Well, After sifting through the many articles on this list for the past
few weeks, it is time to submit my first letter.  I think that this is a
great idea, although some subjects which seem only vaguely related to hockey
(in my opinion) seem to be "over-discussed" namely the NCAA and it's policies.
I would like to see more disscusion of the games themselves (i.e. strategies,
turning points in games based on coaching decisions and/or good or bad calls
by an official etc.)  Alot of this is going on and the box scores and notes are
very useful, it is just an observation.
	I have been a college hockey fan all my life and since I grew up in
Orono, Maine, the Black Bears have always been my team.  However, since my
family has moved from there and I have only seen a few Maine games in the
last 4 years I have branched and followed some other teams, mostly the
Wisconsin Badgers, and now the R.P.I. Engineers.
	I would like to make a few comments about the Engineer's 4-1 loss to
Vermont on Friday night.  Thanks to a friend who lives in the Burlington area,
I was able to see the game.  It seemed to me to be an even game throughout
excluding the bad goal given up by Sean Kenedy in the first period.  I would
even give R.P.I. the edge for the entire second period and maybe part of the
third.  Despite that, it seemed that R.P.I. was unable to finish their scoring
opportunities, including two shots which hit the post in the second period
(one which hit the cross-bar and then the side post before bouncing away.)
Vermont's goalie Soucie played really well, yet he left many rebounds in the
slot that the Engineers were unable to get to first. My hat goes off to the
Vermont defense.  When Vermont finally scored in the third period, it seemed
as if a weight was lifted and then they scored another goal fairly soon after
that (which looked to be like it went off the stick of Engineer Stephane
Robitaille.)  Both teams had good attempts thwarted up until the second Vermont
goal, and that goal seemed to open the game up more.  Sorry about the lack of
a box score, I wasn't keeping track.
	On a side note, I was happy to see an old adversary from Bangor High
School (in Bangor Maine,) Joe McCarthy was playing well for the Catamounts.
Although he did not register any points he played well.  Another point for
Maine Hockey.
	Thanks again to the provider of the wonderful list, and I am looking
forward to anyone else who may have seen the game and can comment about it.
 
 
-Ryan Stone
 Lawrence University (Appleton, WI) '93
 Rensselaer '93
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
RYAN G. STONE                          Hoping for an R.P.I - MAINE
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute       Championship Game, April 4
e-mail: [log in to unmask]                See You in ALBANY!!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------