Yesterday I commented upon UMass's apparent dropping out of the '93 RPI
Tournament.  I agree with Mike Machnik that they probably never were
actually in the tournament.  Somebody in Troy or Amherst must know what
the actual story is.
 
Anyway, it also seems odd to me that UMass is going to be a full member
of HE in '94 after just one year of playing any form of Hockey, and
that with a schedule consisting of only two games against genuine Div-I
opponents.  Looking at the trouble that Union has gone through after
many more years in lower classifications, it is hard to see how UMass
will be at all competitive in 1994, no matter how good a recruiting
class they have.  It is for that reason that I thought that it would
have been to UMass's benefit to play in the '93 RPI Tournament.  While
I agree that winning against lower quality opponents can make the
locker room happier, there needs to be a smooth transition to the HE
schedule.
 
As I subscriber to Hockey-L in digest form, I did not have the
opportunity to do any "homework" last night, but does anyone know if
another school has attempted to make the transition from no hockey team
to a Div-I league schedule after only one year?  I can't think of any
(Maine, perhaps?).