Another weekend down and for some teams it is now the winter break, the period of three weeks that most teams have off around Christmas. This to me is the most important time of the year for teams, it is often time a turning point in the year. A key example is Colgate last season, which had a huge second half after a rather mediocre first half.  Consequently it can lead a team in the opposite direction, like Dartmouth just two years ago. The break can either help or hurt a team, so embrace it and hope your team comes out that stronger.

ECAC play has finished for the first half and there are more surprises than there are what most could consider expected. Preseason number one, Colgate has struggled to find consistency in recent weeks and sits in a tie for seventh in the league standings. Preseason number 10, Harvard is the top team tied with preseason number five, Quinnipiac. Clarkson, picked ninth is in third place in the standings. I guess it is safe Seth Appert was right in saying the media and coaches are always wrong in preseason.

Denver and Cornell split at Lynah Rink last week, which for the Big Red is huge. Denver is one of the top five teams in the NCHC, which all were in the top 11 of the pairiwse entering last weekend. I explained in last week’s edition why this series was so big for them and the league. The split kept the ECAC in second place, behind the NCHC in inter-conference records at .559, which is very respectable. Of course the most noteworthy event of the weekend, was the hilarity surrounding the team’s Teddy Bear toss. That made it to deadspin, ESPN, Yahoo and pretty much every news outlet in the country this week. Even Cornell alum Keith Olbermann spotlighted the toss in his hilarious worst persons segment on his ESPN tv show. Any coverage is good and kids saw an ECAC hockey rink on SportsCenter, never a bad thing just we never thought it would be for a Teddy Bear. This will be the last edition of Three Things I Think of 2014, I will be right back at it in 2015.

Coaches Have Every Right to Lash Out on Their Teams

After his team’s embarrassing 7-1 home loss against Union, which dropped the Bears to 0-7-0 in conference play, Brown coach Brendan Whittet had some strong words for his young club. Brown has under-performed for much of the season and being as honest as Brendan can be, we had to expect something of the such was coming. I would suggest reading Mark Divver’s game story in the Providence Journal, which has the full quotes.

Quotes such as “embarrassing, weak mentally and caving,” were ones that were present. Brown has more talent that it probably has had in while. Nick Lappin, Matt Lorito and Mark Naclerio should have come together to make the strongest top line in the league, but they have been non-existent. Before the weekend, the three had combined for just four goals in the team’s first nine games. In a sense they were missing in action and being such a big piece for Brown its struggles trickled down to every aspect. Their struggles have been problematic for Brown but its defense has been the true let down and its been the cause for the embarrassing results so far this season.

Whittet’s strong words to the media must have resonated to his team, because the next night it played much better and picked up its first league win. The league has two really honest coaches, in Whittet and Bennett. Bennett of course has had much success after making comments to the media that some would say is too upfront, but really it is their jobs to keep the kids honest and willing to play. I have a feeling most coaches that were in Whittet’s position would have made the same comments, I personally think they have every place in college hockey. I am sure some out there will disagree, but we can’t live in a world that lies just to say good things. Being honest, upfront and brutal is just as important. Anyone who reads my writing, knows that is usually the case.

Union is Starting to Show Life in League Play

After an 0-4-1 start in ECAC play, the Dutchmen have come alive to win three league games in a row. They have done so by allowing just three goals in those games and have outscored its opponents by a 16-3 aggregate. Yes, the Dutchmen have played two of the bottom teams in the league but it has still won. Its win against Yale was a big win. Yale was the only team to beat Harvard this season and it entered the weekend second in my power rankings.

Union struggled for long stretches in November and I am sure it was happy to see the month come and go. The Dutchmen were 2-4-1 in November, but are a combined 7-2-0 in October and December.

Union is one of those teams that is probably better than its current record. Despite its November struggles it has good defense, which didn’t show for much of November, it has good systems and it has goaltending. The Dutchmen will be in Lake Placid, lets not kid ourselves here. It is the defending three time ECAC champs and there is a reason for that. Yes the high-end defensive talent might be gone, but it is still way above average in terms of the ‘sacred seven.’ It also has balanced scoring; it hit a rough patch. For them, its rough patch was in November, which seems to be a good time for it to happen.

Rensselaer Is Banged Up

RPI has hit the injury bug and has hit it hard in recent weeks. Not only has Jason Kasdorf been on the mend, now on five games, but so has leading scorers Drew Melanson and Lou Nanne. No team is looking forward to the break more than the Engineers. It has a huge game this weekend against Boston University at home before it can think about that break and getting healthy again.

Rensselaer really has had three seasons already within one. The beginning of the year was a struggle, which saw them go 1-5-0. The middle of the stretch saw them ascend to first in the ECAC, but in recent weeks the Engineers have fallen hard going just 0-4-0 in conference play. They now sit in a tie for fifth place in the standings, with teams right behind them with games in hand on them.

Rensselaer has proven with health that it can be a tough half of the league team. Melanson has mono, which usually sidelines a player about a month and Kasdorf has been questionable for a few weeks now. One should think those two will be back and healthy once the new half starts but health will be important going forward, for now RPI is dropping because of key losses to players on the mend.

Tuesday, December 9th, 2014 - 6:55 pm | Blogs, ECAC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings