UMASS
Ralph, Dave and Jon have all raised the question about why UMass seems
to be rushing into joining HE in only its second season, as well as
how prepared they will be with just a few games against DivI
conference teams this coming season.  I've tried to see if I can
track down someone who might have an insight, but to no avail thus
far, so I welcome any thoughts.
 
Recall that the original plan for the development of the UMass
program, as posted in the university's ad for a head coach last fall,
was to play junior varsities and DivIII teams in 93-94, DivIII and
some DivI in 94-95 including one game vs each HE team, and HE in
95-96.  Somewhere along the line, they moved the schedule up a year,
because about 3 months ago we heard that they had been accepted into
HE for 94-95 - which did surprise me.  I don't know if UMass requested
to join earlier or if HE pressured them to do so.  Maybe the desire to
get more big-name teams in the building (and fill the 8500 seats)
played a part.
 
This seems similar to what happened when Merrimack joined HE in
1989-90.  Merrimack had been effectively forced out of the ECAC East
after 1988-89 and planned to play as a DivI independent for at least
1989-90 and then seek admission to HE.  Then HE came calling and asked
Merrimack to join immediately (i.e. 89-90) because the WCHA had
terminated the interlocking schedule agreement between the WCHA & HE,
cutting HE's league schedule from 26 to 18 games.  It may have
resulted in Merrimack taking a little longer to get on its feet in
DivI, but the school accepted anyway.
 
(BTW, Merrimack would have actually been better off entering HE a year
or two *earlier* than it did; the 1987-88 and 88-89 teams were ranked
in the DivI top 15 most of the time and were incredibly powerful...but
15 players from the 1988 team that went to the NC$$ DivI quarterfinals and
finished 34-6-0 graduated in either 1988 or 1989.  That team went 2-1
in 87-88 against the 88 HE champion, Northeastern.  Also, recruiting
for 1989-90 was devastated by the Merrimack administration's delaying
its decision until late January 89 - before which several players who
would go on to star for other schools had already turned down
Merrimack because of its uncertain future.)
 
But in trying to compare that to the UMass situation, I can't come up
with a reason why HE would be so interested in having UMass join
sooner.  It won't affect the number of games - back in February,
former commish Stu Haskell said that the league schedule would likely
stay at 24 games but would switch to 3 games per opp rather than the
"divisions" we have now.  And it could be potentially disastrous to
the development of the UMass program, as some have said.
 
I do not know of any school in recent years that went from no team to
a DivI conference after one year.  The closest might be Kent, which
canceled its program in 1988-89, restarted it in 89-90 and played as
an independent for 3 years, and entered the CCHA in 92-93 (and had a
pretty impressive first campaign).  I still think the advantages that
UMass will enjoy when recruiting in terms of the rink, campus,
academic reputation, etc. make it very possible that they could make a
respectable entry into HE, though they'll be inexperienced, and this
means they'll need to do a superb job of recruiting over the next
year.
 
There have been examples of teams with huge freshman classes who have
surprised with their performance in the past.  If UMass can add a few
upperclassmen who transfer in (always a possibility when a new program
starts up) and provide leadership, it might be a decent mix.
 
GOALIES
BTW, on goalies, two more: Robb Stauber (LA Kings/U. of Minnesota),
and Jim Hrivnak (Winnipeg Jets/Merrimack).  Hrivnak was dealt to
Winnipeg near the end of the season, giving the Jets two quality
netminders who starred in college.  Stauber won the 1988 Hobey Baker
as a sophomore.
 
HE SHOOTOUT - THUMBS DOWN
Merr SID Jim Seavey says that as far as he knows, the HE athletic
directors either did not vote for a shootout (even though it was
apparently allowed by the NC$$) or voted it down, so it appears there
won't be one in HE this season.  Don't know about the WCHA.
---
Mike Machnik           [log in to unmask]    [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMN* 11/13/93