> It's been obvious for a decade that the ECAC was headed for 4th league
> status.  There is no mystery why:
>
> 1. No scholarships.  Johnnie can go to Yale for $100k or Michigan for free.
> Where does Johnnie go?

Right, but alternatives to scholarships appear to exist.  I submit this item
(#050267) from the HOCKEY-L archives:

> The following is excerpted from Tom Boggle's ECAC column in the 11/5
> issue of The Hockey News:
>
> >With only seven defensemen on the roster, Colgate coach Don Vaughan
> >knows his Red Raiders are flirting with disaster.
> >"We'll be OK, as long as we don't have any injuries," he said with a
> >laugh.
> >The decision to begin the season with just seven blueliners was a
> >simple one.
> >"It's the nature of the beast," Vaughan said. "We felt we needed
> >forwards to get more depth up front. When we got the forwards we
> >needed, there was no more (financial) aid available.
> >"We could have brought in a full-pay candidate, but chose not to. We
> >didn't want to go that route just to have another body available."


-- Erik