On Fri, 7 Feb 1997, Luiz F. Valente wrote:
 
> opportunity to generate some winning attitudes will occur this Saturday
> afternoon when the [Bears] face-off against the clutch-and-grab
> [third]-ranked Princeton Tigers.
>
> but what stands out most about the past and present Princeton teams is their
> sticks. The Tiger squads play a "hands-on game," clutching, grabbing,
> holding and pinning whenever possible.
>
> [...] The debate has raged, however. Clutch-and-grab hockey has killed the
> game in
> terms of speed and open end-to-end action. Some feel that too much
> clutch-and-grab is just bad officiating. As the rationale goes, penalties
> such as holding, tripping, hooking, slashing and spearing exist for a reason
> -- to keep hockey sticks on the ice and not around players' bodies. The
> problem has been that stick penalties are very much a matter of referee's
> discretion.
 
I realize this is not necessarily Luiz's opinion (BTW, where have you
been?) but I have to wonder if Mr. Small has seen Princeton play at all
this year.  I wouldn't describe this year's edition of the Tigers as a
clutch-and-grab team.  In fact, they're more akin to a "speed kills" team.
They have more individual talent than I've ever seen a Princeton team
enjoy, and a team with talent doesn't employ clutch-and-grab.  Frankly I
think this year's Brown team is more deserving of the negative moniker.
 
Princeton's defensive scheme this year relies on clogging the center zone,
and using their team speed to intercept the puck before the opposing team
can control and skate into the offensive zone.  RPI's defenseman saw the
puck repeatedly pushed out of their reach and onto a winger's stick when
the Tigers played at the Fieldhouse.
 
 That said, GO BROWN!  :-)
******************************************************************************
Brian Morris                     RPI Engineers--Big and Nasty
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