I need to respond to a couple of points in Steve's non-diatribe ;-), though
I don't wish to imply that he should keep his opinions to himself.
 
Steve writes:
 
>Back in the '60s and '70s, when Murray Armstrong had those great Denver
>teams, WCHA opponents DU and UM didn't play.
>Marsh Ryman, the AD at the time, insisted that Denver played too many
>Canadians, and that his pure-bred Minnesota team wasn't going to play the
>foreigners unless it had to.
 
Quoting from the 1995 WCHA Official Yearbook:
 
"In 1958, the WIHL broke up over charges of recruiting irregularities.
Minnesota and the Michigan schools charged that Denver, Colorado College,
and North Dakota had recruited overage Canadiens [sic], a practice which,
although legal at the time, was not in the spirit of league harmony.
Tempers flared and when Minnesota and its allies resigned in March, the WIHL
was finished.
 
"There was no league play during the 1958-59 season, a situation which the
seven schools eventually acknowledged hurt hockey in the region.  After the
bad blood had cooled down, the seven schools reconvened and decided to form
a new league or, as they called it, an "association."  Thus the Western
Collegiate Hockey Association was born.
 
"Because of the previous recruiting problem, the seven members decided the
WCHA would be a less formal organization.  Members would enjoy more autonomy
within the group and could schedule whichever teams they wanted.  This
provision allowed Minnesota to continue a ban on games with Denver for more
than a decade after the recruiting problem had been settled."
 
My point:  the issue was not solely one of nationality.  Also, this was
settled a long time ago by the parties involved.
 
<<some stuff deleted>>
 
>If this sounds like a diatribe against the Minnesota program, I sincerely
>apologize.
>I have enjoyed a lot of good hockey at Minnesota and watching the Gophers in
>many tournaments.
>I like and respect Doug Woog, as well as several of his predecessors.
>But what's good for Minnesota hockey isn't always what's good for college
>hockey.
>Kids shouldn't be told that if they don't attend the U, they'll never work
>in the state (Nyrop was not the exception).
 
Of course they shouldn't.  If this sort of coercion is happening now (and I
sincerely hope it isn't), I'd imagine that the NCAA would be interested in
knowing about it.
 
>And are Minnesota kids getting a full college experience playing only with
>their own?
 
Why not ask the kids themselves?  I don't think we can answer that for them.
 
-- Erik
 
 
 
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