ECAC Hockey Notebook
We'll finally have every ECAC Hockey team starting its season this weekend as the six Ivy League schools begin playing, although Yale and Brown are only playing exhibition games.
The Ivy League schools prefer to play fewer games which leads me to a suggestion to help the other six ECAC Hockey teams find more competition.
It's getting harder for the other six teams to schedule nonconference games, because most of the other conferences play a longer schedule and do not have free weekends.
I'd suggest that ECAC Hockey split into two divisions (much like college football conferences). One would be the six non-Ivy schools (Clarkson, St. Lawrence, RPI, Union, Colgate and Quinnipiac) and the other would the the Ivies (Harvard, Yale, Brown, Princeton, Dartmouth and Cornell).
The current 22-game system of playing every other league foe home-and-home would remain, but the six non-Ivy schools would play one additional game a year against the other five teams, giving them 27 conference games. You'd rotate the site, so if Clarkson played at Colgate one year, the next year the extra game would be at Cheel Arena.
The playoffs could either be mixed or remain in divisions. The top two teams in each division would get first-round byes. You could either have 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 in each division or cross over and have 3 Ivy play 6 non-Ivy.
As for names of the divisions, perhaps the Ivy League could just call itself that, or each division could be named after someone prominent from one of the six schools in the division, Ned Harkness type people come to mind.
Anyway, my two cents on a possible future idea, feel free to comment in our comments section.
Ivy Team Notes
Goaltending will be a big focus among Ivy League schools this year, with Princeton's Zane Kalemba, Cornell's Ben Scrivens and the return of Harvard goalie Kyle Richter, who took a leave of absence last season.
Kalemba is the defending Ken Dryden Award winner in ECAC Hockey, but Cornell coach Mike Schafer feels Scrivens is the top netminder in the league.
"To me, I think Ben is the best goaltender in college hockey," Schafer told the Ithaca Journal. "You really couldn't convince me otherwise that someone is more valuable or better than him as a goalie. He hasn't had the preseason accolades, but it's no different than the polls. No one wants to just have preseason accolades. You want the honors at the end of th eyear. Same with Ben and our team."
Richter, now a junior, had a .935 save percentage and 2.19 goals-against average as a sophomore.
He will now compete with junior Ryan Carroll and senior John Riley to regain his position as starting goalie.
"We're having a real positive feeling, and have a lot of reason to have optimism," Harvard coach Ted Donato told the Harvard Crimson. "Last season we came to a spot where we didn't have a goalie to start the season that had played in a college game. This year we'll have three. And although he's been off for a little bit, when Kyle Richter left us, he was the goalie of the year in our league. Ryan Carroll played very well last year, and I think John Riley has developed a lot since he arrived. We feel a lot stronger in that position than we have been in a long time."
RPI's Helfrich Injured
Rensselaer had two big nonconference wins last weekend to improve to 3-2-1, defeating Sacred Heart and American International.
But the Engineers lost leading scorer Tyler Helfrich to a lower-leg injury.
"It's not a knee and it's not broken," RPI coach Seth Appert told the Troy Record. "Both are good things to hear."
Helfrich's status for this weekend's games is unsure.
"With an ankle, you just don't know," Appert told the Schenectady Daily Gazette on Monday. "I don't have any expectations that he will play this weekend. We have no idea if it will be one week, or four weeks."
Weekly Award Winners
Player of the WeekJason Walters, Union: Walters scored two goals with two assists last weekend.
Rookie of the WeekBrandon Pirri, RPI: scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, against Sacred Heart. Had two assists against AIC.
Goaltender of the WeekPaul Karpowich, Clarkson: Made 30 saves, including 11 on power-play chances, to lead Clarkson to a 4-1 win over SLU.
ECAC and the Polls
The conference has two teams in the U.S. College Hockey Online top 10 this week. Cornell is No. 6 and Yale is No. 7. The Bulldogs received one first-place vote.
Princeton is No. 11 and Quinnipiac is No. 18. Harvard, St. Lawrence and Union also receieved votes.
Last Week's Scores
Friday
UMass.-Lowell 5, Colgate 3
RPI 4, Sacred Heart 3 (OT)
Union 4, American International 2
(exhibitions)
Harvard 3, McGill 3 (OT)
Cornell 7, Windsor 0
Princeton 7, SUNY Morrisville 0
Saturday
Clarkson 4, St. Lawrence 1
RPI 3, American International 2
Sacred Heart 6, Union 5 (OT)
(exhibitions)
McGill 7, Dartmouth 4
U.S. Under-18 3, Cornell 2
Sunday
(exhibitions)
U.S. Under-18 4, Colgate 1
Windsor 5, Princeton 3
This Weekend's Schedule
Friday
Brown at Princeton, 4 p.m.
Harvard at Dartmouth, 7 p.m.
RPI at Union, 7 p.m.
Niagara at Cornell, 7 p.m.
Quinnipiac at Robert Morris, 7:05 p.m.
Sacred Heart at St. Larwence, 7:30 p.m.
Army at Colgate, 7:30 p.m.
Clarkson at Minnesota-Duluth, 8:07 p.m.
(exhibition)
Ontario IT at Yale, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Sacred Heart at St. Lawrence, 7 p.m.
Army at RPI, 7 p.m.
Yale at Princeton, 7 p.m.
Quinnipiac at Robert Morris, 7:05 p.m.
Niagara at Colgate, 7:30 p.m.
Clarkson at Minnesota-Duluth, 8:07 p.m.
(exhibition)
Ontario IT at Brown, 7 p.m.
