Sneddon Plans Friday Return

Captain Kevin Sneddon thought his days of rehabilitation and playing in pain were over.

Fully recovered at the start of the season from a shoulder injury he has had for three years, Sneddon clearly made his presence felt in the Crimson's first four games, anchoring the power play and playing solid defense.

The senior, in fact, netted his first career goal of the season in the opening game against Union.

Sneddon, however, has been forced to contend with injury again. Two bulging disks in his back--eerily similar to the injury that kept star forward John Weisbrod out of action last year--kept Sneddon out of the last two games.

The captain said at the beginning of the season that he was ecstatic about playing healthy for the first time--shooting from the point and playing the boards at full strength.

While the captain hopes to be ready for this Friday's game, it's hard to guage what the long term effects will be on his game, whether he will have to play tentatively, wary of injury.

Whatever the outcome this Friday, the Crimson has certainly felt his absence. Harvard has been a woeful 1-for-11 on the power play since Sneddon went down.

ECAC Update

After falling, 6-5, to Brown on Saturday, Harvard dropped to second place in the ECAC with a 4-1-1 record. Oddly enough, Yale currently owns sole posession of first place (Clarkson is 4-0-0, but has only eight points).

The traditionally weak Elis have played solid hockey as of late. After tying the Crimson at Bright Arena, the Elis handily defeated Vermont, 5-3. One reason for their recent success has been the outstanding play of goalie John Hockin, who has posted a 2.09 goals-against-aver-age, second-best in the ECAC.

Yale is also currently third in penalty-killing (87 percent) and first in power play efficiency (24 percent). Forward Mark Kaufman leads the ECAC in scoring with 10 points (seven goals, three assists).

1000th Win?

Saturday's loss knocked the Crimson out of first, but it also put a slight crimp into another Harvard goal. Harvard is currently six wins away from its 1000th victory.

Only Minnesota (1144 victories before the season) has reached the milestone.