Brian SullivanOffense The Red lost some spunk and some spark in Scott (10-20-30) and Sawada (10-16-26), but returns three of its top five scorers and eight of 10 double-digit producers from last year. Greening (14-19-33) led the team in goals and points, and lined up with Riley Nash (12-20-32) and, by the end of the season, … Read more
Offense The Bulldog offense was middling-to-poor last season, scoring four or more goals eight times but scoring fewer than two 11 times — including four shutouts. Fortunately for coach Keith Allain and his charges, the Eli’s top half-dozen scorers are back on Ingalls’ ice this season. They’re led by junior Backman (18-9-27) and sophomore Little … Read more
Offense Rand Pecknold’s Bobcats have never been hesitant to embarrass a goalie, and last year was just the most recent edition of the QU goal march. Seven players finished in double-digits for goals-scored, and four players — Wong (13-24-37), Nelson (14-21-35), Bates (11-23-34) and Leitch (15-18-33) — topped the 30-point mark over the ‘Cats’ 39-game … Read more
Offense The Knights lost some serious mojo in Zalewski (21-12-33), Dodge (12-14-26) and Cayer (10-12-22), not to mention Clitsome’s offensive bent (5-17-22). When Leggio is thrown in the mix, perhaps you can understand why this correspondent has referred to them as George Roll’s “Miracle Class.” And yet, while Clarkson finished second in the league in … Read more
Offense McBride (12-22-36) and classmate Casey Parenteau (11-8-19) were the only double-digit goal scorers on the Saints last year, so it’s a good thing they’re coming back to Canton for a final round. The team scored 2.78 goals per game overall last time around, but finished in a three-way tie for eighth with only 58 … Read more
Offense For such a rough season, the Green had a surprisingly robust offense. The Hanover hotshots put up over three goals a game overall, and finished third in ECAC Hockey with 64 in ’06-07. Johnson (10-25-35), Wyman (15-15-30) and Grecu (7-14-21) were certainly talented players, holding spots 1, 2 and 4 in the Dartmouth scoring … Read more
Offense Off-what? The ‘Tute finished last in the league with 2.08 goals per game overall, and a league-low 45 in conference play. Helfrich (9-20-29) and Polacek (7-21-28) were the only 20-point scorers, and nobody mustered 10 goals despite a healthy 38-game schedule. Ornelas (9-8-17), Lord (6-10-16) and Jake Morissette (6-8-14) are the big producers who … Read more
Offense Colgate hasn’t bullied anyone in a while, and doesn’t look especially belligerent this year either. Burton (23-18-41) and Winchester (8-29-37) finished one-two on the team scoring chart last season, and accounted for a quarter of the team’s total points. That’s the mark of an unbalanced offense right there. “It is what it is. We … Read more
Offense The Tigers were merciless with the puck last year, scoring nearly three and a half goals per game against league opponents and leading ECAC Hockey in that category. They led their colleagues in overall scoring as well, burying 112 goals in 35 contests for a 3.2 average, and shot with a better than 10 … Read more
When all was said and done, the third-seeded Clarkson Golden Knights were simply overtired and overmatched against top-ranked Michigan. The Wolverines hung tough early and never let off the gas, exhausting Clarkson in a 2-0 regional final win in front of 4,301 at the Times Union Center. “They’re the best defense we’ve seen this year,” … Read more
To give the St. Cloud State Huskies six power plays in a game this year has been akin to spotting them a goal and a half; only scoring two goals in such a game usually results in a big L on your record. But Clarkson turned the westerners around on Friday, blanking the vaunted St. … Read more
Twenty-four hours after eliminating bitter rival Cornell, the Crimson ran out of gas against Ivy foe Princeton 4-1 in the ECAC Hockey Finals in Albany. Tigers goaltender Zane Kalemba stopped 34 shots and 61 of 62 on the weekend to win the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award, while Jon Pelle scored Harvard’s lone goal in … Read more
Colgate renewed its passionate rivalry with travel-partner Cornell, albeit in a game utterly devoid of postseason ramification. The Red imposed their will on the battered Raiders in the ECAC Hockey consolation game, defeating the ‘Gate 4-2. “Games like this are always challenging to get motivated for,” said Colgate head coach Don Vaughan. “But that said, … Read more
Harvard and Cornell sought the same path to the NCAA tournament, but the road that begins in Albany is strictly of the one-lane variety. The Crimson and Big Red went toe-to-toe Friday evening for a shot at the league title and its automatic NCAA bid, with Harvard winning 3-1 over its age-old foe. “It was … Read more
It took 48 minutes, four seconds, and a half-dozen monstrous saves by Zane Kalemba … but Princeton eventually avoided becoming Colgate’s second big upset of the week. The Tigers made the most of Kalemba’s 27 stops — many of them downright incredible — to best the upstart Raiders 3-0 in the first game of the … Read more
So here we are. The final ECAC Hockey weekend of the year, and it appears that only one of these teams will join Clarkson in representing the league in the NCAA tournament. Where it once seemed as though Harvard or maybe even Princeton could sneak in without winning the whole shebang, resident PairWise swami Jayson … Read more
After six periods of incredible hockey, the Harvard Crimson worked 60 minutes to emblazon a mark of true credibility on their season’s resume. Senior Mike Taylor scored shorthanded and even-strength goals and nearly earned a hat trick with an empty-net post to lead the Crimson past Quinnipiac 3-1 on Sunday night. Kyle Richter made 26 … Read more
What was once a laughing matter is now anything but for humbled Harvard. Quinnipiac responded to Friday’s 11-0 embarrassment with a resounding 7-4 victory in front of 1,321 at the Bright Hockey Center in Boston. Dan Henningson and Jamie Bates each scored a pair, and senior Ben Nelson scored a goal with four assists in … Read more
There is one thing that everyone at the Bright Hockey Center had in common Friday night, be they media, fans, players, officials, or pretzel vendors. Nobody saw this coming. The Crimson tied a league playoff record for margin-of-victory in an 11-0 thrashing of visiting Quinnipiac in front of an incredulous 1,731. Eight different players lit … Read more
Welcome to the second round … the quarterfinals, if you will. By this time Monday morning, we’ll have our Albany brackets, and I’ll have my hotel room. A couple of strange things happened while writing this week’s column. For starters, I was a perfect eight-for-eight on contacting coaches. This never happens. Second, each and every … Read more