ECAC Hockey: Complete guide and preview for the 2022-23 season

Tim Rego enters his junior year with Cornell. (Cornell Athletics)

For the second straight season, all 12 ECAC Hockey League men’s schools will be back in action, the four-team 2020-21 COVID-affected campaign now receding further into memory.

Two of the top three teams in the league during the regular season met in the title game to decide ECAC Hockey’s automatic qualifier to the 2022 NCAA tournament. No. 3 Harvard edged No. 1 Quinnipiac, 3-2, in overtime in the final in Lake Placid in March, as both squads subsequently qualified for the NCAAs. Both fell to eventual Frozen Four participants Minnesota State and Michigan, respectively, in the regionals to end the conference’s 2021-22 campaign.

An ECAC Hockey League school hasn’t won the men’s NCAA national title since Union in 2014. A conference member hasn’t even qualified for the Frozen Four since Harvard did so in 2017.

Following is a look at each ECAC Hockey men’s school in alphabetical order, including last season’s overall record, conference record and conference regular-season finish. We’ll see who claims ECAC Hockey’s automatic NCAA berth in March in upstate New York — and if any one of the league’s dozen members will be left standing when the national champion is ultimately crowned in April in Tampa.

BROWN (7-20-4 overall, 6-12-4 ECAC Hockey/9th place)

Sophomore goaltender Mathieu Caron (26 games, 6-14-4, 2.74 goals-against average, two shutouts) will look to hold on the starting job in net, although he should be challenged by NAHL alumnus and freshman netminder Jacob Zacharewicz (Riverhead, N.Y.). Senior defenseman Luke Krys returns for his final season in Providence after recording a career-high three goals and 10 assists for 13 points last year. He’s also back as the Bears’ leading scorer, as the three players above him last season have all graduated.

BUILDING UP: How Brown plans to get to the top of the ECAC

Brett Bliss is also back on the blue line following a solid rookie campaign, but the freshman class will need to help generate offense, as the Bears don’t bring back anyone who scored six or more goals last year. Freshman forward Zackary Tonelli, son of former New York Islanders great John Tonelli (Armonk, N.Y.), will join his older brother, Jordan, at a revamped Meehan Auditorium.

CLARKSON (21-10-6, 14-5-4/3rd)

Despite advancing to the ECAC semifinals and falling to Harvard by a single goal, Clarkson was left on the sideline when the NCAA tournament berths were announced, despite an 11-game winning streak during the regular season. The Golden Knights will have senior Mathieu Gosselin and junior Alex Campbell back up front in Potsdam, after each tallied 33 points a year ago. Campbell also topped Clarkson with 16 goals, while junior forward Anthony Romano tallied 15 goals. Graduate transfer Zach Tsekos, who finished third with 31 points, is gone, although top-scoring defenseman Noah Beck, a St. Louis Blues draft choice, returns after a 22-point sophomore campaign.

Junior goaltender Ethan Haider (13-10-5, 2.39, three shutouts) returns in net after a solid first season as Clarkson’s starter. The Golden Knights’ penalty kill (86.4 percent) ranked eighth in the nation among Division 1 schools last year and scored four shorthanded goals.

COLGATE (18-18-4, 9-10-4/5th)

The Raiders surprised in the playoffs last spring, sweeping Yale in the first round, then outlasting powerhouse Cornell in three games in the quarterfinals. A 3-1 loss to Quinnipiac in the semifinals, though, ended the dream of getting back to the NCAAs for the first time since 2014. The Young brothers — Colton and Alex — Colgate’s top two scorers from 2021-22, are back after combining for 63 points last season.

Swiss junior Matt Verboon also had a career campaign up front with 28 points a year ago. Back on defense will be senior Anthony Stark (New York, N.Y.) and juniors Pierson Brandon (Irvington, N.Y.) and PJ Garrett, although top goaltender Mitch Benson (20 GP, 10-7-3, 2.39) has transferred to Boston College after three seasons in Hamilton. The Raiders’ penalty-killing unit finished 15th in NCAA Division 1 last season (83.8 percent), although the power play was tied for 36th (17.4 percent).

CORNELL (18-10-4, 12-6-4/4th)

The Big Red had another solid season going, finishing fourth in the league standings before faltering in the best-of-three ECAC Hockey quarterfinals against Colgate. Junior forward Matt Stienburg, a Colorado Avalanche draft choice, nearly tripled his career total with 29 points a year ago to lead Cornell in scoring, while Ben Berard led all Big Red skaters with a career-high 14 goals.

All-ECAC Hockey first-team selection Sam Malinski is the highest-scoring defenseman returning, having put up a career-best 5-18-23 line last season, while Tim Rego returns for his second season on the Big Red blue line. The Cornell crease should belong solely to sophomore netminder Ian Shane (7-6-3, 1.72, three shutouts). Cornell head coach and alumnus Mike Schafer, who’s been in charge of the Big Red since 1995-96, needs one more victory for 500 total in his coaching career, all with his alma mater.

DARTMOUTH (7-22-3, 5-15-2/11th-tie)

The Big Green finished tied for last place in ECAC Hockey in its first year under new head coach Reid Cashman, although it did manage a season-opening win over defending NCAA champion Massachusetts. Sean Chisholm led Dartmouth in scoring as a freshman, notching 9-14-23 points, while Mark Gallant paced the Big Green with 11 goals as a junior. Seven of Dartmouth’s top scorers from last year return, including Tanner Palocsik (4-16-20 points), who topped all Dartmouth defenseman in points.

Special teams will need some shoring up — the Big Green’s penalty-killing efforts (82.1 percent) were 20th in the nation, but the power play hit just 13.7 percent of the time. Goal will be the biggest question mark, though, as All-Ivy League first-team selection Clay Stevenson (23 GP, 6-14-2, 2.70, 2 SO) left Dartmouth after just one collegiate season to sign with the Washington Capitals.

HARVARD (21-11-3, 14-6-2/3rd)

The Crimson claimed the Whitelaw Cup for the 11th time overall as ECAC Hockey postseason champions, earning them an NCAA tournament berth for the fifth time in seven seasons. Harvard also captured the 2022 Ivy League title, despite having the youngest team (21.2 years) in NCAA Division 1 last season. Matthew Coronato (Huntington, N.Y.), a first-round draft choice by the Calgary Flames in 2021, led the Crimson with 18-18-36 points in 34 games last season as a freshman, including the overtime goal that won the ECAC Hockey championship. Sean Farrell chipped in 28 points. Toronto Maple Leafs draftee Nick Abruzzese tallied 33 points.

Senior defensemen Ryan Siedem (Madison, N.J.) and Anaheim Ducks draft choice Henry Thrun will key the Crimson blue line, after combining for 52 points last year. This year’s roster features 14 NHL draft picks in all, including senior goaltender Mitchell Gibson (18-10-1, 2.17).

PRINCETON (8-21-2, 7-13-2/10th)

Jeremie Forget, who carried the bulk of the work in net the last two seasons, is gone, but senior Aidan Porter returns (2-11-0, 3.71, .877) after splitting last year with Forget. Top scorer Corey Andonovski (10-12-22 points) and his team-best six power-play goals will not return to Hobey Baker Rink, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary this season, though the Tigers do return seven of their top 10 point producers.

Ian Murphy heads the returning pack after registering 9-10-19 points last year in his NCAA debut, followed by Spencer Kersten with 16 points and Adam Robbins (New York, N.Y.) with 13 points. Pittsburgh Penguins draft choice Liam Gorman also returns up front. The blue line lost four regulars to graduation, who together totaled 352 career outings, although senior Pito Walton (Peapack, N.Y.) is back at Old Nassau after posting 4-7-11 points last year.

QUINNIPIAC (32-7-3, 18-5-1/1st)

The Bobcats won the Cleary Cup as ECAC Hockey regular-season champion for the second straight year, then advanced to the league title game, where they lost to Harvard in overtime. Quinnipiac’s top five scorers, who combined for 163 points in all last season, have all departed, as has sixth-leading scorer Ty Smilanic, a Florida Panthers draft choice who transferred to Wisconsin. Skyler Brind’Amour, son of Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour, is back for a fourth year in Hamden, after notching a career-high 20 points last season.

ALL ABOUT CULTURE: How Quinnipiac has a culture that endures

Yaniv Perets (22-5-2, 1.17, 11 SO) returns in goal as starter for the second-straight season after earning All-America and All-ECAC Hockey honors, along with being named both ECAC Hockey Player and Goaltender of the Year. Perets will be pushed by Chase Clark (Williamsville, N.Y.), a 6-foot-6 draftee of the Washington Capitals who played the last two years in the USHL.

RENSSELAER (18-23-3, 10-12-0/6th)

Head coach Dave Smith signed a five-year contract extension this summer that will keep him at the RPI helm through the 2026-27 season, but he will have to guide a 2022-23 team that was impacted by the transfer portal. Top scorer Ture Linden has transferred to Penn State after pacing the Engineers with a team-high 20 goals and 39 points last season, while second-leading scorer Ottoville Leppanen (9-21-30 points) has moved on to Merrimack, and top-scoring defenseman Simon Kjellberg (8-19-27 points) left Troy for Northern Michigan.

Justin Addamo, a 14-goal scorer, is back, as is junior forward TJ Walsh. The blue line will be thinner with the losses of Jake Johnson, who transferred to Quinnipiac, and Anthony Baxter, who graduated. Linden Marshall (9-13-3, 2.53) is gone in goal, although Jack Watson (9-9-0, 2.39, three shutouts) is back after a solid freshman season.

ST. LAWRENCE (11-19-7, 5-10-7/8th)

A year after winning a four-team league but having to bypass an NCAA tournament appearance due to COVID complications, the Saints fell back to earth in their second season under head coach Brent Brekke. SLU was still among the top teams in the NCAA last season in penalty killing (85.2 percent), but the power play was last in the nation (6.6 percent), while the Saints scored only 72 goals total in 37 games.

Nine of the 15 incoming players this year are forwards. Second-leading scorer Justin Paul (8-10-18 points) is back in Canton this fall, and will be joined by Aleksi Peltonen (4-10-14 points) and top-scoring returning defenseman Philippe Chapleau (4-9-13 points). The goaltending chores might fall to little-used Grant Adams or Francis Boisvert, or USHL-trained freshman Mason Kucenski, as Emil Zetterquist (11-16-7, 2.57) has moved on after four seasons with the Saints.

UNION (14-19-4, 6-10-6/7th)

The Dutchmen begin their first full season without Rick Bennett behind the bench in any coaching capacity for the first time since 2004-05, as longtime Clarkson assistant Josh Hauge takes the reins in Schenectady. Leading scorer and top-scoring defenseman Brandon Estes is gone after putting up a team-best 22 assists and 29 points last winter. Collin Graf returns off a freshman campaign that saw him finish second with 11-11-22 points, while Liam Robertson scored a team-high 13 goals last year as a junior.

Senior goaltender Connor Murphy (Hudson Falls, N.Y.) took over the crease in his first season with Union (14-18-3, 2.66, three shutouts), while four other goaltenders might vie for playing time this season. The Dutchmen power play was 23rd in the nation last year, connecting at a 21.1 percent clip, but the penalty-killing unit tied for 43rd with just 78.1 percent success.

YALE (8-21-1, 4-13-5/11th-tie)

The Bulldogs will look to climb back up the league standings after finishing at the bottom last year, as only six players managed double digits in points a year ago. The good news is all six of those skaters are back in New Haven, led by junior forward Ian Carpentier, who notched 13 points, sophomore Briggs Gammill and senior Cole Donhauser (Buffalo, N.Y.), who posted 12 points apiece.

Dylan Herzog led all Yale defensemen in scoring last year (2-7-9 points) as a freshman, while senior Brandon Tabakin (Woodbury, N.Y.) is back for his final season on the Bulldog blue line. The goalie crease should again belong to junior Nathan Reid (6-10-1, 2.42), although sophomore Luke Pearson (2-6-0, 2.42) also returns. The power play is in urgent need of improvement, as it connected at just over 7 percent a year ago.