The Harvard Hockey Alphabet: Armstrong to Zamboni

A is for Armstong: Harvard Captain Steve Armstrong. You talk to any coach in the ECAC and he'll tell you how tremendous a job the Crimson captain has done for his team. He works hard and leads his team. Just ask Coach Bill Cleary.

B is for Bright: Bright Center, home of the Harvard hockey team. It's a place where Harvard seldom loses Especially in the NCAA Tournament, where it has posted a 5-0-1 record in the 1980's. Bright, sweet Bright.

C is for Ciavaglia: Peter Ciavaglia He's the freshman who leads the Crimson in scoring. He likes to pass the puck to his friends on the team so they can score. He's done that 23 times this season. Ciavaglia is also an ECAC All-Rookie selection.

D is for Defense: Harvard's defense, which has allowed the fewest goals in ECAC. Don Sweeney, an all ECAC selection, and Jerry Pawloski league honorable mention, lead the Crimson D. Cleary likes his defense. A lot.

E is for ECAC: That is the abbreviation for the East Coast Athletic Conference, the league Harvard plays in with 11 other teams. It is a tough and balanced league. This year, Harvard won the regular season title but placed third in the league playoffs.

F is for Fun: Fun and hockey. That's what Coach Cleary likes to tell his players that hockey is all about. It the game is not fun, it's not a game anymore. It's a job. Coach Cleary just wants to have to fun.

G is for Goals: Harvard goals. The Crimson did not place a player in the ECAC's top 25 scorers, but that didn't matter. This year, Coach Cleary has baked up one big goal cake and has given all his players a slice. When Harvard scores goals, it throws a birthday party.

H is for Howley: Paul Howley. He plays on the same line with Craig Taucher and Ed Presz. They fore-check a lot and try hard to keep the puck in the Harvard zone. They might not score a lot, but Coach Cleary likes the way they play.

I is for Ice: Harvard's ice. The Crimson likes to play on a surface where the ice is really long and wide. That's why it likes to play in Bright Center and not in Boston Garden.

J is for Janfaza: Andy Janfaza. He's a senior who's having the best season of his life. Janfaza has scored some big goals this season. both in even-strength and shorthanded situations Just ask Cornell.

K is for Kevan: Kevan Melrose. He is a transfer student from North Dakota and is also a big guy. He was switched to defense in February and his style has been an agressive one. Not many opposing teams like to play against Kevan.

L is for Larries: Those guys from St. Lawrence. But they are not known as the Larries anymore. Ever since they captured the ECAC title this season, they have been called the Saints The Larries, no wait, the Saints won't play until next week.

M is for Murphy: John Muprhy. He's a sophomore who has been scoring some goals all of a sudden. Before January 15, Murphy had no goals. Now he has 12.

N is for Nieuwendyk: Joe Nieuwendyk. He left Cornell this year to play for the Clagary Flames, where he has scored a lot of goals as a rookie. He is the only player around that uses all the other letters of the alphabet to spell his name.

O is for Olympians: Harvard Olympians Allen Bourbeau, Lane MacDonald and Scott Fusco. They scored a lot of goals for the Americans. Bourbeau and MacDonald will score a lot of goals for Harvard next year.

P is for Pawloski: Jerry Pawloski He's a defenseman on a good Harvard defense. Cleary calls him one of the most underrated players in college hockey.

Q is for the Quad: That's where goalie John Devin Lives. Devin led the ECAC in goaltending during the regular season. He had to wait until Grant Blair and Dickie McEvoy graduated to get his shot in net. Now Devin starts.

R is for RPI: The Rough Players Institute. They banged, bruised and bit two weeks ago during the ECAC quarterfinals at Bright. But the Crimson kept skating and skating. It finally swatted the Big Red Engineers.

S is for Skating: That's what Harvard likes to do. That's what Harvard wants to do.

T is for Tournaments: The tournaments Harvard has been in this year the Long Island one, the ECAC one and you know the one. Harvard has only won one tournament game this year. It hopes to do better in this tournament.

U is for Usual: Harvard usually ends up in the NCAA Tournament.

V is for Vukonich: Mike Vukonich He's a freshman who has had a solid season. He also scored from the three-point line last Saturday against Vermont.

W is for Weisbrod: John Weisbrod. He's a freshman also and is Vukonich's linemate. Weisbrod was the one who passed the puck to Vukonich for the long-distance score.

X isn't for Anything: It's a strange letter.

Y is for Young: C. L. Young. He, along with linemate Ted Donato, has tallied a lot of playoff points. Young and Donato are two post-season players.

Z is for Zamboni: That's the machine that goes around the rink and makes the ice look swell. Charlie Brown said one of the best things in life was watching a Zamboni go around the ice. It sure beat falling flat on his back after trying to kick football. Or getting his clothes ripped off by a screeching line-drive.

Coach Cleary also likes the Zamboni, especially when it cleans up the Bright ice after a Harvard victory.