I'm wary of giving opinion these days, but what the heck - I can't help myself.
 
> Vermont still lacks depth, but they don't need it unless they get hurt with
> Perrin, St. Louis, Thomas, and don't forget Ruid.
 
The lack of depth didn't hurt last year -- the rest of the team plays smart --
the defense is sound stay-at-home, for the most part, and when you talk about
the big 3 they aren't just good players -- they are three best players in the
league, and maybe the country.  My high regard for the trio of All-Americans is
no secret.
 
> Clarkson is still solid with
> White, Houle, Pagnutti, D. Murphy, and a good freshman class - backup
> goaltending is untested.
 
They'll always be in it -- If it wasn't for Thomas, we'd all be talking about
how great Murphy is.
 
> SLU has all the talent that nobody knows about and a
> strong presence with Owen between the pipes.
 
They lose Burke Murphy, but have many other decent-good players.  I've never
been impressed with Owen, mostly because every time I see them, they lose.
 
> Maybe it's just against Clarkson,
> but Colgate has the ability to be a championship team.
 
Absolutely - can they put it together, that's the question -- As for goalie
Brenzavich, see above, re: comment on Owen.
 
> Harvard is overrated in the coaches poll, but teams that suffer tragedies
> sometimes pull off amazing feats.
 
I don't mean to be insensitive to this, but if you are speaking of Briestroff,
he had graduated two years ago.
 
> The Big Red showed they have the ability to win the big game, but they
> are inconsistent.
 
How exactly are they inconsistent -- they got off to a mediocre start last
year, then were the best team in the league for the last two months -- For two
months and into the playoffs, culminating in a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Lake
State, the Red lost just 2 games, including the last one -- that's consistently
good.  They may not be as good this year (maybe they will), but consistency
isn't/wasn't a problem.
 
> RPI (or is that Rensellaer) fans talked about a rebuilding
> year last year and they did indeed rebuild but they still won't finish in the
> top 4.
 
RPI (shorter and easier to write) fans seem to think I have something against
them, so I'll be careful, but I think RPI lost even more players from last
year's team, including Mike Tamburro (though it's debateable how much this
hurts - which is usually the root of my disagreement with Engineer fans.) The
offense loses three guys who had over 25 points, and only 1 that returns. Only
3 players return who had more than 10 points. They lose their two best
defensemen as well. There will probably be a freshman goalie.
 
>  Brown should separate istelf from the bottom four teams, who will fight
> for the final 2 playoff spots.  Yale and Princeton will be collecting the
> poision ivy at the bottom (some drop for Princeton, which was an up and
coming
> program just two years ago).
 
Saying Princeton has dropped this far is untrue and unfair.  Last year for
Princeton can be characterized as one step back, before taking two steps
forward. Up and coming is still appropriate, but don't be mistaken into
thinking they were ever going to be in the top 4 every year.
  But this year, they lose only one forward to graduate, and return a senior
and junior who had taken last year off, not to mention the freshman. The senior
that returns, J.P. O'Connor, was the team's leading scorer as a sophomore.
Their fine in goal, and despite losing 4 defensemen, for the most part, those
guys were a disappointment last year -- the younger guys played well and their
recruits are supposed to be the best crop of d-men to ever join the school.  So
keep your eye on them.
 
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