ECAC Preview

Conference play begins this weekend for just about everyone. Here is my breakdown of each team in the league.

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Scouting the ECAC

Brown

The Bears waited until this weekend to start play… at all. Most teams have five or six games under their belt before league play starts. Not the Bears. Brown is 0-1, losing 1-0 in overtime on Friday to Princeton in a nonconference game. The near shutout is promising, but there are plenty of offensive issues to address. For starters, the top returning goal-scorer is Aaron Volpatti. He had six goals all last season. That's right, six. That was still 10 percent of the team's total offense. Brown has work to do and will likely finish at or near the bottom just like last year. The Bears ended 2008-09 5-23-5 overall and 3-15-4 in conference. They beat Union, Colgate and Quinnipiac. That's it and that's all. The Saints beat them 6-1 and tied 2-2 in their two meetings.

Clarkson

Well, you can all probably go read Cap Carey's blog all about it: watertowndailytimes.com/section/knightstales. Here's the skinny: Clarkson has some decent offense again this season, but early on has battled with illness and injury. It's a middle-of-the-road kind of team. It will have its share of upsets, but will hover somewhere around .500 for much of conference play I think. Cap may have different ideas, and coach George Roll definitely does.

Colgate

The Red Raiders are from around my old stomping grounds. Based in Hamilton, Colgate is already 2-2-3. It looks like the school's off to the same type of play it had last year. The Red Raiders played an NCAA-record 19 overtime games in 2008-09. Most of its scoring is back, including David McIntyre, who had 21 goals last season. Six players are already claimed by the NHL: Corbin McPherson (NJ Devils, 0 goals, 5 assists in 08-09), Austin Smith (Dallas, 17, 14), Brian Day (NY Islanders, 14, 13), Jeremey Price (Vancouver, Freshman), Thomas Larkin (Columbus, Freshman). McIntyre hasn't scored this season through seven games. He will, and when he starts, he will not stop. Colgate should finish in the upper have of the league.

Cornell

I went to school in Ithaca (Ithaca College, or as the Cornell kids called it “Ivy light”). I wouldn't be sad if they finished last. Unfortunately that's highly unlikely. The Red Raiders finished three points behind Yale for the league title. Guess what? Everyone important is back. Riley Nash (35 points), Colin Greening (31) and Blake Gallagher (28) all return. The league should be scared. Cornell finished 22-10-4 last year. They are ranked fifth nationally and have potential to make a national championship run.

Dartmouth

Dartmouth, without a drafted player, had a decent season last year, finishing tied for fifth in the ECACHL with 24 points. Aside from Rob Pritchard (18 points), it returns the brunt of its scoring. It was a young team that played well, and that experience will put Dartmouth a place or two higher this season. Defense is the question here, though. In one nonconference game and an exhibition, Dartmouth has allowed 12 goals. Officially, it lost only to Harvard, 5-3. This is the wildcard of the bunch who will either have an unparalleled rise in the league or fall to the bottom. I don't see much else.

Harvard

Harvard is coming off a fifth-place finish in the ECAC after a 9-16-6 season. All nine wins came in conference. Doug Rogers returns as the team's most-prolific offensive threat. He had 21 points last season. Following him is Alex Biega who had 20 points as a defenseman. Harvard is a well-rounded team with a lot of experience. Like Dartmouth, its season could go one of two ways. I see them as a potential upset threat, which can beat the likes of Yale and Cornell, but not on a consistent basis.

Princeton

The Tigers are off to a 1-1 start. They beat Brown, 1-0, but were spanked by Yale, 5-2. Princeton is currently ranked 14th nationally and finished last season with 22 wins and a 14-8 conference record – good for third place. There are three 20-plus point scorers returning to an offense that produced 271 points. The Tigers is tough to compete with and even tougher to beat. Yale, though, exposed them a little bit and offense appears a bit of a problem (three goals in two games).

Quinnipiac

The Bobcats are off to a hot start at 4-1, and are averaging better than four goals per game. The problem comes on the defense and in net. Bud Fisher graduated after starting in 18 games last year, leaving sophomore Dan Clarke as the eldest returning goalie. Eric Hartnell and Mathieu Cadieux come in as unknown freshmen. Will the Bobcats continue this torrid pace despite allowing nearly three goals per game? It can if it continues its own scoring rampage. The Bobcats already have 20 goals this season.

Rensselaer

The perennial cellar-dweller Engineers haven't had a .500 finishing mark in conference in three years. One has to go back to the 2003-04 season to find an overall winning record. What happened to RPI? I do not know. This season the issue is holding onto leads. Four times the Engineers gave away their third-period advantage. They managed to win two of them, but the signs are still not good. They won't be much of a threat and a string of bad beats to the likes of Yale, Cornell, Clarkson and St. Lawrence may take them out of contention before the New Year.

St. Lawrence

Regular followers of the blog will know my feelings here. The Saints have shown potential to be an explosive team. The goals generated from the blue line last year will have to be made up elsewhere this season. Fans can't expect four goals from defensemen every game, as it happened against Sacred Heart last week. St. Lawrence has played only one bad game really – a 4-1 loss to Clarkson. Other than that, I think the Saints will challenge any team save Yale and Cornell, but even they aren't safe if St. Lawrence plays above itself for three periods. The Saints are picked to finish seventh in the ECAC by the coaches. From what I've seen and the games they've played, I think they're underrated. A fourth-place finish isn't out of the question, but seventh is way too low. Injuries, though, are the big equalizer.

Union

Offense shouldn't be a problem for Dutchmen. They're 3-3 this season and have 26 goals already. But they've given away 22, including 13 power-play scores. Union is killing penalties at just 63 percent. That won't win many games and is the reason it's lost three. They have a young defense like the Saints, but don't have near the talent back there.

Yale

Ah, yes, the Bulldogs. They're the reigning ECACHL regular season and tournament champion. Yale is still good, and is ranked sixth nationally. I'm sure its growling about its place behind Cornell in the national poll. Yale has played only one game this year – a 5-2 beat down of Princeton. I think it's still the team to beat and it will soon be reflected in the polls.