The college hockey season has commenced and we ECAC fans again have the privilege of fielding one of the deepest conferences in the country . One should expect the complete ECAC preview package to be released in the coming days. Fair warning, if you don’t like the opinions,  RPI coach Seth Appert said it right in his preseason conference call. Appert said, “generally speaking the coaches and media are wrong. That is pretty consistent and I don’t put a lot of stock in it.” He of course points out that preseason polls never pan out. There are always surprises and I am sure this year will prove to be another year where we aren’t even close, although we all strive to be as close as possible. Unlike teams, we get new chances every year to prove we are “experts.”

Colgate went out to St. Cloud, took a quick 2-0 lead in game 1 and were able to hold for the win against a solid Husky team. Colgate, though, is expected to win. Getting a big win on the road was exactly the start it needed and wanted. It dropped game 2 but winning one of two against SCSU is quite the start, also it could turn out to be a huge pairwise boost at the end of the season because of the way road games are weighted. Unlike Colgate, Rensselaer had no pressure to begin the season and it showed at the Icebreaker. RPI faced the host, Notre Dame, on opening night and came out with an impressive 3-2 victory in enemy territory. I will have more on the Engineers below, because I was quite impressed with what I saw. Both Rensselaer and Colgate have impressive, tough non-conference schedules, so be on the lookout when those big name teams come to your town. Without further ado, lets get to my thoughts of the week.

Rensselaer Looked More Comfortable in Front of Kasdorf

Friday night provided a good start for the league, when Rensselaer went to Notre Dame and defeated the Irish. Two days later, the Engineers got dominated by a strong Minnesota team. the improvement from year to year was visible, though. Most of the offense is gone, well it was going to be tough to replace Ryan Haggerty who provided most of its offense any way, but the defensive coverages were much improved.

Jason Kasdorf lost all of last season to a shoulder injury. There was no doubt entering last season that he was the best goaltender in the league. I guess over a year, we forget just how good a guy is but then again it is tough to return from an injury as a goalie. The Minnesota game could have been worse if not for Kasdorf. His play in that game made the difference, but RPI still couldn’t match its big first game. Kasdorf is now 15-7-2 as a starter, which more than proves his worth. In that time, every other Engineer starter is 17-23-4. If anything, the Engineers just look more comfortable in front of him. His absence in the lineup last season, was a trickle down effect. Scott Diebold played admirably but a lot can be said of a how well a team plays in front of a specific goaltender. It often goes missed among most, but each goaltender provides something different for the team. Kasdorf just provides that different element for RPI, and the results will show it.

I was able to watch both games this weekend and I was very impressed with what I saw against Notre Dame. Rensselaer stymied the neutral zone and played from the net out. The offense may not have scared even a mouse, but the defensive zone in front of Kasdorf was the reason that RPI shocked the Irish. Its best offense was how well its defense played. The confidence in its goaltending oozed out into the play, it was evident. Teams that play from the net out are often times the most successful teams in college hockey. That was exactly the way RPI was playing on Friday, but got away from a bit on Sunday. The question still lingers though, who will light the lamp consistently for the Engineers?

St. Lawrence’s Roller Coaster of a weekend

On Friday, the Saints traveled to RIT and laid an egg. I kind of predicted it on twitter, almost to the goal. The Saints are one of the more inexperienced teams in the conference heading into the season and it showed on opening night, against a team it probably should have beaten. As my preview points out, the decimation of its lineup to graduation and early departures was as big as a college hockey team can have. Everyone that returns will have a new role, an increased role to score and be responsible on the ice. Over the weekend, the Saints dressed seven freshmen. Those younger players will be put into spots that most freshmen hardly see. For St. Lawrence the weekend that was, was very weird and it showed its growing pains.

The weekend started out bad, but the Saints marched into Niagara and put up double digits the next night. A day after getting run out of Rochester, in a 5-2 loss, SLU came out with authority trouncing Niagara, 10-2. It scored a total of nine goals in the final 40 minutes of the contest. Gavin Bayreuther and Ben Masella each had two goals in the contest, Drew Smolcynski had four assists, while nine Saints had multiple points on the night. The offensive explosion wouldn’t have been much of surprise last season, but this year there are some obvious holes to fill. The result was certainly eye catching for me.

Things, obviously, haven’t changed much up in Canton. The explosive offense will still be there, but most nights there won’t be six goals from defensemen. either. As weird, and uneven, as last weekend was, its fans should expect much of the same with such a young roster. Top flight players, Paul Carey and Kyle Flanagan, have left but Saints continued to score. The biggest question for the Saints is hardly on the offense, as its uptempo offense will produce goals and entertain as per usual.

The biggest question lies on whether it can stop pucks from going in its own net. With a freshman in net and a defense that sports no upperclassmen, the Saints probably will still be adventure, hell it was last year with a more experienced unit. Giving up five goals to RIT certainly proved that case, but then again if a team can score in bunches there will be wins. One weekend is not a sign of anything. I still think SLU finishes near the bottom of the league and scoring ten goals won’t change that opinion.

Clarkson is going to be one tough out

I have been marking the Golden Knights, as a team to watch, despite putting them at nine in my preseason poll. No team in the ECAC conference has the shutdown defense that Clarkson sports. I am seemingly one of the few that will realize and give any credit to a team that can play a true defensive game, like it does. It may not have the flashy offensive defensemen like most teams in college hockey, but its game is more of a lost art than anything else.

Kevin Tansey is probably the most underrated defenseman in the country, I will make this statement for the second consecutive year. Paul Geiger, James de Haas, James Howden along with Tansey make up a formidable top four. Add in two freshmen (Kelly Summers and Terrence Amorosa), whom are draft picks, and there will be strength in numbers on the blue line. it is the clear strength of the Knights. Steve Perry has seemingly taken the reins of the starting goaltending job, which should help the defense to be even stronger. Teams that have one guy take control tend to be better hockey teams.

Tech gave up just two goals on the weekend, which is impressive but then again it also gave up just 32 shots over two games. The latter stat is even more impressive in an age where shots and sending everything but the kitchen sink at the goalies is the norm. A lot of teams aver 30 shots in a single game. On Friday, against Niagara it allowed just 12 shots on net. The shutdown nature of the game wore down its opponent, which became evident the next night against SLU. For Clarkson it is much of the same. Its defense will win it games. Sometimes the mold of a strong defense is not the offense it provides but its positioning, blocking and locking down of the blue line. That is the game Clarkson plays and will play even stronger this season.

Wednesday, October 15th, 2014 - 8:45 pm | Blogs, ECAC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings