Denver, Michigan Hockey Teams May Represent West in Tourney

Looking at the colleges in the West in terms of the NCAA hockey tournament in Denver next month, one finds a situation strikingly similar to that in the East.

In the East, RPI is a shoo-in to be chosen one of the tournament teams by the NCAA selection committee. After that, in the few weeks that remain in the season, it will be a battle between B.C., Harvard, St. Lawrence--and may be even Middlebury--for the second team choice. (Middlebury attracted more attention by routing Amherst 16 to 1 Wednesday. Ranked fifth in the East, the Panthers now have a 12-1 record.)

In the West, Denver--last year's NCAA champion--leads the pack with an impressive 13-1 record as of last week. There is no question that Denver will play in the tourney again this year, despite the fact that the Western teams, unlike the Eastern, will meet in a four-college playoff before the tournament.

Denver's Western partner in the tourney, to be held March 16-18, could be Michigan (11-5); Michigan Tech (11-7); or Minnesota (8-6). The order given is also the order of the Western standings this week.

Informed sources agree that Michigan is the second best team in the West, and that it should represent the West with Denver. This is the most likely combination, unless Denver and Michigan play each other in the pre-tournament playoffs.

East to play East in First Round

For the first time in the 14 year history of the NCAA tourney, the East will play the East in the first round, thus guaranteeing a final game between the East and the West. An Eastern team last won the tournament in 1954, when RPI surprised Minnesota in the final game. Since then, the East has never beaten the West--12 straight losses.

Eastern teams have won the tourney only two times--RPI in '54 and B.C. in '49. Harvard has participated in the tourney three times--in '56, '57, and '58, and won only one game: against St. Lawrence, 6 to 3, for the consolation title in 1955.

The Western teams, as the records show, have dominated the tournaments. In the eyes of the Faculty Committee on Athletics, this has been true because many of the Western teams have been guilty of eligibility and recruiting violations in using Canadians.

This year's Denver squad is one of the kind of teams which the Faculty Committee protested against last year when it removed the Crimson from consideration for the NCAA tournament. Reports indicate that Denver, like last year, has only one American on its roster: all-American goalie Paul DeNapoli from Belmont.

Of the Canadians on Denver's squad last year, many of whom are still playing, five were 23 years old; three were 22; six were 21; and three were 20. This is the kind of situation--Canadians with more hockey experience, older than most college players--which the Faculty Committee is presently examining before it decides on letting the Crimson go to Denver (if invited).

A sportswriter for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune told the CRIMSON yesterday that he "would be surprised if there were over a half-dozen Americans in the Western league excluding Minnesota's team." Apparently the situation in the Western league excluding Minnesota's team." Apparently the situation in the West has not improved as greatly as the Faculty Committee thinks.