Last Friday, in a brief preface to my posting of the US Select 17
team roster -- they won the bronze medal in the just-concluded Pacific Cup
Tournament in Yokohama, Japan -- I noted that the team was "loaded with
blue-chippers, the players who'll be heavily recruited by Division I schools
over the next year or two." This was a reflexive comment based on the fact
that, in the past, most players on the Select 16's and 17's did indeed go on
to Division I success. And it seemed, at least through the 80's, that the
select teams had a core group of players who went on to the National Junior
Team and, later, the US Olympic Team and the pros.
 
        Anyway, I mention all this because, after my post, I received a
reply questioning the ability of a couple of players, and suggesting that
the whole selection process was "political" and that many of the best
players were no longer terribly interested in trying out for the team.
 
        This might -- or might not -- have been a case of sour grapes. It
was hard to tell. Whatever it was, it got me wondering -- does anyone
else have information that might support or refute this? I know I was a
little shocked when I looked at the roster and saw that New York-New
Jersey-Pennsylvania combined to place six players on the team, California
and the state of Washington combined for three slots, while *all* of New
England was represented by one player (Bobby Allen of Hull, Mass. and
Cushing Academy). Accuse me of regionalism if you wish, but it seems
improbable that a group of the twenty best 17-year-old ice hockey players in
the US would include only one New Englander.
 
        Anyway, I'm throwing this out not so much to start up any regional
battles, but instead to find out whether there has indeed been a recent
politicizing of the selection process. If anyone missed seeing the original
roster, drop me a note by private e-mail and I'll send one along.
 
Chris
 
--
C.C. Warner
Cambridge, Mass.
 
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