Men’s D-I in general
Not to be negative, but new coach Greg Cronin has his work cut out for him. Northeastern finished sixth last year after two straight seasons in the cellar, which certainly amounted to an important step forward. However, the Huskies then graduated two First Team All-Hockey East stars in goaltender Keni Gibson and forward Jason Guerriero, … Read more
When new Providence coach Tim Army was a senior, the Friars won the Hockey East championship in the legendary 1985 title game, a double-overtime 2-1 win over Boston College. Getting PC back into the Hockey East title picture is Army’s goal. “Our challenge is great,” Army says. “We are in a great conference and the … Read more
New Hampshire’s talent ranks among the best in the league. When have we heard that before? UNH graduated two of the top forwards in the league, but still appears loaded up front with plenty of candidates to pick up the slack. When have we heard that before? The Wildcats should have a stellar power play … Read more
Colgate finished in third place in both the ECACHL regular season and in the conference tournament; the Raiders made the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 1999-2000 season, and lost 6-5 to Colorado College in the semifinals of the NCAA Midwest Regional. Much of the team’s success was attributable to the stellar play … Read more
A year after winning the ECACHL regular-season and tournament championships and then losing in overtime at the NCAA West Regional to Minnesota, Cornell returns the two best players from last year’s squad — senior forward Matt Moulson and junior netminder David McKee — to take another shot at a national title. McKee was a Hat … Read more
The common theme sounded by coaches from around the ECAC at the league’s media day was the parity that exists among its teams. The coaches’ poll and the media poll both had four teams — Colgate, Dartmouth, Harvard, and St. Lawrence — predicted to finish from second to fifth and separated by only a handful … Read more
The Dutchmen have been making incremental improvements under coach Nate Leaman, but despite having home ice in the opening round of the ECAC tournament three years in a row, they’ve been unable to advance beyond the opening round. Last year was the closest that Union has ever come to moving on to the second round; … Read more
In coach Guy Gadowsky’s first season behind the Princeton bench after making the transition from Alaska-Fairbanks, he brought to the ECACHL some of the up-tempo offense perhaps more common in the West. The Princeton players — who had attempted to use the trap under former coach Len Quesnelle — and fans identified with the exciting, … Read more
Transitioning to a new league can be tough, but imagine trying to make that transition having just lost 10 seniors to graduation. That’s the challenge that awaits Rand Pecknold and the Quinnipiac Bobcats in their inaugural run in the ECAC. “We don’t know how we’re going to do in the league, and we’re going to … Read more
A disappointing fifth-place regular-season finish and a loss to Vermont in the quarterfinals of the ECAC tournament ensured that Dartmouth would again miss the NCAA tournament. Despite having some of the best forwards in the league over the last three seasons — in the forms of Hugh Jessiman, who departed after the 2003-2004 season, and … Read more
The 2004-2005 season was one of nail-biting frustration for the fans of Houston Field House, who saw their Engineers lose 10 games by one goal and struggle mightily all season long en route to a 11th-place finish. Coach Dan Fridgen is optimistic, though, that the tough losses last season will help in the growth and … Read more
The 2003-2004 season saw the Golden Knights finish in the middle of the pack during the regular season but make a surprising sprint through the ECAC tournament only to fall to Harvard in the last minute of the ECAC championship. Hopes were high, then, in Potsdam at the start of the 2004-2005 season, a season … Read more
In coach Ted Donato’s first season in Cambridge, he inherited a talented senior class that included an All-American defenseman in captain Noah Welch, a Hobey Baker finalist in goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris, defenseman Ryan Lannon — USCHO.com’s Unsung Hero for 2004-2005 — and Tom Cavanagh, the best defensive forward in the ECAC. “We’ll miss those guys,” … Read more
It has been almost 20 years since a graduating class of Brown hockey players went their entire collegiate careers without experiencing a losing season. Not since 1978, in fact, but the graduating class of 2006 could join the Bears’ exclusive company of consistent four-year winners. The prime factor weighing against the Bears is the loss … Read more
St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh always books a challenging out-of-conference schedule, but last season it was a stretch of league games in January and February that hurt the Saints’ playoff hopes. Starting with a January 21 matchup against Rensselaer in Appleton Arena, the Saints flatlined against league foes, going 2-8-1 over an 11-game span. That … Read more
While the 2004-2005 season may be one that fans of the Yale Bulldogs would just as soon forget, this coming year they will see a team take the ice at Ingalls Rink that is almost exactly the same as last year’s model. Only one starter — forward Nick Shalek — and two role players — … Read more
Quinnipiac enters the ECACHL this season with uncertain expectations — but with a resume of success.
There’s no way to know for sure how Phil Kessel and the rest of the Minnesota freshman class will fare this season, but if they even come close to matching their potential, the Golden Gophers have a great thing going. And that’s not even mentioning the rest of the scoring punch, a well-stocked defense and … Read more
After a major step in the wrong direction sent 11 seniors out of the Minnesota-Duluth program on a disappointing note, this year’s group of seniors has a different sendoff in mind. A year after going to the Frozen Four, the Bulldogs stumbled to a sixth-place WCHA finish and a 15-17-6 overall record that was a … Read more
Mike Eaves’ fourth Wisconsin team is getting its share of attention because of what it didn’t lose rather than what it did. The Badgers return 98 percent of their scoring from last season and are primed to make their name as a scoring team rather than a defensive one if they can get their offensive … Read more