Thanks to Ralph Baer for the correction on the southern-most team.  I guess I
never actually looked it up or checked a map's lines of latitude.  It was just
a perception that was obviously incorrect.  Of course Alabama-Huntsville is
pretty south, but also unaffiliated.
 
As for what Steve Rockey wrote, I wouldn't necessarily disagree with his
assessment of the ECAC, I was just pointing some things out to show it isn't as
poor a conference as some people believe.
 
Actually, my larger point is this.  I strongly feel that nobody should look
down upon the ECAC just because it is the "weakest" of the 4 major conferences.
 I believe the hockey community has to stick together, and the more the
merrier.  That is why I didn't want to see RPI leave even though at lot of
their fans were clamoring to go.  I want to see as many strong, viable
conferences as possible for the sake of college hockey, and the sport in
general.  ECAC teams try their hardest to keep up, and often surprise the
country with very entertaining and competitive hockey.  If on a scale of 1-100,
other conferences are between 50-55, then the ECAC is a 48, if you catch my
drift, not a 40 as some people may perceive.
   If the ECAC were to become weaker, that would leave only 3 strong
conferences.  Why would college hockey fans want the amount of competitive
teams to decline.  We need more.
 
   I also do not see a decline in talent.  Your theory in decline of talent
relevantly is a good point.  This is not scientific, but I look at the Olympic
teams between 1980 and 1994 and see the same kind of talent.  I definitely see
the talent pool on the rise.  As a matter of fact, I just finished a story for
the paper I write for in the Philly area about local youth/high school hockey.
There is a huge increase in the registration in USA Hockey in the area over
recent years, the problem is the lack of rinks.  The amount of rinks has
doubled in the past 10 years, but they are all booked a year in advance.
 
   Finally, about Western PA players, I never heard of Church, but Princeton
did have a Pittsburgh-area player named Joey Pelle.  He has since left the
team, however.
     Ryan Mulhern is from Havertown, which is west of Philadelphia, but East of
Harrisburg.
 
                    AW