Greetings to all!  I joined the hockeynet back in May and have enjoyed
reading the comments all summer and meeting some RPI alums.  I am told
that the network really gets interesting during the season and can't
wait. I have been lurking since then and this is my first post, but I
can't help smiling at the people complaining about being in hockey
wastelands like D.C.  I have been in rural CA (San Luis Obispo) since
1970 and have essentially zero access to any hockey ... in fact people
here don't even know it exists at the college level ... at any rate, I
go back to 1960-64 at RPI with Coach Harkness at the helm and guys like
Bobby Brinkworth, Jerry Knightly and Bill Sack(goal) going to the
nationals at least twice and with the 1954 (?) championship squad still
fresh in mind.  Anyone out there as old as me??
 
A few queries:
 
1) My only real chance for a college game is the Great Western Freezout
which takes place down in the Forum in LA around Thanksgiving every
year, I believe.  I would even risk going to LA to see some games,
especially if RPI was in it.  Last year CLarkson was there and I believe
this year is PRinceton.  Does anyone know if they plan to rotate
invitations thru the various teams in each league?  I wrote them
suggesting that but have not heard.  Typically they have one team from
each league and occasionally a Canadian team.  There are quite a few
Mich, Mich St, RPI, Cornell, people out here who would love the
opportunity to relive some old memories!
 
2)  ECAC and TV.  We receive here, via a southern CA network PRIME
TICKET (which is somehow related to PRIME, I believe), a feed of the
CCHA game of the week and College Hockey USA weekly.  We even received
LIVE the championship game of each league's playoffs last year (CCHA,
WCHA, and HE) except for one league -- guess which one!!  WE got the
RPI-Harvard game two days later on tape delay.  Does anyone know if
theECAC might consider more live TV and more than just on a NY-New
England basis?  Recently I have begun recruiting at the local JCs for
RPI and have noted that there are at least 4000 alums in CA, if you add
in families and the other eleven ECAC teams, there is probably a
reasonably good-size audience out here.
 
Sorry for running off like that, looking forward to the season!
 
Tony Buffa RPI '64, Univ of Illinois (C-U) '66, '69
Professor of Physics
California Polytechnic State University (newly Div I, but without a
hockey team!)