Posted by Russ on 7th May 2003 at 21:30 GMT
Posted from 212.2.2.85 (pc-08.internetlounge.co.uk)
In reply to Re: European College Hockey posted by Dennis Lennox II on 7th May 2003 at 15:49 GMT:
Yep, from Rochester Hills, my lil bro still plays hockey out there.
I think you'd be surprised, OK british hockey doesn't compare to anyone but eastern european teams tend to be "quite good", which explains why they do so well. I think that there are probably fewer opportunities for pro/semipro hockey over here and so guys do tend to go to university and play there?
If the US sent guys straight out of the top teams it probably wouldn't even be a contest, lets face it.
Don't forget that hockey orriginated over here in europe (history lesson: what is the oldest rivalry in hockey?) so it has pretty deep roots.
I have no idea about other countries but most of the British University sports come under the banner of BUSA (British University Sports Association, or something like that) and some of them do actually get a decent amount of funding. It is nothing like in the US though which is why you have never heard of it and very few of the athletes go on to become professionals. As far as ice hockey goes we are still struggling for support from our national governing body (the EIHA).