Some points ...
 
> I'll conjecture that more of the top shelf (ie potential NHL all star type)
> talent is going to Major Junior in Canada instead of to selected high
> profile college programs.  With the expansion of the pro's (NHL and Minor
> Leagues) and changes in the NHL draft procedures maybe more kids think
> Major Junior is the best route to the pro's.
 
It does seem to be that way, and you get different reasons from everyone,
including NCAA interference as you also mentioned.
 
>  Some people on hockey
> list have voiced the opinion that top talent is not going to Div. 1 as in
> the past.  The ECAC did not get many if any of these players so this would
> have no significant impact on the ECAC.  It may also be that the ECAC is
> better focused on getting, developing and playing with the more average
> college talent pool players.
 
Nice thought, but a quick check of the 80's can show you that the ECAC is
losing just as many top flight players as the other leagues.  The other leagues
always had more of them, and they still do today, but the ECAC has had as big a
dropoff (as a percentage) as the other leagues.
 
In fact, until last year, the ECAC had been doing worse in sending teams far in
the NCAA's - which was a regular occurance in the peak years of NCAA talent,
1985-1990.
 
Take a look at the ECAC teams in that time span and the players that they had -
and compare them to the rosters today ... even the poorer ECAC teams had
players they could hang their hats on and say they did well as pros.
 
Brown - Steven King, Mike Brewer
 
Clarkson (the list is endless) - Ed Heinrich, Craig Conroy, Todd Marchant, Dave
Tretowicz, Steve Dubinsky, Scott Thomas, Hugo Belanger, Janne and Jarmo
Kekalainen, etc...
 
Cornell -- Cornell had 15 drafted players from 1988-1990 and only 3 since. --
Joe Nieuwendyk, Kent Manderville, Dan Ratushny, Parris Duffus, Corrie D'Alessio
 
Colgate - Bruce Gardiner, Jamie Cooke
 
Dartmouth - Scott Fraser, Dave Williams
 
Harvard - Ted Drury, Ted Donato, Mike Vukonich, Peter Ciavaglia, Don Sweeney
 
Princeton - Mike McKee, John Messuri, Andre Faust
 
RPI - Adam Oates, Darren Puppa, Ken Hammond, Joe Juneau, Neil Little, Graeme
Townshend
 
St. Lawrence - Jamie Baker, Joe Day, Eric Lacroix, Mike Hurlbut, Les Kuntar,
Dan Laperriere
 
Vermont - John LeClair, Aaron Miller, Tom Draper
 
Yale - Randy Wood, Mark Kauffman, Peter Allen, Dave Baseggio, Mike O'Neill
 
There may be others missing that you might want to put in this category.  I
don't think that you can put as many players of the last 5 years in those same
categories. Not even close.
 
Who's the last Brown player anywhere near as good as Steven King?  How about
Dartmouth with Scott Fraser or Princeton with Andre Faust?  St. Lawrence had
Burke Murphy recently, but what else?
 
It's not just a case of different teams having the good players -- all teams
have significantly less of these type of players.
 
And it's the same for all of the leagues.  Check out the list of Michigan St.
players in the NHL, or Bowling Green or North Dakota or BC or BU - then tell me
how many of the last few years are also making it.
 
There are numerous reasons given -- but no concrete answers.  But the facts are
facts.  One interesting observation a coach made was that the ability for pros
to be in the Olympics has stopped guys from going to college. For example,
Brian Leetch bided his time at BC so he could play in the Olympics.  If he
could've played anyway, he would've gone pro right away.  Interesting.
 
Back to the original point for why the ECAC is doing better -- it's just that
they have a strong group of coaches and are doing a better job recently at
getting their TEAMS organized, and maybe slightly better recruiting too.
 
AW
 
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