Concord, N.H. ? Howard Dean sharply questioned John Kerry’s judgment on Iraq on Saturday as Democratic presidential rivals raced through a final, frozen weekend of campaigning before New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary.

“I would be deeply concerned about that kind of judgment in the White House,” said Dean, the one-time front-runner struggling to overcome a reversal that has vaulted Kerry into first place in the New Hampshire polls.

Dean said Kerry opposed the first Persian Gulf War in Iraq in 1991 and supported the 2003 invasion, views contrary to his own. “I think my position has proven to be right twice,” Dean added.

In rebuttal, a spokeswoman for Kerry predicted the remarks would backfire. “When is Howard Dean going to realize that voters are tired of these same old angry attacks?” asked Stephanie Cutter. “Voters are looking for a steady hand, not a clenched fist.”

In public, the seven men seeking the nomination against President Bush engaged in the rituals of New Hampshire politics during the day. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark attended a pancake breakfast in the company of actor Ted Danson of “Cheers” fame and his actress wife, Mary Steenburgen, who, like Clark, is from Arkansas.

Kerry laced up his skates for a hockey game that drew Ray Bourque and other retired Boston Bruins stars back to the ice.

At the same time, though, the campaigns were maneuvering for advantage in the states that vote after New Hampshire, beginning with seven contests on Feb. 3 in all regions of the country.

Thus, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who hopes for a breakthrough victory in South Carolina on that day, announced he would compete in Missouri. His campaign has hired two former aides to Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, who dropped out of the race Tuesday.

The state became competitive when Gephardt quit the race, and its 74 delegates make it the biggest prize of the night.

The campaign trail found Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on the ice with retired Canadian hockey star and former Boston Bruin Cam Neely, left, and a group of children Saturday in Manchester, N.H. Polls suggest that Kerry is well ahead in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.

Kerry, who has benefited from a bounce in the polls since Monday’s Iowa caucus victory, was giving new attention to Missouri, and hired Steve Elmendorf, a top aide to Gephardt for a decade.