Shivers will be travelling up and down the spines of the Harvard men's hockey team as they take to the ice at 9 p.m. at Boston Garden tonight for the opening round Beanpot matchup against Boston University.

Ronn Tomassoni will have the shivers of a first-year head coach at the Beanpot. Assistant Coach Lane MacDonald will have the shivers of one who remembers playing, and winning, the 39-year-old Boston tourney. Senior Hobey Baker candidates Peter Ciavaglia, Ted Donato and Mike Vukonich will have the shivers of playing in their last Beanpot, while the numerous Crimson freshmen will have the shivers of playing in their first.

The Beanpot, more than anything, is pure emotion. It's the emotion of playing in front of 15,000 people, the emotion of winning the bragging rights of Boston, and the emotion of a hockey tournament with more tradition than any other in the country.

"It's definitely the high point of the season," said Crimson forward Tim Burke, a Wellesley native. "It's the greatest college hockey tournament in the country. I always mark it down on my calender as a special day."

"Once the middle of January rolls around, it's all I can think about," Donato said.

BU (17-9-2 Overall, 10-5-2 Hockey East) has traditionally channeled the emotion into Beanpot sucess. The Terriers have by far the best record (50-26) in the tournament and have made the final game seven straight times, capturing four titles. BU smoked the Crimson, 8-2, in last year's Beanpot final in perhaps the lowest moment of Harvard's disappointing season.

BU's success in the Beanpot, in addition to the strength of the Terrier squad this season, seem to pit BU as the clear favorite tonight. Ranked number-one in the country during the preseason, the Terriers convincingly shut out Harvard, 4-0, on November 20.

But don't count Harvard out. BU has dropped four of its last six games--including a loss to New Hampshire on Friday--while the Crimson (10-8, 10-6 ECAC) is coming off a hugely successful weekend in which it blew out Army, 12-2, and captured a 7-0 shutout of Princeton.

"I think the way we played this weekend, we're going into the Beanpot with a lot of momentum," Vukonich said. "We don't fear BU. We respect them, but we don't fear them."

The Crimson clearly respects BU's high-powered offense, led by Hobey Baker candidates Shawn McEachern (24-28--52), Dave Sacco (14-33--47) and Tony Amonte (11-25--36). But then again, no group of forwards is more dangerous than Harvard's Ciavaglia, Donato and Vukonich.

Donato, who has netted three goals and four assists in three previous Beanpots, was the tourney's leading scorer when the Crimson won the 'Pot in 1989. Vukonich leads all Harvard players in the tournament with five goals and three assists.

The Terriers were extremely effective in shutting down the Harvard offense in the early-season shutout. If Harvard is to advance to next Monday's final, it must be more effective in putting the puck past Boston University senior netminder John Bradley.

"I thought the [November 20] game was a whole lot closer than the score indicated," Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "One of the things we did not generate in that game was a lot of offense."

Anything can happen

More than anything, however, emotion wins the Beanpot. It's depressing to play in the early consolation game next Monday, and it's the thrill of a lifetime to skate the victory lap with the coveted trophy. When the referee drops the puck for the opening faceoff and the shivers subside, Harvard needs huge reserves of emotion to bring the Pot home to Cambridge.