SEXTET PREPARES FOR CANADIAN FOES

The University hockey team will play the fast McGill skaters in the Boston Arena next Wednesday, and Toronto at New York in Madison Square Garden on December 31.

With these games in view, Coach E. L. Bigelow '21 will make a final cut of the squad today with the intention of speeding up progress in combination play.

Since the game with M. I. T. the team has shown considerably more speed. During the few remaining practice sessions before the games, team work and shooting will be especially emphasized.

McGill Won Last Year

Last year the McGill sextet succeeded in nosing out the Crimson skaters after three overtime periods by a 5 to 4 score. With a veteran University team ready to take the ice, hopes for a Crimson victory are greatly raised.

The Toronto puck chasers, last year's Canadian National Amateur Champions, who defeated the University by scoring twice in the opening minutes of a very even battle has one of the best teams on the ice this season. Last year they exhibited a system of team-play that was uncanny in its effectiveness. With unlimited substitutions allowed in this contest, the Crimson team should be able to resist the attacks of the Canadian skaters and put up another close fight.

Lineup Not Definite

No definite lineup has been chosen. It is conceded, however, that W. P. Ellison '27 and Willard Howard '28 are the outstanding defense players. Ellison's tremendous reach, weight and aggressiveness make him most effective. Howard, out last year due to an injury received in baseball, has taken up his old position and has shown his former speed and ability to smash up the attack.

Nathaniel Hamlen '27, J. P. Chase '28 and C. S. Gross '27, veteran forward combination of the last two seasons, will undoubtedly carry the Crimson attack, and R. S. Scott '27 and Isadore Zarakov '27, are experienced reserves of just as much ability as the starters, and H. G. Crosby '29 are pushing them hard for positions on the forward line. E. C. Clark '27, M. N. Stanley '29, and C. D. Goady '27 are fighting for places on the second string defense. Clark displays on the ice all the same qualities that make him feared as a halfback, breaking through the opposing defense by sheer force rather than by subtle stick handling. Coady is the heaviest of the defense men and captained his Freshman team. Stanley starred as a first year skater and packs a wicked shot.

Joseph Morrill '28 and W. W. Adams '28 are running a close race for the goal position. Morrill was perhaps the outstanding player of the Freshman team two years ago, and it was largely due to his stellar work that the 1928 six went through its season with such great success. Adams alternated with Morrill as substitute last year and is giving his rival a close race.

With such an abundance of excellent substitutes, Coach Bigelow will pilot his team through the season much as he did last year, rushing in relief combinations in order to force the play throughout the game.