I was thinking about Bentley College and the rest of the MAAC on
Sunday while driving to a wedding in Waltham, MA which is where
Bentley is located.  The quick change in the number of colleges
playing Div-I hockey over the next few years is probably the
greatest since the CCHA was formed.  I suspect that the MAAC is
only an interim solution for many of its members and future
members -- some of these schools will eventually join other
conferences and some will give up hockey completely or at the
Div-I level.  As Mike Machnik stated, the CCHA also had a lot of
turnover in its formative years.  (The HEA is the only league that
still has all of its charter members.)
 
By the way, has anyone seen any data on recruits for next year for
the MAAC schools?  USCHO only lists recruits for two of these schools
and http://members.aol.com/cheisenber/Recruit98/Index.htm has chosen
not to include these schools.  The only other place that I have seen
mention of the MAAC schools is on the Syracuse Junior Crunch web page
(which I have been checking because RPI recruit Matt Murley is from
there) which mentions one recruit each for Bentley, Mercyhurst, and
Sacred Heart.  My interest in the MAAC schools recruits was in trying
to figure out if they are getting better hockey players because of
their decision to join a Div-I league.
 
 
Ralph Baer
RPI '68, '70, '74
Oates and Juneau for the Stanley Cup
Coles and Little for the Calder Cup
 
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