Senior forward John. Weisbrod, seen by many to be the missing link during the Harvard men's hockey team's recent losing ways, will continue to be missing for a minimum of three weeks.

Weisbrod, who missed nine games earlier this season with a bulging disk in his back, reinjured his back in a game against Clarkson earlier this month and has been in University Health Services ever since.

Team doctors originally feared that Weisbrod had ruptured the previously bulging disk. However, tests later showed that Weisbrod in fact incurred a second bulging disk.

Weisbrod should undergo minor surgery next Wednesday or Thursday to remove pieces of the disks that are rubbing against the nerves in his back. According to doctors, the senior forward should be on his feet within a week to 10 days after the surgery.

Allowing for a week to skate and get into shape again, Weisbrod said he hopes to return for the Cornell-Colgate road weekend in early February.

But Weisbrod indicated that his return could come later than that date, and a lot "depends on how well the team does, if we make it to the playoffs."

The other injured Crimson skaters, Kevin Sneddon, Derek Maguire and Ted Drury, should all return for the team's next game against Army February 1.

The Freak Show:Facing this rash of injuries to blueliners, Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni was forced to look to senior Rich DeFreitas, known on the team as "The freak Show." The junior got the call after Sneddon went down at St. Lawrence and skated a few shifts against Clarkson. Last weekend, DeFreitas--who had seen action in only half of the Crimson's first 14 games this year--came up big for Harvard. Skating a regular shift with junior Jim Coady, DeFreitas handled his chances cleanly with few mistakes.

Following the loss to Brown, Tomassoni described DeFreitas as "our best defender tonight."

Strategy Session:Yale Coach Tim Taylor, a 1963 Harvard graduate, did his homework before Saturdays game. The time paid off.

In a very deliberate manner, Taylor skated his first line of Jim Blaeser, Mark Kaufmann and Stephen Maltby against the Crimson first line all night--or al least until Tomassoni broke his first line up in the middle of the third period. Although kaufmann does not knock anyone over at 5'9" and 165 pounds, his linemates both tip the scales at 190-plus, and their forechecking was effective.

Despite not one point between the three Elis, his plan worked, as the ECAC's leading scorers, Ted Donato, Peter Ciavaglia and Mike Vukonich, were held to a combined five points--all garnered on the power play.

"We were very aware of the big line," Taylor said. "They are great in transition and can tic-tac-toe the puck right into the net if you are not careful in the neutral zone. That's why we tried to skate the line of Blaeser, Kaufmann and Maltby against them all night."

Notes From the Road:Brown and Yale, like many colleges with workable schedules, were not in session last weekend.

The Brown athletic department, worried about not filling Meehan Auditorium to capacity (3,100 screaming Bruins fans?) in the students' absence, invited local scout troops, boys and girls clubs and alumni offering free admission for all children. Despite the appeal and a lot of rug-rats, the official attendance was only 1537.

Sign Him Up!:During the second intermission, 10-year old Larry Dolan gave the fans something to really scream over. As an entry in the WIC Shootout--a contest sponsored by a local radio station--Dolan managed to score three times in 20 seconds from the blue line. This total topped his opponent, Colby Whitaker (8) by one--and tied the Crimson's efforts over the entire 60 minutes.

Thoughts of Jonah:The Yale Whale, as Ingalls Rink is aptly nicknamed, was not swimming with noise Saturday. Because of a lack of students--enjoying their vacation, no doubt--the capacity crowd was strangely silent, even with the Elis leading, 4-0. Yale still was able to cruise to its fourth staight home victory without the dangerous, rabid fans New Haven is famous for--maybe one of those partisan spectators will bite goaltender Ray Letourneau--who stymied the Crimson--if Harvard and yale meet again in the ECAC playoffs.