Today marks the renewal of the oldest (since 1898) continuous rivalry in collegiate ice hockey as the Harvard men's hockey team faces off against Brown in the season opener at Meehan Auditorium. And to think that most people thought that it was just another hockey game.

If one rewinds one year, the Crimson annihilated the Bears in a 7-2 rout.

That was last year, however, and there is a new, young crop of players chomping at the bit, ready to start the 1996-'97 season.

Last year, Brown finished a dismal seventh in the league and was knocked out in the preliminary round of the ECAC Tournament by Princeton.

The graduation of Ryan Mulhern, Brian Jardine and the Humber brothers will hurt the Bears, but seniors Mike Flynn (9-13-22) and Marty Clapton (8-8-16) as well as sophomore Adrian Smith (5-9-14) should ease the burden.

After a season of splitting time with Mike Parsons (who has since graduated), junior Jeff Holowaty (4-6-6, 3.33 GAA) will have sole possession of the net. In front of Holowaty stands an impressive defense led by juniors Bob Quinnell (7-7-14) and Jimmy Anderson (1-12-13).

Much like Brown, Harvard is equipped with a strong returning class. Leading the charge for the Crimson will be junior Henry Higdon. Regarded as one of the premier forwards in the league, Higdon will be a player to watch, but unfortunately he will undoubtedly attract a lot of attention from opposing defenses.

Sophomores Craig Adams, Craig MacDonald and Rob Millar especially flourished in the latter part of last season. Equipped with a year of experience and added bulk, they should be forces in front of the net tonight.

In its only exhibition game, against the Polish National team, Harvard scored a solid 3-0 victory and to the delight of the Harvard coaches, many freshmen contributed to the win.

"I've been impressed with this group from day one." Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni said.

Jamin Kerner and Scott Chodorow broke into the scoring column while Matt Macleod and defenseman Brice Conklin looked impressive.

If the commutative property holds true for hockey, Brown also faced off against the Poland team and were 5-2 winners.

After a sluggish first period, Clapton took control and scored two goals and added two assists. Junior Damien Prescott added two goals while freshman Brian O'Neill tallied his first collegiate goal.

Another threat for Harvard tonight will be Brown's sophomore center, Jade Kersey, who assisted on four of the five Brown goals. After suffering a season-ending knee injury last January, Kersey appears ready to make up for lost time.

Back to the other side of the ice. Although scoring only three goals compared to the five of the Bears, the Crimson did launch 43 shots on net against the Poles (Brown had only 30).

In addition, it appears that Harvard's strong suit is its defensive line, led by captain Ashlin Halfnight. The Polish team was stymied and released only 15 shots on the Harvard net.

It is interesting to note that Harvard is technically still on its nine-game regular season losing streak which began last season.

Predictions and analyses aside, one thing is for sure. No matter what happens tonight, Harvard and Brown will make history.