Ice Hockey to Host Lumberjacks, Sjs
This weekend, the Stanford ice hockey team will play its third consecutive set of home games, hosting Northern Ari zona on Friday evening at 7 p.m. and San Jose State on Sat urday at 7:40 p.m. Leading the Cardinal through an increas ingly difficult schedule, head coach Ernie Ferrari expects this weekend's battles to be hard-fought and intense. "I didn't think our play was particularly deficient when we lost to Utah State, but then San .Jose defeated them handily," Ferrari said. "So at practice on Monday night, I worked our guys pretty hard. Pain is a great motivator, so I think we'll be up for this weekend's chal lenge." While two wins would push the team's record to a formidable 5-1, two losses would leave the Cardinal at 3-3, and severely handicap its pur suit of a berth at the national tournament. One complicating factor in this weekend's effort may be the depletion of the Cardinal defensive corps. With sopho
more Matt Blythe's medical status in limbo and returning senior Eric Haug away inter viewing at medical schools, the team will be expecting a stellar defensive performance from both its goaltenders and its remaining defenseman. "Eric is the man," said for ward Mintak Joo. "When some one goes in one-on-one with him, you know that guy will be coming out disappointed at best, injured at worst — or injured at best, depending on how you look at it." Ice-time figures reveal the Cardinal's heavy reliance on Haug. In four games this season, he has logged much more ice time than bench time, something extraordinarily rare in a game as aerobically demanding as hock ey. Haug himself acknowledges the hyperbole of his situation. "What may look like unorthodox play on my part may really be exhausted delirium," he said. "I don't know how long I can keep that up." Hut team captain Stefan Teitge is confident in the team's potency, even without Haug and Blythe. "Man for man, we're better than any team in the league," he said.