The ECAC keeps winning in non-conference play and in recent weeks it has picked up in regularity. Last weekend both Harvard and Dartmouth took home holiday tournament titles, while Union also went undefeated at the Ledyard Bank Classic and missed out to its conference rival on goal differential. Brown took down one of the best teams in the nation, defending national champion Providence, looking good in the process. RPI also split a non-conference series with Miami. Clarkson did the same against Bowling Green. All told, the league is now second in inter-conference record with a .620 winning percentage against the other leagues.

ECAC  teams have played strong schedules, partly because they have played each other but it is furthered by the fact it has played strong non-conference schedules. Dartmouth played a pair at Michigan, Brown played Providence twice, Quinnipiac hosted St. Cloud twice and so on and so forth. This helps the overall strength of schedule and because the league has won a good portion of these games, the ECAC is doing really well in the Pairwise. Quinnipiac and Harvard are one and two in the Pairwise, while four other teams join them in the top 15. All told, there are six teams in NCAA tournament positions (QU, Harvard, Cornell, Yale, SLU, RPI), five league teams in the top 10 of Pairwise and eight in the top 20. You can see how strong the schedules have been in the league, in CHN’s Krach ratings.

The most interesting addition in the top 20 is Dartmouth, who played a murderous schedule in the first winter and is 5-7-1, but because of its strength of schedule it is right in the thick of a tournament bid if it goes on a run in the second half. It could be a monumental year for the league in terms of the NCAA tournament and how many teams make it, if the trends continue. There will be no easy games in the second half of the conference slate. It seems as though there is a high probability of at least five teams, but six is a possibility. The worst case scenario seems to be four.

Union, if it can limit its awful turnovers, is a Dangerous Team

Union, seemingly dead and down just two months ago, is a team that is just on the fringe of being in the tournament. After a one win in eight game stretch during the months of October and November, the Dutchmen are unbeaten in seven and have won five games in a row. They have good defensemen, in Sebastian Gingras, Jeff Taylor and Noah Henry, they have good depth in their lines and they can score in bunches. Turnovers are a big issue (had two awful ones against RMU) and it has given up some goals over its run of wins, but they aren’t horrible because it can make up for it with its deadly counter-attack and its balance.

The Dutchmen are another team in the ECAC that can score, over the weekend they scored eight and gave up six. If people want a team that might sneak up on others in the second half of the league slate it may be Union. ECAC fans forget just how much the Dutch have lost over the past two seasons. Last season there were struggles that were unexpected then, but now this season it appears as though Union has righted the ship and is heading in the right direction.

Spencer Foo is the leading scorer, while Mike Vecchione is right on his heels. Many would have expected Vecchione to be at the top of the scoring charts but Foo has been the guy that has really stepped up. Union had to replace high scoring winger, Daniel Ciampini in the offseason and this year they are more balanced. Balance wins hockey games and it seems as though Union has the balance needed to make some noise in the latter stages of this season.

Harvard Wins Another Tournament

Harvard is two for two in tournaments this season, after its win against Minnesota in the Marriuci Classic championship game. The Crimson have been relatively quiet this year in comparison to last year, mainly because I think Harvard is the team we thought it would be. Jimmy Vesey has been strong so far and so has Kyle Criscuolo. But the winning tournaments could be big as it prepares for the bigger in season tournament it plays for, the Beanpot.

Whether or not playing in tournaments has prepared it for a better performance in the Beanpot is up in the air, but it probably hasn’t hurt it to get in the tournament formats early in the season. I am a big believer in the in-season tournaments and I wish there were more of them. The competition level is higher than a normal non-conference game, while it always feels as though the games mean more.

The Crimson have beat Notre Dame and Minnesota in their own buildings in these tournaments, so it isn’t like they are beating some cream-puff teams en route to their tournament titles. They have faced adversity, mostly against Minnesota where they had to come back late to score in the last minute and in overtime to pick up the win, and they have proved just how good they are. The Beanpot is big and it will probably enter as the favorite. Winning it would be huge for Jimmy Vesey, especially, and coach Ted Donato. The tournament wins and compete level will help it with experience next month. The Crimson also play at MSG this weekend against Quinnipiac.

Harvard was also named CHN Team of the Week earlier today.

Brown’s Win Against Providence Shows How Scary it May Be in the ECAC Tournament

Teams that can score usually do well in tournaments. Brown has certainly proved that it can score and it did so on Sunday against one of the better defensive teams in the country, in Providence. The win was bigger than it appeared for Brown, although it did beat Providence last year and actually took home the Mayors Cup. The Bears entered the weekend with just one win in its past six games. The win will be a momentum builder and be a tangible result.

Brown has some good results this season. It has a win against streaking Union, it has a tie against UMass-Lowell and it added the win against PC. The only knock on the Bears is that it may be able to score but it struggles to stop teams.I personally think, that Brown is one of those teams that can beat anybody but also lose to anybody. One of the things against PC that will probably go unnoticed is that it outshot its much better opponent heavily, which is a good sign for them because they have often struggled with that. When Brown is playing it well it is controlling the puck and the defensmen are getting it to their talented forwards.

Brown has the best line in the ECAC, Nick Lappin , Tommy Marchin and Mark Naclerio have been on fire. Marchin is the shoe-in rookie of the year at this point of the season, no one in the ECAC has had the impact as a rookie as he has, and Nick Lappin is indeed a player of the year candidate. Brown has the pieces to have a better record than it has and dont forget about Max Gotlieb, who has proved his worth as a freshman defenseman. While all the eyes are on Quinnipiac’s Chase Priskie, Gotlieb has been a rookie force on the Bruno blueline. I seriously think that when Brown catches fire they will go on a long run and ca beat anybody… I wouldn’t discount another surprising run in the ECAC tournament either, like in 2013.

Bonus: Make Tournaments True Again, Please

A disturbing trend in college hockey in recent years has been the insistence that the many holiday tournaments need to have predetermined matchups to make them attractive. Ya, I understand that teams want to avoid playing non-conference games against league opponents and to get teams to come they often want to have deals in place for a return trip, but a tournament decided solely on record and goal differential is kind of ridiculous. It also takes away from the excitement from fans who actually would be able able to see a championship game filled with more passion than normal, which only adds to the experience for a both players and partisans alike.

I have seen two in-season tournaments this year, the great IceBreaker to open the season and Dartmouth’s Ledyard Bank Classic. Both of them had awkward endings because a team that might have and should have won didn’t. Wouldn’t it have been great to see a Union-Dartmouth final at the Ledyard Bank Classic? I think so. In the Icebreaker, Maine won two shootouts and played North Dakota in a de-facto title game. Although it won the shootouts, it didn’t win the tournament because North Dakota won a game in regulation. It was an awkward ending for both players, fans and media alike just as much as goal differential was in the Ledyard.

I have been to many holiday tournaments in the past and the advantage is seeing some of the best teams in the nation play in a game that something is on the line is untouched. A team like Harvard, has won two in championship games this year and it helps them going forward. I cannot say the same of a tournament based solely on points or goal differential. I do not see the benefit of playing tournaments, if there is no title and consolation game. Ya conso games are awkward too but I think endings that no one knows who wins is even more awkward.

Wednesday, January 6th, 2016 - 3:56 pm | Blogs, Commentary, ECAC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings