ECAC Hockey Power Rankings (and playoff schedule)

by Ryan Fay

Before we get to the power rankings, here is a look at the ECAC playoff schedule:

FIRST-ROUND (Friday, Mar. 8 - Sunday, Mar. 10 - Best-of-three games - campus sites)
No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton

Quinnipiac, Rensselaer, Yale, and Union have first round byes.

QUARTERFINALS (Friday, Mar. 15 - Sunday, Mar. 17 - Best-of-three games - campus sites)
Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Quinnipiac
Second lowest remaining seed at No. 2 Rensselaer
Third lowest remaining seed at No. 3 Yale
Fourth lowest remaining seed at No. 4 Union

SEMIFINALS (Friday, Mar. 22 - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey)
Semifinal No. 1 - 4 p.m

Semifinal No. 2 - 7:30 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP/THIRD PLACE (Saturday, Mar. 23 - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey)
Third-Place Game - 4 p.m.
Championship Game - 7 p.m.

Onto the power rankings -

1. QUINNIPIAC (24-5-5 overall, 17-2-3 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1
The Bobcats had a tremendous regular season, winning the Cleary Cup, finishing 10 points ahead of second place RPI, and racking up the most points in the regular season (37) since Cornell had 38 in 2004-2005. But don't assume Quinnipiac will go uncontested in the league playoffs. The Bobcats are only 3-2-1 over the last six games and have proven to be human after all.

2. RENSSELAER (17-12-5, 12-7-3) LW: 2
If anyone is going to knock off Quinnipiac, RPI isn't a bad choice. The Engineers went 9-1 over their final 10 league contests while outscoring opponents 35-14. Senior defenseman Nick Bailen closed his final collegiate regular season on a high note with two goals and five assists in the last three contests.

3. YALE (16-10-3, 12-9-1) LW: 5
After a five game skid, Yale ended the season strong, winning its final three games. Saturday's 2-1 win over Cornell was the most impressive of the three as Cornell came into the game riding a five game unbeaten streak. Senior forward Andrew Miller has been especially good lately with two goals and three assists over the final three regular season contests.

4. UNION (17-12-5, 10-8-4) LW: 9
Protecting its home ice is one reason why the Dutchmen ended up getting a first round bye. Union went 6-0-1 over its past seven home games, including beating the St. Lawrence and Clarkson by a combined 9-1 score at crunch time over the weekend. The arrow is pointing back up again.

5. BROWN (11-12-6, 7-9-6) LW: 4
The Bears split over the weekend, losing 4-1 to Cornell on Friday ahead of a 5-1 win over Colgate the next night. The split was good enough to give Brown home ice in the first round, something that hasn't happened since 2005. The Bears are 3-1-1 over their past five games at Meehan Auditorium.

6. ST. LAWRENCE (16-14-4, 9-9-4) LW: 3
St. Lawrence entered the weekend in the mix for a first round bye, but those prospects went out the door with a 5-1 loss at Union and a 4-1 setback at RPI. It marked the first time all season that St. Lawrence lost back-to-back road games. Getting Kyle Flanagan (appendectomy) back for this weekend's series with Colgate would only help, but they should advance anyway.

7. CORNELL (12-14-3, 8-11-3) LW: 6
The Big Red closed out the regular season with a 4-1 triumph over Brown and a 2-1 loss at Yale, the latter being their first defeat in three weeks. Sophomore Joel Lowry, who was drafted by Los Angeles in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL draft, is playing some of his best hockey of the year with three goals and three assists in the final six regular season games. Goalie Andy Illes has come on strong as well, not allowing more than two goals in any of his last seven starts.

8. HARVARD (9-17-3, 6-14-2) LW: 10
Harvard became the second ECAC team to beat Quinnipiac this year after the Crimson held on for a 2-1 victory on Friday. Despite playing much better hockey of late (two losses in past six league games), Harvard couldn't escape the league basement and enter the tournament as the 12th seed. The Crimson will take on fifth-seeded Dartmouth and I'll go out on a limb and say Harvard wins in three.

9. DARTMOUTH (13-11-5, 9-9-4) LW: 8
In order to win in the playoffs, you need to string wins together. But the last time Dartmouth won back to back games was way back in mid January. A lot is made of Dartmouth's home dominance (10-4-1 on the year) but the Big Green are just 2-3-1 in their past six games at Thompson Arena.

10. PRINCETON (10-14-5, 8-10-4) LW: 12
Getting home ice in the first round may not be the best thing for the Tigers. Princeton is 0-4 in its past four home contests, but hold a 3-0-1 mark its last four road games. Speaking of road games, Princeton went into overtime in both weekend road games, tying Dartmouth, 2-2, and prevailing, 2-1, over Harvard. In the latter game, Princeton pulled goaltender Mike Condon late in overtime, but Andrew Calouf netted an extra skater goal with 37 seconds left on the clock to win it.

11. CLARKSON (9-18-7, 8-11-3) LW: 7
If Clarkson has any chance to beat Brown, they're going to need to score some goals. It sounds simple enough, right? However, scoring goals has been far from simple for the Golden Knights lately. Clarkson enters the league playoffs with scoreless drought of 141:29, the second longest in program history (167:45, set in 2002). You can thank the Clarkson Hockey Blog for that stat.

12. COLGATE (14-16-4, 6-13-3) LW: 11
The Raiders are the definition of limping into the playoffs. Colgate has all of one victory in the past 10 games and they don't appear all that likely to be playing in two weeks. The Raiders drew St. Lawrence in the first round and will be going on the road, where they have two wins all season. The last time Colgate won a league game on the road was Dec. 1 at Clarkson.

ECAC hockey power rankings (2/25/13)

by Ryan Fay

It all comes down to this. The upcoming weekend marks the end of the regular season, but much is yet to be decided. Remarkably, the only lock is Quinnipiac finishing first. Just about everything else is up for grabs with many teams having a wide range of possible finishes.

Lets take a look at how the teams stack up as the regular season is set to close:

1. QUINNIPIAC (23-4-5 overall, 16-1-3 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1
Saturday's 3-3 tie against Brown will keep the #1/1 Bobcats from being the first ECAC team with 40 points since Harvard finished with 40 during the 1988-1989 campaign. Even with two wins to close out the regular season, Quinnipiac would max out at 39 points, which would rank as the highest single year point total in the league since Cornell racked up 39 in 2002-2003.

2. RPI (15-12-5, 10-7-3) LW: 2
RPI's eight game winning streak in league play came to an end with Friday's 4-1 loss at Cornell and the four goals allowed were the most given up by RPI in a single game since surrendering four at Princeton on Jan. 12. The weekend was salvaged when Matt Neal scored with ten seconds left in overtime to propel the Engineers to a 3-2 win at Colgate on Saturday. The second place Engineers remain in possession of a first round bye.

3. ST. LAWRENCE (16-12-4, 9-7-4) LW: 3
The Saints have a first round bye to lose and going on the road to conclude the regular season isn't the worst thing. With nine road wins, the Saints have the second most victories away from home in the league (Quinnipiac has 10). Additionally, St. Lawrence is the only team in the league with more road wins (9) than home wins (7).

4. BROWN (10-11-6, 6-8-6) LW: 6
Is there a peskier team in the league than the Bears? According to Dartmouth men's hockey SID Patrick Salvas, Brown has not lost a game to the eventual regular season champ last season (Union) or this season (Qunnipiac). The Bears went 2-0 against Union a year ago and are 0-0-2 versus Quinnipiac this season. On Saturday, the Bears used two late third period goals to tie the Bobcats, 3-3.

5. YALE (14-10-3, 10-9-1) LW: 5
The best news for #13/14 Yale over the weekend was the return of netminder Jeff Malcolm, who stopped 17-of-20 shots in Saturday's 4-3 triumph against Princeton. His return couldn't have come soon enough as the team lost all five games he missed. Another encouraging sign was scoring four goals on Saturday, which was as many as Yale had in the previous four games combined.

6. CORNELL (11-13-3, 7-10-3) LW: 11

That horrific stretch from late December through early February looks like a thing of the past. The Big Red are unbeaten in their past four games (3-0-1) and look like they could be peaking at the right time. Cornell handed RPI its first league loss in six weeks on Friday and used three early goals to take Union out of Saturday's game only 10 minutes into play. Greg Miller, who leads Cornell with 14 goals, has been particularly hot lately with six tallies in the past four contests.

7. CLARKSON (9-16-7, 8-9-3) LW: 7
Which team is tied with St. Lawrence for the second highest goals per game (GPG) average in league play? Quinnipiac? Nah, they comfortably top the list at 3.40 GPG. RPI? Nope, the Engineers are seventh at 2.60. It's Clarkson at 2.90 GPG. The Golden Knights wouldn't have been my first guess, either. According to USCHO.com ECAC columnist Brian Sullivan, Clarkson can finish as high as third and as low as 11th after next weekend. The Knights travel to RPI and Union to wrap up the regular season.

8. DARTMOUTH (13-10-4, 9-8-3) LW: 8
#19/RV Dartmouth is tied with Yale for the final first round bye and return home for a chance to solidify their positioning. The good news? The Big Green protect their home as well as anyone in the league, as evidenced by a 10-3 mark in games played at Thompson Arena this season. The bad news? The clubs coming in, Princeton and Quinnipiac, are 2-0 against Dartmouth this year.

9. UNION (15-12-5, 8-8-4) LW: 4
After two home wins last weekend, there was a feeling the team had righted the ship and looked poised for a strong finish. But this past weekend erased those thoughts. On Friday, the Dutchmen lost, 4-1, to a Colgate team which entered the game on a six game winless streak. The next night, Union essentially lost the game in the first ten minutes after falling behind 3-0 at Cornell. There were some strong spurts later in the contest, but it was an inconsistent effort that left a desire for a full sixty minute effort. I don't think there are many people who know what to expect from #20 Union going forward.

10. HARVARD (8-16-3, 5-13-2) LW: 10
You want your best players to step up late in the season and that's happening for Harvard. Top scorer Alex Fallstrom has a point in six straight contests, his longest streak of the season, and Marshall Everson has scored seven of his 11 goals in the same six game run. In that span, the Crimson are 5-1.

11. COLGATE (14-14-4, 6-11-3) LW: 12
If Colgate has a run in them, it will come from their underclassmen. Five of the team's top seven point getters are either freshmen or sophomores. The top three goal scorers, Kyle Baun, Tylor Spink, and Darcy Murphy are all freshmen. Even if the rest of the season fails to yield desirable results, a nice foundation is in place in Hamilton.

12. PRINCETON (9-14-4, 7-10-3) LW: 9
The Tigers haven't had much roar lately. Princeton has lost its past four contests, and worse yet, all four losses have been at home. Before the slide, Princeton was beaten at home just two times in the first four-plus months of the season. Their regular season ends with trips to Dartmouth and Harvard.

ECAC Hockey Power Rankings (2/18/13)

by Ryan Fay

There are only two more weekends of regular season action. But there's a lot more yet to be decided. Lets see how the teams stack up right now:

1. QUINNIPIAC (22-4-4 overall, 15-1-2 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1

It finally happened. #1/1 Quinnipiac suffered its first league loss of the season after St. Lawrence held on for a 2-1 victory on Friday. There were some close calls earlier this season (i.e 1-1 ties against RPI and Brown) but it was Saints who finished the job. While the loss ruined a chance at an undefeated league season, it wasn't all that damaging. After Union knocked off Yale, the Bobcats clinched the Cleary Cup on Friday anyway. Concerns about a letdown performance on Saturday versus Clarkson were quelled with a 2-1 win.

2. RPI (14-11-5, 9-6-3) LW: 3

With all due respect to Quinnipiac, RPI may well be the ECAC team one would least want to face right now. The boys from Troy have fired off eight league wins in a row and have looked dominant in the process. RPI has allowed three goals or less in every game during the run with two shutouts mixed in. During the streak, the Engineers have outscored their opponents 30-10. You'd hate to be Colgate and Cornell this weekend.

3. ST. LAWRENCE (15-11-4, 8-6-4) LW: 4

If the Saints had any chance to beat Quinnipiac, they were going to need their best players to come up big. And that's what happened. Greg Carey, who leads the nation with 23 goals, scored both St. Lawrence goals on Friday. The junior has at least one goal in nine straight contests dating back to Jan. 19 at Clarkson. Currently tied with Union for third place, the Saints have a chance to solidify a first round bye with Dartmouth, Harvard, and Union coming up on the calendar. St. Lawrence is 3-0 against them this year.

4. UNION (15-10-5, 8-6-4) LW: 6

After starting the month on a three game winless streak, and losing grip on a first round bye, there was some concern the season may be starting to slip away from the two-time defending league champions. But the Dutchmen earned four huge points after beating #9/10 Yale 4-2 on Friday and blanking Brown 2-0 the next night. A week after getting yanked in consecutive starts, Troy Grosenick rebounded and accumulated 61 saves over the weekend. Currently tied with St. Lawerence for third place, Union once again has a first round bye to lose.

5. YALE (13-9-3, 9-8-1) LW: 2

This isn't the kind of stretch run the Bulldogs wanted to have. Yale is 1-5 over their past six games, including four straight losses. The team misses starting goaltender Jeff Malcolm, who is out for an undetermined amount of time. Backup Nick Maricic was pulled after letting up a couple soft goals against Union on Friday and third-stringer Conor Wilson allowed three goals on 21 shots in Saturday's loss at RPI. The offense isn't helping, either. Yale has scored five goals in the current four game skid. 

6. BROWN (9-11-5, 5-8-5) LW: 5

Brown's three game week began on a high note with a 1-0 blanking of Yale on Tuesday, but the weekend was a different story. A 5-1 rout at RPI preceded a 2-0 defeat at Union on Saturday. In the latter, the Bears were outhot 48-23. One concern with Brown is a lack of scoring depth. With 26 points, Matt Lorito has twice as many as any other player on the roster (Garnet Hathaway - 13). Lorito's 14 goals are more than double the next highest figure on the squad (Nick Lappin's six).

7. CLARKSON (8-15-7, 7-8-3) LW: 10

Clarkson handed Princeton just its third home loss of the season with Friday's 3-2 triumph. The next night, they hung tough with league-leading Quinnipiac, but dropped a 2-1 decision. He's no Greg Carey, but Allen McPherson has been on quite the streak himself. Of his nine goals this season, five of them have come in the past six games.

8. DARTMOUTH (12-9-4, 8-7-3) LW: 9

If you want to talk about a bad loss, #17 Dartmouth's 4-2 setback to Cornell on Friday would qualify. Not only did Cornell enter the game 1-10 over its last 11 games, the game was played at Dartmouth, where the Big Green were 9-2 on the season going into the weekend. Dartmouth rebounded on Saturday with a 5-4 win over Colgate and stand tied with Yale for fourth place.

9. PRINCETON (9-12-4, 7-8-3) LW: 7

The Tigers are a tough nut to crack. Last weekend, they picked up two wins on the road after entering that weekend with one road win all year. This past weekend, Princeton brought a 6-2 home record into home games with Clarkson and St. Lawrence. They lost both.

10. HARVARD (7-15-3, 4-12-2) LW: 11

Don't look now, but Harvard is unbeaten in its last four contests (2-0-2). It's certainly a welcome sight after the Crimson had a stretch with one win in 16 games. Harvard put up seven goals on Tuesday in a 7-4 win over #/11/13 Boston University in the Beanpot consolation game. The strong effort was followed by a 4-1 win over Colgate on Friday and a 2-2 draw with Cornell on Saturday.

11. CORNELL (9-13-3, 5-10-3) LW: 12
With a win and a tie, Cornell had its first league weekend with more than two points since picking up four points against Clarkson and St. Lawrence on Nov. 30-Dec 1. Cornell closes out the regular season portion of its home schedule this weekend against RPI and Union.

12. COLGATE (13-13-4, 5-10-3) LW: 8

With four straight defeats, the Raiders are sputtering to the finish line. The recent struggles can at least partly be blamed on a power play unit that has gone belly up after spending most of the season as one of the best in the conference. Over the past four games, the Colgate power play is 1-for-19.

ECAC Hockey Power Rankings (2/11/13)

by Ryan Fay

Parity is the name of the game in the ECAC this year. Only six points separate second place Yale from the two teams tied for 10th place (Colgate, Brown).

Lets see how the teams stack up with only three more regular season weekends to go:

1. QUINNIPIAC (21-3-4 overall, 13-3-2 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1
The Bobcats went on the road and beat Cornell, 4-1, on Friday before outlasting Colgate, 3-2, on Saturday. The wins were no surprise as Quinnipiac has yet to lose a true road game all season long (10-0-2). It's a good thing the team was on the road with reports of 40 inches of snow in their home city of Hamden, CT.

2. YALE (13-6-3, 9-5-1) LW: 2
Yale only had one game on the weekend docket (at Brown), but it was postponed to tomorrow due to the powerful winter storm that rocked New England. With Yale potentially without goaltender Jeff Malcolm, and the way Anthony Borelli has been playing in net for Brown, it could be a very intriguing matchup.

3. RPI (12-11-5, 7-6-3) LW: 5
The Engineers were in the North Country to battle a couple surging teams in St. Lawrence and Clarkson. The Saints entered the weekend 4-0-2 in their last six and Clarkson was 2-1-2 in their last five. That didn't phase RPI, which won a 4-3 overtime thriller in Canton on Friday before 6-2 thrashing of Clarkson the next night. Five of RPI's top six scorers are either freshmen or sophomores and breakout goaltender Jason Kasforf is another freshman. This is a team with a lot of upside the next couple years.

4. ST. LAWRENCE (13-11-4, 6-6-4) LW: 4
The Saints may have lost a nail biter to RPI on Friday, but they made up for it the next night. St. Lawrence came out firing and knocked Union out of the game with three first period goals. Union head coach Rick Bennett told me that St. Lawrence's Greg Carey, who had a goal and an assist on Saturday, has one of the quickest releases he's seen in college hockey in a long time. And defenseman Gunnar Hughes, who Bennett thought was "really underrated," must have been looking to shed that tag when his first period goal ended up being the eventual game-winner.

5. BROWN (8-9-5, 4-6-5) LW: 6
Brown's lone game (vs Yale) was pushed back to tomorrow due to inclement weather. Brown lost to Yale, 4-3, back on Dec. 1 but bring a three game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) into tomorrow's pivotal contest.

6. UNION (13-10-5, 6-4-4) LW: 3
Since Nov. 30, the two-time defending league champions are just 5-8-4. Thoughts of a third straight Cleary Cup are long dead, but now a first round bye is in jeopardy after laying an egg in the North Country. A 2-1 loss at Clarkson preceded a 4-2 setback at St. Lawrence and the Dutchmen never lead in either game. Union's goals per game have gone down each month this season: 4.00 (Oct), 3.57 (Nov), 2.80 (Dec), 2.25 (Jan), 1.67 (Feb). Even the penalty kill has failed the Dutchmen lately, as the PK is just 6-for-13 in the past three outings.

7. PRINCETON (9-10-4, 7-6-3) LW: 9
Princeton entered the weekend with just one road win all season long. So what did the Tigers do? They traveled to Colgate and Cornell and picked up more road wins in two days than they had in the previous four-plus months. That's ECAC hockey for you.

8. COLGATE (13-11-4, 5-8-3) LW: 7
Colgate is limping to the finish line. The Raiders are on a four game winless streak (0-2-2) and only have two wins in their last eight contests (2-4-2). The team entered the weekend 10-3 at home, but dropped back to back home contests to Princeton and Quinnipiac. The good news is the next three teams on the schedule (Harvard, Dartmouth, Union) aren't exactly lighting it up either. The Colgate power play, usually one of the best in the league, went 0-for-9 over the weekend.

9. DARTMOUTH (11-8-4, 7-6-3) LW: 8
Dartmouth picked up the dubious distinction of being the first ECAC team not to beat Harvard since Cornell did so nearly three months ago. The Big Green, which have all of one win in their past six games, skated to a 1-1 draw at Harvard on Sunday. Dartmouth has scored more than two goals just once in that span (5 vs Clarkson).

10. CLARKSON (7-14-7, 6-7-3) LW: 10
Allan McPherson scored two of Clarkson's four goals this weekend and was assisted by Ben Sexton and Will Frederick on both of them. The Golden Knights go back on the road and battle Princeton and Quinnipiac next weekend. Clarkson's single game high in goals this season (7) came in a 7-2 romp of Princeton on Nov. 17.

11. HARVARD (5-15-2, 3-12-1) LW: 12
The Crimson finally notched their first league point since November, but the best news coming out of the program over the weekend was former standout Alex Killorn ('12) getting promoted to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Killorn, who had 109 points in four seasons in Cambridge, collected 39 points in 43 games for Syracuse (AHL) prior to the bump.

12. CORNELL (8-13-2, 4-10-2) LW: 11
Saturday's 1-0 loss to Princeton was a microcosm of Cornell's prolonged dry spell. The Big Red outshot Princeton 39-12, including 9-0 in the third period, but still lost. Cornell is 1-10 over their past 11 games with the only win coming via a 3-2 triumph at Messa Rink on January 18th.

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).

ECAC Power Rankings - 1/28/13

by Ryan Fay

1. QUINNIPIAC (11-0-1 ECAC, 18-3-3 overall) - Tuesday's 2-1 win over Connecticut may have been closer than some expected, but the Bobcats show no signs of slowing down. On tap is a road trip to Brown and #7/8 Yale, the only ECAC teams yet to face off against #2/2 Quinnipiac this season.

2. YALE (8-4-1, 12-5-3) - A 4-1 setback at Colgate on Saturday was Yale's first loss in nearly a month (December 30th to Holy Cross). Yale returns home, where they have a 5-2-1 record this season, to face Princeton and Quinnipiac this weekend. It will be their first meetings against both teams this year.

3. UNION (6-4-3, 13-8-4) - Concern has died down after three straight wins over Colgate, Harvard, and a non-leaguer over RPI. One sign of hope is highly touted freshman Matt Wilkins scoring his first three collegiate goals in January (including Saturday's game winner). Next on the docket is a rematch with #16 Dartmouth, which beat #18 Union, 3-2, at Thompson Arena in early November.

4. COLGATE (5-6-1, 13-9-2) - The Raiders have won five of their past seven games with the only blemishes being a weekend sweep in the Capital District on January 19th & 20th. Most impressive was Saturday's win over Yale. One concern going forward - six of their last 10 games are on the road, where the team is just 2-6-2 on the season (compared to 10-3 at home). Next up is a trip to the North Country, whose teams (Clarkson, St. Lawrence) split with Colgate a couple months ago.

5. DARTMOUTH (7-5-1, 11-7-2) - After starting 4-0 in ECAC play, the Big Green have gone just 3-5-1 since. The team split the weekend against the North Country teams, losing 4-2 to St. Lawrence before beating Clarkson 5-1.

6. PRINCETON (5-4-3, 7-8-4) - Since the calendar flipped to 2013, the Tigers have won four of five games with the lone hiccup being a 3-2 home loss to Union on January 11th. Revenge will be the theme this weekend when Princeton travels to Yale and Brown. Yale and Brown beat Princeton earlier this year, 3-2 and 2-1, respectively.

7. ST. LAWRENCE (4-5-3, 11-10-3) - The Saints have won or tied their past four games (3-0-1) including a 4-2 win at Dartmouth on Friday. It marked only Dartmouth's second home loss of the year (9-2).

8. RPI (3-6-3, 8-11-5) - Saturday's 3-2 non-league loss to Union aside, the Engineers have been playing better hockey of late. They handed Quinnipiac its only non-win in league play this season with a 1-1 tie on January 11th. The next weekend, they had their first home sweep of Cornell and Colgate since the 1990s. RPI hosts Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend.

9. BROWN (3-6-4, 7-9-4) - Brown has been up and down since league play resumed, going 3-3 in their past six league contests. The Bears split the weekend, losing 2-1 to Colgate ahead of a 3-0 win over Cornell.

10. CORNELL (4-6-2, 8-9-2) - Cornell has fallen on hard times. The Big Red have dropped six of their past seven games with the lone win being a 3-2 come from behind win at Union on January 18th. Making matters worse was losing World Junior Championship gold medalist Cole Bardreau for the rest of the season with a fractured neck. Cornell will look to rebound this weekend against Clarkson and St. Lawrence, who they swept earlier this year.

11. CLARKSON (4-6-2, 5-13-6) - Clarkson has one win in their past eight games, a 5-1 thrashing of hapless Harvard on Friday. The Golden Knights begin a four game homestand this weekend but don't expect much home cooking as the team is only 1-8 at home this season.

12. HARVARD (3-11, 5-13-1) - Decimated by an academic cheating scandal that resulted in the loss of four players a couple months ago, the Crimson have gone 1-11-1 in their past 13 games.