Final Two Home Games On Tap for Crimson Six

Still floating is Beanpot Heaves, the Harvard hockey team will finish its 1980-81 season with a five-game Grand Tour of the ECAC, busing to Princeton. Cornell, Vermont and points in between, after hosting Maine and Yale at the Bright Center this weekend.

And with a 5-9 record behind them and miles of I-95 in front, Billy Cleary's squad will have one heck of a time attaining the .500 record it will take to qualify for the 'ECAC playoffs. Without a sweep tonight and tomorrow there will be some long, meaningless bus rides in the next few weeks.

Harvard will need a Beanpotesque performance from netminder Wade Lau to stop the raging Black Bears (10-5 ECAC, 20-6 overall) at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Maine's top line of Gary Conn (23 goals, 28 assists overall, 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points in the ECAC), Rob Zamejc (11-11-22 ECAC) and John Tortorella gets lots of help from the league's highest-scoring--and, some say, best--defenseman, junior Andre Aubut.

Sportsman's Paradise

Aubut has amassed 26 points in ECAC play, and his steady defense, plus the work of goaltender Jeff Nord (14-4 on the campaign) has helped the Black Bears become one of the surprises of the season, a cinch for the playoffs in only their second year of Division I play.

At one point the ECAC's hottest team, Yale will follow Maine into Bright Center tomorrow night. The Bulldogs are in the midst of a losing streak (including a 5-4 overtime loss to Maine last week) but their mid-season dash to the top of the Ivy pack has provided them with the cushion of a 7-7 league mark (5-0 in the Ivies).

Star forward Paul Castraberti, whose aggressive but classy play dominated both of last year's Crimson-Eli encounters, is through for the year with a serious head injury suffered last month. But Yale gets considerable firepower from Dan Poliziarti and Joe Gagliardi, while Blair Wheeler anchors a tenacious defense.

Rumor has it, however, that goalie Mark Rodrigues can be beaten; the numbers (4.60 GAA) don't say so.

Since these are Harvard's last two home games, the interhouse shootout series will come to an end this weekend. Tonight's semifinal will pit Currier and Lowell in the three-shot contest, and the winner will square off against speedy Lloyd Perlmutter of Mather House in the finals tomorrow. Perlmutter, the Bright Center public address announcer known for his flashy clothes, will lead Mather to the showdown title, it says here.

He Cooks, Too

Supposedly, tournament director Joe Bertagna will change the format from a simultaneous showdown to the teams' alternating shots for the finals. That would enable the prospective spectator to watch both confrontations, although admittingly delaying the game some extra minutes.

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Maine is ranked fourth in the ECAC, so a win tonight will mean that in a two-week span Harvard will have beaten three of the top four teams (Northeastern and B.C. being the others). Team number three is Clarkson, and the Crimson lost a tough, 3-2 decision to the Golden Knights on Jan. 31. This team has always played better against the best.