In the "slow to pick up the thread" category, I offer the following thoughts on
Richard H's 1987-1997 All-ECAC men's team.
 
 
>Men:
>1st team:
>G:  Neil Little (Rensselaer 94)
 
There have been so many great goalies in the last 10 years that I have
trouble naming just one, but Little is a solid pick. Yale's Mike O'Neill
is my personal favorite - I guess I would call it a tie.
 
 
>D:  Brian Mueller (Clarkson 95)
>    Sean McCann (Harvard 94)
 
No quibbles with McCann. He wasn't a great puck-carrier, but he made up
for it in other ways -- his toughness, his passing, his work on the power
play (20 goals as a senior playing up front). Mueller was good, but I prefer
Brown's Mike Brewer. Brewer was an unbelievable skater, super with the puck,
tough in his own end, and had a little bit of a mean streak. He was as
responsible for the turn around in Providence as anyone.
 
>A:  Lane MacDonald (Harvard 89)
>    Albie Bourbeau (Harvard 89)
>    Andre Faust (Princeton 90)
 
The first two only played one year in that span (87-88 was an Olympic
year, remember). I would drop Bourbeau and move St. Louis to the first team.
Faust is an insightful pick by Richard, considering he
never earned First Team All-League honors. He was the one really dangerous
forward on Princeton for his final two years and saw more defensive attention
than most other players as a result. I have to put Joe Juneau on the 1st team
here, probably in front of Faust -- Juneau was better than Faust in college,
although they were pretty similar players.
 
>2nd team:
>G:  Les Kuntar (St. Lawrence 90?)
 
Tim Thomas and Dan Murphy also merit consideration, but Kuntar was a great
one.
 
>D:  Sean O'Brien (Princeton 94)
>    Kevin Sneddon (Harvard 92)
 
Nobody is a bigger Sean O'Brien fan than I am (except Ed and Camille
O'Brien, I suppose), but he's not an All-Decade type player. He had one
very good season (junior year) and one good season (season year) in which
he earned all-league honors. He has since been converted to forward in
the IHL (just signed a free agent deal with the Kings, as a matter of fact).
Sean was a late bloomer and a has a ton of talent, but I don't think his
collegiate performance puts him in this category. I would put Dan Laperriere
from SLU here; he was probably the best power play quarterback I've seen in the
league during this span.
 
Sneddon was as steady as it gets -- McCann without the shot (and not quite
the same mean streak). I like him better than Mueller. I would also consider
Colgate's Scott Young, who never gave you a quiet shift. He either scored,
set up somebody else, flattened somebody or picked up a spearing penalty.
 
 
>A:  Martin St. Louis & Eric Perrin (Vermont 97)
>    Peter Ciavaglia (Harvard 91)
>    Joe Nieuwendyk (Cornell 87?)
 
St. Louis & Perrin were as exciting as any forwards I've ever seen,
including MacDonald. Ciavaglia is the consumate thinking man's player.
Nieuwendyk only played half a season in the decade (winter 87), so
I don't think I would include him. I'll move Faust down here for my
sixth forward.
 
The ECAC does name an All-Decade team -- so we get to see if the voters
agree with some of our picks. Obviously, MacDonald, Bourbeau, O'Neill,
Nieuwendyk and Young are all ineligible for the team of the '90s (and
MacD & Nieuwy made the all '80s team). Keep an eye on last year's rookies,
who could round out the team of the '90s (particularly Dominique Auger,
JR Prestifilippo and Pete Gardiner).
 
-Geoff Howell
 
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