HOCKEY

Meanwhile, on the ice, the Dartmouth hockey team has been plagued by defensive problems that left the Indians with a 1-3 record as they made their first appearance in the ECAC Holiday Festival Tournament in New York on December 19-20. After edging past Middlebury, 5-4, in overtime, Ab Oakes' skaters were handed convincing setbacks by New Hampshire (10-2) and Harvard (11-2), both rated among the strongest sextets in the East this season. On the eve of the ECAC Tournament, the Indians turned in their best effort of the season but watched their lead disappear three times as Norwich edged its way to a 4-3 victory.

"We haven't been getting enough aggressive checking on defense," said Oakes, who, like Gavitt, is guiding a team dominated by sophomores and juniors. "We've done some juggling of personnel to improve the situation and I think it began to show against Norwich."

Despite the loss, the action at Northfield, Vt., was an indication that the Indians are beginning to find themselves. The line of center Dave Hill and wingman Kent Nyberg and Ken Davidson has begun to skate well, while the second combination of Dave Hutton, Dave Kirkland and Jeff Kosak has also showed its scoring ability. Of these six, Nyberg and Hutton are juniors while the rest are sophomores. Captain Robie Cann, Tom Coffman and Pete Stone form Dartmouth's third line.

Defensively, sophomore Vince Orchard started the season in the front line but traded positions with Davidson and has shaped up well alongside senior Joe Fahey. The second pair of "defensemen is senior Gary Goodenough and sophomore Mike Barle.

The graduation of Jim Cruickshank and Bob Tharinger left Oakes with only . inexperienced manpower in the goal. Junior Tom Schuster opened the season in the nets and the position has been strengthened somewhat with the addition of senior Gerry Hills, who was a member of the squash team in 1965-66 as a sophomore but was out of school for two years before returning for his senior year. He chose to forgo squash this winter in favor of hockey and did a creditable job in his first start at Norwich,

Basketball Coach Dave Gavitt '59 and Greg Pickering '70 of Hampton, N. H.,Dartmouth's first junior captain since Chip Coleman headed the 1945-47 teams.