In reguards to the increased level of violents in college hockey and the
overall level of play in hockey in general, yes it has gotten worse - sorta.
 
I have been going to hockey games for almost 40 years and the biggest change
in pro hockey occured in the mid to late 60's.  Prior to that each team had
a goon ^h^h^h^h policeman that would pound the snot out of a foe that got
out of line. In an effort to end that sort of thing the "third man" rule was
put in place. This meant every man for himself, help was not on its way. That
coupled with expansion lead to more players of marginal talent on the ice.
The Flyers & Bruins developed the stratagies to win in that environment. I
think there are fewer problems now, because of more hockey talent, then when
guys like Dave Shultz bludgoned to the Cup.
 
The first pro games I saw were minor league & they have been ugly from the start
these were the marginal players & many knew they could only get to the bigs
by becoming a policeman.  The movie Slap Shot was a pretty fair representation
of what I saw.
 
College hockey used to be played by kids that knew this was as high as they
would go.
Now it is another
stepping stone to pro hockey & marginal players know their best bet is to
prove they can deal with the nature of the pro game. Men from Canada who have
used up their Jr. eligibility are brought down to fight for the glory of 'ol
>fill in the name of your least fav< U. It pisses me off every time I see a 22-
year-old freshman from Saskatoon being cheered on as he buckles some 18-year-
old from Brookline or Bloomington.  I'd like to know how many of those guys get
a degree and how many leave after their eligability is up(I think the numbers
would be worse then big-time basketball)  American kids are often no better,
they know the NHL wants brutes & that is where the money is. Plus the concept
of what is ok in hockey is changing, the physical side is stressed to kids too
young to have devloped the finesse side.(comparing my kid hockey experience to
that of my sons.)
 
- MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING -
Cindi Lauper
 
 
p.s. I am a WCHA fan also Is it true that there are going to be 4 colleges
in Minnesota playing Div I this year?
 
 
 
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	mark e. gibbons			[log in to unmask]
		"As a matter of fact, it IS rocket science!"