I was just wondering...
 
1. Now that NAFTA has become the law of the land, will Minnesota have to
   recruit Canadians? Mexicans?
 
2. Why don't the two Alaska teams join Hockey-East? I'll bet its easier to
   get to Anchorage from Boston that it is from Madison. Remember, the
   actual time up in the air is the easiest part of any journey. Which brings
   up a point. When teams travel long distances, do they fly commercial or
   charter a flight?
 
3. Re: some youngster mocks a physical characteristic of a BU player, and
   a third party is shocked, shocked!! that the player retaliates.
   Count me among those that feel the kid basically got what he deservered,
   although your point that the "punishment" was excessive is well-taken.
   And, if you feel that the BU authorities should be notified of Joubert's
   behavior, make sure to tell the boy's parents of his rude comments.
   (Although I suspect it would be a waste of time.)
 
4. I'm finding this history of the WCHA, ECAC, CCHA, and HE history
   interesting, since I was out of the college hockey loop from 1980
   until discovering Hockey-L last year. In my day (late 70's) there were only
   the WCHA and ECAC. The ECAC consisted of about a dozen schools then. I
   don't remember RPI, St. Lawrence, Maine, Princeton, or Union; but Clarkson
   and Cornel were powerhouses, and the league included Vermont, UNH,
   Providence, BU, BC, Yale, Northeastern, Dartmouth, and Harvard. There
   were no divisions within the ECAC. There was no sophisticated scheduling
   algorithm then (i.e., home-and-home weekend series) but rivals managed
   to play each other several times. Also, there were few tournaments during
   the year, and east never played west, until the NCAAs (to the detriment
   of the east, usually).
     Generally, the NCAA final four consisted of the finalists
   of each leagues' playoffs. The one exception was in 1978. BU had a monster
   season that year, losing only two games, as I recall, and was ranked #1
   all season. However, they lost the semifinals to Providence; the game
   was played the day after Coach Parker's wife passed away from cancer.
   PC then lost to BC in the finals. Normally, PC and BC would have gone to
   the NCAA's but the league had PC and BU play another game to decide the
   second team. BU won that game, then beat Denver and BC to with the
   championship.
     I'm thrilled to see how much college hockey has grown in the past
   15 (whew!!) years. Now, if only we can get some games in the Meadowlands
   or the Madison Square Garden.
 
5. Did you all know that the new and improved Prodigy has a college hockey
   bulletin board? I haven't looked at it yet; I hope it's better than the
   some of their other boards ("Your team sucks!!", "No, your team bites!!")
 
Ken Kretsch             | Fill your bowl to the brim, and it will spill. Keep
MT 2B-329               | sharpening your knike, and it will blunt. Chase after
(908)957-2892           | money and security, and your heart will never
(908)957-4428 FAX       | unclench. Care about other people's approval, and you
[log in to unmask]        | will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step
...!att!mink!kpk        | back. The only path to serenity. - Tao Te Ching
 
BU '79 and veteran of the 1978 Bean Pot!!