Hi Folks,
 
        A couple of nights ago, Dan Roach on WRKO in Boston was talking about
why college hockey gets little coverage (I.E if there were no boston teams
in the final 4 you wouldn't even hear about it), yet hoop gets extensive
coverage, even for the NIT and other minor events. Their conclusion was that
it was regional. I've often wondered why college hockey isn't around in the
mid-South, but figured it wasn't just popular there.
 
        I just got back from Raleigh-Durham yesterday, where I was on business
and went to see the Raliegh Ice Caps vs. the Greensborough Monarchs in the
ECHL playoffs. For those who don't know, I'd say the ECHL is about equivelent
to AA baseball, though instead of being developmental I think its more like
"this is as far as you can make it" hockey. Well, there were about 5000 fans
screaming throughout this game, and I bought a program and it indicated that
the average crowd at an ECHL game is 4500. The league has 19 teams scattered
in North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi,
and Virginia, all of which are devoid of college hockey as far as I
know (except Alabama).
 
        Here's the kicker: These people were REALLY into it, and it was
the worst hockey I've ever seen. There was no semblance of fundamentals at
all, just constant clutch and grab. The goalies made no major attempts to
prevent rebounds, no one could pass, and no one could skate. If any of the
top echelon Division 1 teams played them, I'd expect the college team to win,
so why can these lousy teams supposrt themselves, but not college teams,
which would no doubt not only get the town support but also have a big
student body to draw from? It can't be lack of facilities, since there are
rinks all over. In fact, the Ice Caps play at Dorton arena on NC State's
campus! Do any of these schools have division 3 teams, or clubs?
 
        My guess is that there would be a travel issue, since at this point
any team going division I there would have to go a long way to play other
division I teams. Anyone else got ideas?
 
        Oh, I'll give a sumarry of the game: There were lots of college
players from 5-8 years ago on this team, and there were a few old Hockey
East players, which was neat since I was doing radio for U Lowell for
for years from 1987 to 1991, so I saw some of them play: Raleigh had a
bunch of them: Lyle Wildgoose is Raleigh's super scorer, and they also
have Jeff Robison and a defensemen named Kale from PC. Mike Lappin from
BU plays for Raleigh, and scored all 3 of their goals that night. Also,
their goalie is Ex-Maine standout Matt Delguidice, who looked kind of
sad wearing his Boston Bruins mask while wearing the Blue, white, and silver
that the 'Caps wear. He looks like he's really lost some of his ability, sadly,
I was glad when the B's had him and thought he could go somewhere. The Monarchs
had Sebastian Laplante, but no other HE'ers that I noticed. Greensborough
won 4-3.
 
                                                                Rich
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