Bang.

That's my gavel, and the first meeting of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Harvard Sports Fans is now in session.

First up on the agenda: The men's hockey team. What the hell's going on down there at Bright?

When senior Matt Mallgrave, the team's leading goal scorer, says "too many guys are taking nights off, and I'm one of them it's a bad sign. Really bad--worse than hearing somewhere over the Sahara that your pilot is experimenting with LSD for the first time.

Take night off? Take nights off? Coach Ronn Tomassoni has probably spent a few sleepless nights mulling that one over.

Maybe the Crimson thinks it can turn the juice on and off like so many light switches. Granted, the games this weekend didn't mean much except in terms of NCAA seedings, where Harvard's third seed is relatively secure.

But it's not like that. "It" can't be turned on and off like a light switch. "It" is more like a nuclear reactor--a long buildup to full power and a longer slide to shutdown. Anything goes wrong, and it's bad news.

Quotes like Mallgrave's are meant to be wake-up calls to the rest of the team. Here's hoping it got the message.

Just A Refresher Course: Last year, Harvard lost 4-2 to Clarkson and 4-0 to St. Lawrence on the last weekend of the season.

Seven days later, Harvard lost to RPI, 4-3 in overtime in the quarterfinals of the ECAC playoffs. Season over, dude

And Now, the Good News: Last year's shocking loss to RPI ended a brief ECAC experiment of one-game quarterfinals. (In fact, the experiment could be called a one-shot deal.) Before last year, teams played a best-of-three quarterfinal series.

But last year, after eighth-seeded RPI dropped top-seeded Harvard on its rear end, ECAC officials scrambled to bring the old system back.

(Either that or Athletic Director Bill Cleary '56 made them an offer they couldn't refuse. Reports are vague on this point.)

Harvard hasn't lost a three-game quarterfinal since 1990, when the Crimson lost to Cornell. Still, Harvard lost in the ECAC semifinals to Vermont and lost its top seed in the East to Maine.

The Crimson took home the number-two NCAA seed. The rest is history.