Thoughts of spring and baseball, sun and grass, golf and the outdoors may be filling most people's minds right now, but next year's hockey season isn't that far away.

All right, it is pretty far away, but that doesn't mean that nothing is happening in the world of Harvard hockey.

In fact, the past couple weeks have seen some significant developments for individual members of the Harvard men's hockey team as well as the squad in general.

The Crimson named junior defender Sean McCann as next year's captain last week, and the Kirkland resident said a solid core of returning players would help the team to new heights in 1993-94.

"It's an honor to be voted captain for anything," McCann said. "We have some experienced players coming back and it's looking really good so far."

The durable McCann has not missed a single game in his collegiate career and was named Harvard's top freshman in his rookie season.

"Sean is an outstanding choice for captain and follows in the tradition of the three fine captains that I have coached at Harvard," Coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "He's a hard worker on the ice and should be leading one of the toughest defenses in the country next year."

Known for his Steve Flomenhoft-like hitting and impeccable positioning, McCann stood out as one of Harvard's two best defenders this year. With returning juniors Derek Maguire, Michel Breistroff, and Lou Body, that defense should be Harvard's anchor in 1993-94.

McCann also scored four goals and five assists, and more importantly cut down considerably on his penalty minutes (139 minutes over his first two years, 38 last year) while still providing the Crimson with its most powerful and effective physical presence.

Even if the defense is the top unit in the country, Harvard will be hurting on offense. The Crimson also loses its top three scorers in junior Ted Drury, and seniors Matt Mallgrave and Steve Flomenhoft. The Leverett trio accounted for 139 of Harvard's 373 total points last season.

Losing Drury, Mallgrave and Flomenhoft, however, means more than just losing a major chunk of scoring.

Drury had the ability to take over a game, offensively or with the type of Olympian defense that made him the penalty-killing leader. Flomenhoft led the team with his physical play and Mallgrave led the team in goal-scoring.

"You can't replace those guys," McCann said. "Next year, we just have to adjust and become a better-balanced team."

****

Drury's European Tour: Drury, in the meantime, has joined one other member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team, seven college hockey standouts and 14 National Hockey League mainstays on the 1993 U.S. National Hockey team.