At 07:49 PM 8/2/97 -0400, you wrote:
>     It's too bad that it has to be a popularity contest, rather than
>     a guage by REAL HOCKEY FANS about which team would be BEST this
>     year.  I say, enough of the popularity, and on with the reality.
 
Of course, that brings up the point as to what a REAL HOCKEY FAN
is and who gets to define one.
 
The truth of the matter is that a poll will always be part popularity.
There are 40+ division 1 teams spread from Maine to Alaska. No one
person gets to see them all play. The only way to compare them
is by statistics and we know there is a lot more than statistics involved
in winning the championship.  One other big factor is the division
of leagues. Can a team who completely dominates the ECAC (and I say
this as a long-time RPI/ECAC fan) really be said to be that much better
than the team who is in first place in the WCHA or CCHA where the teams
play many more games and the top to bottom level of competition is
usually much closer? The answer of course is: maybe, sometimes it depends.
 
My point? It may be a lot of fun during the dog days of summer to predict
whose going to be better this year but its only a guess until the
final horn sounds in Boston in April.
 
And that, of course, assumes that the best team always wins !!!
 
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