Another week in the books and we have hit the last weekend of the regular season. Quinnipiac locked up at least a share of the Cleary Cup last weekend with two ties, while St. Lawrence will be the second seed in the ECAC tournament and still could gain a share if it wins twice, while the Bobcats drop both on the weekend. But that probably won’t happen so don’t think that it will even be a thing. The home ice teams seem to be a lock, but two byes are going to go to the wire. Yale should end up the third seed, but is up just two points on Colgate who it plays on Friday night and Harvard who has the spot. Dartmouth is a point behind both Harvard and Colgate in fifth. Cornell and Clarkson seem to be locks to host first round series’ in two weeks.

The pairwise situation is still marginal at best, as Quinnipiac sits in 11th, while Yale is the only other team in and on the bubble, in 15. Harvard wrecked its chances with an overtime loss to Boston College on Monday, but St. Lawrence would be interesting and close if it continued to win hockey games at the pace it has. The Ivy league is also up for grabs this weekend as Yale would clinch it with a win on Saturday against Cornell, but Dartmouth also has a chance at it if Yale were to fall to the Big Red. Without further ado, here are my thoughts of the week:

Yale Still Looks Dangerous

Everyone hears a lot about Yale’s next door neighbor, Quinnipiac because the Bobcats won the ECAC regular season title, but quietly the Elis have put together a successful season. Sitting in third place in the league the Bulldogs are the league’s second best team in terms of the Pairwise. They also boast the top defense in all of college hockey, allowing a paltry 1.59 goals per game.

Defensively, Yale is led by Rob O Gara, Mitch Witek, captain Tommy Fallen and Ryan Obuchowski. All four are great in their own zone and provide a flair on the offensive side of the blue line, as well. O Gara had a monster game against Quinnipiac last Friday, registering a goal and an assist. He logged a ton of key minutes in the game and he was the best player on the ice for both teams. O Gara is one of few remaining holdovers from Yale’s national championship team and his experience is paramount. Fallen eptiomizes a captain and leads by example. Witek made a phenomenal defensive play late in the game against Quinnipiac that really kept the Bobcats from scoring a go ahead goal. Obuchowski, like O Gara, leads the Bulldogs with a +15 rating. As a six man unit, there are few as solid as Yale’s.

Alex Lyon has played a huge role in Yale’s success this season but the defense in front of him has been underrated as well. Lyon’s numbers are sensational this season, at 1.62 GAA and ,938 save percentage. He will be a candidate for the Ken Dryden award, as the league’s best goaltender and possibly the Richter Award, nationally.

I kept saying this on twitter and it is something I surely believe; there isn’t much that separates the Bulldogs from the Bobcats. Two ties will certainly prove that but on a day to day basis, I would take Yale’s sacred seven over Quinnipiac’s.The Bobcats just have two more scorers than does the Bulldogs and thus they are where they are. Yale certainly has the talent to compete, and will in the ECAC tournament, but it needs to find some scoring. It can certainly play some impressive defense.

Regular Season Titles are More Impressive than Tournament Titles

Quinnipiac picked up its second Cleary Cup in three seasons, but some will bring up their lack of success in the ECAC tournament. That comparison is rather unfair to the Bobcats, because well a regular season title is tougher to win than is a tournament title. Give me a consistent team over one that wins just four games in a row, please.

Over a 22 game conference season, the Bobcats have lost just twice with two games remaining. Consistency is tough, while consistency over such a long period is even tougher. Conference titles, so called postseason titles, require a team to win four games over two weekends to put it in comparison. 22 is a  much bigger number in terms of staying consistent, as most teams usually ebb and flow. In both of their Cleary Cup campaigns, the Bobcats had long unbeaten streaks to win the title.  This season, the Bobcats are on a current 12 game unbeaten streak against league opponents. In 2012-2013, the Bobcats went 17-2-3 on the season and this year they have a chance to match that.

17-2-3 would be an impressive record to match for Quinnipiac. It would be phenomenal because only thrice has an ECAC team had two or less losses in league play this millennial. Cornell achieved it twice in the early 2000’s and the Bobcats would join them, again, as the only teams to be so consistent over a 22 game league schedule.

Harvard is Taking Steps but the Bye is Important

Harvard has looked better recently and on Monday it played in a meaningful game against Boston College, almost coming out on top. But  Harvard is going to need some magic to make a run this season at anything. The top contender for everything in the first half, the Crimson have dropped from first in Pairwise all the way to 18th. The fall from grace has been epic, caused mostly by injuries early in the second half and now that people are back in the lineup it is more of a continuity issue more than anything else.

Harvard has seen Alex Kerfoot, Sean Malone and Luke Esposito return to the lineup but the inconsistency has continued. The Crimson have yet to win consecutive games in 2015, while going 4-9-1 after a 10-1-2 start to the season.  But through it all, the Crimson remain in a tie for fourth and hold the tiebreaker on the Raiders going into the final weekend.

Senior Patrick McNally seems lost for the season, originally reported as a chance to return. This on a report I received on Monday before the Beanpot loss to Boston College. His loss has proven to be bigger than I ever though, as without him their blue line becomes one dimensional and lack the talent to produce offensively with the best of teams in the country.

Harvard needs the bye more than any other team. This weekend it has a game against a Quinnipiac, which could be huge for its NCAA tournament hopes as a win could move them back near an at large berth in the NCAA tournament. It also has a game against Princeton, which it should win. It needs a weekend off to rest and reset it season. it has played more than any other ECAC team this half. Look for Harvard to get said bye this weekend.

Thursday, February 26th, 2015 - 12:48 am | Blogs, ECAC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings