I agree with almost everything Mike had to say last Friday about Massachusetts
hockey. Here are a couple points of my own:
* If folks from other parts of the country feel there is any provincialism
about my contentions about the Mass development program, in particular the
Metro Boston Hockey League, let me pass on the following incident that
happened this weekend. A parent from New Jersey flew up with his nine/ten
year old kid for a tryout with another Metro team (not the one I'm with).
His intention was to try to make a Metro All-Star team that does tournaments
in the summer (the coach of the All-Star team was also the coach of the team
having the tryout), & also to propose having his kid play on a Metro team and
miss all the practices but fly up each weekend for the games. (And I thought
*I* was a Get-A-Lifer! Perhaps that's what I'd be like if I had that guy's
money.) He commented that there were more elite players at that one tryout
than there was in all of New Jersey.
This is NOT a slam at any other regions' developmental programs, but will
perhaps show why there is such a terrific feeder system for the Mass High
Schools and as a result Mass talent for the colleges. Virtually every HS
Freshman/Sophomore player that was named to All-Star teams this year (TC
Harris at Matignon, Mike Souza at Wakefield) developed their skills in the
Metro league. The same is true if you look at the local Select-16 camps.
* When comparing the Catholics vs. the publics, I don't think money has *that*
much to do with the Catholics success. Your average Public, to my knowledge,
has roughly comparable ice time, which to my mind is the one area where $$
can differentiate.
The other factor that Mike mentions, being able to draw from any city, is
*the* single overriding factor IMO. For example, last year ('92-'93) CM
did *not* have its usual supply of blue-chippers, yet they still beat a
Medford (pronounced Meh-fuh) team that included Shawn Bates, who was the
leading local scorer, was drafted by the Broons, and looks like he'll be a
pretty good college player based on his freshman year at BU. Yet even though
CM did not have any dominant seniors they still beat Medford by neutralizing
Medford's first line and dominating the other lines. CM, because they could
pull in talent from other towns, can go four lines deep, and when matching
up against publics could probably boast players on their JV squad that would
make second or third lines on public teams. They can attract the elite and
also the level a notch below so that publics cannot match their depth.
Not only does the can-take-from-any-place factor help the Catholics (and
by extension the prep/privates), it decimates the Publics. If I had a dollar
for every mournful face from a Public parent or coach that recites the talent
from that town that has chosen to go Catholic or prep/private, I'd have a
full wallet indeed. So not only does it fatten the Catholic's depth, it
also thins (sometimes drastically) the depth of the Publics.
It's with the prep/privates that money becomes a bigger issue. Most of the
ones I'm familiar with have their own rink, so I'd be surprised if there
isn't more ice time. Also, most of the preps offer scholarships worth $15K
to attract the top talent. Not that the Catholics don't offer scholarships
but they are worth less in terms of dollars and also because *some* of the
Catholics are not overwhelming in terms of the education they provide. For
example, Catholic Memorial does not have an elite academic reputation that
would make a hockey scholarship something an academically-minded parent would
salivate over. Other Catholics like St. John's Prep *are* viewed in a
stronger academic light. I've heard that Austin Prep is also very strong
academically with the exception of one instructor named Biscardi, who has
brought disrepute to his institution by waving T-shirts at BU games. :-)
***************************************************** ,-******-,
* Dave Hendrickson "Robo" [log in to unmask] * *' ## '*
* A Hockey Polygamist and Get-A-Lifer * *## ___##___ ##*
* GO BROONS!!! Go Red Wings!! Go LA Kings! * * ##| ___ \## *
* GO UMASS-LOWELL!!! Go Maine!! Go BU! * * | |___) | *
* --------------------------------------------------* *######| ___ <######*
* Although I can't remember ever having an original * * | |___) | *
* thought, and am certainly parroting someone who * * ##|________/## *
* actually has a brain, these opinions are mine, * *## ## ##*
* not Hewlett-Packard's. * *, ## ,*
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