>I'm new to Hockey East or for that amtter College Hockey in general. I've
>been a long time NHL fan. My question is, why doesn't college hockey open
>up its game more to make the transition to the NHL easy for there players.
>This is a similar problem that the European players have. Wouldn't it be
>better if these players could come into there own quicker.
 
Well, if the goal is to open up the game, it is actually the college
game that is more wide open.  One of the rule changes that has been
most widely supported for opening up the NHL game is the elimination
of two line offsides - this is something that doesn't exist in
college.  In fact, I think it won't be long before the NHL follows the
lead of college and does eliminate the red line for all but icing.
 
I agree that college players do have trouble adjusting to the NHL.
Part of that is that the pro game is that much faster and the players
are more skilled.  That can't be changed, because college attracts a
different type of player - size is not as much of a factor, and while
college hockey has had its share of skilled players, a Paul Kariya
still comes along very rarely.  If a player is that good by the time
he is eligible for the NHL draft, chances are he will be snapped up by
a pro team instead.
 
>American College
>Hockey is becoming a bigger supplier to the NHL. So why not make there
>chances of succeeding greater? We need more players like Leetch and Richter.
 
As Tony said, what changes should be made towards this?  I can't think
of any NHL rules that don't exist in college but which I think college
should adopt.  But towards opening the game up, I would support a
crackdown on the types of interference that still exist in college.
But this only requires calling it as it is written.  It seems that
every year, they announce a new emphasis on calling of interference,
yet it doesn't last.
 
When it comes to attracting more players like Leetch, or Kariya, you
again run into the problem where these players won't last long before
they move onto pro because they are that good.  It's also a problem
the coaches face...do you sign a player knowing that he will probably
only be around for a year or two?  I think it is not bad to do this
because of the attention it brings to the program and to the game.
But the high turnover of good players hurts the fans' ability to
identify with teams and challenges the coaches to keep bringing in new
players of the same caliber.
 
I also think the NHL should follow college's lead and adopt a stricter
policy on hitting from behind.  This is a dangerous action which
results in far too many serious injuries in the pro game.  It's one of
the better rule changes that college hockey has made.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
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