Olympic Duo Returns to Ice

Harvard hockey Captain Lane MacDonald was back on the Bright Center ice yesterday and senior Allen Bourbeau expects to practice today after both were sidelined with injuries during the Crimson's 3-2 win over Brown last Saturday.

MacDonald and Bourbeau, who skate on Harvard's starting line with junior C.J. Young, are expected to return to the line-up for this weekend's contests at Army and Princeton.

MacDonald took a hit to the back of the head in the third period of Harvard's 6-2 win over Yale last Friday. After showing symptoms of a concussion, he left the game and took Saturday off as a precautionary measure. Bourbeau is suffering from a charley horse.

The problem is not a new one for MacDonald, who has suffered from migranes and blurred vision due to head injuries in the past.

"I've had some problems before," MacDonald said. "I get hit in the head and it has a migrane effect and my vision blurs. It's not really as serious as a concussion."

Young and Restless: Known for his slow starts in the goal-scoring column, Young broke the ice early this season--tallying twice in Friday's opening game against Yale. An assist the following night gave Young a weekend total of three points, one shy of sophomore Peter Ciavaglia's team-high four.

Sophomore John Weisbrod had a two-game total of three points, netting a goal and an assist against the Elis, and the game-winner versus the Bruins.

In keeping with his teammates, junior John Murphy decided not to wait until January--like he did last season--before lighting up the red. Murphy netted a power-play goal in Friday's first period to give the Crimson a 3-0 advantage over Yale.

New Faces: Crimson Coach Bill Cleary played a pair of rookie goalies over the weekend--freshman Chuckie Hughes started in the Yale game, and classmate Allain Roy protected the net against the Bruins.

Both recorded a .910 save percentage, with Roy stopping 21 shots, while Hughes blocked 20.

Freshmen defensemen Kevin Sneddon and Brian McCormack also saw action in their first collegiate games. Sneddon skated with senior Josh Caplan both nights and McCormack paired up with junior Brian Popiel--one line after brother Scott, a junior, took the ice.

In the Pen: The Crimson went a bit overboard with penalties last weekend--Harvard players were called 17 times, which left the Crimson short-handed for nearly two full periods of action.

But Harvard came through with 82 percent effectiveness on penalty killing, allowing only one power-play goal per game.

On the flip side, the Crimson stuffed in three power-play tallies on 11 attempts, despite the destruction of its planned power-play line-up.

The five-forward combination--MacDonald, Bourbeau, Young, Ciavaglia and sophomore Mike Vukonich--added sophomore Ted Donato after MacDonald's injury, then folded altogether when Bourbeau and MacDonald sat out Saturday.

Murphy, Young and Weisbrod scored Harvard's power-play goals.

Where's the Big Guy?: Despite a full house for the season opener--the attendance level hit 3130--Bright Center was strangely quiet Friday night. The Harvard band, known as much for its heckles as its music, was in Philadelphia for the football game over the weekend.

Also seen at Bright: "The Big Al Memorial Sign"--complete with a tiny "sieve" at the bottom of the sign.

Big Al might be gone, but there were five fans in the student section wearing bunny masks.