Hey Sean and others,

I certainly think Sean has hit on a several important points here.
Problem is, is the ECAC listening or do they care about hockey? I think
Adam Wodon would claim no on both counts. I think it is high time that
the teams push for elevation of programs or form their own hockey-only league.

For sure this attitude pervades and I believe can "turn off" good
students who are also hockey players. It needs to be changed.

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[log in to unmask] wrote:

> Anyway, it seems to me that the ECAC's attitude as become more "high-brow" and elitist as the nineties progressed. Instead of embracing the gifted athletes who wants to also be students, they instead appear to reject them and go after the gifted students who happen to also be athletes. The ECAC 2000-01 Media Guide states, "The ECAC has its Hobey Baker winners, All-Americans and national champions, but what sets it apart from any other conference is its tradition and success in academics."
> It appears to me that the ECAC schools (St. Lawrence apparently excepted) do NOT want to elevate their programs to the level of the WCHA, CCHA and Hockey East. They seem to like to be able to claim academic superiority, even as they fall further and further behind athletically. It seems to be an obsessive point of pride that appears to be overwhelming everything else that once mattered.
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For SLU, it sure looks like they are learning to play the game and two
years in the NCAA show the results. They moved to scholarships and
scheduled difficult non-conf games. Way to go. I just wish the others
would follow. In partiuclar, as Ralph Baer points out, RPI's nconf
schedule is very thin (that is being kind).

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> Tony mentioned the late starting dates for ECAC and Ivy hockey teams as a reason they do not do as well nationally. The ECAC appears to have realized that this is a problem, but what was its solution? Instead of allowing earlier starting dates for member schools it is trying to restrict the starting dates for all D-I teams and conferences! It was the ECAC that authored the uniform starting practice and playing dates proposal, without any input from the other conferences, and then asked the MAAC to submit it to the NCAA for consideration.
> College hockey is growing, and yes, it looks as if it may become "big-time", but is that bad? Do the small schools have to suffer and fall by the wayside? I don't think so. Look at Colorado College and Denver in the WCHA. Northern Michigan in the CCHA. Providence and UMass Lowell in Hockey East. All did well this past season and look like they will continue that success.
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I certainly agree the small schools DONT have to fold up .. . but they
do have to learn how to play the game. Right now the ECAC doesnt. I dont
even think they really understand how the rules have changed.

As for the starting dates and game numbers.... it is 5 leagues against
one..  I think the ECAC should force members to move up to at least 32
and allow up to 34 (and beyond the way the WCHA and CCHA do it) .

For example, here at Cal Poly, Div -I baseball is BIG. The team starts
practice in December, plays 2 months of nonconf in Jan and Feb.... so by
now they have played 20-30 games. Seasonwise they play 70-80 depending
on the weather. Earlier several east coast teams rolled in for their
"spring training" .. teams with decent talent at the D-I level,
including Columbia, Dartmouth, etc. These were there first games of the
season. CPoly already has a dozen under their belt, and it showed. We
won all of them easily .... those teams will be lucky to get to 40 total
games. At the end of the season, by playoff time, the FL, TX, Arizon and
CA teams will have at least 20 more gmaes played, and it will show for
sure. In college athletics, even if you return most of your team, each
year is a new team.. . to develop chemistry takes many games. The ECAC
needs to go up to 34, and also encourage its teams to schedule upper
tier teams from the other leagues ... even getting creamed early, can
make you a strong team down the stretch.

I watch and wait, hoping RPI isnt in a sinking league.

Tony Buffa
RPI '64