Hockey Team Drops in Rankings; Tournament Hopes Dimmed by Poll

The Crimson hockey team will probably win the Ivy title, and the Faculty Committee on Athletics will probably allow Harvard to be considered for the NCAA tournament in Denver next month. But will the NCAA selection committee invite Harvard to play in the tournament?

That is the question raised by Boston College's 4-2 win over the Crimson for the Beanpot title Monday, and by the poll of New England coaches and sports-writers taken yesterday.

In the poll, held weekly during the season to rank the team in the East, Harvard fell from a second place tie with B.C. to third place. RPI continued to hold down first place. The conclusion in the minds of most hockey fans is that RPI and B.C. will be chosen to represent the East. (This year, for the first time, there will be no playoff tournament between the top four teams in the East.)

Although the Crimson is short four men--Harry Howell, Bill Beckett, Dave Crosby, and Jerry Jorgenson (who wrenched his knee in Monday's game)--it should survive its remaining games against Princeton, Brown, and Yale. B.C. will have a tougher time of it in the next few weeks, meeting the formidable opposition of St. Lawrence, B.U., Clarkson, and Colby.

Crimson fans who are at the moment apprehensive about the upcoming day of judgement by the NCAA tournament committee should remember winning the remaining games would leave Harvard with a 19-4-1 record and the Ivy championship. Also losses in B.C.'s guarantee-nothing schedule for the rest of the season, could easily reverse the present ranking, especially since the Crimson has beaten B.C. two out of three times this season.

Other Teams Strong

But the hockey situation in the East is not merely a matter of RPI, B.C., and Harvard. Another team entered the realm of strong consideration yesterday--St. Lawrence--which trailed Harvard by only four points in the voting for fourth place in the rankings. Last week St. Lawrence beat first-ranked RPI for the second time this season. The fifth-ranked team--Middlebury--is no joke, with an 11-1 record. In the voting yesterday, however,

Middlebury received only six points. (RPI received 54: B.C. 48: Harvard 36: and St. Lawrence 32.)

As NCAA attention concentrates on RPI, and more questioningly on B.C. and Harvard, the Faculty Committee is examining recruiting and eligibility practices involving Canadians on Western teams. It has yet to make a final decision on whether Harvard could go.

The Faculty does not have to look that far to find what it is worried about, however. RPI has more than its share of fishy Canadian-player situations. Of the 16 players on this year's RPI roster, nine are Canadians, including the co-captains as well as the bulk of the attack. Of the nine, four are 23 years old, one of whom is a junior (Trevor Kaye). Three of the nine are 22.

Harvard's roster has no player older than 21. The Crimson is using three Canadians: Dave Johnston, a sophomore at age 19; Tom Heintzman, a junior at 19; Dick Blakey a sophomore at 20. (Blakey plays junior varsity, at present leading the scoring.)

RPI will go to the tourney for sure, but not with a pure and innocent roster