Thanks for the memories. While there are plenty of people around who were associated and/or followed RIT in the Division III days, we are a minority now. It really is very different. I think the majority of fans have come on board in the last five years and have limited understanding of the past.
But even those of us who spent many years with the Tigers in D-III will tell you that they would not trade a spot in the Frozen Four for any amount of D-III titles. I didn't think that would be the case, but after going through both, it definitely is.
That, and to a lessor extent the success in the AHA (four regular season titles in five seasons) has dramatically changed the impact of the program on both a local and national level. A new rink, 10,000 fans at a home game, the Cinderella run, the way RIT's fans owned Detroit, just would not have been possible with out some people who had the vision to see what folks like me could not. No way do over a 1,000 people show up at 2am to meet the team coming back from Albany, or fill the Blue Cross. No way do all the games get televised, including some nationally. No way does a player go from a rookie defenseman one season to playing a regular shift in the NHL the next.
It is different, and in this case, much better. A school with 15,000 students should be D-I in all sports, frankly.
But that doesn't take away the affection I and some of the old-timers have for D-III hockey. I miss it a lot. I still worry about the ECAC West. I love seeing the crowds at Utica but worry about the declining attendance elsewhere. And I wish the NCAA selection process was different. Using the D-I format would be a step in the right direction. Actually, it would solve the problem.
So yeah, I'm still lurking around here. Good luck to all the teams left in the hunt.