Probably not, but it isn't far-fetched to say that it is out of fourth place. Yale over UNH; Harvard over BC; RPI over Denver; etc. Pretty impressive for the EZAC. Yale, Harvard, and RPI are good teams but it isn't as if they are the three best teams in the conference. The ECACHL has become so much stronger top-to-bottom and a conference, has to be considered better than just "the fourth of the big four". Of course there have been some results that been ugly for ECACHL teams as well. There is still a ton of hockey to be played an plenty of inter-conference games, but I think the time is coming where the ECACHL is back to being a respectable conference not a mid-major with a couple of strong teams.
Well, we've never lost the prestigious "Commissioner's Cup," so I don't think there's any argument that we're the best conference.
;-)
http://www.uscho.com/news/id,12724/ThirdCommissionersCupScheduleSet.html
The problem is that the ECACHL needs to do better when the games count the most, in the postseason. While I've been watching college hockey, ECAC(HL) teams have made it to the Frozen Four a total of two times. Frankly, twice in seven seasons is pathetic. The ECACHL needs to be better and be more consistent in the NCAAs. At least one ECACHL team--preferably Cornell--needs to make it into the Frozen Four every year. Harvard needs to stop choking in the first round. Colgate needs to make it to the NCAAs more often. Clarkson and St. Lawrence need to make it back to the NCAAs after having taken the last few years off. Dartmouth needs to make it to the NCAAs for the first time since 1980. And, of course, someone from the ECACHL needs to finally win a national championship after such a long drought. Granted, wins in the regular season like Harvard over BC, Yale over UNH, and RPI over Denver help when it comes to PWR and determining which ECACHL teams eventually make it to the NCAAs, but none of that will matter unless the teams that make it finally do some real, consistent damage there. Cornell has largely been pulling their weight since 2002, but they can't do it alone.
The good news is, with respect to possibly no longer being #4, the last time the ECAC(HL) sent a team to the Frozen Four was also the last time the CCHA sent a team to the Frozen Four. If the ECACHL hasn't overtaken the CCHA yet, at the very least the gap has been closed quite a bit.
vs. The Big 4:
AHA 2-21-2 (.120)
CCHA 10-12-4 (.462)
CHA 3-15-1 (.184)
ECACHL 8-9-3 (.475)
HEA 13-14-4 (.484)
WCHA 15-11-5 (.565)
8-9-3 is not too shabby, buy we're 1-4 vs. the WCHA (thanks Yale!). HEA is still the clear #2 in my mind.
[quote Robb]vs. The Big 4:
AHA 2-21-2 (.120)
CCHA 10-12-4 (.462)
CHA 3-15-1 (.184)
ECACHL 8-9-3 (.475)
HEA 13-14-4 (.484)
WCHA 15-11-5 (.565)
8-9-3 is not too shabby, buy we're 1-4 vs. the WCHA (thanks Yale!). HEA is still the clear #2 in my mind.[/quote]
I think thanks go to RPI for splitting with Denver. Yale, however, did knock off UHN.
In my mind the ECAC has been pretty much on par with the CCHA for a few years now. Michigan has been the one standout but other than that pretty similar. I'm not going to get too caught up with "are we better than the CCHA" arguments, especially early in the season when the sample sizes are relatively small and the percentages are close. But it's nice that we seem to be back among the Big 4, rather than being the mid major. Fingers crossed goign forward.
[quote Al DeFlorio]
I think thanks go to RPI for splitting with Denver. Yale, however, did knock off UHN.[/quote]
Oops - yep. Botched that...
From my post on the protKRACH thread: I came up with the following conference average Head to Head Winning Percentages based on the current KRACH (all HHWP are defined, even if some ratings are infinite):
WCHA .675
HEA .608
CCHA .583
ECAC .545
CHA .323
AHA .153