Brian makes an excellent point about the number of HE teams in the Boston area as compared to the ECAC. It is not a question of HE vs the ECAC, it is the simple fact that most of the teams and the most popular teams in the area are all in HE. People are talking about the ECAC being slighted as if it is a crime. There is so much competition for the entertainment dollar and in the media for events in this town, that not everything can be seen or covered. The average fan is going to see whatever he/she is more familiar with, and that usually means HE because of all the local teams and the huge NESN tv contract. In addition, when a HE team is playing, more often than not it is opposed by another HE team that is also nearby and has a similar attraction. Harvard has an attraction, but average fans don't know much about the other ECAC teams any more since the split. Before the split, it was all ECAC. Since then, with HE having such a complete domination of the area within an hour's drive of Boston, it should be no surprise that HE is the main attraction. It would be almost like the CCHA deciding to move its tourney into St Paul on the same weekend as the WCHA FF. Most ECAC teams are no longer in the Boston area. It would make sense to move the ECAC FF out. But tradition does play a strong part in it, along with the teams' desires to get to the Garden and try to win a championship where years earlier, ECAC heroes of the past did the same thing. Don't forget that despite its contract being specifically with HE, NESN also goes out of its way to cover 6-8 games a year between HE and ECAC teams, in addition to carrying the ECAC portion of Hockeyfest. And the ECAC FF has always gotten superb coverage in the Boston papers. I don't expect *blanket* coverage in the Boston area of the ECAC like there is of HE. Why should there be? Most of the people interested in it aren't going to read it or see it. - mike