At 10:52 PM 2-21-1999 +0100, John Whelan wrote:
>Okay, time to indulge in some rampant uninformed speculation:
 
>Second, I think the ECAC works so well with 12 teams that they should
>try to keep that number.  After all, Union was added at the same time
>Army was dropped.
 
Dropping two teams for the playoffs, leading to the 'final 5'?
 
>Third, I don't think Union is ready to leave of their own volition any
>time soon, but might they be booted out if the writing were on the
>wall and it was the only chance to snap up Niagara (although who knows
>if Niagara would want to join the ECAC; they seem to have their sights
>set on the CCHA)?
>Finally, imagining the travel partnerships if Union was replaced:
>Niagra-Cornell and Colgate-RPI; or [insert Connecticut school
>here]-Brown, Harvard-Dartmouth, UVM-RPI.  Adding Niagara might post a
>travel problem for Harvard and other New England teams.
 
For what it's worth:  APPROXIMATE drive times, Niagara - Ann Arbor and
Niagara - Albany (Schenectady, Troy) would both be about 5 hours.  Niagara
- Columbus would be about 6 1/2.  Right now, the ECAC is pretty compact - I
think the longest drive is Canton to Providence?  Orono used to be a real
stretch.
 
Joe
 
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