New York Hockey Journal

  • Login
  • Logout
  • Subscribe
  • Dashboard
Colleges

A down year for ECAC Hockey?

By Dan GuttenplanMarch 1, 2018

Clarkson’s recent struggles have continued a trend of it being a down year for ECAC Hockey. Clarkson is riding a seven-game winless streak (0-4-3) after emerging as a legitimate national championship contender in early January. Since running its record to 18-3-1 overall on the heels of a 13-game winning streak, Clarkson has gone 1-5-2, with its lone win coming against Yale on Jan. 26. Clarkson has dropped from No. 3 to No. 7 in the PairWise and likely will need to snap the winless streak before the end of the season to earn an NCAA tournament berth.

Cornell (22-3-2 overall, 12-2-2 ECAC) seems to be the only lock among ECAC Hockey teams to earn an NCAA tournament berth, as Clarkson is the only other ECAC Hockey team ranked in the top 16 in the PairWise.

Union (20-13-1) and Harvard (13-10-4) are ranked No. 20 and No. 22, respectively, and either team could still potentially earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament with a strong finish.

However, if only two ECAC Hockey teams qualify for the NCAA tournament, it would be the first time since 2012 the conference placed less than three teams in the NCAA tournament. Part of that could be attributed to the performance of ECAC Hockey teams in nonconference play. ECAC Hockey schools posted a record of 39-50-15 in nonconference games, down from 45-49-11 last year and 56-42-10 in 2015-16.

Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold (Bedford, N.H.) pointed to Boston College’s winless nonconference record this season as evidence that those records can be misleading.

“I think it’s cyclical,” Pecknold said. “Look at BC; it’s been a long time since they’ve won a non-conference game, and they have a pretty great program. If you have to choose, you want to play better in league games. That’s what we stress at Quinnipiac. But we all want to be good all the time. I think ECAC Hockey is great, and I don’t think that nonconference record is representative of the talent in the league.”

The Notebook

While Team USA’s performance in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games was a disappointment — with the men’s hockey team falling one game short of qualifying for the medal round — Harvard’s Ryan Donato (Scituate, Mass.) impressed with his play. Donato led the team with five goals and an assist.

The Boston Bruins prospect tallied two goals in Team USA’s 5-1 victory over Slovakia in the qualifying round. At the time of Team USA’s elimination loss against the Czech Republic, Donato was tied for the tournament lead in goals. He eclipsed the total of his father, Harvard coach Ted Donato, for Olympic scoring. Ted (Dedham, Mass. had four goals and three assists for the U.S. in 1992. The Harvard coach arrived in PyeongChang, South Korea, just in time to see Ryan net the two goals against Slovakia. …

Cornell (22-3-2, 16-2-2) possesses the highest winning percentage in the nation (.852) — its highest through 27 games since a 1969-70 season that ended with a national title. The Big Red lead the nation in team defense (1.41 goals-against per game), with a national-best nine shutouts. Cornell has been particularly dominant at even strength, leading the country with a team rating of plus-40. The Big Red have surrendered just a paltry 23 even-strength goals so far. For perspective, the next two lowest totals in the nation are Clarkson at 41 and Minnesota State at 47. …

Union senior left wing Ryan Scarfo (Chelmsford, Mass.) leads the team in scoring (18-13-31) and his eight power-play goals are tied for sixth-most in the country. …

With a win over Clarkson on Feb. 16, Bob Gaudet became just the second head coach in program history to reach 300 wins behind the Dartmouth bench. Gaudet joined Eddie Jeremiah — the legendary Dartmouth head coach and 1973 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee — in the 300-win club in Hanover.

In the Spotlight

John Marino, Harvard

The native of North Easton, Mass., had a goal and an assist in Harvard’s 5-2 victory over No. 7 Clarkson on Feb. 17. The sophomore defenseman had a plus-3 rating on the weekend. Harvard swept St. Lawrence and Clarkson as the Crimson continued a late-season surge.

Sam Tucker, Yale

The Wilton, Conn., native and Choate Rosemary Hall alumnus has played in two-thirds of Yale’s games this season and is 8-9-1 with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. He is currently riding a threegame winning streak.

Tyler Bird, Brown

The Andover, Mass., native and St. John’s Prep (Danvers, Mass.) alumnus has been one of Brown’s bright spots during the current eight-game winless streaks. In six starts, Byrd has tallied two goals — the most recent of which came at Cornell Feb. 16.

The Quote

‘What we emphasize, the players tend to handle well. What we don’t, they don’t.’

— Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold

We hope you enjoyed this free story! For all-access to New York Hockey Journal content, subscribe below.

All Access: Print AND Digital Subscription  (Monthly, Yearly) $149.99 / year Modify & complete order below
Returning customer? Click here to login

If you have shopped with us before, please enter your details below. If you are a new customer, please proceed to the Billing section.

Lost your password?

Have a coupon? Click here to enter your code

If you have a coupon code, please apply it below.

Billing details

Your order

Product
Quantity
Total
Cart Subtotal $0.00
Order Total $0.00
  • Pay with your credit card via Stripe.

Copyright

By subscribing to nyhockeyjournal.com, Seamans Media, Inc. grants a license to view its content (text, photo, video) on the New England Soccer Journal website.

The website (nyhockeyjournal.com) is a paid product, with full access granted only to subscribers.

Seamans Media, Inc. retains all copyrights of its content and no material (text, photos, videos, headlines) may be reproduced or republished without the expressed written permission of Seamans Media, Inc.

Payment/Subscription

Subscriptions will be renewed automatically at the end of the term the subscriber has chosen (e.g. monthly, yearly).

If a promotional discount was applied to a new subscription versus the regular price for that subscription plan as displayed on nyhockeyjournal.com/subscribe, the price at which the subscription will be renewed after 12 months will be the then-stated regular, (non-discounted) price.

Credit or debit cards are the acceptable forms of payment.

Cancellation Policy

Should a subscriber wish to cancel or change their payment method, the website allows this under “Subscriptions”, and “My Account.”

If a subscriber chooses to cancel their subscription, no refunds will be issued. The subscriber will not be automatically renewed at the end of the billing term they have chosen.

For example: Your monthly digital subscription re-ups on July 1, but you don’t want to continue beyond that point. No refund will be issued on the July 1 charge, though no August 1 cost will be incurred.

Login/Account

The user is granted the right to be logged in to one session at a time, using one device of their choosing.

If a user believes his or her username/password combination has been compromised, they should reset the password. This can be done in at nyhockeyjournal.com/account.

Tags: D1 Men's Hockey, ECAC

Related Articles

Devin Kaplan

2022 NHL Draft: 10 best prospects from New York and New Jersey

After New York and New Jersey boasted a pair of top-15 selections last year, the 2022 NHL Draft will not offer the same level of…
Read More

29 locals set for USA Hockey Select 17 player development camp

Twenty-nine players from New York and New Jersey will take part in the 2022 USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp that starts Thursday at…
Read More

NEPSAC coaches poll, Part 2: What’s next for prep hockey?

Prep school hockey coaches in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) have some interesting ideas about the state of the conference and some…
Read More

Our Free Weekly Newsletter

  • Subscribe
  • Seamans Media, Inc.
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Contact Us

© Copyright 2022 Seamans Media, Inc. • All Rights Reserved

Contact Us!

Please write a brief description and someone will get back to you shortly!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.