction playing abroad. I'd feellike I was selling out on my goal."
Weisbrod's goal hasn't changed, but hispersonal satisfaction will never be the same.
"It's hard for me now when I succeed in hockeybecause part of my success was my dad being thereto support me in my achievements," he says. "Now,it's a totally different thing with him not in thepicture any more."
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