Larry writes:
>a risk for the Div. I team as well.  RIT won about 4 of 7 games against Div. I
>teams a few years ago, and I would imagine Plattsburgh has won a few, too.  Ask
>some long-time Clarkson followers...  Sometimes these blowouts occur, but I
>believe they are the exception.  (Mike M. or someone with access to several
>years worth of records care to varify this?)
 
I don't have the numbers on hand, but just a few months ago this question
was raised and I dug up some stuff and posted it (maybe only to hockey3);
in fact, DivIII teams on the whole have a horrible record against DivI
teams and blowouts more often than not are the case.  This was going back
to 1986-87, the last season for which I have a pretty complete composite.
Anyone interested in the details can fetch the old composites from the
archives - send mail to [log in to unmask] and use the command
GET XXXXCOMP SCHEDULE where XXXX is one of (8687, 8788, 8889, 8990, 9091,
9192, 9293).  That gets you the complete set of DivI scores for that year.
 
>Those of us that follow Div. III teams enjoy college hockey as much as anyone.
>Please don't belittle us or our teams.  I don't believe that was Daryl's
>intent.  I'm just hoping to avoid what happened last year.
 
Well, I agree that it likely wasn't Daryl's intent, I did not read it that
way.  It was pretty interesting, though, that a game that was supposed to
be pretty close (I expected it would be too) between one of the top DivIII
teams and a DivI team that was 0-8 vs NC$$ competition produced a blowout
in favor of the DivI team; as Daryl seemed to be suggesting, one could ask,
what would have happened if Plattsburgh had played Maine or even one of the
middle of the road DivI teams!?  But I thought the game was more of an
aberration for a number of reasons, and although I'd still expect Colgate
to win most of the time, I also think it would probably be much closer most of
the time.
 
As some have said, there is a huge difference between DivI and DivIII teams
mainly in the type of player they are able to attract which gives DivI
teams more depth, size and speed - not to mention the experience they have
playing teams who are much bigger and quicker.  But I think most people who
have had a chance to see DivIII hockey know it can offer just as much as DivI
in the way of excitement and great action; the Plattsburgh-Canisius game
was one of the best games I've seen this year.  You also have the fact that
in DivIII, a guy like John Wells of Plattsburgh can play and make a
significant impact whereas in DivI he'd get knocked around a lot of the
time.  This guy is quick & not afraid to go to the net.  Anyway, I think
the huge difference was what Daryl was trying to point out, and it's true,
it does exist - but it's usually only more evident when teams from
different divisions match up.
 
And Plattsburgh gets to play Moscow Spartak on December 22nd!  I'll venture
a guess that if they try to play dump-and-chase they'll get their doors
blown off again.  Plattsburgh has some pretty good speed and should use it
more.  I also count 12 freshmen on the Plattsburgh roster (remember how
experienced we thought they'd be?) and quite a few of them played this
weekend.  Think of this: here are a bunch of kids who were deemed not of
the right caliber for most DivI teams, and just ten games into their first
season of college hockey, you are asking them to play against a bigger,
faster DivI team like Colgate?  I guess I should have seen it coming.
 
Still, the game does benefit Plattsburgh in that it helps them stay focused
and keeps their feet on the ground - maybe for the coaches, too, who had
lost only four games in the prior 46 and maybe had become accustomed to
winning.  If I'm a DivIII coach, I'll take a blowout at the hands of a DivI
team anytime if it means my team will rebound with such an outstanding
performance the next night as Plattsburgh did at Canisius.
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)    *HMN*