Forwarding this to the list for Bob Woodbury . . .  (Bob Woodbury
<[log in to unmask]>)


A. College hockey

1. Maine
2. Minnesota-Duluth (Duluth a second home during the summer. Really
happy for the Bulldogs this year.)
2a. Minnesota
3. From D-3, Colby, then arch-rival Bowdoin when the Mules are not involved
4. Any team where I have coaching friends (it's a loyalty thing),
including UNH (don't throw that - Scott Borek, former Colby, New England
College and LSSU coach) and the Minnesota women (Laura Halldorson,
former Colby coach).
5. Thanks to Wayne, because I never thought of this but it's true - At
least one of the teams playing the game I'm watching. Thanks, Wayne. And
thanks satellite TV.

I am really encouraged by the number of fans who answered this thread. I
really enjoyed the writeup about Michigan-Michigan State the other day.
It would be very enjoyable to have reports like this from the WCHA (I
remember fondly the interlocking schedule when I got to see UMD
sophomore Brett Hull play at Maine, sent back to Minnesota on KDAL by
legendary announcer Marsh Nelson), the CCHA and the ECAC. I don't mean
to leave out the new, smaller leagues, either. You have an uphill fight.
Be proud of what your kids are trying to accomplish and let us know what
those accomplishments are. Don't be intimidated by those on this list
who try to belittle your league.
Just want the ECAC folks to know I'm NOT one of those to use EZAC. I
have too much respect for the kids playing the game in front of God and
everyone instead of sitting home playing armchair coach. I would hope,
since there seems to be quite a few of you, that someone would take up
the banner and give us some writeups (we get a few now but could use
more) and not be intimidated by what seems to be an over-abundance of HE
fans.
Let's get the list back where it was first intended - a truly national
discussion of college hockey by those of us who love the sport and the
young men who play it and give us so many enjoyable hours.

Wayne T Smith wrote:

> 1. Maine
> 2. At least one of the teams playing the game I'm watching
> 3. College Hockey
>
> Tid bits...
>
> * Hockey-L was originally known as "College_Hockey".  It was created by
>  Mike Machnik and an energized crew of 30 or so college hockey super
> fans that wanted to know more about other teams and other leagues.
> There was no USCHO.com and little or no national college hockey media.
>
> * In April of 1990, the group moved to Hockey-L.  Bill Fenwick and I
> each offered the facilities to host the list, and I lost out. ;-)   I
> still own the list and, for some time now, Bill Fenwick has managed the
> day to day operations.
>
> There was an incredible push from the core group to get "representation"
> from all D-I teams, to encourage a love affair with college hockey, not
> just team allegiance, and to write, write, write. It was an
> entreprenurial experience, with excellent results.
>
> * Over the next several years Hockey-L readership grew to 2000+.  We'd
> have 50, 75 or even 100 posts per day.  The huge volume caused
> significant stress, as it became difficult to attract the casual fan and
> keep the busy college hockey hobbyists and professionals from overload.
>  Although most SIDs, ADs and coaches came to know of Hockey-L, very few
> contributed, as electronic information was really in its infancy.
>
> Hockey-L was and is a fan group, but over the years has been read by a
> number of people (NCAA, coaches, administrators, player parents and to a
> lesser extent media and players) that might surprise you.  I don't know
> how many times I've winced as I read some idiot's diatribe, knowing the
> object of the rant, or their parents, would be reading the garbage. :-(
>
> * During this time, we adjusted, not always smoothly, from the small
> family of college hockey die hards with everyone contributing to a more
> typical group with about 10% doing most of the work.  Many excellent new
> contributors came on board, but also a number of idiots made their
> presence known.  But if you're reading this, I'm happy to report you
> out-lasted the idiots (no small feat)!
>
> * As many of our better writers moved on to other opportunities (often
> getting paid for their work!), Hockey-L lost some of its luster, IMHO. I
> was spending 2 hours per day operating/promoting Hockey-L, and others
> were spending more time.  USCHO.com was formed and gave us a national
> look in a most professional manner.  We were scared that the economics
> would force USCHO.com soon out of business, but were happily proven
> wrong.  I hope one of more of the USCHO principals will soon write about
> those early years!
>
> * With the excellent news, standings, etc., on USCHO.com, much of the
> need of Hockey-L dissappated.  The mindless rants left their unwelcome
> home of Hockey-L for the USCHO.com Message Board, and Hockey-L became
> much less important to most college hockey fans.  Local team message
> board and mailing lists have also contributed to the decline of Hockey-L
> readership and participation.
>
> * (I'm leaving out many, many things from this "history".  A few that
> come to mind are Info-Hockey-L, Hockey3, Hockey-L dinners and buttons
> and clothing, and the many friendships and acquaintances made over the
> years).  Maybe others would care to contribute?
>
>> How about if someone analyzes the percentages? e.g if everything were
>> equal, we would expect 12/58 or about 20% of the folks from the ECAC...
>
>
>
> In the very early years we asked people to make a team allegiance
> statement, but dropped it fairly early on.  Our emphasis would be on the
> national level, good will and cooperation.  College_Hockey and Hockey-L
> early years representation was clearly dominated by several computer
> literate and well networked schools such as RPI, Minnesota, Cornell and
> Maine.  These and several other schools (BU, UNH, MSU, Michigan come to
> mind) with significant Hockey-L participation also had a large fan base.
>
> As it's been many years since we've actively recruited participants to
> Hockey-L, I'm not sure what any characterization by team or league or
> region would be or mean.
>
> Anyway, thanks for participating!  It's good to hear from so many folks.
>
> cheers, wayne
> --
> Wayne T Smith -- [log in to unmask] -- Owner, [log in to unmask]
>
>




Bob Griebel wrote:

> Bob, do you want to be a statistic in the highly scientifically
> tabulated results?  You didn't state an allegiance.  Should I put you
> down for Maine?  Any others?
>
> Regards,
> Bob
>
>
> Bob Woodbury wrote:
>
>> I would hope these folks would become more active on the list. I have
>> favorites in the CCHA and WCHA, including Michigan AND Michigan
>> State,  I would like to hear more  about. And while I feel I am
>> up-to-date on the ECAC and HE, I would like to learn more about the
>> other leagues.
>>
>