Way to go, ECACHL

Lost in all the lamenting the lack of any Hockey East teams in the Frozen Four, in fact the lack of anything besides the WCHA in the Frozen Four, is the amazing showing by the ECACHL. Harvard and Colgate went down in their opening games but they didn't embarrass themselves, and Cornell did what it's supposed to do the last couple years, which is at least get past the first round.

For a moment there when Harvard was tied at the end of its Game One against UNH and headed into OT, I had visions of Cornell and Harvard in the Frozen Four. Anybody else have that thought, however fleeting? It's okay to say it now; you can't jinx the off-season.

Near the end of Harvard vs. UNH, the only thing on my mind was, "SOMEONE score and get the eff off the TV so we can get to the Cornell game!"

Kyle

[Q]krose Wrote:

Near the end of Harvard vs. UNH, the only thing on my mind was, "SOMEONE score and get the eff off the TV so we can get to the Cornell game!"

Kyle[/q]But we already know that you only root for Cornell and not the ECAC, so that doesn't say much. (Not that my thoughts were far off of yours...)

This was the strongest ECAC in quite a while. It was nice to see us be competitive, but I was really hoping we wouldn't be the only ECAC team to win an NCAA game this year. The sad thing is that this could really have been "the year" for the ECAC. If things had broken just a little differently, we could have had 4 or 5 teams in the tourney, at least one #1 seed, and at least a couple of victories.

I don't think the top of the ECAC is going to be nearly as competitive next year. We should be better (maybe), but we may not have a lot of company. Where we had 5 very good teams this year, I can't see it next year. Vermont is gone. Harvard was loaded with seniors, and will take a while to reload. Colgate peaked this year also. Maybe Clarkson, SLU, and RPI will show up in the fall. Otherwise it looks like Cornell and Dartmouth are the returning strong teams.

[Q]KeithK Wrote:

But we already know that you only root for Cornell and not the ECAC, so that doesn't say much.
[/q]
I was kinda rooting for the 'paste (see my LET'S GO GATE! message in the game thread), but Harvard? I just don't think that's happening anytime soon.
[q] (Not that my thoughts were far off of yours...)[/q]
Aha! The truth comes out!

Seriously, if they weren't pre-empting a Cornell game, I would have at least had a token preference for Harvard over UNH, but mostly because I didn't want Cornell to have to meet them in Columbus. Turns out that sentiment wasn't necessary.

Cheers,
Kyle

[Q]krose Wrote:
Near the end of Harvard vs. UNH, the only thing on my mind was, "SOMEONE score and get the eff off the TV so we can get to the Cornell game!"
[/q]

Same here, although the word I used was a little longer than "eff" (as those on the chat can attest).

[Q]Mike Nevin Wrote:
Maybe Clarkson, SLU, and RPI will show up in the fall. Otherwise it looks like Cornell and Dartmouth are the returning strong teams.
[/q]

I think that, overall, the league will be getting stronger in the next few years, but you're probably right that we and Dartmouth will be the only "strong" teams. (A lot depends on Dartmouth's goaltending next year.) Next year, I'm thinkin':

Top tier: Cornell, Dartmouth(?)
Mid tier: Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Princeton, Brown, Harvard, Colgate, Union
Bottom: Quinnipiac, Yale, RPI

Or, like the CCHA this season.

The next year, it'll probably be *wide* open:

Top tier: Cornell, Clarkson, Dartmouth, St. Lawrence(?), Brown, Harvard, Colgate
Mid tier: ?
Bottom: ?

I think a bunch of ECAC teams are waxing but about a year away. I think Ha and Cg will have a down year and bounce back quickly.

Colgate loses Silverthorn but returns some pretty good firepower. I have to figure they'll be in position for one of the first-round byes next year.

I thought the exact same thing about 10 seconds before it ended!

Harvard may surprise us. Their freshman crop showed a lot of potential, and I'll be curious to see what Donato's impact will be on recruiting.

[Q]ninian '72 Wrote:

Harvard may surprise us. Their freshman crop showed a lot of potential, and I'll be curious to see what Donato's impact will be on recruiting.[/q]
But Harvard has always had plenty of talent. Look at the number of draft picks in their roster. It hasn't been lack of recruiting that has held them back. If Donato can get them to play to their potential (which he did this year much more so than Maz or Tomassoni at the end) they should be fine.

I wouldn't quibble about the talent level, but in the later Mazz years, there was some discussion that he had a schizophrenic approach to the type of players he brought in. Some were a good fit with a Cleary-type finesse team, others weren't. I expect Donato will have a more consistent vision about what he wants, particularly now that he has a year under his belt.

That's why I said tha Harvard and Colgate will only have one down year. If they can get their goaltending situations straightened out during the next year, they won't really miss a beat. Oh... and add Clarkson to the list of teams with goaltending "situations."

Here's a list of the returning players with 15+ ECAC conference points (source: [www.ecachockeyleague.com])

Point Scoring:                                         GP     PPG    G- A- P
Dustin Sproat            Princeton          JR F       22    1.23   15-12-27
Matt Moulson             Cornell            JR F       21    1.19   16- 9-25
T.J. Trevelyan           St. Lawrence       JR W/C     22    1.14   15-10-25
Tyler Burton             Colgate            FR C       22    1.09   13-11-24
Grant Goeckner-Zoeller   Princeton          SO F       21    1.05    5-17-22
Mike Ouellette           Dartmouth          JR F       22    0.95   11-10-21
Nick Johnson             Dartmouth          FR F       22    0.95    8-13-21
Eric Przepiorka          Dartmouth          JR F       21    0.90    9-10-19
Max Taylor               St. Lawrence       SO C/W     22    0.86    7-12-19
Garret Overlock          Dartmouth          JR D       22    0.82    7-11-18
Patrick Neundorfer       Princeton          JR F       22    0.82    5-13-18
Christian Jensen         Yale               JR F       19    0.89   11- 6-17
Kirk MacDonald           Rensselaer         JR F       21    0.81    6-11-17
Jon Smyth                Colgate            JR LW      22    0.77    7-10-17
Daniel Pegoraro          Cornell            JR F       22    0.77    6-11-17
Drew Bagnall             St. Lawrence       SO D/D     22    0.77    6-11-17
Jeff Hristovski          Yale               JR F       22    0.77    6-11-17
Ryan Maki                Harvard            SO F       20    0.80    9- 7-16
John Zeiler              St. Lawrence       JR W/C     22    0.73    5-11-16
Mike Madill              St. Lawrence       JR D/D     22    0.73    4-12-16
Jon Pelle                Harvard            FR F       22    0.73    3-13-16
Brad Mills               Yale               SO F       17    0.88    6- 9-15
Brian Ihnacak            Brown              SO F       19    0.79    8- 7-15
Shane Hynes              Cornell            JR F       20    0.75    4-11-15
Jonathan Poirier         Union              JR F       22    0.68    6- 9-15

By team, that's:

Point Scoring:                                         GP     PPG    G- A- P
Dustin Sproat            Princeton          JR F       22    1.23   15-12-27
Grant Goeckner-Zoeller   Princeton          SO F       21    1.05    5-17-22
Patrick Neundorfer       Princeton          JR F       22    0.82    5-13-18

Matt Moulson             Cornell            JR F       21    1.19   16- 9-25
Daniel Pegoraro          Cornell            JR F       22    0.77    6-11-17
Shane Hynes              Cornell            JR F       20    0.75    4-11-15

T.J. Trevelyan           St. Lawrence       JR W/C     22    1.14   15-10-25
Max Taylor               St. Lawrence       SO C/W     22    0.86    7-12-19
Drew Bagnall             St. Lawrence       SO D/D     22    0.77    6-11-17
John Zeiler              St. Lawrence       JR W/C     22    0.73    5-11-16
Mike Madill              St. Lawrence       JR D/D     22    0.73    4-12-16

Tyler Burton             Colgate            FR C       22    1.09   13-11-24
Jon Smyth                Colgate            JR LW      22    0.77    7-10-17

Mike Ouellette           Dartmouth          JR F       22    0.95   11-10-21
Nick Johnson             Dartmouth          FR F       22    0.95    8-13-21
Eric Przepiorka          Dartmouth          JR F       21    0.90    9-10-19
Garret Overlock          Dartmouth          JR D       22    0.82    7-11-18

Christian Jensen         Yale               JR F       19    0.89   11- 6-17
Jeff Hristovski          Yale               JR F       22    0.77    6-11-17
Brad Mills               Yale               SO F       17    0.88    6- 9-15

Kirk MacDonald           Rensselaer         JR F       21    0.81    6-11-17

Ryan Maki                Harvard            SO F       20    0.80    9- 7-16
Jon Pelle                Harvard            FR F       22    0.73    3-13-16

Brian Ihnacak            Brown              SO F       19    0.79    8- 7-15

Jonathan Poirier         Union              JR F       22    0.68    6- 9-15

And returning goalies by Sv%:

Save Percentage:                                   Saves    GA     Pct
David McKee              Cornell            SO       477    26    .948
Adam D'Alba              Brown              FR       485    40    .924
Eric Leroux              Princeton          JR       488    50    .907
Justin Mrazek            Union              FR       205    23    .899
Matt Modelski            Yale               SO       404    47    .896
Kris Mayotte             Union              JR       356    46    .886

Note: a *LOT* of teams lose their #1 goaltender.

Harvard (Hyphen)
Vermont (OBE)
Colgate (Silverthorn)
Dartmouth (Yacey)
Clarkson (Happy Trails Traylen)
SLU (McKenna)

Unless Brown improves, Cornell (perhaps Princeton?) is the only contender to return their G.

From all that, plus intuition, I get:

Top Tier: Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, St. Lawrence
Middle Tier: Brown, Colgate, Yale, Harvard (maybe worse -- they could be in a world of hurt)
Bottom Tier: Quinnipiac (hey, who knows?), Union, RPI, Clarkson

[Q]Trotsky Wrote:

Unless Brown improves, Cornell (perhaps Princeton?) is the only contender to return their G.

From all that, plus intuition, I get:

Top Tier: Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, St. Lawrence
Middle Tier: Brown, Colgate, Yale, Harvard (maybe worse -- they could be in a world of hurt)
Bottom Tier: Quinnipiac (hey, who knows?), Union, RPI, Clarkson




Edited 2 times. Last edit at 04/08/05 09:18AM by Trotsky.[/q]

I think Princeton will improve, but I don't know if I am ready to consider them a serious contender unless Leroux improves dramatically. They will probably get a home playoff game, and may compete for a bye.

Cornell and Dartmouth may be significantly ahead of the other teams (at least by ECAC standards). I don't think it's unreasonable to see a gap of 4-6 points between Cornell, Dartmouth, and everyone else.

That being said, all it would take is Leggio or apostrophe (or another goalie) getting hot to completely turn things upside down.

With all due respect, it's hard to imagine Princeton in the top tier of ANYTHING hockey-related.

It ain't all that long since Princeton won the ECAC tournament.

Beeeej

[Q]Trotsky Wrote:
Bottom Tier: Quinnipiac (hey, who knows?)[/q]

Remember, although Union didn't exactly tear up the league when they came in in 1991-92, they beat a highly-touted Cornell team at Lynah. You never know what a team can do when it has something to prove. I'm picking Q for first-round home ice.

Beeeej

Gadowski's also the real deal. It took him two recruiting classes to turn around similarly sorry AAF, so - based on this track record - the projection may be a year premature.

[Q]Beeeej Wrote:
Remember, although Union didn't exactly tear up the league when they came in in 1991-92, they beat a highly-touted Cornell team at Lynah. You never know what a team can do when it has something to prove. I'm picking Q for first-round home ice.
[/q]

To be honest, Cornell wasn't exactly highly touted that year -- they were (and would wind up) in fifth place. Still, that was a huge loss to a basically Division III team they had beaten 8-1 the month before.

Q also loses their top goalie, Jamie Holden, who started all but three of their games. They also lose three of their top five scorers, although their only two guys to average over a point a game return.

[Q]Beeeej Wrote:

It ain't all that long since Princeton won the ECAC tournament.[/q]

Beating us, en route.

I worship the Law of Conservation of Suckiness too, but I think the conference lost a ton of talent, and Princeton didn't. They have not always been horrendous -- they won 18+ games three years running in the late 90's. I think they may turn it around.

Now watch them have a "4 point season clap, clap, clapclapclap."

Note: the "clap" above is in no way a reference to Nickerson.

[Q]fenwick Wrote:
Q also loses their top goalie, Jamie Holden, who started all but three of their games. They also lose three of their top five scorers, although their only two guys to average over a point a game return.[/q]They'll also be one of only two ECAC teams to return a Hobey finalist.

[Q]Beeeej Wrote:

Trotsky Wrote:
Bottom Tier: Quinnipiac (hey, who knows?)[/Q]
Remember, although Union didn't exactly tear up the league when they came in in 1991-92, they beat a highly-touted Cornell team at Lynah. [/q]This, as far as I am concerned, should be spoken of in the same tones as the Sacred Heart Game of Death. I must now go spit on the ground.

 

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