Well, we made it.
Months of meetings, interviews, practices, film sessions, refinements, power plays, penalty kills, shots, scores, saves, blocks, games, broadcasts, and anything else that anyone can think of. Five-plus months after the first puck dropped on St. Lawrence’s game at UMass Lowell, the final skate to award the Whitelaw Cup, occurs this weekend when ECAC’s four final teams converge on Herb Brooks Arena and the idyllic Olympic town of Lake Placid, N.Y.
I’m often awestruck of how we arrive at this point on an annual basis. The season is full of unique challenges for every team, but all of the issues and injuries, good wins and bad losses – they all seem to melt away when the playoffs crystallize the road to a conference championship game. The very, well, things that impacted a team’s season don’t seem to matter as much because the only thing that matters, the very bane of hockey’s postseason, is to win and advance.
Saying “Just win, baby” took on a completely different tone for the ECAC playoffs this year, and while nobody signed to play for the Las Vegas Raiders, the single-game First Round resulted in a wild chaos that eliminated both Capital District schools when Yale and Princeton advanced over RPI and Union. That drama set a tone for the next weekend’s best-of-three quarterfinals, but the impossibility of a one-game, winner-take-all was muted even further by the two-game sweeps of the four best teams in the league.
The way Quinnipiac and Harvard dispatched Yale and Princeton was unrelenting and, to a degree, uninspiring of the postseason madness anyone hoped, and while Cornell eliminated Clarkson with a pair of solid wins, Colgate’s road victory at St. Lawrence rang less like an upset than the inevitability of a team that spent most of the season chasing down fourth place.
And so we’re at the last weekend of the ECAC season. The four teams that spent most of their seasons atop the league standings play a trio of single elimination games to determine which team clinches the conference championship. Three of the four teams are already locked into the NCAA Tournament field. The fourth has arguably the toughest hurdles to clear. It’s unknown if last week was an aberration or a trend, but by the time Sunday rolls around, teams in Alaska, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan will find their future destinations thanks to games played in the small village that once hosted the greatest upset in sports history.
On with some of the storylines for this week’s season finale, starting with the matchups:
No. 1 Quinnipiac vs. No. 5 Colgate
How we got here: Quinnipiac ran away with the Cleary Cup as the regular season champions, and last weekend’s sweep over Yale featured a first game win where the Bulldogs only mustered five shots on goal. Colgate, meanwhile, went to St. Lawrence after beating Dartmouth in the First Round and swept the Saints with a pair of one-goal games that included a 4-3 overtime win in Game One.
The season series: Quinnipiac was 20-2 in ECAC play this season, but a late January swing through travel partners Cornell and Colgate produced both of those losses. Colgate had the Saturday game of that weekend and staged a third period rally to beat the Bobcats after going down by a 2-0 count. After Ethan Manderville scored to cut the lead to 2-1 in the second, Ryan McGuire scored at the 6:37 mark of the second before Ben Raymond’s game winner beat Yaniv Perets with just over 10 minutes remaining on the clock. It came after Quinnipiac beat Colgate in a one-goal game in Connecticut as part of an early November league series.
What’s at stake, Quinnipiac edition: Calling the Bobcats a juggernaut is an understatement, and even losing this weekend likely won’t do much to damage any seeding in the national tournament. They’re likely locked into the No. 2 overall seed after Minnesota unless they lose to Colgate and Denver wins the NCHC.
What’s at stake, Colgate edition: A Colgate win this weekend should send a cold shiver down Merrimack’s spine. The Warriors will likely drop to 15th in the PairWise if they lose to UMass-Lowell in the Hockey East semifinals, and with Atlantic Hockey’s champion already obtaining the No. 16 overall seed, Merrimack becomes the next team out of the national tournament if an unseeded team wins out. Alaska should probably take note, too, though it would make for a great story if the Raiders end a 10-year national drought since their last NCAA Tournament berth in 2014.
No. 2 Harvard vs. No. 3 Cornell
How we got here: Harvard handled its business against Princeton with a pair of 6-1 victories, and Cornell measured a pair of wins over Clarkson to clinch a semifinal rematch against the defending champion and its longtime rival.
The season series: The teams kicked off December by going to overtime at Lynah Rink before the Crimson earned a 2-1 victory, and a 6-2 victory by Harvard at home in late January really threw a wrench into the late season drama that saw the Big Red temporarily move into second place as the two teams paced ahead of Colgate.
What’s at stake, Harvard edition: Harvard has never repeated as Whitelaw Cup champions, and while a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year is already clinched, entering the tournament as the ECAC title holders would likely have a trickle-down impact throughout the regional setup. Instead of going to Bridgeport to play in a regional against Quinnipiac, Harvard has a path to Manchester, which would potentially send Cornell to a destination much further away (hello, Allentown and Fargo) while simultaneously domino-effecting the remaining seeds.
What’s at stake, Cornell edition: Beating Harvard likely gives Cornell a No. 3 seed in the tournament, and a conference championship win – particularly over Quinnipiac – opens the door for ECAC to earn three spots in the tournament’s top-8 spots. It would also restore Cornell to the league’s top spot for the first time since 2010 and redeem the Big Red for how COVID-19 robbed them of the No. 1 overall seed in the national tournament in 2020. There is a very, very, very slim chance that Cornell misses the tournament altogether, but it would at least take Providence, Northern Michigan, Colgate and Colorado College all winning their conference tournament. In that nuclear scenario, only the top-11 teams in the PairWise would feel safe.
The Lerchies
All of that said, I wanted to offer some awards for this year. I did some thinking this year, and instead of offering the usual “First Team All-ECAC” awards to players, I wanted to share some memories by awarding something fun to several folks who helped make this year possible. As always, I have always appreciated the readership, and I’d like to thank all of you for making this year’s return to a conference beat possible – but more on that later.
The Mother Theresa Award for Patience: To my editorial staff, specifically Matt Mackinder, because I was horrible at making deadlines this year. It was on point two years ago with Atlantic Hockey, and then this year came around and I started missing my deadline like it was nobody’s business. Matt never outwardly got mad at me, though he probably should have. So, thanks Matt, for not sticking my face on a dart board – that I’m aware about, at least.
Chest-Thump Interview Moment of the Year: Yale’s Keith Allain takes home this award for his mid-December quote about how his team grabbed things by the horns. He talked openly about the Bulldogs’ need to recenter their team, and in the weeks after the interview, Yale went five straight games without a loss, though the Union game was technically a shootout loss. A frisky end of the year included damaging losses for Princeton and Colgate, and the 4-1 playoff win over RPI is a feather in the team’s cap heading into the offseason.
Fan Reaction of the Year: The number of stories that were emailed and tweeted to me in the wake of the feature story of Princeton’s Hobey Baker Rink warmed my heart about hockey culture. In an era where flashy boards and funky fan experiences reign supreme, people came out of the woodwork to tell me how much they loved Princeton’s charm. Ron Fogarty and Cara Morey were really great interviews, too.
Player of the Year: RPI’s Kyle Hallbauer for his open humor about being the resident old guy on the Engineers. I always tell people to play hockey as long as possible, and the way he talked about being called Grandpa in the locker room will always be a favorite story.
Dan’s Gaffe of the Year: I once wrote 800 words about Brown’s upcoming schedule while completely forgetting the Bears played Boston College on a Tuesday night. I wrote the story on that Tuesday night, and my brother was calling the game for Brown. I blame the World Cup.
Broadcaster of the Year: Covering ECAC has been a homecoming for me because I started into college hockey in this league when I was a 10-year-old kid going to games at Brown. My brother Michael was an undergrad at the time, and as I grew older, I was welcomed into the hockey family by former head coach Roger Grillo and current head coach Brendan Whittet. Being able to cover this league brought me back to some halcyon days, and it made me happy to help promote some of the stories that exist in this conference. Maybe it’s a little obvious, but the best broadcaster in ECAC is always going to be my brother, Mike. Thanks for opening the door for your baby brother.
The last word
Alright, I’ve been long-winded enough this week, but I wanted to offer a few last words. Thanks again to everyone who read stories this year, and thanks to the coaches, players and communications folks who tolerated me and worked with me over the course of the season. I appreciate the time and energy that makes this machine engine push forward, and you’re all a big component of that momentum.
This year, for me, has been especially emotional. My second daughter was born in October – right as the season started – and through everything, my family has been my rock and foundation. Becoming a #girldad for the second time is the most humbling experience, and my kids give me purposes that I’ve never known. She’s giving us a little run for our money this year but being able to cover hockey and bring my kids into the fold is something I’ll always treasure.
As the season ends, I’ll go back to being Mrs. Rubin’s Mr. Rubin – my favorite job, for what it’s worth – but please keep your spirits high. Hug your children, love everyone, and smile that there is genuine good in the world. We’ll all meet again down the road, and I look forward to being a part of it. From my family to yours, have a year of great health and happiness.
