ECAC Media Pick The Playoffs

by Ryan Fay

With the ECAC men's hockey playoffs getting underway tonight, I polled several ECAC media members and asked how they see the playoffs unfolding. Their full playoff picks are below.

Some important notes:

• No. 1 Quinnipiac, No. 2 Rensselaer, No. 3 Yale, and No. 4 Union have first round byes.
• In the quarterfinals, Quinnipiac faces the lowest remaining seed, Rensselaer the second lowest remaining, Yale the third lowest remaining, and Union the fourth lowest remaining.
• In the semifinals, the highest and lowest seeds left and second highest and second lowest left seeds play a single game.

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SEAN MARTIN - Albany Times Union

FIRST-ROUND (best of 3)
No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth --- Dartmouth in 2
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence --- Colgate in 3
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown --- Brown in 3
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton --- Cornell in 2

QUARTERFINALS (best of 3)
Colgate at No. 1 Quinnipiac ---  Quinnipiac in 2
Cornell at No. 2 Rensselaer --- Rensselaer in 3
Brown at No. 3 Yale --- Yale in 2
Dartmouth at No. 4 Union --- Dartmouth in 3

SEMIFINALS

Quinnipiac vs Dartmouth --- Quinnipiac
Yale vs Rensselaer --- Yale

CHAMPIONSHIP
Yale vs Quinnipiac --- Quinnipiac
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KEN SCHOTT - Daily Gazette

FIRST-ROUND (best of 3)
No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth --- Dartmouth in 3
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence --- St. Lawrence in 2
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown --- Brown in 2
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton --- Princeton in 3

QUARTERFINALS (best of 3)
Princeton at No. 1 Quinnipiac --- Quinnipiac in 2
Brown at No. 2 RPI --- RPI in 3
St. Lawrence at No. 3 Yale --- Yale in 3
Dartmouth at No. 4 Union --- Union in 2

SEMIFINALS
Union vs. Quinnipiac --- Union
Yale vs. RPI --- RPI

CHAMPIONSHIP
RPI vs. Union --- RPI
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MARK DIVVER - Providence Journal

FIRST-ROUND (best of 3)

No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth --- Dartmouth in 3
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence --- St. Lawrence in 2
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown --- Brown in 3
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton --- Cornell in 3

QUARTERFINALS (best of 3)

Cornell at No. 1 Quinnipiac --- Quinnipiac
Brown at No. 2 RPI --- Brown
St. Lawrence at No. 3 Yale --- St. Lawrence
Dartmouth at No. 4 Union --- Union

SEMIFINALS
Quinnipiac vs Brown --- Quinnipiac
Union vs St. Lawrence --- Union

CHAMPIONSHIP
Quinnipiac vs Union --- Quinnipiac
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JOSH SEGUIN - College Hockey News

FIRST ROUND (best of 3)

No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth --- Harvard in 3
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence --- St. Lawrence in 3
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown --- Brown in 2
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton --- Cornell in 3

QUARTERFINALS (best of 3)

Harvard at No. 1 Quinnipiac --- Quinnipiac in 2
Cornell at No. 2 RPI --- RPI in 3
Brown at No. 3 Yale --- Yale in 3
St. Lawrence at No. 4 Union --- Union in 2

SEMIFINALS
Union vs Quinnipiac --- Union
RPI vs Yale --- Rensselaer

CHAMPIONSHIP
RPI vs Union -- RPI
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NATE OWEN - USCHO

FIRST-ROUND (best of 3)
No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth --- Dartmouth
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence --- St. Lawrence
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown --- Brown
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton --- Cornell

QUARTERFINALS (best of 3)
Cornell at No. 1 Quinnipiac --- Quinnipiac
Brown at No. 2 RPI --- RPI
St. Lawrence at No. 3 Yale --- Yale
Dartmouth at No. 4 Union --- Union

SEMIFINALS
Union vs Quinnipiac --- Quinnipiac
Yale vs. RPI --- RPI

CHAMPIONSHIP
RPI vs. Quinnipiac --- RPI
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ADAM WODON - College Hockey News

FIRST-ROUND (best of 3)
No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth --- Dartmouth in 3
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence --- St. Lawrence in 2
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown --- Clarkson in 3
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton --- Cornell in 2

QUARTERFINALS (best of 3)
Clarkson at No. 1 Quinnipiac --- Quinnipiac in 2
Cornell at No. 2 RPI --- RPI in 3
St. Lawrence at No. 3 Yale --- St. Lawrence in 3
Dartmouth at No. 4 Union --- Dartmouth in 3

SEMIFINALS
St. Lawrence vs Quinnipiac --- Quinnipiac
Dartmouth vs. RPI ---RPI

CHAMPIONSHIP
Quinnipiac vs RPI --- Quinnipiac
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ANONYMOUS ECAC BROADCASTER

FIRST-ROUND (best of 3)
No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth --- Dartmouth
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence --- Colgate
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown --- Brown
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton --- Cornell

QUARTERFINALS (best of 3)
Colgate at No. 1 Quinnipiac --- Quinnipiac
Cornell at No. 2 Rensselaer --- Cornell
Brown at No. 3 Yale --- Yale
Dartmouth at No. 4 Union --- Union

SEMIFINALS
Cornell vs Quinnipiac -- Quinnipiac
Union vs Yale --- Union

CHAMPIONSHIP
Union vs Quinnipiac ---  Quinnipiac
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Me - Union Hockey Blog

FIRST-ROUND (best of 3)
No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth --- Harvard in 3
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence --- St. Lawrence in 2
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown --- Brown in 2
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton --- Cornell in 3

QUARTERFINALS (best of 3)
Harvard at No. 1 Quinnipiac --- Quinnipiac in 2
Cornell at No. 2 RPI --- RPI in 3
Brown at No. 3 Yale --- Yale in 3
St. Lawrence at No. 4 Union --- Union in 2

SEMIFINALS
Union vs Quinnipiac --- Union
Yale vs. RPI --- RPI

CHAMPIONSHIP
RPI vs. Union --- Union

ECAC Media Make Their Top 4 Picks

by Ryan Fay

While Quinnipiac has run away with first place, the other three first round byes remain just about anyone's to take. With only six points separating the team in second place (Yale) from the team in tenth place (Colgate), it's shaping up to be a wild final three weekends in the regular season.

I polled several ECAC media members and asked how they see the top four finishing up. I threw my two cents in for good measure.

For the consensus finishes, I added up each predicted finish. A first place prediction meant four points, a second place prediction meant three, a third place prediction meant two, a fourth place meant one point, and unranked meant no points.

The consensus top four is: Quinnipiac (1st, 36 points), Yale (2nd, 21 points), RPI (3rd, 14 points) and Dartmouth (4th, 11 points). Princeton and St. Lawrence, and Union finished with two points.

Individual ballots are below.

WHAT THEY SAID

USCHO.com ECAC correspondent Brian Sullivan on Quinnipiac: "The Bobcats need two points in their remaining six games to clinch the Cleary Cup. I'm almost positive my beer-league team could accomplish that. But only if we get to wear those yellow sweaters."

Sullivan on Yale: "I'm not putting any money on the Bulldogs to hold onto No. 2. In my eyes, that bet went sour with Yale's 1-0 loss at Brown on Tuesday. Goalie Jeff Malcolm is still out - not sure when or if he'll return this season - and the rest of Yale's game has gone all pear-shaped as well."

Anonymous ECAC broadcaster on RPI: "Surging at the right time and they have the right guy between the pipes. They should have gone to Jason Kasdorf much earlier.

USCHO.com ECAC correspondent Nate Owen on Dartmouth: "The Big Green have dealt with some injuries and inconsistency, but I think they'll have enough to hang on."

Anonymous ECAC broadcaster on craziness of league: "Pretty interesting to note that there's a decent chance that three of the top four from last year (Union, Cornell, Harvard, Colgate) could end up in the bottom four this year. And it's possible ALL four, but since Cornell/Colgate play Union, it would be pretty difficult for all three to end up 9 through 11."

KEN SCHOTT	SEAN MARTIN	MARK DIVVER	JASON KLUMP
1. Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac
2. Yale	Yale	Yale	RPI
3. Dartmouth	Dartmouth	Dartmouth	Yale
4. RPI	Princeton	RPI	Union

JOSH SEGUIN	BROADCASTER	NATE OWEN	BRIAN SULLIVAN	ME
1. Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac
2. RPI	Yale	Yale	Dartmouth	RPI
3. Yale	RPI	Dartmouth	Yale	Yale
4. Union	St. Lawrence	RPI	Princeton	St. Lawrence

AFFILIATIONS

Ken Schott - Daily Gazette
Sean Martin - Times Union
Mark Divver - Providence Journal
Jason Klump - ex College Hockey News / recent RPI radio fill-in
Josh Seguin  - College Hockey News
Anonymous Broadcaster - One of the ECAC teams
Nate Owen - USCHO
Brian Sullivan - USCHO
Me - Union Hockey News