This weekend is the first time nearly a year and a half that all dozen ECAC Hockey teams will play a conference game on the same night.
And right away, there’s already a marquee matchup on the schedule.
Cornell and Harvard play Friday night in Cambridge, Mass., in the league opener for both teams. The Big Red allowed two combined goals in a pair of overtime wins against Alaska last weekend, while the Crimson scored 16 goals en route to steamrolling Dartmouth and Bentley.
The two wins for Cornell gave the Big Red the nation’s longest winning streak at nine games, although that stretch goes back to February 2020.
Friday will be a good test for Cornell’s goaltending. None of the Big Red’s three goalies had played in a game prior to last weekend, but freshman Joe Howe made 20 saves for the shutout in his first collegiate game Saturday.
“A lot of excitement,” Howe told Cornellbigred.com following the win. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous before the game – but then, puck drop, and hockey is hockey. … It’s more of a team shutout than just me, but it’s a great start.”
It was a great start for Harvard as well. It didn’t hurt that several of the Crimson underclassmen trained together and took classes remotely in Florida last winter, doing their best to stay in shape despite their season being canceled.
“It really speaks to the connection and the chemistry of the group that that were able to find a way in difficult circumstances to make the best of them,” Harvard coach Ted Donato said. “Lot of guys chose to come to summer school this summer so that they could be around each other and have the opportunity to train with each other.”
While training in Florida was a chance for Harvard’s returning players to stay sharp, a pair of newcomers carried their hot scoring from junior hockey into the opening weekend of the season.
Forwards Sean Farrell and Matt Coronato were the top scorers for the Chicago Steel in the USHL last season. The pair combined for six goals and seven assists for the Crimson last weekend.
All in the family
Saturday was a big day for Yale coach Keith Allain.
Not only did the Bulldogs return to action for the first time since March 2020, but Allain got to coach his son, Niklas, in his collegiate debut.
“I’m really excited,” Keith said earlier this season. “I’ve never coached him. I always felt like if he had a passion for hockey it was going to be his thing. I didn’t want to get in the way.”
But the Allains aren’t the only family connection in ECAC Hockey. Harvard coach Ted Donato’s son Jack is a senior on the Crimson, while Clarkson coach Casey Jones’ daughter Gabi is a sophomore on the St. Lawrence women’s hockey team.
Colgate (Alex and Colton Young) and Clarkson (Alex and Charlie Campbell) each have brothers on their roster, while Union goalie Garrett Nieto is the brother of former Brown goaltender Gavin Nieto.
There are several players throughout the league who have fathers who played in the NHL, including Kyle Aucoin (Harvard), William Dineen and Ryan Stevens (Yale), Jordan Tonelli (Brown), Thomas Richter (Union), Skyler Brind’Amour (Quinnipiac), Travis Mitchell and Matt Stienburg (Cornell), Ethan Manderville (Colgate), and Zach Dubinsky and Mason Klee (Rensselaer).
