Here we go again is right --
 
I enjoy reading Jayson Moy -- but I think the summer has melted his memory <G>!
He is hardly the only one -- there are a bunch of people making predictions
that aren't even sure who are on the teams.  I am not about to make predictions
this early, and by and large, it's impossible to do at any time, but let's get
some things straight.
 
I cannot in good conscience pick Vermont for first again -- not after being the
Bandwagon driver at the start of last year and getting burned.  They should be
good, but who knows.  And yes, Tim Thomas is back.  And Luiz said Perrin and
St. Louis are tremendous defensive liabilities -- I disagree big time -- this
is an opinion, obviously, but those guys are used to kill penalties and they
scare the heck out of PP units because of their SHG capabilities, which in
itself is worth it.
 
As for Clarkson -- they have some decent people coming back, as usual, but they
lost four of the most talented players in the league.  Everyone seems to be
forgetting that.  And Mark Morris has done less with more than any team I've seen.
 
I don't see St. Lawrence making a leap, but I love Joe Marsh, so maybe.  Brown
will slip big time, I think. -  But I thought that last year, too.
 
All of these doomsayers for Princeton think last year was a fluke, so here we
go again having to defend the Tigers (Hello, Geoff Howell).  At the start of
last year, I would have thought Princeton would be in great shape this year,
not losing too much.  But the way their seniors played in the second half of
last season, the losses will hurt big time -- they've also lost senior J.P.
O'Connor for academic reasons.  But, indeed they have a very talented senior
class this year, and very strong sophomore group, and their best recruiting
year ever.  They also have Jim Konte in goal, who from the Maine tournament on
was every bit as good as Thomas.   Who said Princeton is still tired from last
year?  That's about the silliest thing said yet.
 
As for Dartmouth, all those guys who "showed something toward the end" were
seniors -- they're gone.  Those seniors went nuts down the stretch and
Dartmouth made a run -- they're not good again.
 
Yale can't be worse.
 
I like Colgate, especially because of Don Vaughn, but Princeton owned them the
last two years. (5-0).
 
Whomever picked Princeton 10th -- all I can say is, anything can happen, but
I'm willing to bet a whole lot that that won't happen.  5th is more likely, 6th
or 7th is reasonable.
 
There's no ECAC team close to BU or Maine, but after that, I'll take my chances
with any other ECAC team -- just like last year.  Princeton vs. BU in Badger Classic.
 
Adam Wodon
Strat-O-Matic home page -- http://pages.prodigy.com/NY/strat/
 
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