On Thu, 16 Feb 1995, Brian Morris wrote:
 
> One issue I think should be addressed is the siting for the future EACA
> tournament.  I thought Lake Placid got a temporary deal through this year, but
> I haven't heard anything about the 1996 venue, or subsequent years. IMHO if the
> ECAC wants to increase exposure they've got to put the tourney in a more
> accessible area.  While it's true Lake Placid is very cozy, about the only fans
> who shlepp up there are from Potsdam and Canton--who are used to driving on
> black ice.  Certainly the tournament doesn't entice the novice hockey fan to
> check it out, or increase the league's recognition factor in its NY/NE market.
 
I dunno - I kind of like Lake Placid... the place has charm and history
(olympics, etc). Plus good skiing, etc for day-time activities. I live in
Virginia now, and I went to Placid last year and will be going again this
year. I don't think its all that far away for Clarkson, SLU, Vermont, RPI,
Union, Dartmouth, etc to travel (at least not compared to NYC or Boston).
 
> The obvious location is Albany, but I think the folks at the Albany Sports
> Foundation have warmed up to the East Regional rotation, although they wouldn't
> be averse to also hosting the ECAC's.
 
Albany is probably a reasonable central location (in terms of being
mutually inconvenient for the majority of the ECAC), but Albany doesn't
really inspire anyone as a 'hockey' town... (not like, say, Boston). And
there really isn't much to do in Albany during the day (unless, you like
going to yet another mall). Skiing, etc is all a fair drive north, east,
etc...
 
 
>Other locations like Boston, Hartford,  Springfield or maybe even
>Syracuse might have appeal.
 
The Boston Garden was a nice location for it before - it was always a fun
trip back/forth to Boston and since it was combined with the HE finals,
you could see a good collection of teams all in one weekend. Plus there
were lots of things to see/do in Boston in between games. I'd much rather
see this be done again. The downside to Boston (and Springfield, Hartford,
etc) is that those places are pretty far away from the main core of the
ECAC population.
 
>Or put the tournament down in the NY metro  area.
>
 
yech... just what everyone wants - to be mugged/have their car stolen on
the way to a hockey game and/or pay outrageous $$ for parking... no thanks.
 
-art stine
clarkson '86, '92