The ECAC Frank Cole is indeed the Hockey East Frank Cole and, despite the fact that he is barely 40, has been doing college hockey games for over 15 years. He's a native of Lynn, MA (my home town), played college hockey at St. Anselm's, Manchester, NH and has been involved in refereering for almost 20 years. Although no one seems to want to give praise to any official, I think most observers would agree he is the best of the lot in the East. The NCAA obviously agrees since, I believe, he has reffed 3 or 4 NCAA finals, including last year's. A couple of years ago, when the NHL refs were on strike, he did some games in the big leagues as well. The main thing with Cole is that he is consistent. Most coaches and teams know what to expect when he is on the ice, especially when paired with his regular HE partner Drew Taylor. And, unlike some refs I see, he is in shape! As for the Pierre Belanger Award, can a HE fan join in and name some one, actually two, from our league? Bob Fowkes and Steve McBride have to be the worst pair since Abbott and Costello. Not only do they think that they are the show, but they can't even get up and down the ice! A couple of weeks ago they reffed a game at the Whittemore Center, huffing and puffing from the second period on. Much to my amazement, I turn on the TV the next night and they're doing the game at UMass-Amherst. Two Olympic size rinks in 24 hours!?! Somebody in the league office must hate them. And, how come they never do BU games? Greg Ambrose, UNH'72 GO BLUE, may the 2nd season be a charm. HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.