Mayhem on Ice

It was college boys, at McGill University around 1875, who first made hockey a game--something with rules and a bit of science about it. The game has come a long way since then, and not always uphill. Last week in New Haven, 1,200 spectators watched a game called ice hockey, and played by college boys, that looked more like assault & battery.

During the first two periods, Harvard and Yale roughhoused like pros, but officials called only two penalties. Harvard Coach John Chase, calling a referee to the bench, said: "If you don't take action, I'm going to withdraw the team." With one minute and 15 seconds left in the final period, and Yale leading Harvard by a decisive 10-3, Yale's Captain Artie Moher and Harvard's Dave Abbott tangled near the net (Yalemen say Abbott started it). Officials waved both players to the penalty box for two minutes for roughing--and failed to escort them. On the way they had words.

Suddenly Moher prodded Abbott in the ribs with the butt end of his stick. Abbott dropped his stick to punch Moher. Moher knocked him down with the stick, hammered him. With a riot in the making, Coach Chase refused to continue! the game. It took 26 stitches to close a wound in Abbott's cheek. Said Chase: "If it had been on a street corner, it would have been criminal." In collegiate circles these days, it was just hockey, new style.

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