ECAC Hockey Power Rankings - 2/4/13

by Ryan Fay

1. QUINNIPIAC (12-0-2 ECAC, 19-3-4 overall) - Last week (LW): 1
#2/2 Quinnipiac was brought to the brink by a pesky Brown team on Friday night, but the Bobcats kept their league unbeaten streak alive with a 1-1 tie. They re-asserted their dominance the next night by whipping Yale, 6-2.

2. YALE (9-5-1, 13-6-3) - LW: 2
#9/10 Yale lost more than the game against Quinnipiac. Star goaltender Jeff Malcolm left the game in the first period and never returned. His absence would be a big loss as Malcolm has a 2.15 goals against average and a .930 save percentage in league play.

3. UNION (6-4-5, 13-8-5) - LW: 3
The 18th-ranked Dutchmen were a little more than five minutes away from beating Dartmouth, but an ill-advised tripping penalty on Daniel Ciampini led to the game-tying goal and it ended a 2-2 draw.

4. ST. LAWRENCE (5-5-4, 12-10-4) - LW: 7
St. Lawrence is one of the hottest teams in the league with a six game unbeaten streak (4-0-2). Greg Carey (37 points) and Kyle Flanagan (35 points) have been in a league of their own offensively this season. No other ECAC player has even 30 points.

5. RPI (5-6-3, 10-11-5) - LW: 8
After a one-game hiccup to Union, the Engineers picked up where they left off. Star freshman Jason Kasdorf picked up his first collegiate shutouts via consecutive 3-0 decisions, against Harvard on Friday and a nationally ranked Dartmouth team the next night. According to the RPI blog Without A Peer, it was the first time since March 2000 that RPI had back-to-back shutouts in an ECAC league weekend. One wonders where RPI would be if they had used Kasdorf from the start.

6. BROWN (4-6-5, 8-9-5) - LW: 9
He doesn't seem to get as much publicity as some other top ECAC goaltenders, but Anthony Borelli has been a brick wall since taking over in early December. The junior has a 1.39 GAA, second only in ECAC play to the 1.33 mark posted by Quinnipiac's Eric Hartzell. Borelli's .952 save percentage ranks first in league play.

7. COLGATE (13-9-4, 5-6-3) - LW: 4
Colgate was fit to be tied over the weekend, leaving the North Country with a 4-4 tie against Clarkson and a 3-3 tie versus St. Lawrence. The Raiders, playing without sophomore defenseman Spiro Goulakos (Hodgkin's Lymphoma), rallied from a two goal deficit to force Saturday's tie.

8. DARTMOUTH (7-6-2, 11-8-3) - LW: 5
#17 Dartmouth's 4-0 start in ECAC play seems like more and more of a distant memory. However, with Harvard on tap next weekend, the Big Green have an excellent chance to get back in the win column.

9. PRINCETON (5-6-3, 7-10-4) - LW: 6
After winning four of five at home, Princeton's road woes continued in two losses over the weekend at Yale and Brown. Princeton has only one win on the road this season (1-6-3) and travel to Colgate and Cornell this weekend.

10. CLARKSON (5-6-3, 6-13-7) - LW: 10
Considering Clarkson entered the weekend 1-8-2 at home, the Golden Knights had to be pleased with a three point home weekend against Colgate and Cornell. Next up are home dates with Union and RPI, the only teams Clarkson has yet to play this year.

11. CORNELL (4-8-2, 8-11-2) - LW: 11
The freefall continues. After two more losses -- 4-2 to St. Lawrence on Friday and 6-3 to Clarkson on Saturday -- Cornell falls to 1-8 in their last 9 games. Having to face Quinnipiac on Friday isn't going to make life any easier. Cornell's struggles rank as one of the more surprising stories in the league this season.

12. HARVARD (3-12, 5-14-1) - LW: 12
In its only action of the weekend, Harvard was blanked, 3-0, at the hands of RPI. The Crimson haven't won a league game since November 16th (4-1 at Cornell).