The second half of the ECAC season is off to its usual tough-nose nature. All teams came back from the break improved, with Dartmouth and Brown most improved. Quinnipiac continues to lead the league by a wide margin, now seven points, as its top competition of Harvard and Cornell have each dropped games in recent weeks. RPI now sits in second, followed by Cornell and Harvard. Those three teams are separated by a mere three points, while Yale is a mere point behind them four points out of second. The league standings are tight and it will make for a phenomenal second half. RPI and Quinnipiac will meet on Thursday night

Nationally, the league has dropped off a bit but it is because the league is so strong from top to bottom. Clarkson has picked up two wins against top teams, SLU and Harvard. Cornell dropped a game against RPI on Friday and picked up a tie against Union. The ECAC has four teams in tournament positions, with each of them in the top 10. It also has nine teams in the top 27 of the Pairwise and six in the top 19. Quite frankly, on a given night every team can beat any other in the ECAC. This is what makes the league great.

Vesey Had a Special Game on Friday night

Because I see Harvard a lot, I have come to enjoy the magic of Jimmy Vesey over the years. He is a special player and his skills have only blossomed in the last two seasons. From Harvard’s special run to the ECAC title last season to his overall domination late last season, I feel as though our expectations on him were quite elevated. It was going to be tough to match last season, no matter how good he was. On Friday night, like I did the Saturday night prior with BU’s Grzelcyk, I saw a great individual performance. Vesey’s on Friday was probably comparable to any I have seen in college hockey in a while.

The Crimson trailed, 1-0, after two periods and it just looked like it was going to get its third loss in a row. But much like great players in hockey often do, Jimmy Vesey just took matters into his own hands. Vesey’s first goal I sat in the press box as he took the puck from the blueline, maneuvered around two or three SLU defenders and finished it off with one of the prettiest backhanders into the glove-side corner of Kyle Hayton. That was one, the game was tied 1-1 now. Two minutes later, Vesey was at it again as a snipe shot, that many college hockey players just don’t have, went through the five-hole of Hayton. It may not have been as pretty or as I reacted, unfair, as the first but it was just as skilled. And then if the performance needed to be completed, just two and a half minutes later, Vesey finished off his natural hat trick in a span of less than five minutes. The game was changed, one that Harvard really needed.

Vesey over his career has scored 69 goals and has had 11 multi-goal games, but  never a hat trick. This fact seemed unfathomable to me, when I heard the stat from Harvard’s sports information department.Performances like these further Hobey campaigns and for Vesey he has more chances to do so this year, first because that guy Jack Eichel is playing in the NHL, second because the ECAC is much stronger and lastly because Harvard is on the national stage more than it has been in recent memory. The Crimson dropped its other game of the weekend, to Clarkson.

Dartmouth Continues to Impress

If you missed my feature at the onset of the second half, on Dartmouth’s improvement in their Christmas tourney you missed something important because well the Big Green are a new team. This weekend I had a chance to check out Dartmouth’s home game against SLU and it was much of the same that I saw against Merrimack and Robert Morris, two weeks prior.

For Dartmouth, we knew there were going to be growing pains, but Bob Gaudet assured everyone that his team would figure out after those pains. This of course was in preseason and then the disaster of a first half happened. I suppose much of the league forgot that statement, as I did. But it has come true. Dartmouth is 5-1-0 since it has returned from the break, with wins over Merrimack, Robert Morris, Holy Cross and it swept the North Country teams over the weekend.

There are many reasons for the sudden improvement of the Green, but it starts with the defensive zone. It also helps that Charles Grant has taken his opportunity in the Green net. The senior is 5-1-0 with a 1.34 GAA and.952 save percentage since the second half began. The Big Green have comitted themselves to playing a 200 foot game and it has been working for them. For me, I see the team that I have gotten used to watching all these years.

Dartmouth isn’t only keeping pucks out of the net, but it is getting offense in droves. It is scoring 3.67 goals a game, it is getting balanced scoring and it has the fifth best goal margin in the country (2.43) since the dawn of the break. Jack Barre has the second most points in the country since the New Year, as the senior has nine points and three goals. He trails only Jimmy Vesey in scoring in that time frame. 12 different players have three or more points, 12 skaters have a goal and Brett Patterson leads the team with four genos. Dartmouth is having a renaissance so to say, and many of its players are as well.

The Big Green are in good position, they are sitting in 19th position in the pairwise and it has rocketed up to sixth in the ECAC standings. The way they are playing, they could end up in a bye spot and an NCAA spot at seasons end. But then again, will they revert back to the first half? I doubt it, this Dartmouth team looks much like the one two years ago that was able to sustain that success until it faltered to the Union juggernaut.

Yale Quietly on a Run

Remember that team I picked to win the league title in preseason? Ya the Elis of Yale… Oh ya them. The Bulldogs are back and are seemingly back to their old tricks. The defense has been top notch and Yale is quietly in the midst of a six game unbeaten streak, with five wins in those contests. Yale sits in fifth in the ECAC standings, while it also holds on to a top 10 position in the pairwise rankings.

We expected the Yale defense to be good and it has been magnificent in recent weeks. During the six game run, including a win against offensive juggernaut Boston University, the Elis have allowed just 1.33 goals per game and Alex Lyon has again looked himself.

The Big question on Yale, will be the same for me as the season goes on and that is scoring big goals. Lately, there has been a key piece to the offensive puzzle that has been scoring. John Hayden has been scoring and has been the player that many thought he would be when he entered Yale. Hayden has five goals and six points in recent games  He also has two game-winning goals in the five wins. Freshman, Joe Snively has six points, while Stu Wilson, Ryan Hitchcock and Ted Hart have come alive offensively. Hart scored the overtime winner against Brown on Saturday. For Yale, it is getting timely scoring but it still needs more of it.

Yale still has every opportunity to be the team I thought it would. The defense is probably the best and most consistent in the country, its offense can only improve and its youngsters who are starting to click can be an integral piece to that offensive puzzle. I thought Hayden would take a jump this year and if recent success says anything, he has. He certainly has the talent to lead the offense like he has been. But then again Yale could revert back to its struggle to score key goals, I suppose they could. Yale seems like it is quietly on a run that could last and could make the league race interesting… But then again, maybe it just isn’t the team we thought it may be.

Sunday, January 17th, 2016 - 11:15 pm | Blogs, Commentary, ECAC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings