I agree with most everything that Bill said about how the ECAC ranked
in TSN's Top 20.  Especially RPI, it's going to be a tough year for
them.  What wasn't mentioned about St. Lawrence was the loss of Andy
Pritchard.  Pritchard was a "hard-working" type of player, but he was
a big scoring threat.  He always seemed to score when the opponents least
expected it and SLU needed it the most.  However, it does seem that Mike
Lappin will become the Saints' leading scoring threat.  Lappin did have
a hot stick at the US Olympic trials.  Now if St. Lawrence can get a
strong goalie...  Remember what was said about Clarkson's goalies last
year after the loss of Fletcher?  I too believe that Clarkson will be
better than last year.  The Senior players may have had some injuries
and less playing time, BUT, the Juniors have had lots of experience and
are quite talented.  The Junior class is extremely gifted in talent.
The NCAA tournament experience of the past two years is going to be a
bonus.  Clarkson's defense (w/o Tret.) is quite mature and battle
tested, just ask LSSU.  Actually, the ECAC Championship, two straight
years in the NCAA tournament and a nice new facility is going to help
Clarkson a lot when it comes to recruiting.  Sophmore forward Craig
Conroy, spent the summer in Kansas City working out under the super-
vision of K.C. Chiefs' trainers (so I was told) and has returned to
campus bigger and stronger (so I've seen).
 
Mike Zak
Clarkson '87, '91,...