In a message dated 97-06-19 08:30:36 EDT, you write:
 
<< JMP wasn't Elliott's "backup" for most of '96.  The numbers work out that
 way but Elliott simply took the job away from his competition down the
 stretch... in this sense, the better JMP is the more playing time he gets
 and the less his pro team will object; the worse he does the less time
 he'll get and the less his pro team will care.  :-)
 
 Also, with no recruited goaltender in the incoming class, '99 belongs
 entirely to JMP.  So I don't really see him jumping but, hey, I would have
 lost any bet that P.C. Drouin would have skated in a Bruins' uni... :-)
 
 - Greg >>
     If a team is taking a chance on a goalie (especially a goalie moreso
than any other position) in the first or second round, it is doubtful they
will want to wait until 1999 to see him play regularly, and certainly not
playing "weekend hockey" as many of the scouts call the college game. I'm a
huge college hockey fan and love the game, but the fact is that NHL brass
would like to see these kids play a 70 game schedule or so before the age of
20 so they can become somewhat accustomed to the NHL grind. A propsect hoping
for an NHL future would be wise to head to the OHL or WHL, because that's
where the scouts would like to see them. A prospect hoping to mature as a
regular 18 or 19 year old in a college environment would choose college where
he can also get a college education.
    I think the NCAA should loook into extending their schedule and making
the college hockey season consist of 60-70 or so games, to be played on a
rotating schedule like Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Monday, Wednesday,
Friday or college hockey will continue to lose the top kids to the OHL and
WHL-Of course if such a change were to be made, the # of hockey scholarships
would have to be increased and we all know that wouldn't happen. There has to
be some sort of solution so we can keep the best American kids (and Canadian
kids interested in  US college hockey) in the NCAA. I'm tired of seeing the
Paul Mara's, Bryan Berard's, Brian Boucher's, Jeff Jillson's and all the
others jump to the OHL and WHL mainly because they are allowed to enter the
draft earlier and will get more looks from NHL teams.I know this will cause
alot of controversy on these channels, but what else do we have to talk about
during June right? Let's here some suggestions, because the problem of losing
kids to the OHL and WHL is just beginning and things could get worse in the
coming years.
Mike Farrell
New England College Hockey Insider
www.newenglandinsider.com
 
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