There are a plethora of great games this weekend and the conference season gets underway this weekend with three games. Harvard hosts Dartmouth in both of those teams’ openers, while RPI and Union will play a home and home series. St. Lawrence and Clarkson will play a pair of non-league games, renewing their rivalry. All ECAC teams are in action this week and the schedule will be filled with exciting matchups.

Everyone will be writing about Union and RPI, rightfully so. The stakes are high, but the matchup features two teams that are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Clarkson and SLU are closer together in the early season and are as big of a rivalry than the two Albany schools. This matchup is the forgotten rivalry  thus Clarkson and St. Lawrence is this week’s ECAC game of the week.

Clarkson ( vs. St. Lawrence (Friday at SLU, Saturday at Clarkson)

Kyle Hayton has been the savior that St. Lawrence was looking for in net. His presence has improved the Saint goaltending by near 6 percent in save percentage, which makes a huge difference when it comes to wins and losses. Clarkson has been struggling to find offense, but last weekend was a positive step in the right direction when it scored six goals in a loss and tie. An interesting stat in this series is that no Clarkson senior has lost at SLU’s Appelton Arena. Tech has gone 9-1-1 in its last 11 games against the Saints. Clarkson enters on a four game winless streak and enter winless at Cheel Arena (0-2-1). St. Lawrence is 3-2-0 in its last five contests, with two overtime losses.

Despite the increased offense last weekend ,the Knights normally stingy defense gave up seven goals. In its first five games, Clarkson gave up just nine genos for an average that put it near the top in the country in defense. In its last game, it gave up five goals in the first 25 minutes against Bowling Green. Joe Zarbo leads the offense with seven points (3G, 4A), while seven Clarkson skaters enter with a goal  Clarkson also boasts the reigning ECAC rookie of the week, Dylan Gareau. Gareau scored two goals in a 5-4 loss on Saturday.

SLU has struggled to find the important goal in overtime and have lost two overtime games. Kyle Hayton has been great in net, but the Saints are struggling with possession. Allowing 52, 42 and 47 shots in three of its last four games is just not a recipe for success long term. Saint coach Greg Carvel calls this the deepest team he has had in his tenure, despite lacking the superstar quality players. Kyle Flanagan and Greg Carey are not walking out of that locker room this season but the scoring by committee seems to be working. SLU has the fourth highest shooting percentage in the nation, scoring on 15.6 percent of its shots on nets. 19 different skaters have scored a point, 17 different skaters have scored a goal and the Saints are 11th in scoring offense.

Clarkson’s power-play is functioning at 9.5 percent, while SLU’s works at 24.1 percent. The Saints have the sixth best penalty kill in the country at 91% and the Knights kill 88% of penalties. Steve Perry and Kyle Hayton should be the goalies in the matchup. Less pressure out of conference should make these two games exciting and full of action.

Prediction: 4-2 SLU, 1-1 Tie

Union (5-1-0, 0-0-0) vs RPI (1-5-0, 0-0-0)- Friday at RPI, Saturday at Union

I probably do not need to talk about the last time these teams met. It ended with a line brawl and coaches throwing punches that made near every national news outlet. This will be everyone else’s game of the week and I am fine with not having it as such. The conference series should make for interesting drama on the college hockey sites, but I am not sure I can find two teams that are at different places in terms of look. Whereas Union has been dominant, save its performance against St Cloud Saturday, RPI has looked well melodramatic to say the least. Five games, three goals and five losses the Engineers are in a free-fall The games should be entertaining but RPI needs to score, which it hasn’t proved it can do yet.

Prediction: Union sweeps 3-1, 5-0

Nebraska Omaha (3-1-0, 2-0-0 NCHC) at Cornell (0-0-0, 0-0-0)- Friday and Saturday

Cornell opens its season against the Mavericks of Nebraska Omaha. Cornell swept a pair of games in Omaha last year.

Prediction: Omaha 4-3, Cornell 3-2

Mercyhurst (2-2-0, 1-1-0 Atlantic) at Colgate (5-1-0, 0-0-0)- Friday and Saturday

Colgate enters on a five game winning streak, dispatching of Sacred Heart in a pair of road games last week. The Raiders are scoring and getting great defense, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Colgate has the sixth ranked defense in the country, allowing just 1.33 goals a game. Mercyhurst should pose a bigger challenge than Sacred Heart did, as the Lakers are one of the favorites to take the Atlantic Hockey crown.

Prediction: 4-2 Gate, 2-1 Gate OT

Brown (0-0-0, 0-0-0) at Army (2-3-1, 2-3-1 Atlantic)

Brown opens its season in West Point. Brown’s inexperienced defense will be given its first test of the year but I see the Bears having no issues with the Black Knights. Brown’s top line should be on full display and it will probably be its first rock solid game of the season.

Prediction: Brown 5-1

Liberty Invitational, Princeton vs Yale (Friday)

The Tigers and the Bulldogs will open their respective seasons on Friday in Newark NJ. The first game for Princeton also begins the Ron Fogarty era. My opinions on these teams have not changed since I did my ECAC Preview, so you should check that out for more info.

Prediction: Yale 4-2

Northeastern (0-4-0, 0-1-0 Hockey East) at Quinnipiac (1-2-1, 0-0-0)- Saturday and Sunday

These games could be exciting because Northeastern and Quinnipiac sport the same problems. Both teams lack the defensive brand of hockey both were expecting to have to begin the year and well goaltending is a big question mark for both. Quinnipiac should have an advantage in terms of possession but its possession has not been as dominant as recent years. Both QU and NU are young teams with exciting young talent. Mike Szmatula for NU is a flashy sophomore forward, while  junior Kevin Roy is quite the talent in his own right. QU will need to stop the scoring threat, which it has not been able to do the last three games. A weekend off was probably exactly what the doctor ordered or was it? Lots of offense in this matchup should be expected. I expect NU to wake its dormant offense up in a large way this weekend.

Prediction: 7-6 NU, 4-3 QU

Dartmouth (0-0-0, 0-0-0) at Harvard (0-0-0, 0-0-0) – Saturday

The Green and the Crimson will both open their seasons on Saturday with a game against each other. Both teams should be a tad rusty, given the situation. Again check out my ECAC preview for more info on these teams. I am going to go with the home team, Harvard here just because we really don’t know where either of these teams are.

Prediction: Harvard 3-2

Thursday, October 30th, 2014 - 9:01 pm | Blogs, ECAC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings