Robert J Constantine stated in part:
 
>For my $.02 worth, I'd like to mention that I've been watching collegiate
>hockey faithfully since 1966 (ho, ho, ho! Older than ol' St. Nick, I
>guess!), and in my estimation, the skill levels of players in the
>collegiate ranks has skyrocketed since the mid-70's or so. Whether these
>players enter school to eventually advance to the NHL, or they just love
>hockey and play hard despite being only 145 pounds soaking wet, the
>collegiate forum for hockey stands on its own merit. College players
>do *not* need NHL imprimaturs to feel that they have accomplished
>something positive and rewarding when they don their school colors, and
>glide out onto the pond to compete.
 
I agree with this and would like to expand upon it.
 
I have been watching the game since the same era.  Beyond a doubt in
the ten years that I was at RPI (64-74), the quality of players and
play was constantly rising.  This increase seems to have continued for
more than a decade after I left.  However, it seems to me that it
either has reached a plateau or slightly decreased over the last few
years.  Now, part of my statement may be based upon my RPI-bias, as
RPI's hockey team clearly reached a zenith in 1985, however I think
that it is something more than that.
 
I quoted earlier this week from an article in The Hockey News that
stated that college hockey has been going down hill recently.  This may
or may not be true, and it may or not be important,  As has been said,
it is not the duty of the colleges to train people for the pros.
 
What I think has happened is that the Major Junior A coaches in Canada
finally woke up a a decade ago and realized that they had competition
for the best players from Canada.  (They always had competition for the
best US players, but 30 years ago, this wasn't saying that much.)  When
they woke up, they started feeding those players who were good enough
academically and athletically to consider playing Div-I the perceived
negatives of playing in college, things like the fact that less games
are played in Div-I than in the Major Junior leagues, the caliber of
play is less (this point is debatable), etc.  Some prospective student
athletes have bought this and have gone the Major Junior A route.  Thus
perhaps a decrease in talent level.
 
There have been so many changes over the years as to who is eligible to
be drafted in the NHL draft that to count the college players that are
drafted and say that the fact that the number of players drafted in one
year is less than another means that the talent level is going down is
ludicrous.  Yes, only 6 players in college were drafted last year.
This is probably mainly due to increased scouting of high schools, prep
schools, the USHL, etc.  Also, it seems to me that the incoming
freshman has gradually been getting older -- more people are attending
Prep School or going to the USHL for a year.  Probably the main reason
that fewer college players are being drafted is that for many years 18-
year old Major Junior players could only be drafted in the first three
rounds of the NHL draft.  So the remaining rounds were filled with
older players and those in or headed to college.  In my opinion, to fill
out their draft lists very marginal high school players were taken in
the latter rounds of the NHL draft for many years.  There were players
at RPI (the only school that I really paid attention to before I found
Hockey-L) who were drafted over the years who had in my opinion
absolutely no chance at ever playing in the NHL, but they had been
drafted and they added to the college-players-drafted-by-the-NHL total.
I am sure that this was also the case for players at other colleges.
This has changed.  I cannot think of a drafted player at RPI in the
last four years who did not have a chance to play in the NHL.  Perhaps
only an outside chance, but a chance.
 
Ralph Baer
RPI '68, '70, '74