To all those who lambasted me last spring for my Minnesota parody of yahoo
journalists like Powers, I would have to say I feel vindicated.  Powers,
without meaning to, says more stupid things than I did in my parody.  And
my parody was *trying* to be stupid.
 
That said, let me add that the topic of too many scholarships going to
Canadians ignores that in many of these schools hockey is a revenue *producing*
sport.  For such schools, the scholarships given to players, be they from
Canada, the USA, or Mars, are more than paid back by the revenues the players
produce.  So PowersThePathetic can stop whining about scholarships as if they
are some form of foreign aid.  My guess is that from a purely monetary
viewpoint, the Maine hockey team is alot more in the black since Shawn Walsh
got there and stepped up recruitment of Canadians.   Heck, in pituitary ball
and football, there's been some talk about *paying* collegiate players since
they bring in so much revenue.
 
In any case, coaches are simply going for the best available players.  If
American players aren't as good, then they don't deserve the spots.  In the
very same way that Canadian whiners about there being too many Europeans in
the NHL are wrong, so too are collegiate whiners about there being too many
Canadians in the colleges.  The best players are winning out.  Development
programs in a country that is getting beaten out by another can choose to
either learn from the successful ones and upgrade, or cry in their soup and
ask for quotas.
 
Hey, I've got a ten-year old son who would love to some day play collegiate
hockey.  If he's good enough, then he'll make it.  If he isn't and gets beaten
out by some Canadian, then the better player won.  My son may just have to
settle for lesser pursuits.  Like becoming a future President of the United
States.  :-)
 
DaveH