CRHL-MAR Top 10

I'm not all up on the National rankings since I've never had the opportunity to attend Nationals, but I do have some experience with the Mid-Atlantic Region. Here are my top 10:

1) Penn State
2) Penn State Altoona
3) University of Pittsburgh
4) Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
5) University of Delaware
6) University of Maryland
7) George Mason University
8) James Madison University
9) Kent State University
10) Virginia Tech

Penn State has always been the league powerhouse and with their resources I see no end to that in sight. In fact, with the departure of Jason McBride, I see the opportunity for the team to come together in harmony this coming season.
Penn State Altoona has proven themselves at the National level, what more is there to say? But we'll see if they can ride that momentum into the coming season against teams that know them well.
University of Pittsburgh may have the best all-around team in the league. A powerful offense, solid defense and great goaltending. They will be a strong team in the league again.
RIT is a league powerhouse. They have players who can pick the corners on any goaltender and an all-around great team. Look for another great season from RIT.
University of Delaware has had it's problems with consistency but will probably be in the league's top five. With tremendous goaltending and formidable offense power, Delaware will do well.
The University of Maryland which happens to be my alumnus, is a bit of a mystery. Maryland lost itts top 2 scorers and a stack of other players to graduation. On the other hand, there are a bunch of young prospects and a core group of returning players who may easily blast this team into the MAR top 5 as they come together as a team. Maryland has always had a solid team and solid goaltending.
The remaining teams will have had to make some wholesale changes in order to succeed this coming season. Each has their strengths but also many weaknesses. Teams add new players and lose players due to graduation each season. This leaves many teams a mystery until the first tournament so we'll just have to wait and see. Watch out for George Mason (GMU) this season as they may surprise some this season after gaining momentum at the end of last season.

Ben Picker
Former ECRHA/CRHL-MAR VP of Operations