At 11:17 PM 10/10/95, Sean Pickett wrote: >The Boston University-Cathloic Memorial monopoly is, and always has >been, a myth. The one example I can give of the top of my head is CM >star goalie Jim Carey, who went to Wisconsin and not BU. I am sure >that there are several other top CM players who did not go to BU. Carey is an exception, however - and an understandable one given Wisconsin's ability to produce pro-quality goaltenders. Chuckie Hughes is another exception, though I don't know what level of interest BU showed in him. I would have trouble labeling the BU-CM connection a myth when I have heard coaches and scouts talk about it. But it is more like a pipeline than a monopoly. I should not have used the word monopoly; I meant to convey the idea that if a CM kid is good and BU is seriously interested in him, he is usually not interested in anyone else. However, I wouldn't dispute that the reputation of Parker and BU also have a lot to do with this, and that doesn't contradict what I said. More below. >As for Jack Parker being "not at all pleased" about Steve O'Brien >deciding to attend UNH, so what? I expect that every head coach is >"not at all pleased" when a top prospect decides to attend another >school. Yes, I agree. I don't think he is concerned that because a top CM player went elsewhere, then he will have trouble attracting CM players in the future. >Jack and BU recruit the best available players regardless of where >they happen to play there high school hockey. Clearly, this is true. However, it is also true that CM produces more of the best non-private players in Mass than any other HS. I don't believe the CM pipeline began until recently (last 5-6 years) nor that it is something BU should be ashamed of. Rather, I believe that as CM players went to BU and had good experiences there, their younger former teammates were more inclined to go there too - also because of the fact that CM practices and plays at BU, among other things. Former teammates' college experiences can play a large part in helping players decide where to go. Of course, it also helps if that school is interested in you, too, and if it has a coach like Parker and the reputation that BU has. To clarify, the pipeline does not exist because CM players feel pressured to go to BU or because BU demands that they go there. It exists because of the positive experiences that CM players have had at BU over the years. >Now, as for the BU-CM myth, I only have the past 11 years worth of BU >information, but only twice in that time has more than one CM player >come to BU in a single year(*). But how many more CM players went to prep for a year and then went to BU? There were none last year, but I am not sure that there weren't any in the past. The real question is, what CM players had received offers from BU but turned them down to go elsewhere? My perception is that this list of players is very small. --- --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] *HMM* 11/13/93 >> Co-owner of the College Hockey Lists at University of Maine System << ***** Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page under construction at: ***** ***** http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html ***** HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.