Just curious...it puzzles me to note how few (if any ?) college players in the NC$$ are from Russia or any of the other former Soviet states, which a goodly number of stars now in the NHL hail from (and being drafted to play in increasing amounts). There are a smattering of Czechs, Slovaks, Finns etc., but what about natives of Russia, Latvia, Belarus, Kazahkstan & etc. ? Seems to me a goodly pool of potential hockey-skilled student athletes living in those states are waiting to be brought to the US by the right recruiter(s). Is it some sort of clearance issue between hockey organizations in the former USSR and the (what might seemingly be as monolithic) NC$$ ? Is it an amateur / professional sort of thing when these youth are playing at the highest level there, before a pro/college choice confronts them ? Undoubtedly there are a number of youth from that area who would have academic achievement sufficient to meet NC$$ educational minimums. It is a lack of academic standards similar to the American SAT's ? Just wondering why the dearth of such players presently in US college hockey, with our H-L list the best to query. Dan Doucette (remembering when western Canada was fresh grounds for hockey recruiting)