The Blair Truth

Everyone will remember the goal that sent the Harvard men's hockey team into the BCAC final. Everyone will remember the dramatic, last-minute finish of last of last night's 2-1 semifinal victory over Clarkson at the Boston Garden.

Despite all appearances, thought, ECAC Player of the Year Scott Fusco didn't win it for the Crimson. That's right, Fusco wasn't the difference. And this information comes from no less an authority than Harvard Coach Bill Cleary.

"This is the fellow that's responsible right here," Cleary said at the start of the post-game press conference. He was pointing to Grant Blair.

It was Blair who stopped 16 of 17 Clarkson shots on net and two Golden Knight breakaways. It was Blair who held Clarkson--a team averaging more than four goals per game-to just one goal last night, in the biggest game of the year.

Blair, a second team ALL-ECAC selection, faced just four shots in an incredibly easy first period. Then came the second stanza, when Harvard seemed bent on squandering its slender 1-0 lead.

With defenseman Scott Farden off the ice for holding, the Golden Knights applied incredible pressure. Two shots banged off the post in quick succession, and the techies from Potsdam smelled the tying goal. Blair held them off.

"When we were a man down in the second period, he stopped 'em once, twice and then reached around and stopped them a third time," said Crimson defenseman Mark Benning. "It was one of his best periods I've seen him play this year. He was playing out of his head," Benning added.

The biggest save of the power play came on an Al Hill breakaway. With Hill flying in on the right wing, Cleary stoved near the post. Hill tried to beat Blair to the far side of the net, but as the Knight slid across the crease, Blair fell across the goal mouth. Hill's shot bounced off the blade of Blair's outstretched stick.

The power play was Clarkson's first offensive effort of the night, the first test for Blair. After that power play, he knew things were going to go well.

"That was the big power play of the night," the junior netminder recalled. "It turned out to be a big turning point."

Clarkson did eventually knot the score, on a well-executed two-on-one break that Blair had no chance to stop. But he had essentially weathered the storm, and despite one of Harvard's worst periods of play all year, the Crimson returned to the locker room with a 1-1 tie.

Clarkson had taken just six shots on net in the period, but don't let the numbers fool you. If the shooters had been any closer, they would have been behind the net.

"I guess there weren't that many shots." Cleary said, "but they were buzzing the net and somehow he made the save. Grant made a couple of saves in that period that were just incredible."

Clarkson Coach Bill O' Flaberty blamed his team's setback on that middle period. "When you're playing your best, you need more than one [goal]," O'Flaberty said. "That's why Blair's one of the top goaltenders in the league."

"Grant played a hell of a game." Cleary said. "We've been to the playoffs every year he's been here. That's testament to what kind of goaltender he is."

Blair holds the single-game save record (60) and is tied for the Crimson career shutout mark (seven). He's just 62 stops away from the career saves mark (2160) and only 64 save saves shy of the single season record (762).

Last night's Boston Garden exhibition was no mere semifinal game. The NHL Calgary Flames are in town to face the Bruins today, and more than a few eyes were focused on the Crimson goal. The Flames own the rights to Blair, and he had a lot to gain by impressing them.

Flames defenseman Neil Sheehy '83 didn't miss the chance to see his old teammates in action, and he spoke highly of the Harvard net-minder.

"He gets the job done," said Sheehy, who played with Blair on the 1983 NCAA runner-up team. "He tends to be pretty acrobatic at times. I like the way he challenges guys."

Will his style stand up in the pros? "As long as he keeps the puck out, he can play any way he wants," said Sheehy.

The Ancaster, Ont. native has certainly kept the puck out of the net recently, yielding just five goals in his last tour games He'll need one more great game tonight for Harvard to capture its second ECAC title in three years. And he's definitely ready.

Said Blair, "I'd hate to get into the NCAA s as a loser."