, COLORADO--"It is a hopeless situation. I guess should be done about it." St. Lawrence hock- George Menard after his humiliating 12-2 defeat by in the final game of the tournament here last month. , whose team lost to Michi-, 13 to 3, in the same last year, was referring annual East-West collegiate showdown--a one-sided the statistics show.

NCAA tournament 14-year Eastern teams have gained only twice, and only eight of 35 games western opponents. It has years since the East last game against the

results reflect an aspect college hockey is of growing concern NCAA officials, college , coaches, players, and . There is no doubt College hockey in the East not compare with that in . "They differ like day and Jack Riley, the West Point guided the U.S. Olympic team to the world last year, said in an this year's tournament. conditions, he added, A tournament is "a farce."

IS CRITICAL

of the disparity between and Western hockey is strong in the East, and on the athletic policies of colleges in the Western Hockey Association . As regular articles in newspapers have shown, centers around the of recruiting and import players, the ages of and inordinate financial . At Harvard, the on Athletics last withdrew the Crimson consideration for the for the second year. Although no for the action was as a protest in the passive resistance against professionalism of teams.

, composed of North Minnesota, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Colorado College, and Denver, has been put on trial with increasing regularity in the past few years. And as criticisms and protests mount, special attention has focused on one team--Denver. This year, for example, Minnesota refused to schedule Denver during the regular season.

DENVER 'FINEST EVER'

NCAA champion by virtue of its 6-1 win over Minnesota in the first round and its 12-2 romp over a hopelessly outclassed St. Lawrence squad in the final game, Denver was called by Menard, Minnesota coach John Mariucci, and most other experts at the tournaments "the finest college team ever assembled."

Denver has climbed from mediocrity to supremacy in a surprisingly short period of time under the leadership of coach Murray Armstrong. When he took over in 1956-57, he guaranteed a national championship in three years. It took only two. And in 1958, after Denver had won its first NCAA title, the Pioneers had grown so strong that only two teams in the Western league would play them the following year (NDU and CC). As a result, the league folded, and Denver did not have enough NCAA-accredited games for the tournament in 1959. The league was reconstituted as the WCHA in 1959-60, after certain rules were changed.

One revision was the 20-year rule, subsequently added to the NCAA rules on eligibility (last January). The 20-year rule states that any one who plays on an organized team after his 20th birthday and before his college matriculation shall have each year of play counted against his varsity eligibility. (The NCAA limits the rule to foreign students.) This was the first major step taken to cut down on the number of older, more experienced Canadian players--such as the 32-year-old freshman North Dakota reportedly played in 1957-58.

But Denver continued to dominate Western and American hockey. Here are some of the accomplishments of the Pioneers in the past four years under Armstrong: three NCAA championships (58, '60, '61); a 6-1-2 record against American amateur representatives in the World Games and the Olympics (the U.S. Nationals) including a 7-5 win over the gold medal-winning Olympic team last year and a 10-0 victory this year; wins over the West German and Swedish Olympic team; and the distinction of never losing to the Russian Nationals (two ties, 4 to 4 in 1958-59; and 2 to 2 in 1959-60). This year Denver scored over four points for every one of its opponents, won games by up to 14-pont margins, and finished with a 30-1-1 record.

In short, the Denver University hockey team has established itself as one of the best amateur teams in the world.

RESENTMENT RISING

How? That is what everybody wonders, and what hearsay has made into a rising tide of suspicions, accusations, and resentment. There is a lot of curiosity, jealousy, and bitterness over Denver's hockey domination.

Like most WCHA teams, Denver is predominantly Canadian. All but one of its 19 players this year were natives of Canada. The only American was junior goalie Paul DiNapoli from Belmont, who has never played in a varsity game. Of the 18 Canadians, one was 24; three were 23 (including standout junior goalie George Kirkwood, who has been declared ineligible for next season because of the 20-year rule); five were 22; five were 21; three were 20; and one was 19. All but two of the Canadians played in the controversial Junior A leagues before college; one (defenseman George Konik) turned down a two-year pro contract with the New York Rangers to go to college.

(Despite the 20-year rule, western players are usually much older than those in the East. On this year's 22-man Harvard roster, for example, no player was older than 21. Only two of the Crimson varsity players were Canadians: 19-year old sophomore Dave Johnston and 19-year old junior Tom Heintzman.)

THE UNIVERSITY

Denver University is a private institution founded in 1864 as a Methodist seminary. It has an enrollment of 4200, three-fifths of which are men. The University has three undergraduate programs--in the Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Business Administration--and graduate programs incuding a law school. Located "at the foot of the Rockies," the University boasts of students from all 50 states and from over 50 foreign countries, and of its "over 140 organizations for students" including 14 fraternities and seven sororities. Sixty percent of the student body is not from Colorado.

"Denver has a natural drawing attraction," Chancellor Chester M. Alter (Ph. D. in chemistry from Harvard, 1934), said, noting that DU is the only private university within a thousand-mile radius touching St. Louis, the West Coast, Dallas, and Canada.

The three admissions requirements are: A diploma from "an accredited high school," a recommendation from that school, and score no lower than 400 in the SAT's. Walden C. Irish, Admissions Counselor, remarked that students in the 400's are borderline cases and must have strong extra-curricular assets in order to be admitted. Foreign students, he said, must meet higher requirements--and usually do--adding that "Our athletic coaches cannot admit any students or give any financial aid. They make recommendations. We decide who is to be admitted and who is to be given financial aid."