ECAC Hockey Notebook
The first full weekend of the season has ended and home teams were dominant, going 9-1-2. The only road win last weekend was St. Lawrence University's 5-2 victory over Princeton. Harvard opened the season a week earlier with a road win at Dartmouth.
That brings me back to re-introducing my Home/Road Index format of keeping track of the standings. Teams get no points if they win at home, because that is expected, and they lose no points for a road loss, because, as last weekend proved, that's also to be expected.
If a home team loses, they lose two points, and if they tie, they lose one point. Road teams gain one point for a tie and two for a win.
When the season is over, these standings will mirror the order of finish in the conference. They provide a way to see if a team may just be leading the conference now because they've had a lot of home games.
Current ECAC Hockey Standings
Cornell 2-0-0 4 points
Colgate 2-0-0 4
Quinnipiac 2-0-0 4
Rensselaer 2-0-0 4
Princeton 1-1-0 2
St. Lawrence 1-1-0 2
Union 0-0-2 2
Harvard 1-2-0 2
Brown 0-1-1 1
Yale 0-1-1 1
Clarkson 0-2-0 0
Dartmouth 0-3-0 0
Home/Road Index Standings
St. Lawrence 2 points
Harvard 2
Brown 1
Yale 1
Colgate 0
Cornell 0
Quinnipiac 0
Rensselaer 0
Clarkson 0
Princeton -2
Union -2
Dartmouth -2
Harvard Upbeat
The Crimson suffered a tough loss on Friday, blowing a 4-1 lead at Colgate and losing 5-4. That was followed by a 6-3 loss at Cornell on Friday.
But coach Ted Donato remains upbeat, as he told the Boston Herald this week.
“We have a lot of reasons to be optimistic,” said Donato. “We feel like we are a much more dangerous offensive team. We’re really trying to promote an up-tempo style. We have a good influx of young talent and the guys really made a commitment from last spring to come back in great shape.
“To this point, as coaches, we’re real happy not only with the performance but with the overall atmosphere and culture of the team.”
Cornell Power Play Impresses
After beating Harvard 6-3 on Saturday, Cornell improved to 8 of 18 on the power play this season, clicking on 44 percent of its chances.
"They have four of their five guys running that similar set now for a few years," Donato told the Ithaca Journal. "(Sean) Whitney is the only guy that hasn't been there as much as the others. They're a dangerous team on the special teams. I think (Cornell coach Mike Schafer) deserves a lot of credit. His teams are always sound defensively and excellent on the special teams."
Cornell's top unit on the power play consists of Whitney, Brendon Nash, Colin Greening, Riley Nash and Blake Gallagher. They have produced seven of the eight man-up goals.
"Coach told me to use my skills and trust those guys, because if you get them the puck then good things are going to happen," Whitney told the Ithaca Journal. "I think they've helped me and I'm having a lot of fun out there on the point. A lot of fun."
Weekly Awards
Player of the Week: David McIntyre (Colgate). McIntyre produced two goals and three assists last weekend to lead the Raiders to wins over Harvard and Dartmouth. He had a four-point night against Harvard.
Rookie of the Week: Thomas Larkin (Colgate). Scored one goal with one assist against Harvard. The goal was the first of his career.
Goaltender of the Week: Dan Clarke (Quinnipiac). Led the Bobcats to home wins over Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Stopped 34 of 36 shots against the Golden Knights and 27 of 29 against SLU.
In the Polls
Cornell (3-0 overall) moved up to No. 3 in this week's U.S. College Hockey Online poll and leads the conference. Yale (1-1-1) is No. 12. Princeton (2-2) and Quinnipiac (6-1) round out the rankings at No. 19 and No. 20.
Last Week's Scores
Friday
St. Lawrence 5, Princeton 2
Quinnipiac 4, Clarkson 2
Colgate 5, Harvard 4
Cornell 5, Dartmouth 1
RPI 5, Yale 2
Brown 3, Union 3 (OT)
Saturday
Quinnipiac 5, St. Lawrence 2
Princeton 4, Clarkson 1
Colgate 3, Dartmouth 2
Cornell 6, Harvard 3
RPI 3, Brown 1
Union 3, Yale 3 (OT)
This Weekend's Games
Friday
Union at St. Lawrence, 7 p.m.
RPI at Clarkson, 7 p.m.
Dartmouth at Princeton, 7 p.m.
Colgate at Brown, 7 p.m.
Cornell at Yale, 7 p.m.
Harvard at Quinnipiac, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Harvard at Princeton, 4 p.m.
RPI at St. Lawrence, 7 p.m.
Union at Clarkson, 7 p.m.
Dartmouth at Quinnipiac, 7 p.m.
Cornell at Brown, 7 p.m.
Colgate at Yale, 7 p.m.
