Another interesting week has led to even more movement in the Power Rankings. Yale impressed me in a weekend road trip to Harvard and Dartmouth. Quinnipiac, Rensselaer and Harvard are tied at the top of the ECAC standings, but hypothetically QU is the leader because it has two games in hand against the others. I am reluctantltly keeping Colgate at the top, but QU, Yale and Harvard are nipping at its heels. Without further ado, here is my weekly take.

1. Colgate (8-3-1, 2-1-1 ECAC) – Last Week 1

Colgate continues its reign at the top of the ECAC power rankings, a place it has yet to relinquish this season. The Raiders have been pretty inconsistent over the past few weeks, but they are still in my astute estimation the best team in the conference top to bottom. Injuries are plaguing them, with two of its top scorers out. That billing may change in the coming weeks, if the results continue to be inconsistent. Last weekend it beat SLU and tied Clarkson, at home. It hangs on to the top spot by a small margin.

2. Quinnipiac (7-2-1, 4-0-0) – Last Week 4

Maybe I should jump back on the Quinnipiac bandwagon? Well I am not fully ready to do so because I do not fully trust a few weeks of good goaltending and defensive play. I need a week more to think there is any more improvement. There seems to be on the surface, which is a good sign. With it the Bobcats could just be the best team in the conference. Regardless, they will still light up the possession stats but I say use caution.

3. Yale (3-1-2, 2-1-1) – Last Week 8

I was rather impressed with Yale this weekend and I am certain it has the best goalie in league. The Bulldogs are built from the net out, which makes them impressive. Last weekend they went on the road, sweeping away Dartmouth and Harvard on the road. I happened to be in attendance for both of its games over the weekend. It is the biggest mover, but I feel as though it will be higher than three really soon.

4. Harvard (4-1-2, 3-1-2) – Last Week 2

Harvard dropped a game on Saturday against Yale, but again it looked impressive. The Crimson finally have the offense to go with that defense they have. So far on the year, they are 26/26 on the penalty-kill. It trounced Brown on Friday, before falling to its biggest rival, Yale. On Tuesday, it shut the big Green out for the first time in 61 years in Hanover. Harvard continues to impress.

5. St. Lawrence (7-4-1, 3-1-0) – Last Week 3

St. Lawrence struggled against Colgate, in a 5-2 loss on Friday night. The Saints, though, are still over-achieving and responded well with  4-2 win over Cornell. Kyle Hayton didn’t win a weekly award this week, which is well rather umm shocking.

6. Dartmouth (2-3-1, 2-3-1) – Last Week 5

Dartmouth dropped two of three over the weekend, but didn’t look bad in either of the losses. On Friday, it made crucial mistakes in a 4-1 loss to Yale. On Tuesday, it played as well as it could have and still lost to Harvard. Both teams are really good, and I still think Dartmouth is too, so Dartmouth’s drop is minimal despite two home losses.

7. Rensselaer (5-7-1, 4-2-0) – Last Week 6

A win against Princeton doesn’t do much to bolster a resume these days, but a tie against UConn seems like a good result based on what the Huskies have done this season. RPI also dropped a game to Quinnipiac over the weekend. RPI continues to lead the ECAC, but that lead has dwindled to a three way tie. The Engineers needed to make hay, because its next five contests are on the road. During the five game road swing the Engineers visit three of the toughest places to play in the country , in UNH, Michigan and Yale. This might just be a make or break stretch for RPI.

8. Union (6-5-1, 1-4-1) – Last Week 7

The Dutchmen have officially fallen off the face of the Earth in recent weeks, but if things are looking up it finally got its first one in ECAC play (a 6-1 victory over Princeton). I am pretty sure none of us figured that Union would go six games without a win, but it did and it pretty much eliminated itself from any contention for a regular season title before week three was out. Union dropped a home tilt against Quinnipiac on Friday, before it picked up the crucial win against the Tigers.

9. Clarkson (3-5-4, 1-1-2) – Last Week 9

Clarkson hasn’t been awful in conference play, it has been merely average. The Golden Knights fell victim to Cornell on Friday night, which marked the Big Red’s first victory of the season. Clarkson rebounded rather nicely when it tied a real good Colgate team, 2-2. Some folks are none to happy about the results in Potsdam, but there are always a few in the crowd that are never happy. Clarkson still has a good defensive squad, which is looking for offensive consistency.

10. Cornell (1-4-1, 1-3-0) – Last Week 10

Cornell FINALLY picked up its first win of the season on Friday against Clarkson. Cornell has yet to score more than two goals in a game, which is concerning and has become an epidemic in Ithaca. I still think it will pick up, but I am starting to have serious doubts it ever will. It dropped a contest to a very offensive SLU team on Saturday, a 4-2 loss.

11. Princeton (1-4-1, 1-3-0) – Last Week 12

Princeton has results in league and has played three of the better teams in the conference. There have been growing pains with its new coach, Ron Fogarty, but signs of progress have appeared within the program. A 6-1 loss and a 3-1 loss marred the weekend, but the team that takes home the cake in face this weekend had a rougher weekend and has less results. It is nice to see the Tigers away from the dreaded 12th place position.

12. Brown (1-4-0, 0-4-0) – Last Week 11

Three freshman on defense and an inexperienced lineup is haunting Brown. The Bears have been outscored 19-5 in conference play and have given up five or more goals in three of four conference games. Its lone win was against Army and it has struggled since. This was not the start Brendan Whittet would have hoped for, but Brown has dug itself quite the hole. The young team will get better, but right now it just isn’t with the ECAC elite. Last weekend it was outscored 12-2 on the road against Harvard and Dartmouth.

Wednesday, November 19th, 2014 - 9:49 pm | Blogs, ECAC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings