Season record: 22-19-3. I’ve seen better. Friday, December 5 Union at Brown Boy, what are we to make of Union? The Dutchmen are 2-6-1 in their last nine, putting forth wildly disparate performances along the way. But perhaps there are glimmers of light down the tunnel in Achilles Rink: While Union’s power play was a … Read more
Mountain climbers It should come as no surprise that the Harvard Crimson lead this weekend’s entry. The Crimson scored a pair of huge road wins last week, downing No. 1 Boston University 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday, then smothering No. 4 Massachusetts-Lowell 4-2 on Saturday. Harvard is now 7-1-2 overall, and 3-0-1 against Top 10 … Read more
Last time: 7-5-2 Overall: 16-21-5 With Thanksgiving over, ECAC Hockey gets back into action with plenty of non-conference games this weekend. Here’s a look at what’s scheduled for the next few days. Friday, Nov. 28 Clarkson at Merrimack, 4 p.m. The Golden Knights are on a modest three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1), and have only given … Read more
If any team was in need of a four-point weekend, it was Cornell. The Big Red were 1-4-1 and had only scored seven goals on the season entering Friday, but they doubled their win total and matched their season total in goals with a pair of impressive home wins. Cornell opened the weekend with a … Read more
My prediction record took a massive hit two weeks ago, and now stands at 16-14-3. Yeow. Friday, November 21 Quinnipiac at Clarkson In case you missed it, the Q-Cats are red hot and rolling with nine goals allowed in six straight wins and a 4-0 record in conference. Clarkson, meanwhile, has but one win since … Read more
No easy weekends Well, what with Harvard’s 2-1 home loss to Yale on Saturday, ECAC Hockey is officially out of the “Last of the Unbeatens” race. In fact, Quinnipiac is the only team still unbeaten in league play (4-0), having edged Union and Rensselaer in the Capital District this weekend. With all dozen teams playing … Read more
Last week: 5-7-3 Overall: 9-16-3 It’s the second straight weekend of all-conference matchups, with the exception of Tuesday’s Rensselaer and Connecticut game. All games are 7 p.m. unless noted. Friday, Nov. 14 St. Lawrence at Colgate Both these teams like to play fast, but both have also gotten excellent goaltending thus far, with the Raiders’ … Read more
Two games don’t make a season, but this past weekend certainly helped get Quinnipiac put an early season slump behind them. The Bobcats (5-2-1) beat Colgate and Cornell, extending their winning streak to four games. More importantly, Quinnipiac’s defense and goalie Michael Garteig didn’t allow a single goal either night after giving up at least … Read more
Record to date: 13-6-1 Friday, Nov. 7 Cornell @ Princeton An interesting opening league match for each team: Each squad is hoping to discover some offense to support a strong commitment to team D. The Big Red mustered just one goal apiece in a loss and draw against Omaha in Ithaca last weekend; the Tigers … Read more
Well now … where do we begin? Union, Colgate humbled at home Perhaps the nation’s biggest headline from last weekend (OK, among headlines regarding college hockey) was No. 2 Union’s slip, stumble, and splat at the feet of Rensselaer in the Route 7 Rivalry series. The defending national champions were swept by an 8-2 aggregate … Read more
Season record: 4-9 The schedule expands a bit this weekend, with the Ivy League teams playing their season openers and Union and Rensselaer facing off in the first conference game of the year. All games are 7 p.m. unless noted Union at Rensselaer It’s hard to forget what happened the last time these teams met. … Read more
Both of Union’s streaks are over. The second-ranked Dutchmen lost to No. 9 St. Cloud 3-2 Saturday, snapping their 22-game unbeaten streak and 15-game home winning streak. Union rolled over St. Cloud 5-1 Friday, but after that game head coach Rick Bennett warned the Dutchmen needed to play better or they’d lose Saturday. That’s exactly … Read more
My record thus far: 7-3-0. Friday, October 24 Bowling Green at Clarkson 7:00 The Falcons are a happy 3-1 to start the year, including a season-opening home-and-home split with Miami. Clarkson stepped into the season on the right foot, but stumbled with consecutive losses to former league-mate Vermont last weekend. The Knights have to establish … Read more
UC, CU setting the pace Leading the pack out of the gate, Union and… well… the ‘Gate are making convincing October arguments for national relevance. Of the 53 active D-I programs (the six Ivies drop the puck on exhibition games next weekend), Union is one of ten remaining unbeatens (4-0) following this week’s 3-0 and … Read more
Six ECAC Hockey teams are in action Friday and Saturday, with each of them facing the same opponents both nights. Here’s a look at the matchups. Northeastern at No. 6 Colgate 7 p.m. Friday/Saturday The Raiders opened with a two-game split at St. Cloud State last weekend, while the Huskies lost to Vermont 6-2 Saturday. … Read more
The last time Union raised a banner at Messa Rink, things didn’t end so well for the Dutchmen. Union lost 4-1 to Merrimack on opening night two seasons ago. It was a little better this time around, as the Dutchmen raised banners for the ECAC regular season title, postseason title, Frozen Four appearance, and national … Read more
First week of D-I play for ECAC Hockey… time to take some random shots in the dark, and see what we hit! Friday, October 10 Clarkson at Niagara 7:00 Niagara, like Clarkson, is picked around the middle of the pack in its respective league (Atlantic Hockey). It’s a young team with a couple legitimate goalies, … Read more
First and foremost, congratulations to the Union College Dutchmen for their national championship. There is little more to be said about the program’s rise, the team’s resilience, the coaches’ influence, or the way the team played in Philadelphia and indeed all year long than what has been already said. Union is the only team to … Read more
Playing in its own back yard, Quinnipiac draws Providence The Bobcats will play the Friars for the second time this year, the teams tying 3-3 in Hamden in late November. After so much time, there will be little to glean from that result – it was the weekend after Thanksgiving, after all – but some … Read more
Welcome to the final awful predictions of the 2013-14 ECAC Hockey season. I’ll be your guide on our final nauseating spin through Prognostication Pass, but be sure to bone up with Nate Owen’s quotes and insight in this week’s ECAC Hockey column. I’m just here to ice the proverbial cake. By the way, if you … Read more