Battle of the Underdogs

The hostages had recently returned from Iran, Nancy and Ron were just settling into the White House, and everybody knew that Northeastern would clobber Harvard in the Beanpot opener.

The defending champion Huskies owned the East's best record, while the Crimson carried a seven-game Division 1 losing streak into the Boston Garden on February 1, 1981.

Harvard won, 10-2, and went on to blank B.C. in the final, 2-0. The Crimson hasn't won a Beanpot game since.

This year there is no underdog--or perhaps there are two, because while B.C. and B.U. battle for control of the ECAC East Division, Northeastern and Harvard pivot around the .500 mark. As a result, the last two ECAC champions (Harvard in 1983, N.U. in 1982) take the ice for the first-round curtain-raiser, not the right's featured attraction.

When the two teams met December 6 at Bright Center, Harvard reached the top of its form. By downing the visiting Hoanda, 4-2, the Crimson I had its record to 4-1-1. But for the must of December and all of January, the Cantabo took a 1-8 slide in collegiate competition (1-6 ECAC). Harvard took a 6-7-1 ECAC record into Saturday's showdown with Yale.

The problem is offense; Harvard hasn't found one. With the four top scorers from last year's NCAA runners-up no longer wearing Crimson jerseys, Coach Bill Cleary's crew has struggled to get three goals per game. Cleary's still looking for the guy who took the batteries to the Harvard power play, which had converted on lever than one in 10 opportunities before Saturday.

So far, no one has stepped in to fill the scoring gap. Going into the Yale game, only five players' point totals had reached double digits, with senior Gary Martin leading the team in both goals and points (8-5-13). Harvard's biggest scoring threat, center Phil Falcone, will play spectator at the Beanpot. Falcone has been out of the lineup since injuring his leg during Harvard's December trip to Czechoslovakia.

Meanwhile, Rob Wheeler has successfully completed the transition from the tennis court to the hockey rink. A member of one of the East's top tennis teams his first two years at Harvard, the senior forward joined the hockey team last year. This year, he's the team's second leading scorer (6-5-11 entering the Yale game).

Freshman defenseman Batch Cutone (3-7-10) has a potent slapshot, and senior wing Dave Connors (3-7-10) is a good playmaker.

But it's the phenomenal play of the defense--led by senior Captain Ken Code and sophomore Grant Blair--that has kept Harvard at the top end of the Ivy Division standings. The Crimson kills penalties better than any other Beanpot team, and Blair's save rate is comfortably above 90 percent.

From across the river, senior left wing Ken Manchurek is ready to lead Northeastern's charge on Blair. The tri-captain notched a hat trick and an assist when the Huskies bullied Yale, 6-3, January 31. Manchurek is averaging a goal a game; he and Randy Bucyk tallied the Northeastern goals against Harvard.

Sophomore Rod Isbister centers the Husky first line. Last year he led the team with 24 assists, and this year he has already picked up 21. Fellow sophomore Stuart Emerson and junior defenseman Jim Averill also excel as playmakers.

Northeastern averages five goals a game, but defensive woes have kept the team in the bottom half of the East Division. Marshall's save rate and goals against average are the worst among the Beanpot teams' first-string goalies. Only Bucyk's play on a somewhat effective penalty-killing unit has kept Northeastern in several close games.

The key to the game may be how Northeastern reacts to the Garden ice Heading into Friday's showdown with division rival New Hampshire, the Huskies were 8-0, at Matthews Arena, 4-8-1 on the road.

Whoever wins the opener, though, should win the Beanpot. After all, the last four Beanpot champions haven't made the playoffs, and both B.C. and B.U. own a virtual lock on ECAC berths.