On Sat, 8 Nov 1997, Greenie wrote:
 
>
> Is the ECAC achieving true parity in strength or do some of these teams
> need refueling? Are these recent results due to better draft classes -- or
> the lack thereof?
 
After last night's contests I think the elite of the ECAC are already
beginning to show who they are: Cornell and RPI (I hope the woof gods
don't plague me for saying that).  RPI quite simply blew away its two
opponents, with last night's game even more impressive than Friday's.  And
not just because RPI is a superior team, but also because Dartmouth and
Vermont are in for very long seasons in the ECAC.
 
In the middle of the pack I would cite Clarkson, who also comes on at the
end, St. Lawrence, if only because they have Paul DeFrancesco, and
Princeton, who at this point is an unknown quantity.  I would also expect
Colgate to show something this season, as evidenced by their win at
Michigan.  But losing to Harvard on home ice?  Harvard also belongs in the
middle, although their upside potential is considerable.  There recruiting
classes of the past two seasons were quite notable; it is a matter of
waiting for them to live up to their scouting reports.
 
Bottom of the ECAC will be Dartmouth, UVm, Union, Brown.  Don't want to
hurt anyone's feelings, but they are all too young or unskilled to compete
this season.  Yale is another unknown, coming in after a good home weekend
against the North Country teams.
 
Well that's my read.  I'll post some more thoughts on RPI later.
 
***************************************
Brian Morris                RPI Engineers--4-2, 2-0 in ECAC
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