Tony Biscardi writes:
>The key is that, usually, the voters from the East vote for the eastern teams
>more than the western ones while the western voters always plug the western
>teams.  Recently, the trend has reversed, which makes me believe that the
>eastern voters are saying to themselves, "oh, this team X can't be as good as
>what the west has," while the western voters are thinking, "oh, if team Y
>doesn't get it together, they won't be able to hang with what the east has."
 
Talk about timing...Steve Kapetanakis and I were talking about this
during the Beanpot.  The results of the HOCKEY-L poll are interesting
in that East voters do seem to be rating their region's teams lower in
favor of West teams who "just have to be better than what I've seen,"
and it seems that West voters are doing the same.  I would be curious
to see if the media voters are following the same trend.
 
At any rate, I do have to agree with Tony in that I'm having trouble
finding a team other than Michigan who I'd consider to be a serious
title contender.  Harvard laid claim to being the best in the East
after beating BU, but even the Crimson are more of a lunchpail crew
(no big names) than you'd expect.
 
Another clue - think about Hobey candidates.  Usually it is easy to
come up with a list of ten solid contenders.  This season, I can't
come up with a handful.
 
>I think we are seeing a present, temporary (I hope) down trend in college
>hockey due mostly to Olympics, and somewhat to pros.
 
I hope so too, but I am not so sure.  A point Steve raised was
excellent enough that it deserves repeating here (he can stand up and
take a bow).  Steve suggested that more so than the Olympics, the NHL
expansion and flourishing of the minors has a lot to do with diluting
the talent in DivI hockey.  There are more jobs available.  And with
more minor league players getting to the NHL earlier, that opens up
more slots in the AHL and IHL (not to mention the "double A" and
"single A" leagues like the CHL, ECHL, Colonial League, and Suncoast
League).  The last few years, we have seen more and more good players
and even marginal players leave school early for minor league teams.
Since the NHL continues to talk expansion and minor league teams are
experiencing a boom in interest, I am concerned that the dilution of
DivI hockey talent will continue.
 
However, it also means more chances for college players to fulfill a
dream by playing pro hockey, and that's not bad.  Remember that just a
dozen or so years ago, playing pro for college grads meant the East
Coast League.  Today, the number of former college players playing in
the NHL or high minors is astounding.
 
Just as an example, I look in THN each week and I see players listed
among the scoring leaders in the CHL and ECHL who were not better than
average college players.  I am absolutely sure that there are kids in
college looking at this and thinking, "If so-and-so can be a star in
that league, heck, so can I."  I don't want to re-start the never-ending
discussion on whether it's better for players to finish their degrees
or turn pro, but I would bet it is on the minds of a lot of players.
And with the new NC$$ legislation that will allow players to negotiate
with pro teams and then decide whether they want to return to school
or turn pro, I do not think the number of players leaving early will
decrease.  In fact, it is more likely to increase.
 
Finally, one more factor I would toss in is the increasing tendency
for American HS players to play junior instead of college.  College
still seems to be the preferred route for most players, but that is
changing.  BU, for example, has had a handful of players bolt over the
last few years for the Canadian juniors.  It is less and less likely
that players who are struggling in school or in hockey early on will
stick it out with the juniors calling.  Adding to that the number of
players who have left early for the pros or Olympics, it is really
quite remarkable that BU has managed to stay on top during that time.
It is a testament to the attraction that BU has developed since the
late 80s as a place for top players to flock to.
---                                                                 ---
Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMM* 11/13/93
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