But Lufkin is merely pointing out the negative aspects. He feels freshman eligibility will help his recruiting and the eight freshmen will improve his present team. The Elis have nowhere to go but up after a 1-21-1 season last year. Most coaches share Lufkin's thoughts, but still agree freshman eligibility makes sense.

"If a player has no trouble academically, there is no reason to hold him back," Toomey contends. "Freshman hockey, though it has a lot of good points to it, still can be just as demanding and time consuming as the varsity."

Toomey, like Crowe, Crocker, Lufkin and Semler, does not see the addition of freshmen to his squad as the answer to all his problems. Cornell and Harvard are still considered to be the favorites. After all, they too have the option of skating freshmen. "The teams that are strong continue to be strong and the weak ones continue to be weak." Lufkin, winless so far this season, sighed.

"But the league as a whole has gotten much stronger," Toomey points out, with an eye on the non-Ivy opponents that have always allowed players to skate four years if they had the talent, "You can see the improvement by the increasing number of Ivy teams in the ECAC playoffs, and this year should be no exception."

Brown and Dartmouth look like the top pretenders to the Big Red-Crimson hold on the Ivies. After that Princeton and Penn are certainly improved, but are still a ways from the crown.

As for Yale, it looks like another long season for Lufkin and company. "I feel sorry for Lufkin," Crocker said.