Arthur Berman writes:
>I seem to have a desire to make structural comments today.  Adam's post
>on the need to stick together, thus supporting the ECAC, makes me recall
>the reason (at least the stated reason) for the formation of hockey
>east.
 
Well, the reason generally given for the formation of HE is that the
Ivies were threatening to break away from the ECAC and form their own
league, and the five HE charter members decided to head this off and
make their own move first.  This does not appear in the HE yearbook,
but it does appear in the media guides of several of the schools such
as Maine.
 
It would not be wrong, IMO, to say that a disagreement in philosophy
between the HE schools and the remaining ECAC schools, especially the
Ivies, was what at the time caused the split.
 
>Under the rules at the time any game played in the ECAC counted in the
>standings which in my opinion gave an unfair advantage to the Ivy schools
>(in general the weaker teams with the notable exceptions of Cornell and
>Harvard.)
 
I'm not sure how this was the case, although it was certainly true
that Ivy schools did play fewer overall games than HE schools.
 
>The interlocking schedule with the WCHA was a direct result of
>how few teams were in each of those conferences during that period and
>the need for some variety in scheduling.
 
And it provided a way for HE to gain instant credibility.  It did help
that there were only six teams in the WCHA at the time of the decision
to go to an interlocking schedule (and seven HE teams).
 
>In effect, the ECAC made a decision to be the hockey equivalent of I-AA,
>but they rarely own up to it.  Despite all of the games counting for NC$$
>seeding, I think teams have a tendency to let down a bit in nonconference
>games.  This may be the reason for the ECAC record against HE this year.
 
I would disagree on this.  ECAC teams could just as easily claim that
this was why the league had a poor NC record vs HE in the past.
 
It seems to me that the truth is that the teams who have been the
ECAC's weaker sisters in the past have improved this year in relation
to the weaker HE teams.  The ECAC's best have not fared well in games
vs HE teams, but the weaker ECAC teams have.
 
As a whole, the ECAC can certainly claim this season that they are on
a par with any of the other four conferences.  Perhaps the ECAC's best
are not as good as the best from the other conferences, but top to
bottom, there is more parity than ever and this has translated into
wins against the other conferences.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93