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 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

Where Union is in the polls - 1/28/13

by Ryan Fay

It's Monday, which means its poll day.

How did the Dutchmen fare this week? Lets find out.

USCHO

After picking up a couple wins over Harvard (4-1, Tuesday) and RPI (3-2, Saturday), the Dutchmen (13-8-4) rose one spot to 18th in the latest USCHO top 20 poll.

ECAC-leading Quinnipiac (18-3-3) picked up 22 first place votes, but fell eight points shy of the top spot. WCHA powerhouse Minnesota (18-4-4) retained its place atop the rankings.

Other ECAC teams in the poll were Yale (8th, 12-5-3) and Dartmouth (16th, 11-7-2). Dartmouth comes to Messa Rink on Friday night for a nationally televised game on the NBC Sports Network.

Colgate (19 votes, 13-9-2) and Cornell (5 votes, 8-9-2) were in consideration but didn't make the cut.

USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine

The Dutchmen remain unranked in the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine top 15 poll. Union did receive six votes, which is actually one less than last week despite picking up two wins.

Quinnipiac was slotted second with 11 first place votes but Minnesota again proved too much to topple for the highest spot. Yale was the lone other ECAC representative in the top 15, as they were ranked 7th.

On the outside looking in were Dartmouth (45 votes) and the aforementioned Dutchmen (6 votes).

PAIRWISE

Union has moved up slightly in the pairwise as they currently sit 18th.

Rk	Team	PCWs	W-L-T	Win %	Rk	RPI	Rk
1	Quinnipiac	28	18-3-3	.812	1	.5870	1
2	Minnesota	27	18-4-4	.769	2	.5724	2
3	New Hampshire	25	15-6-2	.696	4	.5672	3
4	Miami	25	15-6-5	.673	7	.5546	4
5	Yale	24	12-5-3	.675	6	.5538	5
6	Boston College	24	14-7-2	.652	8t	.5521	6
7	Western Michigan	22	16-6-4	.692	5	.5457	7
8	Mass.-Lowell	21	14-7-2	.652	8t	.5456	8
9	St. Cloud State	19	15-10-1	.596	16t	.5433	9
10	North Dakota	18	13-8-5	.596	16t	.5415	10
11	Boston University	17	13-9-1	.587	18	.5404	11
12	Alaska-Fairbanks	17	12-8-4	.583	19t	.5331	18
13	Denver	16	13-8-4	.600	13t	.5396	12
14	Notre Dame	15	16-10-0	.615	11t	.5384	13
15	Dartmouth	15	11-7-2	.600	13t	.5365	14
16	Minnesota State	13	16-9-3	.625	10	.5350	15
17	Niagara	12	15-4-5	.729	3	.5346	16
18	Union	10	13-8-4	.600	13t	.5259	19
19	Colgate	10	13-9-2	.583	19t	.5221	20
20	Northern Michigan	10	11-12-4	.481	32	.5123	23
21	Nebraska-Omaha	8	15-9-2	.615	11t	.5334	17
22	Ferris State	8	13-10-3	.558	24	.5183	22
23	Wisconsin	7	11-8-5	.562	23	.5210	21
24	Ohio State	4	10-11-5	.481	33	.5087	24
25	Providence	4	10-10-4	.500	28t	.5072	25
26	Robert Morris	4	12-9-2	.565	22	.5046	26
27	Cornell	2	8-9-2	.474	36t	.5044	27
28	Merrimack	1	10-10-5	.500	28t	.5022	28
29	Holy Cross	0	13-9-2	.583	19t	.5021	29

Pairwise information via collegehockeynews.com.

Union Blows Two Goal Lead And Ties Quinnipiac

The Dutchmen just didn't have their 'A' game tonight. I don't know why, but they just weren't able to click tonight. Coach Leaman tried mixing up the lines in the third period to try and get a spark, but nothing happened.

I really wasn't a fan of the refereeing tonight. The Bobcats received six power-plays while Union only had two. Union scored on their first chance, and had their second opportunity with 1:45 left in overtime but were unable to score. I just thought the calls were a little unbalanced, but hey I'm a Union fan. In the post-game press conference I could sense that Coach Leaman also wasn't too happy with the refs.

The Union penalty killing was great tonight. I also want to point out that Kyle Bodie's goal was an absolute snipe.

Luckily, the Dutchmen got some help from Colgate who tied Yale in New Haven. It was the only game Yale has played this season that went into overtime, and is the only time the Bulldogs haven't won at Ingalls this season. So, Union still controls their own destiny. If they win tonight against Princeton they will win the Cleary Cup.

The game will be one of the biggest in the history of the program, and the most important of the season so far.

For more on the game vs. Quinnipiac check out:
USCHO
Union Athletics
Ken Schott's Blog
Times Union
Quinnipiac Athletics

Other scores in the ECAC from last night:
Colgate 1 - Yale 1
Princeton 4 - RPI 3
Cornell 2 - Brown 3 (OT)
Clarkson 1 - Harvard 3
St. Lawrence 2 - Dartmouth 4

Tonight's Lineups vs. Quinnipiac (2/25/11)

Taylor Reid

Union
Presizniuk - Zajac - Hatch
Carr - Welsh - Jooris
Sullivan - J. Simpson - W. Simpson
Buote - Pallos - K. Bodie

Forgaard - Reid
M. Bodie - Matheson
Cobrun - Stuart

Kinkaid
Milan
Grosenick

Notes: Junior Taylor Reid makes his season debut tonight on defense. His last game was in early January 2009 against Notre Dame. He will wear #4. Also, Kyle Bodie will play on the "fourth" line tonight with Stephane Boileau as a healthy scratch. They have split time over the past few weekends along with Kevin Sullivan. I expect "The Professor" to play tomorrow night.

Jones Brothers

Quinnipiac
Dunbar - C. Jones - K. Jones
Zurveninski - Langlois - Goodman
Harvey - Bouharevich - Heichman
Bui - Hibbeler - Robinson

Barron - Hansen
Glaicar - Dalhuisen
Currie - Tyson

Clarke
Hartzell
McGann

Notes: Kellen Jones is a draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers and Pat McGann is a draft pick of the Dallas Stars... Connor and Kellen Jones are twins. Spencer Heichman is listed at 5'6" 160 pounds... Brooks Robinson is not the Hall of Fame baseball player.

Players To Watch This Senior Weekend

I think this is the weekend Union fans have been waiting for for a long time. With two games left in the regular season the Dutchmen control their own destiny in winning the Cleary Cup. They are one point ahead of Yale in the standings, and if they match the Bulldogs point-for-point this weekend they will win the Cleary Cup for the first time in program history. Yale hosts Colgate and Cornell this weekend (click here).

But, to get to the cup the Dutchmen will have to go through the Quinnipiac Bobcats and Princeton Tigers. Union played these two teams on the road two weekends ago. They came back to beat the Tigers 7-4, and then came back again to beat the Bobcats 2-1 in overtime the following night.

This is our moment.... Let's take it!

Quinnipiac
Jeremy Langlois: the sophomore forward leads the team with 15 goals (5th in the ECAC), and is tied for the team lead with six power-play goals.
Loren Barron: the sophomore defenseman leads the team with 14 assists, and leads all Bobcat defensemen with 15 points.
Scott Zurevinski: the Bobcats' leading scorer (21 points) has tallied a point in five of his past six games.

Princeton
Andrew Calof: the freshman forward leads the Tigers with 23 assists (third in the ECAC) and 29 points.
Mike Kramer: the senior forward has been very hot of late. He's picked up a point in nine of his past 10 games, including nine goals and six assists over that span. Kramer leads the team with 13 goals and is second in assists (15) and points (28).
Taylor Fedun: the senior defenseman has 10 goals on the season, which is tied for the league lead in goals by a defenseman. His seven power-play goals is the most among ECAC defenseman, and tops on the team.

Union
Kelly Zajac: Zaj is Union's leading scorer with 37 points. He got hurt last Saturday night, but Coach Leaman says he will play this weekend. Let's see if that injury bothers him or not.
Wayne Simpson: the younger Simpson has been extremely hot of late. He's picked up a point in 10 of his last 12 games, and has scored a goal in four of his last five games.
Class of 2011: I'm sure the seniors want to make their final regular season weekend a memorable one where they lift the Cleary Cup over the heads. In last year's regular season finale EVERY senior made a contribution to Union's victory. I expect the same this year. Read my post from last Senior Night to know what I'm talking about.

For more check out:
Union Athletics.com
Quinnipiac Bobcats.com
Go Princeton Tigers.com

Here's what happened the last time Princeton and Quinnipiac played at Messa Rink during the regular season:

Union Travels to #19 Princeton and Quinnipiac

Ok I got to make this quick since I'm leaving for Boston in a few minutes.

The Dutchmen head south this weekend to take on two hot teams. Princeton has only lost once in their past 11 games, while Quinnipiac is unbeaten in their last five. Every ECAC game has become more important as the season goes on and each of these game are equally important. The Dutchmen might have to win every ECAC game for the rest of the season if they have any hope in catching Yale and fending off the likes of Princeton, RPI, and Dartmouth.

Players To Watch
Andrew Calof (Princeton): the freshman leads the team with 18 assists.
Taylor Fedun (Princeton): the senior defenseman leads all Tiger defensemen with six goals and 10 assists.
Kevin Lohry (Princeton): leads team with nine goals.
Connor and Kellen Jones (Quinnipiac): the freshman twin brothers have both accumulated 16 points so far this season. Connor has seven goals, while Kellen has 11 assists.
Jeremy Langlois (Quinnipiac): leads team with 13 goals and 18 points.
Adam Presizniuk (Union): let's see if he keeps up his scoring touch after a break out performance last weekend.
Shawn Stuart (Union): he wore the red jersey (because of a shoulder injury) in Wednesday's practice.
Mike Ingoldsby is already out indefinitely and the Dutchmen don't have any solid replacements if Stuart were to go down.

I predict that both Capital Region teams keep it rolling and seep the Tigers and Bobcats.

I also want to point out that the Quinnipiac arena is the nicest in the ECAC, so I recommend on checking it out.

For more on the weekend check out:
Union Athletics.com
Go Princeton Tigers.com
Quinnipiac Bobcats.com

ALSO IF YOU ARE STAYING IN SCHENECTADY THIS WEEKEND GO CHECK OUT THE WOMEN'S HOCKEY TEAM!!!!! THIS WEEKEND IS "PINK IN THE RINK."
More info...

Here's a video of Quinnipiac promoting the games this weekend:


And here's what happened the last time Union and Quinnipiac played each other:

Quinnipiac Freshman Hockey Players Dancing Video

During my break today I came across this video on Barstool Sports- Boston of two Quinnipiac freshman hockey players doing some weird dance in the team locker room. I assume the two players are John Dunbar and Brooks Robinson since the name of the video is "Dunny and Brooks get weird."

I don't know who filmed this, but who ever did and posted it to YouTube is a moron. You're just making the team look like idiots, and could be a hazing violation.



Unfortunately, the video was taken off of YouTube just minutes after I saw it. But, here is a link to it from Barstool Sports - Boston.

WARNING: BARSTOOL SPORTS CONTAINS FOUL LANGUAGE AND SOME INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT, SO CHILDREN ARE NOT ADVISED TO VIEW THE SITE!!!!

Union advances to ECAC Final Four for first time in program history

Finally! Finally! Finally! Union is finally going to Albany for the ECAC Final Four for the first time in program history! The Dutchmen will face St. Lawrence next Friday at the Times Union Center.

The great thing about tonight's victory was that it was a complete team effort. The forwards fore-checked hard, the defense stepped up to the Quinnipiac forwards, beat them badly along the boards and in front of the net, and Corey Milan made all the stops he needed to. It was also great to see the freshman step up for the team as Wayne Simpson and Jeremy Welsh scored both of Union's goals tonight.

It was such an emotional battle between both teams. Bobcat goaltender Dan Clarke was throwing punches, Jason Walters and Eric Lampe were getting at each other for the fourth game in a row, and both teams worked extremely hard. I give the Bobcats a lot of credit for playing the way they did. They worked extremely hard, but just couldn't get past the tough Union defense. I also think the home-ice advantage was HUGE difference in the game. The student section was loud the entire game and the team really fed off of it, which was seen at the end of the game when Milan and the rest of the team jumped into the glass at Section Q.... I honestly thought the glass was going to shatter.

The emotions at the end of the game were incredible to see. Will Friedman and the rest of the student section were jumping up and down and hugging each other while popcorn was thrown into the air and the players could not wipe the smiles off their faces. Union Athletic Director Jim McLaughlin also looked extremely happy, and I even caught the Daily Gazette's Ken Schott with tears in his eyes.

For more on the game check out USCHO.com, Union Athletics.com, Ken Schott's Blog, and Times Union.com.

I was shocked to hear that Brown beat Yale 1-0, which makes all the difference in the world for the Dutchmen. I was even more shocked to see that the only goal was shorthanded and came midway through the first period. Cornell is an incredible team and Union won't have to see them until the ECAC finals. Brown deserves a ton of praise after beating a very good RPI team and then beating the top seed and defending champs on the road in back-to-back weekends. Bears goaltender Mike Clemente has now pulled off three upsets in the past two years. Their hard hitting defensive style has really worked for them. If I were Yale's Sean Backman I would be apologizing to my team for letting them down.

Let's just hope enough students stick around next weekend to see if their team can make more history. Also, good luck to the players and their fans on their upcoming finals.

Message From Coach Leaman

All Union College Students were sent this message from Coach Leaman this morning:

Dear Union College Students,

The Game 2 win last night at Messa Rink was a crucial one for our team and I want to thank everyone who has helped to fill our student section and supported us through these past two games and over the course of the entire season.

The cheering, chanting and the packed section of students wearing Union College gear have created a home ice advantage for our team. As I told reporters after the game last night, I think our fans have done a terrific job picking us up in the this series. It was by far the best job of our fans at Union. We have to use that energy that our building creates to our advantage and make sure that we're coming out with our A-game.

We ask for your support again tonight, as we face Quinnipiac at 7pm for the third and deciding game of this quarterfinal series. Instead of just letting the first 200 students in for free, we will be letting in ALL students arriving before the puck drops at 7PM. If we win tonight, we will advance to the ECAC Championship at the Times Union Center in Albany next weekend for the first time in school history. This would be a huge advance for our program, and we will need all of your support to make this historic step.

Once again thank you for your support and we hope to see you at Messa Rink tonight.

Go U!

-Nate Leaman
Union Men's Hockey Head Coach

All students should show up to the game. Everyone has finals, but being a part of something special and creating school spirit is important as well. This is the biggest game in the history of Union College Division I Men's Ice Hockey to date. If the team wins tonight and manages to make a run to the national tournament, not only would it be great for the players but it would be great for the school. Success in sports can help get a school's name out into the public, which could lead to greater popularity and recognition (ex. Doug Flutie and Boston College Football... might be a stretch but you know what I'm getting at). I have two massive research papers due in the next two days and I will be there even if I'm not writing tonight.

Also, if you're a senior you better show up. No matter what this will be the last game at Messa Rink for the Class of 2010. These guys are arguably the greatest class in the history of the program. Mario Valery-Trabucco and Jason Walters are possibly the most dynamic forwards Messa Rink has ever seen, while Mike Schreiber is one of the best two-way defenseman in Union history. This might as well be the biggest night of their lives as their whole Union career comes down to tonight. They were brought here to bring Union College Hockey to the next step, and that next step is going to the ECAC Final Four. Tonight's game will be a battle of the seniors as the best players for each team are seniors, and they don't want their season to end tonight. A lot of you seniors have just finished your thesis projects, so you probably have nothing else that important to do. So, come to Messa Rink and support your classmates!

Union lives to see tomorrow

Thanks to two goals by Adam Presizniuk and 27 saves by Corey Milan, the Dutchmen topped Quinnipiac 3-1. Luke Cain scored Union's second goal which was the eventual game-winner.

It was a very solid game all across the board. Union was able to get some good offensive pressure and played good team defense. Also, Milan made the stops he needed to make while the Union defense didn't allow many great scoring opportunities.

Due to last night's epic affair John Simpson, Kyle Bodie, and Stephane Boileau were not dressed in favor of Justin Pallos (who assisted on the game-winning goal), Brian Yanovitch, and Jason Shaffer. Yanovitch looked especially good tonight. I wonder if Leaman will stick with this winning formula tomorrow.

I got to watch the game from Section Q for the first time in a long, long time. It was a lot of fun and the students were very loud and in to it.

Tomorrow night is win or go home, so it should be a very emotional and exciting game. This is the last game at Messa Rink for the seniors so expect them to step up in a big way. Also, if the Dutchmen win they will head to the ECAC Final Four for the first time in program history. This year is the last time the final four will be held in Albany.

For more on the game check out Union Athletics.com, USCHO.com, Times Union.com (Mark McGuire), Ken Schott's Blog, and Troy Record.com.

Also, Cornell topped Harvard and St. Lawrence beat Colgate to clinch a berth to the ECAC Final Four, while Yale bounced back and scored six goals against Brown to force Game 3 tomorrow.

Longest Game in NCAA History

Honestly, that was a lot of fun but very disappointing. Almost everyone knows what happened already so I'll just highlight some interesting points from my night:

• I got to the rink around 5:30pm and left around 2:00am


• The student section, lead by Will Friedman, was full and loud for the entire game


• Stephane Boileau left the game due to an injury. It looks like it could be an upper leg problem or a groin or hip problem. After talking to Coach Leaman it doesn't seem like he will be playing in Game 2 at least.


• I got to meet Mario Valery-Trabucco's father last night... what a nice guy!


• Thanks to Union's Assistant Athletic Director/Sport Information Guy Eric McDowell who brought the media staff Burger King Whopper's around 2:00am.


• Also, thanks to the Times Union's Mark McGuire who drove me back to my dorm after 2am... walking in Schenectady with your computer by yourself at night is not the smartest thing to do.


• I talked to a member of the Union Dining Staff this morning who served lunch to the players today and he said that the boys looked exhausted. But, he has the utmost confidence that they will win tonight.

For more on the game check out my article on USCHO.com, Union Athletics.com, and Ken Schott's Blog.

It will be interesting to see how tired the players are and to see if there will be any changes to the lineups and who will start in goal for each team.

Seniors key on Senior Night in 7-3 win over QU

No one could have scripted last night's game any better. It had the perfect storyline and the perfect ending. You knew this was going to be a memorable night from the moment when five seniors were announced in the starting lineup to having the senior class honored at the end of the game. There were so many moments in the game that would get the sports fan choked up:

• Senior Jeff Christiansen, who hadn't played a game in about 13 months got to dress and play on the checking line. But, not only did he play he scored a big goal and assisted on another. Christo deserves a lot of credit for sticking with the team for four years, and for working hard throughout his time with the Dutchmen. As soon as he scored Union's third goal I instantly thought of Rudy. What a way for the senior to go out.


• Christo's linemate Jason Shaffer also had a big night as he netted the game-winning goal and also had an assist. Shaffer has been used sparingly this season, so it was nice to see his name get announced in the starting lineup and score his first goal of the season with his mother in attendance, who I assume traveled all the way from Alaska.


• Six out of the seven senior skaters registered at least one point. Captain Mike Wakita was the only one not to tally a point, but he did plenty of things on the ice that you don't see on the scoresheet, including his bone crushing hits. Also, five of them recorded two points.


• While QU's Eric Lampe was making a fool out of himself by trying to fight Jason Walters, 'Super' Mario shoved it in Lampe's face by sniping a goal.


• Senior netminder Rich Sillery got to play the final two minutes of the game in front of his family. Sillery is in the same boat as Christiansen as he has not played much throughout his career. It was awesome how the fans reacted when he was put into the game. It must have been a special moment for him to have his name chanted and everything. But, next time Pudge remember to have a chin strap on your helmet haha.


• Senior Jon Lareau picked up two assists on the night. He along with the combination of Christo and Shaffer was probably the best Union line of the night.


• The post-game ceremonies were very nice. The funniest part was when Mike Schreiber sprinted towards his mother who was jumping up and down on the carpet laid down on the ice. It was also great that Schreiber and Wakita thanked basically everyone that has to do with Union Hockey. The ceremony was all wrapped up when Union Hockey's #1 fan Will Friedman (aka Union Hockey Maniac for those of you on the USCHO.com forums), who is also a senior, started a "Let's Go Seniors" chant. I personally feel Will should have been honored in some way as he has been the most dedicated Dutchmen fan by far throughout his four years. He has traveled to almost every rink in the ECAC and has helped promote the home games and sell the 7th Player t-shirts. When I ran into Will at the end of the game I asked him why he wasn't at his fraternity's formal. He responded by saying something like, "some things are just more important" (or something like that).


• By far the cutest moment of the night was while the seniors were taking a group photo together, Mario left the picture and went into the penalty box/ scorers box. I have no idea how he knew this, but a little girl was waiting for him there with a hand drawn picture of him. Mario gladly signed the picture along with other autographs and took pictures with some young fans. This will be a moment this little girl will never forget. I know this because I still have autographs and pictures in my room from my days watching Army Hockey as a young kid. I also still wear the number (#15 ironically) of my first favorite Army Hockey player, Ian Winer.

Well, I'm done with the cute stuff and on to some meaner stuff because I thoroughly dislike the Quinnipiac Bobcats. I have always held a grudge against them since my freshman year because my girlfriend goes there. But, after watching the Bobcats for the past three seasons I have come to hate their brand of hockey. I hate them even more after Eric Lampe's actions last night. Seriously, what a moron. Once Lampe challenged the Union bench I just wanted to see Wakita jump off the bench and knock him out cold. I feel that the Bobcats are a gutless, self-centered team. It seems that all they want to do out there is dangle and make the big hit. Basically, it seems that they're just having a tryout for the minors. I don't understand how a team with seniors as talented as Brandon Wong, Greg Holt, Mike Atkinson, Lampe, and Jean-Marc Beaudoin can just settle for mediocrity. The Bobcats should have a Top 5 offense with this group. It wouldn't surprise me to see this team drop out of the Top 8 in the ECAC next weekend and get swept in the first round of the playoffs.

Now back to some hockey stuff. With last night's win the Dutchmen can't finish any worse than third in the ECAC. They are now tied with Cornell for second place after their surprising loss to Dartmouth last night, which makes Friday's game that more important. The Dutchmen still only trail Yale by two points for top spot in the ECAC as well. As everyone predicted, next weekends games will be the most important of the season. Also, look out for some more records to be broken next weekend.

Also, the Union Club Hockey team had their own Senior Night on Saturday afternoon at Messa Rink at 2pm. The Club Dutchmen beat rival RPI 3-2 to close out their season. Seniors Anthony Savaglio (captain) and Greg Karamian (club president) assisted on senior Alex Kenyon's game-winning goal with about eight minutes remaining in regulation.

For more on Senior Night check out Union Athletics.com, Daily Gazette.com, Times Union.com, USCHO.com, Ken Schott's Blog, and Ken Schott's video.

Well, that's all from me. I can't wait to be back at Messa Rink in three weekends for the playoffs!

Players to watch this weekend

Union:

• Mario Valery-Trabucco: he currently has 38 points on the season, which is tied for most in a single season in program history. Linemate Adam Presizniuk set the record last season. He leads the team with 17 goals and is tied with Prez in assists with 21. He also leads the team with 1.31 points per game. Mario has registered at least one point in five of his last six games, has scored a goal in three out the last four games, and has tallied 10 points in the last four games.
  
• Jason Walters: Wally has 35 points on the season and potentially break Prez's record this weekend as well. He has registered a point in his past four games, and seven points in total.


• For more on the Dutchmen go to Union Athletics.com.

Princeton:

• Dan Bartlett: leads team in goals (16) and points (25). Bartlett has registered a point in 10 out of his last 12 games where he has tallied 10 goals and 5 assists.


• Mike Kramer: is second on the team with 11 goals and 21 points. He got his four game goal streak snapped last Saturday against St. Lawrence.


• Mark Magnowski: leads the team with 13 assists. Magnowski has tallied an assist in seven of his last eight games.


• Princeton is second to last in the ECAC with 2.69 goals per game.


• For more on the Tigers check out Go Princeton Tigers.com

Quinnipiac:

• Brandon 'All Night' Wong: leads the Bobcats with 15 goals and 30 points. When on top of his game he is one of the most lethal players in the ECAC. Wong is the go-to guy on the power-play as he has scored 11 goals on the power-play. But, lately he hasn't been so stellar. In his last 13 games he has tallied only six points where he has only scored three goals, only one of which came against an ECAC opponent.


• Eric Lampe: the same can be said about Lampe as he is second on the team with 28 points and leads the team with 17 assists, but has not been great lately. In his last eight games he as only put up one goal and one assist.
  
• The Bobcats recently snapped their 12 game winless streak as they won back-to-back games by shutting out their opponent. In goal has been sophomore Dan Clarke, who is third in the ECAC with a 2.47 goals against average, and is tied for third with a .913 save percentage.
  
• For more on QU check out Quinnipiac Bobcats.com.

Cain's first goal of the season lifts Union over Quinnipiac in overtime and into first place

THE UNION COLLEGE DUTCHMEN ARE IN FIRST PLACE IN THE ECAC!

Luke Cain's wrap-around in overtime was the difference. Also in the game Corey Milan made 23 saves and Jason Walters tallied his 100th career point when he assisted on Mario Valery-Trabucco's goal. You can read the game summary on Union Athletics .com , Quinnipiac Bobcats.com, USCHO.com, Times Union.com, and on Ken Schott's Blog and post-game video.

Well as I posted earlier this week I would have been happy with two points from this weekend and anything more would be icing on the cake... well we have that icing on the cake and it tastes wonderful! After winning games at Princeton and Quinnipiac this weekend the Dutchmen now sit on top of the ECAC standings by themselves. All Dutchmen fans should be extremely excited and show their support of the team next week when RPI comes to town on Saturday. I expect the student section to be packed.

Even though this is a great feeling and accomplishment, we should all put this into perspective considering the Dutchmen haven't even played half of the league schedule yet (13 more games). They also have to travel to Cornell, Colgate, and Yale along with playing Quinnipiac one more time. Also, they have yet to play Harvard and Dartmouth. The team and their fans should celebrate this week but once Saturday comes around it should be back to business. We should not be too cocky and from what Coach Nate Leaman has been saying they are not taking the standings too seriously and are just taking it one game at a time.

Even though the Dutchmen should not pay too much attention to the ECAC standings or the National Rankings (which come out tomorrow) they should still keep and eye on the PairWise Rankings. Your positioning in the PairWise Rankings is a major indicator if you are able to obtain an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Currently Union is sitting at #13 and if they stay around there they have a realistic shot of making the tournament. 16 teams make the tournament and if you win your conference tournament you receive and automatic bid. For an explanation of how the PairWise Rankings work click here.

Congratulations to Jason Walters on his 100th career point as a Dutchmen. He has been on fire of late and if he keeps up the pace he could break the all-time Union Division I scoring record (Jordan Webb '05, 114). Also congrats to Luke Cain on his goal last night. It's been a long road for Cain since he had his devastating and pretty gruesome injury (from what I remember) two seasons ago. It's nice to see him still working hard and making the most of his opportunities since he doesn't play every game.

It was also great to see Corey Milan have another strong outing. He is definitely making a case for getting more playing time in between the pipes. It is funny how everyone has been raving about Keith Kinkaid lately even though Milan has better statistics in almost every category while playing more minutes. In 630 minutes Kinkaid has posted a 6-2-2 record with a 2.76 GAA and a .904 save percentage, while Milan as posted a 6-2-3 record with a 2.07 GAA(seventh in the nation) and a .916 save percentage in 665 minutes.

It will be exciting to see where the Dutchmen end up in the National Rankings tomorrow. I predict that they will move up in the rankings and crack the top-15 at #15 and that Quinnipiac will drop out of the top-15 and land at #16. If they keep up their play against RPI next weekend and for the rest of the season it would definitely not be out of the question to say that the Dutchmen have a good shot of making the ECAC Final Four or winning it for that matter.

Union sets up battle for first place with win over Princeton

With two goals from each Andrew Buote and Kelly Zajac the Dutchmen were able to beat the Tigers 7-3. Jason Walters also stayed hot with another goal and Mario Valery-Trabucco also kept up his scoring touch with a power-play goal. Keith Kinkaid made 37 saves in the victory as well, and will sit tonight against Quinnipiac in favor of junior Corey Milan. The Dutchmen are just one point behind the Bobcats heading into tonight's matchup, so if the Dutchmen win tonight they will take over first place in the ECAC standings. Tonight should be a fun game as Union and Quinnipiac both have prolific offenses which are both top-10 in the nation along with top-10 power-play units. The difference in the game will be goaltending and penalty killing. Union's Corey Milan has played well of late and it will be interesting to see if he keeps it up. If he does have a big game it will give him a strong case to start playing more consistently. The team has been getting some attention on campus (many students were talking about last night's win throughout the night), and by moving into first place tonight they should get a big reception in their home game against RPI next weekend.

You can read some literature about last night's game on Union Athletics.com, Go Princeton Tigers.com, USCHO.com, Times Union.com, and on Ken Schott's Blog. You can also see video interviews courtesy of Ken Schott.