Maybe it was fated that Cory Gustafson would be a hockey star.

The senior, who lines up on the right wing of the Harvard's men's hockey team's second line, didn't start playing hockey in junior high. He didn't even start playing in elementary school.

He started from birth.

"When I was born, I got a little hockey stick from my parents signed by all my relatives," Gustafson recalled. "I was always fooling around with that stick."

It wasn't long before Gustafson went from fooling around to honing the shot that would turn him into Harvard's sixth-leading scorer a year ago and a consistent offensive threat.

"My dad put a rink in my backyard and built boards around it," Gustafson said. "I grew up shooting the puck non-stop after school--shooting, shooting, shooting."

Opposing goalies weren't the first to feel the wrath of Gustafson's shot.

"As I shot harder, my dad put carpet on the boards so that I wouldn't wake the neighbors," said Gustafson, smiling.

Gustafson's career took him to Notre Dame Academy, "a hockey factory for college players," as he described it.

There Gustafson continued to improve his offensive skills, and, in 12th grade, became a member of the school's AAA Midget Team. He became its second-leading scorer.

Such feats caught the eyes of many college scouts eager to see him join the offensive line of their teams. Gustafson was approached by 25 different schools. In fact, Harvard was one of the later schools to call him. But once it did, Gustafson's mind was almost made up.

"As soon as I heard the name [Harvard], I was like, "This was something I had to consider because not everyone gets a chance like this," Gustafson said. "Hockey was important to me, but the school was always in the back of my mind."

There was one other draw for Gustafson: the opportunity to play in the Beanpot.

"I really wanted to play in Boston Garden," Gustafson said. "I came to both weeks of the Beanpot, and I thought it was really something I wanted to play in."

In the fall of 1991, Gustafson suited up for the crimson for the first time. Despite a broken wrist he suffered that summer, he didn't miss a game.