Mark Benning

They value defense in the Benning family.

Mark Benning, a Harvard junior, plays defense for the men's hockey team. His older brother Jim is in his fourth year on the blue-line for the Toronto Maple Leafs, his younger brother Brian was the St. Louis Blues' first round draft choice last year--as a defenseman.

Last, and certainly not least, 13-year-old Craig plays defense at home in Edmonton, Alb. Mark thinks Craig may be the pick of the litter. Unless.

"If he played hockey, my dog would probably play defense," Mark says.

But aside from choosing to play defense. Mark Benning hasn't gone the traditional Benning family route: from skating as two-year-old through midect bantam and junior hockey to the National Hockey League.

It started out normally enough, skating all day in the Benning backyard rink. Pictures in the family photo album show Brian, age one-and-a-half. Mark, age three, and Jim, age four, all stuffed into snowsuits and standing on skates with their parents out on the ice.

Three boys who would try to pursue the Great Canadian Dream--the N.H.L.

His brother Brian, who was the Blues' first choice in the draft (23rd overall), played several games for the big club at the beginning of the year and then returned to the Junior A Kamloops Oilers for more seasoning. He's suffered several injuries. After breaking his leg a week ago. Brian's decision to turn professional has taken on added significance.

Brian is sidelined for the season and while the injury is serious, it is not career-ending. Nonetheless, any such incident is worrisome.

"My brother's having some trouble dealing with it," Mark says. "He and I are very close and I feel for him. We talked a lot about his decision [to turn pro]. He enjoyed school, but he said he didn't have the aptitude for it."

His older brother has met success in his pro career. In his fourth year with the Maple Leafs, Jim Benning is emerging as a team leader.

The once proud Leafs, however, have become the laughing stock of the National Hockey League. Entering action tonight, Toronto was an embarassing 6-29-5.

"The team hasn't been doing that well," Mark says with considerable understatement. "So I don't go around bragging."

But all kidding aside, Mark is quite proud of his older brother's accomplishments.

"My older brother put all his eggs in one basket and has been very fortunate." Mark says. "He's wanted to be a pro hockey player since he was eight and he's realized his dream."

When he hit school, Mark started to break from the family pattern and broaden his interests beyond hockey.

"I was always small," Benning recalls. "I didn't have as much potential."

While hockey is not as much of a big-man's sport as football or basketball, 5-ft., 8-in., 160 lb middle brother Mark was at a real disadvantage to his six-ft brothers.

Further, he became an excellent student, so college hockey was a logical next step.

"College hockey is perfect for me," he says. "It's nice to play in front of 3500 people and go out with your friends afterward."

The first hockey sweater that Benning wore wasn't Harvard's crimson and white, it was the green and gold of the Notre Dame.

Although he had been recruited by several Ivy schools, unable to afford the high tuition and ignorant of the educational opportunities available in the East, Benning accepted a full scholarship from the Fighting Irish and headed to South Bend.

The years of dawn-to-dusk skating paid immediate dividends and Benning was named the Notre Dame hockey team's Rockie of the Year.

Furthermore, "Freshman year was a great time," he says.

But the party ended that spring. Notre Dame decided to drop its varsity hockey program.

"It was a real shock to us all," Benning says. "We really couldn't believe it."

The university told the team that it wasn't getting enough student support and it was costing the athletic department a lot of money.

Given the amount of revenue raised by the football and basketball programs, the hockey team was particularly angered by the decision.

Many of Benning's teammates transfered to continue their hockey careers, but Benning stayed at Notre Dame, despite offers from other schools, because of all the fun he had in his first year.

"Sophomore year was a tough time," he recalls.

Dissatisfied with club hockey, Benning transfered to Harvard. As much as he has enjoyed the move to Cambridge, he still has fond memories of Notre Dame.

"The people I met there were some of the greatest people," he remembers. "I still keep in touch. I'd never say it was a waste of time."

Benning has found the transition from Notre Dame where he was an electrical engineering major, to Harvard, where he is a Psychology and Economics concentrator, exhuarating. He lives in Peabody Terrace with four fellow transfer students.

"They're all great guys," Benning says. "One guy played soccer at UCIA, one's a fencer, one's a musician and one's into the theater and singing and I'm the hockey player. I love the diversity of people here, they're so independent and do so much."

Another thing the newcomer has discovered at Harvard is the workload.

"Unfortunately I took five courses," he says. "I took five every semester at Notre Dame and I figured I could do the same here, but no."

On the ice, however, Benning has found success easy. Paired defensively with sophomore Randy Taylor, the junior has helped the Crimson power play achieve its astonishing success.

With 21 assists (and 23 total points) in his first twelve games, Benning is making quite an impression on the scoreboard as well.

"Mark knows when to pick his chances offensively," Harvard Coach Bill Cleary says. "He anticipates well."

"The points aren't as important as winning," Benning says. "Being the number one scorer on a losing team wouldn't be fun."

Since the Crimson's been winning, off to a 9-1-2 start after going undefeated in its first 10 games, Benning's very happy.

"I was given a chance by Coach Cleary and Coach Tomassoni," he says. "They've been great and showed me the ropes.

The power play, hitting at an unreal 46 percent, has been the key to Benning's success--and the key to the Crimson's success.

"Our power play has really worked well," Benning says. "'Lot of it is what you do in practice. Every single practice we work on the power play for at least 20 minutes.

"It's neat, we know when we step on the ice, from all the practice, we have a chance to score. It motivates you."

Furthermore, the power play allows the fleet Crimson to avoid brawling with bigger and stronger teams and stick to its skating game.

"It's a very, very fast game, a very intelligent game," Benning says. "For me to try to goon someone would be funny. I'm not big enough or mean enough. It's the kind of game I've had to play because of my size."

Playing with Taylor, who has 14 assists already, has helped Benning.

"It's kind of funny," Benning says. "I'm small, my game is passing and moving the puck. He's huge, six-two, at the same time he handles the puck well. He and I surprisingly have clicked very well."

"The forward line has made it easy for us," says a characteristically terse Taylor.

And Taylor and Benning have made it easy for the forward line.

For Benning, the family black sheep, playing at Harvard is a natural.

"In a sense I'm stepping away from it all," he says. "Even guys in western Canada tend to go to west schools, where school is secondary to hockey. At Harvard, academics are number one.

"I have broken away from the mold I am obtaining an education to take me places other than hockey although hockey's done a good job so far."

Benning hopes to play professionally in Europe after he graduates.

"If I can get to Europe dreams would be fulfilled.

Hockey in Europe is a far cry from the NHL and a far cry from his brothers, but Mark Benning would still be playing defense.