My 2 cents....
 
I enjoyed watching the ECAC championships in Lake Placid
and it was great hockey.  Lake Placid (as always) did a
great job of hosting and is a beautiful place.
 
Some thoughts....
1. RPI - had two tough games against quality teams. RPI's
   forwards are quick.  Askew is a great player and so
   is Majic - I think Majic was a bit off though. RPI's
   defense needs some help - they are slow and are not
   real adept with the puck.  Little is a "blue chip"
   goalie.  Buddy Powers is a class act - after both
   losses (tough  one's too) he shook every player,
   coach, manager and even the referees hands.  It may
   sound meaningless, but it is a difficult thing to
   be of "character" even in defeat.
 
2. Brown - they are a "gritty" team. They play solid defense
   and Finch had an MVP type of tourney.  They finish a lot
   of hits. O'Brien is a solid defenseman and up front they
   have some tough small forwards in  Hanley, Ross, Trach
   and Kaban.  I was suprised at how much Coach Gaudet mixed
   up the lines in the championship game. He deserves a lot
   of credit - they have earned their berth in NC$$'s.
 
3. Harvard - I mean no disrespect but they really did'nt
   impress. They played one good period (the 3rd against
   RPI) and if RPI's defense was'nt so bad Harvard would
   have ended up 0-2 this weekend. They need to get Drury
   on the ice more often because he's their best player.
   You can't play him every four shifts - especially in
   games that are penalty free.
 
4. Clarkson - has it rolling right now. They played all
   four lines and have speed, size and depth.  If there's
   a weakness is that they "fall asleep" at times during
   games.  They will have to stay focused to beat Minnesota
 
   and upset Maine.  Congrats to Mark Morris who received
   a lot of "heat" early in the year and there were many
   critics of him early on ....I'm sure his leadership
   helped turn things around.
 
5. Honorable Mentions....
   ....Brown fans for supporting their underdogs and even though
       they were outnumbered they cheered on and on....
 
  ......RPI band - they really are a thing to watch - is there
   some bad blood and rivalry between RPI and Harvard - WOW.
 
  .......Clarkson band - great striptease act in championship
    game between 2nd and 3rd period.
 
 
6. Final Note ....
I agree with Farenell - who edits ECAC tourney book -
BRUTAL... on page 24 - they have the semi - final game
as 8PM Colgate vs Harvard ?????????  Nothing suprises
me about ECAC - they need organization HELP.
 
Also, my wife and I took up the LUGE while we were there
and we enjoyed it so much we are giving up our careers
to try for the Olympics (no - not really).  I just
hung on and try not to fall off the damn sled.  Cost
10 bucks but it was fun.
 
Brian Cavanaugh
Canisius College
Cavanaugh @ Canisius