I apologize if someone else has already posted something about this,
but I don't recall having seen it.  Because it takes The Hockey News a
while to get to DC, I have noticed that others often get it close to a
week before I do.
 
In the December 23 issue of THN on page 47, there is an article written
by Ken Campbell that claims that the quality of college hockey has
greatly deteriorated over the last few years.
 
The following is the start of the article:
 
U.S. colleges continue to offer higher education, but are they
producing a lower brand of hockey?
   Perhaps not to fans who keep filling collegiate rinks, but NHL
scouts don't like what they see.
   Here's a sampling of comments from them:
   * "The last three or four years, the calibre of play in Division I
has just plummeted."
   * "I've been telling our guys for two years how bad it is."
   * "If you weren't going to see guys you had already drafted, there
would be no point going at all."
   * "I went to a game recently and between the two teams I saw one guy
who had NHL potential."
 
The article goes on to "prove" its point by mentioning things like only
six players from college ranks were drafted by NHL teams last year
compared to 43 in 1991.  (It does mention that the number is 44 if
college-bound high-school players are included.)
 
Reasons given are fewer scholarships, fewer games, no red line,
prohibitive recruiting rules.
 
The article ends with a quote from MSU coach Ron Mason "I'll stack our
program against anybody.  We've had 53 guys signed to NHL contracts in
the last 11 years.  That's just as good as anybody in junior."
 
Please note that the views expressed above are not necessarily mine.
 
I know that the level of college hockey greatly greatly increased from
the mid-'60s when I started watching as evidenced by the number of
players who go on to professional careers.  Also, it is not the job of
the colleges to act as a minor league for the pros, and there are many
excellent college players who have some fatal weakness (e.g., too
small) to ever play in the NHL.  Because I have not watched nearly
enough college hockey over the last few years to say anything about the
level of play this year compared to say five years ago, there are many
members of H-L who can intelligently comment.
 
Ralph Baer
RPI '68, '70, '74