"Our community becomes very attached to our hockey teams," McCutcheon says. "It's not just Cornell's team, it's Ithaca's team."

Cornell and Harvard are by far the two most successful Ivy teams. Since the 1954-55 season, Harvard and Cornell have each amassed a winning percentage of close to .700 in Ivy League games. Every league has its elite teams; the Ivy League has Cornell and Harvard.

"There are two groups in the Ivy League," Bertagna says.

Yet it has gotten tougher for all the Ivy teams to attract the players they used to attract before. While Harvard and Cornell may be more successful because of other intangible factors, one problem affects every school: the question of financial aid.

Hammond offers a theory about the average hockey family, a middle- to upper-middle class family. The family supports his son by enrolling him in a private school, where the quality of hockey is the best around. After spending a substantial amount of money on the son's high-school experience as a hockey player, the question of which college to attend becomes a financial problem.

"It all comes down to this: how much money is Harvard going to give me as compared to Boston College?" Hammond says.

"The people hit the hardest are the middle-income people," Taylor says. "That's where the majority of players come from."

Mike Richter, a goalie for the 1988 United States Olympic Team, would have gone to Harvard if it weren't for financial problems. Richter opted to go to Wisconsin.

The Ivy League's influence on academics has also caused problems for some coaches. Admissions criteria for student-athletes have become higher, affecting the availability of players.

"The standards in the Ivy League have gone up," Princeton Coach Jim Higgins says. "Within the last six years, the standards have changed. It's getting harder for us here at Princeton."

The Tigers last year made the ECAC playoffs, but have never played in the NCAA Tournament. Princeton won its only Ivy title in 1953.

But the future of Ivy League hockey looks strong as long as the tradition that it evolved from remains just as strong. That tradition, along with a solid academic reputation, will continue to attract quality students athletes.

"When you're going head to head with the Ivies on academics, you've got a fight on your hand," says Marsh, whose St. Lawrence program does not offer scholarships.

"I think [the tradition of the Ivies] is going to continue," Tomassoni says. "It's the strength of the schools. People want to go to the best possible schools."

And, as long as college hockey remains the "regional-national" sport that it has become, Ivy League hockey--although hindered by problems such as competition from other schools, the question of financial aid and tougher academic standards--can enter its second century with a philosophy that blends academic success with success on the ice.