Snapping The Skid

His team's streak had all the flavor of a Mexican dinner followed by a hot fudge sundae. Spicy and sweet.

Last year, the Harvard hockey team jumped to a 15-0 start, the best beginning in Harvard history.

His streak had all the flavor of a squid washed up on the banks of the Charles River. Ever had a flat tire for dinner?

By March 21, 1987, Harvard defenseman Butch Cutone had not recorded a point all season. And the season was 33 games old.

Cutone may have been the very model of a modern defensive defenseman but everyone, even a goalie, likes to score sometime. In fact, as Cutone struggled to put his name in the scoring box, super shot Dickie McEvoy--Harvard's netminder--added a pair of assists to his bank account. One more and he would have gotten free checking.

This year, a couple of teams and one Harvard player have come down with Cutone syndrome. Brown and Yale, Harvard's weekend guests at Bright Center, might as well have been playing hockey without their uniforms--their win columns are pretty bare.

And John Murphy, a sweet-skating, hard-shooting, Crimson forward has been feeding his teammates nicely. But his goals-scored column has an empty stomach.

Brown enters tonight's contest with an 0-8-1 league ledger after jumping to a stark naked 0-8 start. If not for a 2-2 skirmish with Army, which has been all it can be to the tune of a 1-9-2 record, Brown may have had to wait for the turn of the century before it recorded a point.

Where The Streets Have No Name

Yale got off to an 0-11 start--including a sparkling 0-7 Ivy mark--before meeting up with, you guessed it, Army and Brown. In the "Week of the Weak," Yale pulled off two victories and, get this, allowed zero goals.

"Obviously, it's better to win than to lose," Yale Coach Tim Taylor said.

With that in mind, the Elis have put Wellesley and Beaver College of Pennsylvania on next year's schedule.

When the going gets tough, the Bruins and Elis schedule each other. Then both invite in Army.

"We have been getting outshot, outscored and outplayed," Taylor said. "I think the kids have been good and have worked hard. Sometimes, though, their frustrations are channeled into negative dead ends."

Didn't the Elis see the signs? Warning: ECAC Schedule Ahead. Do Not Enter.

For Brown, just getting off a shot has been a mammoth task. This year, the Bruins are outshot something like 40-20 each game.

Look for the Bruins' upcoming rap video. We Didn't Shoot the Sheriff, and We Can Prove It.

In last Tuesday's Bad Bowl, Yale smacked Brown, 4-0, to earn its second straight victory. Two straight wins in New Haven and the town throws a parade.

The outlook, however, remains bleak for a team which has made the ECAC semifinals two years in a row.

"We've dug ourselves quite a hole," Taylor said. "We've had some tough losses. We lost our cool in one game against Dartmouth. We lost a game in overtime up at Clarkson. It's going to be an uphill battle."

Murphy has been bugged by the Cutone syndrome all year, and no one--not U.H.S., not Coach and cure-all Bill Cleary--has been able to concoct a cure. Murphy, a sophomore from Toronto who scored three goals last year, isn't used to having his pucks fly around like frenzied birds afraid to alight in their nests.

"I've obviously been frustrated that I haven't scored," Murphy said. "The coaches and the other players help out a lot. I have to keep working hard. I hope when that first one comes, they'll come in buckets."

Unlike Brown and Yale, Murphy has all the right moves. It's just that he's been about as lucky as a cockroach in a Raid factory.

If Murphy has the shots, the goalies have the saves.

This weekend, however, Murphy may find the right medicine for his ailment.

Rx care of Brown and Yale.