>Anyway, the most exciting player I have witnessed is, as several have already
>suggested, Adam Oates, RPI.  It is difficult ascribing what "exciting" entails,
>but skill has to be a factor, and frankly Adam Oates was probably the best
>set-up guy in college hockey ever, and as his NHL career has shown, maybe one
>of the best in all of hockey(look at Brett Hull's goal total so far this year.)
>John Carter was an exciting (and tempermental) guy, a good finisher.  But the
>feeds he received from Oates were often merely tap-ins.  Oates always seemed
>to play the same--steady, unemotional and very consistent, which makes the
>"exciting" label difficult to apply.
 
The third guy on this line never gets much mention so I'll bring him up:
Mark Jooris had an outstanding career at RPI and without Oates around in
1985-86, he led the team in scoring and proved himself to be a great
player.  When I saw John's post about the 11-10 Michigan-RPI game, I sent
him mail about the fact that Jooris scored 5 goals in that game, added a
hat trick in the second game the next night, and also scored 5 against
Michigan in the GLI (tying a GLI record) for a remarkable 13 goals against
Michigan in 3 games that season.  He's also in RPI's top 10 all-time for
goals, assists and points with career totals of 84-99--183.  He carried the
team for much of 1985-86 while Carter was injured or slumping.  I can still
remember seeing that great move of his like it was yesterday: he'd carry
the puck right at a defenseman, quickly pull it back with the edge of the
blade just as the defenseman committed, then sneak around him like he was
painted orange.  It wasn't until Oates was gone that people started
realizing just how good Jooris was, but they still tend to forget him.
 
On Juneau, I think the injuries he suffered played a part in his "slumps"
too...he also did not have players like Carter or Jooris to play with,
which makes his accomplishments that much more remarkable.
 
>The most exciting game I can recall would be RPI's double overtime win over
>Minnesota-Duluth at the 1985 semis.
 
Wow, time does dull memories...:-)  That game was decided in the *third*
ot, and since someone mentioned UMD and BG, that game in 1984 went to
*four* ot's.  Both are among the longest games ever (check the archives
with GET LONG GAMES).
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)    *HMN*