ECAC Power Rankings: Oct. 28
Posted by: Josh SeguinI was going to wait until the Ivies started, but I decided that it was time to premiere the inaugural edition a week earlier. There have been some noteworthy trends, of course. Quinnipiac has fallen off the map (A loss to UConn does that), Union is still Union and Colgate is good like we expected. St. Lawrence has arguably the two most impressive wins, defeating Miami and Ferris, while Clarkson and RPI are struggling mightily. I will try not to move the Ivies too much from their preseason position but RPI and Quinnipiac warrant movement down.
Just as a reminder road wins and home losses count more to me than home wins and road losses. I guess I am like the pairwise in that those things matter to me. Whereas St. Cloud’s home win at Union was impressive, Colgate’s road win at St. Cloud will be equally impressive. Without further ado here we go. I will apologize in advance for my lame sense of humor, I figured I would make everyone laugh to begin the year.
1. Colgate (5-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) – Preseason: 1
Colgate is doing exactly what we thought they would, and that is raiding wins. The Raiders will be the most consistent team in the ECAC this season and it has showed early in this season. Gate has given up just eight goals in six games. It has defeated St. Cloud, swept Northeastern in a pair of games and swept Sacred Heart over the weekend. Its only loss was a road decision against St. Cloud in game two. It has picked up right where it left off late last season, expect it to continue.
2. Union (5-1-0, 0-0-0) – Preseason 2
Is there any question about the top two teams in the ECAC right now? I think not, unless one of the Ivies comes out flying. Union started the season with five consecutive wins (UNH, AIC, at Maine x2, St Cloud) but dropped its last decision to St. Cloud. This weekend brings about that little Route 7 rivalry that spawned a line brawl and coaches throwing punches last year. Hide your grandma and children, folks.
3. Cornell (0-0-0, 0-0-0) – Preseason 3
While the other teams have been playing hockey games, the Big Red have been practicing hockey. Better than nothing I suppose. Cornell hosts Nebraska-Omaha for a pair this weekend. Somewhere Peyton Manning is yelling, OMAHA.
4. Dartmouth (0-0-0, 0-0-0) – Preseason 4
Dartmouth has been practicing its game in the best rink anywhere in the world. Dartmouth will begin its slate this weekend with a conference game against travel partner, Harvard. Stoked, because they have to deal with me. As y’all know, I am pretty tough to make happy.
5. Brown (0-0-0, 0-0-0) – Preseason 5
Brown moves up in the rankings, by virtue of not playing and thanks to Quinnipiac. According to the CHN stats it also has the best power-play and best defense in the country. Pretty impressive for not playing a game yet.
6. Yale (0-0-0, 0-0-0) – Preseason 7
Yale thanks the school that lost to it in the 2013 National Championship game for moving up without playing. The Bulldogs open their season by letting Liberty ring, in of all places New Jersey. The same New Jersey that had a colonial governor named William Franklin who hardly believed in liberty and was a steadfast loyalist. He was also the son of Ben Franklin, go figure. Lost yet? I am. The Bulldogs play Princeton on Friday.
7. Harvard (0-0-0, 0-0-0) – Preseason 8
I talked about the Crimson too often in preseason for being an eighth place team. For some unknown reason I believe they are going to end up in the top half of the league at the end of the season. Totally not trusting my thinking, I am thinking back to the last two years and checking my temperature. The Crimson and the Green will dawn the Bright Hockey Center for hockey Saturday.
8. St. Lawrence (3-3-0, 0-0-0) – Preseason 11
Biggest mover in the early season? Ya, the Saints are marching up. Wins against Miami and Ferris are muy impressive I must say, especially when they lost in overtime as well to those teams. The Saints could be 4-1-0, with four wins against national contenders. I would have them higher than this if that was the case. SLU also has this kid named Kyle Hayton in its net, word on the street is that he has been pretty good. 89 out 95 saves against Miami last weekend. The Red Hawks would probably tell you he is pretty good, why should I tell you? Because I write this blog is the answer. Make sure to also check out my feature on Hayton.
9. Quinnipiac (1-2-1, 0-0-0) – Preseason 5
Quinnipiac looks as good as it did to begin the 2012-2013 season (Quinnipiac fans will know the joke in this), where it went 30-8-5 and went on to the national title game. It will do that again right? Bobcat fans can only hope the defense and goaltending improves fast, because right now neither would scare a mouse. Luckily it is early in the season and things can change/will change.
10. Clarkson (2-3-1, 0-0-0) – Preseason 9
Tech won its first two games, to RIT and Niagara. It hasn’t won since going 0-3-1 against Vermont and Bowling Green. While being 2-1-0 on the road, Clarkson is 0-2-1 at home. Mom would be proud of the home cooking, I am sure. Well maybe a tad off topic because I am hungry by this point of the Power Rankings. Clarkson will play its rivalry weekend against SLU this weekend in a non-conference pair. Again, hide grandma and the children.
11. Princeton (0-0-0, 0-0-0) – Preseason 12
Princeton escapes the basement for the first time in a while and will also be letting Liberty ring in Newark NJ. You should visit my CHN Big Ten colleague, Jashvina Shah’s blog on Princeton, Eye on the Tigers. Needless to say that will get you stoked for Princeton hockey plus I have 12 teams to cover and she has 7, I am jealous.
12. Rensselaer (1-5-0, 0-0-0) – Preseason 10
Rensselaer beat Notre Dame in the icebreaker, on the road. Since then the Engineers have been struggling to put it in the net. Three shutouts later and three goals in five games struggling might be putting it kindly. RPI was swept by Bentley in an entertaining weekend of hockey in Troy. Bentley was also the CHN Team of the Week, congrats to them.
