Chuck Wilrycx asked: >It seems that the Bears tried to recruit bigger and more aggressive players >this year, as opposed to previous years, where the Bruno team excelled in >skating speed and passing. Is the switch to bigger players maybe part of the >problem Brown is facing this year? >And in conclusion, any predictions on the Ivy finishes this year? And whats >up with Princeton? Some Ivy League thoughts as break nears ... I thought that four Ivy teams could finish in the ECAC's top six; Harvard, Brown, Cornell and Princeton. I also thought that Harvard, Brown and/or Princeton could sneak into the top 4 - not that I think that the Ivy League is unusually strong, but that the ECAC is parity-ridden and not particularly strong as a whole. 1) Harvard - still a good shot at the top 4, despite the recent North Country sweep. One great forward line (Nielsen, Konik, Holmes), a great group of defensemen and very sound goaltending. If the 'BAM' line (freshman Bent, Adams, MacDonald) can get it going and the power play starts clicking, Harvard will definitely be near the top. I expect both those things to happen. 2) Brown - The Bears have brought in bigger players, but I think that was Bob Gaudet's plan all along. He only settled for smaller finesse guys like Ross, Hanley and Chauvette because that is what he could get at the time. As between a 6 foot, 185 pound guy who can skate and a 5-9, 165 pound guy who can skate, you take the big one (all else being equal). Brown, like Harvard, has one great line (Mulhern, Jardine, Flynn) and a good group of defensemen (although not up to Harvard's, IMO). None of the goalies has matched Tracy for consistency this season, but the coaches are pretty good at picking the hot hand. If some of the juniors (Clapton, Noble, Bradford, Merrill) can get going offensively, Brown will get back into the top 6. 3) Cornell - I knew the Big Red would get a lift from having a new coach, but not this much of a lift. Injuries have been a problem (if Drouin's mysterious 'illness' counts), but Cornell has enough talent to stay in the top 6. I'm not sure the Big Red will stay in the top 4, though, because I don't think they have an offensive unit as difficult to stop as those on Brown and Harvard. 4) Princeton - I bet Don Cahoon is asking "What's up with Princeton?" himself :-). I underestimated the effect of losing the top three centers (Sharp, Kopeck, J.P. O'Connor); the Tigers have had serious problems with defensive zone coverage by their forwards. The defense, although it has four seniors, has also not been too consistent -- allowing under 25 shots one game, over 40 the next on a couple of occasions. Princeton needs the sophomore and junior forwards to start scoring. Masters, Brush, Sinclair and Bois, in particular, should be taking the pressure off of Jonathan Kelley. I really like the Princeton freshmen forwards, but you can't count on rookies to put the puck in the net in the Ivy League. Like Brown, I think Princeton can get back into the top 6 -- but not if the Tigers play like they did against Yale last weekend. 5) Dartmouth - I haven't seen the Big Green yet, but the general consensus before the season was that Dartmouth would go as far as the sophomore forwards and its goaltenders could carry it. Bill Kelleher is the only proven scorer among the upper- classmen. It sounds to me like the Big Green are still allowing too many quality shots and not finishing their own chances enough to win games. 6) Yale - The Eli were not expected to do much, so I'm not surprised at their struggles. I did see them put together a solid 60 minute effort against Princeton. Tim Taylor is a great coach, and the players really seem to like learning from him, so they can give anyone a tough game through preparation. I liked their chances better last year, when they had a proven big-time goalie in Todd Sullivan. Yale needs someone besides John Emmons to start putting the puck in the net. Matt Cumming, Jeff Sorem and Michael Yoshino are all good candidates to help out. BTW, can anyone else think of a team whose captain (Prescott Logan) didn't earn a varsity letter the previous year (putting aside people coming back from the Olympics, like Ted Drury)? Geoff Howell Drop the Puck Magazine HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.