{"id":24148,"date":"2001-10-02T22:52:58","date_gmt":"2001-10-03T03:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2001\/10\/02\/its-anyones-race-again\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:54:17","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:54:17","slug":"its-anyones-race-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2001\/10\/02\/its-anyones-race-again\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Anyone’s Race (Again)"},"content":{"rendered":"
What can you say? Another ECAC season is upon us and the Saints of St. Lawrence are the two-time defending ECAC Tournament champions. Can the Saints make it three in a row, which would make them the first team since Boston University to do that since the 1970’s? Can Clarkson repeat as regular-season champions? The Golden Knights captured their fourth regular-season title in the last ten years last season and look to repeat as well.<\/p>\n
As usual, its a tight race in the ECAC.<\/p>\n
“It’s really a difficult field to handicap this year,” said Yale head coach Tim Taylor. “You just don’t know what is going to happen.”<\/p>\n
“I look at what was graduated from the league, and the league returned a great number of premier players,” said Harvard head coach Mark Mazzoleni. “The margin between the so-called low-end to top-end teams is hardly anything. That’s proven when Vermont goes in and knocks off top-seeded Clarkson. I like the recruiting that was done this year. Things go in cycles, and that will be proven this year.<\/p>\n
“When you look at college hockey, there is tremendous parity. Few teams that are head and shoulders over the others; you have to play hard every night.”<\/p>\n
But other issues surround the ECAC. What is important for the ECAC season? What are the underlying questions that surround the league and its future? What is the state of the ECAC?<\/p>\n
The latter question, on the state of the ECAC, is an important issue for all of those involved with the conference. From its teams, its schools, its administrators, fans and community, that is a major question.<\/p>\n
The ECAC is changing its playoff format and looking to expand the number of games its members can play during the regular season. How do some of the coaches see the state of the ECAC?<\/p>\n