The league standings started to take shape over the weekend and some teams certainly made the most of their opportunities against teams near them. Harvard outclassed Cornell at Lynah on Saturday, which saw them build on a good win at Colgate on Friday night. Dartmouth continued its resurgence with a weekend sweep opposite of Harvard, while Clarkson and Yale picked up three points. Quinnipiac still has a wide margin in the league standings, followed by Harvard, RPI, Yale and Dartmouth. The Big Green are now 7-1-0 since the break and are on a current five game winning streak, including four against conference opponents.

Over the weekend I got to visit the two Central New York rinks and had a good time in doing so, certainly both share interesting histories and a certain charm. It is always tough to see old barns close, like Starr, and I really enjoyed that rink. Cornell of course had quite the atmosphere for the Harvard game, but it was quelled fast as Harvard never looked challenged by the Big Red.  Cornell is winless in its last four and is dropping fast, as its offense has sputtered in recent weeks.

Was Cornell’s Drop Expected?

Cornell got off to the great start, especially on the offensive side of the ice, but its fast plummet is to me expected. A team that arrives on the scene and all of a sudden starts scoring in bunches, is almost always a red flag. The Big Red have all the talent to be at the top of the ECAC, but it rests mostly in its defense and the goaltending of Mitch Gillam. Even that has sputtered in recent weeks, as Cornell has given up 13 goals in its last four games including six against hated Harvard.

For Cornell, it still has good positioning within the ECAC and nationally. It should get it together, one should expect a Schafer coach team to make a run. The JAM line of Jeff Kubiak, Anthony Angello and Mitch Vanderlaan has provided much of the offense in recent weeks for the Big Red. It has been the bright spot, but even that line was relatively silent on Saturday night, as Harvard ran laps in the slot and when it was on its power play. The Cornell PK went just 1-4 on Saturday night and it was its biggest failure in a game I thought show some serious holes in the usually great Cornell defense.

Despite the four game slide, Cornell has the talent to be in the top four and they are still in that positioning but then again even that surprise is starting to slip a bit. Cornell has dropped from fifth in Pairwise to 12th in a week and has just struggled to stay afloat. To me it was a readjustment to the mean and it will be very important for Cornell to fix it on the road, usually it hurts but right now it may be the best thing for the Big Red.

Colgate is Better, Just Needs a result

One of the quieter moves during the break was Colgate’s addition of freshman, Adam Dauda. Dauda was injured in the first half and couldn’t join the Raiders, but his addition has been a huge boost to a team that struggled with depth and has struggled down the lineup. The Raiders still have a fantastic top six, that includes the Spink twins, Mike Borkowski, Mike Panowyk and Darcy Murphy, so the added depth has helped. Dauda has slotted in at third line center and has provided the Raider offense with six assists, in just eight games.

Colgate during the first half, had some adventures on defense but have tightened up nicely in recent weeks. Despite being swept on the weekend, it looked solid but just didn’t get bounces to win. The defense was a far cry from the games in the first half, where it gave up nine and seven in games against Mercyhurst and Providence. For them, its half has been better but it still needs wins.

Before being swept by Harvard and Dartmouth over the weekend, Colgate was on a three game unbeaten streak with wins against Union and Maine and a tie against RPI. Despite some rough spots along the road, the Raiders are in a position to host a home series. It sits in a tie for ninth in the league, just one point off of eighth. Colgate has the talent in its top six to make some noise, the big thing will be keeping up on the defensive side of the ice.

Harvard’s Second Line Was Magic

When Harvard coach Ted Donato did some line shuffling last week, I am guessing he didn’t realize just how successful the moves would be. Sean Malone was moved on to the second line with Colin Blackwell and Luke Esposito. It not only worked, but everytime the line was on the ice it was dangerous. Malone looked like the player he has the talent to be all weekend. Between him and Wiley Sherman, they were the best players on the ice.

For Malone, it has been awhile since he has showed what he did this weekend. The increased minutes on the Harvard second line certainly did well for Malone over the weekend and the importance of having new guys step up was the key to last weekend for the Crimson. Colin Blackwell was also phenomenal on the weekend and his lore continues to grow, as he continues his comeback.

The more depth scoring that Harvard develops, which it certainly had over the weekend, will only lighten the load on the one, Jimmy Vesey, and Kyle Criscuolo. Those two have been good this season, but they have struggled by their standards in recent weeks. Part of the advantage that Harvard has this season, is its ability to overwhelm opponents with its offensive depth. The now potent second line of Malone, Blackwell and Esposito only add to how dangerous the Crimson are offensively. The Beanpot is coming and having this line going will be a big deal for them.

Tuesday, January 26th, 2016 - 11:10 am | Blogs, Commentary, ECAC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings