{"id":29368,"date":"2007-10-12T11:34:50","date_gmt":"2007-10-12T16:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2007\/10\/12\/200708-ecachl-season-preview\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:04","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:04","slug":"200708-ecachl-season-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2007\/10\/12\/200708-ecachl-season-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"2007-08 ECACHL Season Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"
Colgate head coach Don Vaughan may have put it best when he described his experiences last season:<\/p>\n
“It was a crazy year.”<\/p>\n
And as succinctly as that, you have the 2006-07 ECACHL season in a nutshell.<\/p>\n
Last season was one of the most competitive ECAC Hockey League campaigns in recent memory … in fact, 1994-95 was the last time the bottom squad was fewer than 18 points behind the regular-season champion in the standings, which is where Union fell compared to St. Lawrence last March. <\/p>\n
Furthermore, you may recall that Union was a scant two points short of home-ice at the final buzzer. Seventh-place Princeton fell a win shy of a first-round bye, while Cornell wrapped up that coveted privilege by virtue of winning the tiebreaker with Quinnipiac. And let’s not forget Yale winning the last change in the first round by beating out Colgate and Rensselaer in a three-way tiebreaker, each team holding 17 points as the river card hit the table.<\/p>\n
Thus, it feels practically impossible to project where programs will end up come the spring thaw after such a tumultuous previous season. But they tell me I gotta, so I gotta.<\/p>\n
12. Brown<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Nickname:<\/b> Bears 11. Rensselaer<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Nickname:<\/b> Engineers 10. Yale<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Nickname:<\/b> Bulldogs 9. Dartmouth<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Nickname:<\/b> Big Green 8. Union<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Nickname:<\/b> Dutchmen 7. Princeton<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Nickname:<\/b> Tigers 6. Colgate<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Nickname:<\/b> Raiders 5. Cornell<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Nickname:<\/b> Big Red 4. Harvard<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Nickname:<\/b> Crimson 3. St. Lawrence<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Nickname:<\/b> Saints
\nHead Coach:<\/b> Roger Grillo (109-161-43, 10 years at Brown)
\n2006-2007 Record:<\/b> 11-15-6 (6-12-4 ECACHL, 11th)
\nDeparted:<\/b> Sean Dersch, Antonin Roux, Brian Ihnacak, Brian McNary (Jr)
\nBack For More:<\/b> Jeff Prough, Sean Hurley, Matt Vokes, Dan Rosen
\n2007-2008 Coaches’ Poll:<\/b> 11
\n2007-2008 Media Poll:<\/b> 11
\n2007-2008 Predicted Finish:<\/b> 12
\nWhy:<\/b> It’s a shame, but given the parity of the league, it just looks as though Bruno is in for a long and uphill battle.<\/p>\n
\nHead Coach:<\/b> Seth Appert (10-18-8, one year)
\n2006-2007 Record:<\/b> 10-18-8 (6-11-5 ECACHL, t-8th)
\nDeparted:<\/b> Jake Luthi, Kirk MacDonald, Oren Eizenman, Kevin Broad
\nBack For More:<\/b> Seth Klerer, Andrei Uryadov, Matt Angers-Gourlet, Mathias Lange, Jordan Alford
\n2007-2008 Coaches’ Poll:<\/b> 10
\n2007-2008 Media Poll:<\/b> 9
\n2007-2008 Predicted Finish:<\/b> 11
\nWhy:<\/b> If it weren’t for losing such productive players, RPI might keep rising. If only, if only … <\/p>\n
\nHead Coach:<\/b> Keith Allain (11-17-3, one year)
\n2006-2007 Record:<\/b> 11-17-3 (8-13-1 ECACHL, t-8th)
\nDeparted:<\/b> Bill LeClerc, Matt Cohen
\nBack For More:<\/b> Sean Backman, Mark Arcobello, Alec Richards
\n2007-2008 Coaches’ Poll:<\/b> 9
\n2007-2008 Media Poll:<\/b> 10
\n2007-2008 Predicted Finish:<\/b> 10
\nWhy:<\/b> The Eli are on the right track, no doubt about it, but three hotshot players aren’t enough to carry a season.<\/p>\n
\nHead Coach:<\/b> Bob Gaudet (151-135-37, 10 years at Dartmouth; 244-277-68, 19 years overall)
\n2006-2007 Record:<\/b> 18-12-3 (12-7-3 ECACHL, 3rd)
\nDeparted:<\/b> Tanner Glass, Ben Lovejoy, Grant Lewis, David Jones (Jr), T.J. Galiardi (Fr), Kevin Swallow (Soph)
\nBack For More:<\/b> Nick Johnson, J.T. Wyman, Mike Devine
\n2007-2008 Coaches’ Poll:<\/b> 7
\n2007-2008 Media Poll:<\/b> 6
\n2007-2008 Predicted Finish:<\/b> 9
\nWhy:<\/b> The Big Green were decimated by graduation and early departures alike. Mike Devine might be the difference between home ice and dead last.<\/p>\n
\nHead Coach:<\/b> Nate Leaman (57-74-16, four years at Union)
\n2006-2007 Record:<\/b> 14-19-3 (7-14-1 ECACHL, 12th)
\nDeparted:<\/b> Olivier Bouchard, Sean Streich, T.J. Fox (Soph)
\nBack For More:<\/b> Josh Coyle, Jason Walters, Matt Cook, Lane Caffaro, Mario Valery-Trabucco, Mike Schreiber, Justin Mrazek
\n2007-2008 Coaches’ Poll:<\/b> 12
\n2007-2008 Media Poll:<\/b> 12
\n2007-2008 Predicted Finish:<\/b> 8
\nWhy:<\/b> Last year be damned; just look at the studs returning to their Union sweaters this fall.<\/p>\n
\nHead Coach:<\/b> Guy Gadowsky (33-54-9, three years at Princeton; 101-143-31, eight years overall
\n2006-2007 Record:<\/b> 15-16-3 (10-10-2 ECACHL, t-6th)
\nDeparted:<\/b> Darroll Powe, Grant Goeckner-Zoeller, Kevin Westgarth, B.J. Slapsky
\nBack For More:<\/b> Lee Jubinville, Mark Magnowski, Brett Wilson, Mike Moore, Zane Kalemba
\n2007-2008 Coaches’ Poll:<\/b> 8
\n2007-2008 Media Poll:<\/b> 8
\n2007-2008 Predicted Finish:<\/b> 7
\nWhy:<\/b> The Tigers probably won’t garner much national attention just yet, but Princeton is slowly but surely on the rise.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nHead Coach:<\/b> Don Vaughan (239-217-46, 15 years at Colgate)
\n2006-2007 Record:<\/b> 15-21-4 (7-12-3 ECACHL, t-8th)
\nDeparted:<\/b> Marc Fulton, Mike Campaner
\nBack For More:<\/b> Tyler Burton, Jesse Winchester, Tom Riley, David McIntyre, Mark Dekanich
\n2007-2008 Coaches’ Poll:<\/b> 6
\n2007-2008 Media Poll:<\/b> 5
\n2007-2008 Predicted Finish:<\/b> 6
\nWhy:<\/b> The Raiders are still a hard-working team with a skilled and experienced core of players … not to mention with a chip on its shoulder from a lackluster finish last time out.<\/p>\n
\nHead Coach:<\/b> Mike Schafer (235-125-42, 12 years at Cornell)
\n2006-2007 Record:<\/b> 14-13-4 (10-8-4 ECACHL, t-4th)
\nDeparted:<\/b> Byron Bitz, Mark McCutcheon, Tony Romano (Fr)
\nBack For More:<\/b> Topher Scott, Raymond Sawada, Colin Greening, Troy Davenport, Ben Scrivens
\n2007-2008 Coaches’ Poll:<\/b> 4
\n2007-2008 Media Poll:<\/b> 4
\n2007-2008 Predicted Finish:<\/b> 5
\nWhy:<\/b> The Big Red might have this one year left to rebuild and reorganize before reclaiming their traditional spot among the nation’s elite.<\/p>\n
\nHead Coach:<\/b> Ted Donato (56-39-7, three years at Harvard)
\n2006-2007 Record:<\/b> 14-17-2 (10-10-2 ECACHL, t-6th)
\nDeparted:<\/b> Kevin Du, Ryan Maki, Dylan Reese, Justin Tobe
\nBack For More:<\/b> Doug Rogers, Mike Taylor, Alex Meintel, Jon Pelle, Alex Biega, Kyle Richter
\n2007-2008 Coaches’ Poll:<\/b> 5
\n2007-2008 Media Poll:<\/b> 7
\n2007-2008 Predicted Finish:<\/b> 4
\nWhy:<\/b> The Crimson have great speed and great shots, and under the proper conditions could return to glory this year.<\/p>\n
\nHead Coach:<\/b> Joe Marsh (403-329-51, 22 years at St. Lawrence)
\n2006-2007 Record:<\/b> 23-14-2 (16-5-1 ECACHL, 1st)
\nDeparted:<\/b> Kyle Rank, Max Taylor, Drew Bagnall
\nBack For More:<\/b> Kevin DeVergilio, Mike McKenzie, Brock McBride, Alex Petizian
\n2007-2008 Coaches’ Poll:<\/b> 3
\n2007-2008 Media Poll:<\/b> 3
\n2007-2008 Predicted Finish:<\/b> 3
\nWhy:<\/b> Marsh knows how to get every last drop of skill and effort out of his players. Good for him; he has some legit talent — with experience now — to squeeze again this year.<\/p>\n