On 7/12/95 Bill Fenwick said:
 
>> Frankly, I'm surprised to see Bill Beaney's name as a finalist --
>> not for lack of talent, or for lack of success, but because Midd is
>> in the process of constructing a new, first-class arena (very
>> similar to Dartmouth's) and I think is entertaining thoughts/hopes
>> of *moving up* to Div I, which, for a school of Midd's academic
>> standing and physical location, should mean a berth in the ECAC
><deleted>
 
On 7/12/95 Sean Pickett replied:
>
>Excuse me, but the Hockey East schools have just as good academic
>standings as the ECAC schools.  As for location, since both Vermont
>and Rensselaer have been mentioned as potential HE schools in the
>past, I doubt that Middlebury's location would be a problem.
>
>As for whether or not Middlebury even wants to really move up to DivI,
>or which league they would be interested in, I have no idea.
>
I won't question that the Hockey East schools have overall good academic
programs that would be well worth attending in their own right.  I will
question the assertion that Hockey East and the ECAC are on equal academic
footing when it comes to recruiting players for Div. I Hockey.  Last I
looked, Hockey East had significantly lower academic restrictions for their
hockey players.  This was one of the reasons that Rensselaer/RPI chose to
remain in the ECAC instead of joining Hockey East and it's probably a good
guess that coach Buddy Powers fled to Bowling Green for this same reason.
From what I read, Rensselaer was not going to lower their academic
requirements for the sole purpose of winning another Division I national
championship.  When Rensselear turned down the Hockey East bid (and better
player availability that would go with it), Powers was out the door
(voluntarily) practically the next day.  Perhaps some current Rensselaer
students or Troy-area fans could comment.
 
I've been following eastern college hockey for many years and I can't
remember a post-split ECAC team that was cited for academic improprieties,
but Hockey East's Maine quickly comes to mind as using athletes of dubious
academic standing (and in fact has been cited by the NC$$ for same).
That's not to say that Maine isn't a school that I would send a son or
daughter to, but they certainly have a different view toward college
(hockey) athletics than all of the ECAC teams.  I think Bill Fenwick's
comments have to be taken with this situation in mind.
 
Let's face it, it's tough to recruit quality hockey players that can meet
the ECACs academic standards.  It's even tougher for all the other schools
in the ECAC to compete against Harvard when it comes to recruiting those
players. The Joe Juneaus (ex-Boston Bruin, now Washington Capital and
completed Aeronautical Engineering degree while playing for Rensselaer) are
few and far between.
 
If anyone disagrees, let's research and post the academic requirements for
athletes for the ECAC and Hockey East.
 
-Ken Johnson, RPI '87