ECAC Hockey preview/watch list: Who starts out at No. 1?

Only four members of the ECAC were in action during the 2020-21 college season. After an uncertain offseason, the Ivy League, which accounts for half of the conference's teams, decided to opt out. Rensselaer and Union soon followed, leaving one-third of the conference to play out the partial campaign.

When the ECAC Tournament rolled around, Clarkson abruptly ended its season, leaving three teams to vie for the conference crown. In the end, St. Lawrence upset Quinnipiac to claim the conference title but was forced to withdraw from the NCAA Tournament due to COVID-19.

As a result, the Bobcats earned the ECAC bid to the national tournament but were quickly ousted by Minnesota State (CCHA) in the first round.

Now, with the conference set to return in full for 2021-22, New England Hockey Journal previews each of the ECAC's 12 teams ahead of the new campaign, which begins on Saturday, Oct. 2.

Brown

Ten freshmen and three sophomores will see their first action in a Brown uniform this winter after the Ivy League had its entire 2020-21 season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Senior Justin Jallen scored a team-leading nine goals when the Bears last took the ice in 2019-20, while junior Bradley Cocca chipped in with a handful and 10 points in total. Cocca’s classmates Luke Krys (Ridgefield, Conn.) and James Crossman chipped in right away on a defensive unit that receives a boost from the likes of incoming Rivers grad Tony Andreozzi (Winchester, Mass.) and former Belmont Hill standout Brent Bliss (Chelmsford, Mass.). Seniors Luke Kania and Gabriel Vinal return in goal, a position where newcomers also can make an impact. Another local in the rookie class is forward Thomas Manty (Andover, Mass.).

Clarkson

Clarkson, which won 23 games overall and finished second in the ECAC Hockey standings in 2019-20, boasts the league’s most experienced forward group as its top five scorers return from the 11-7-4 team of last year. Former Sacred Heart transfer Zach Tsekos led the way with 18 points during the shortened season, while senior Anthony Callin and junior Anthony Romano scored nine goals apiece. The Golden Knights’ returnees on defense are primarily sophomores and juniors, including Bruins prospect Dustyn McFaul. Ethan Haider returns after receiving the majority of the minutes in goal as a freshman. Forward Luke Santerno (Bentley) and defenseman Lukas Kaelble (Lake Superior State) are graduate transfers, and Ayrton Martino enters the fold following a USHL All-Rookie campaign.

Colgate

Looking to bounce back from posting two consecutive sub-.500 records, Colgate returns all of its top nine scorers and the goaltending tandem of sophomore Carter Gylander and senior Andrew Farrier. Headlining the roster are fifth-year senior captains Paul McAvoy and Josh McKechney, the team’s leading goal scorer with seven. Alex Young matched McKechney’s high mark with 13 points as a freshman. The top three producers on defense also were rookies a year ago in Pierson Brandon, who dished out 10 assists and compiled a plus-10 rating, as well as Nick Anderson and Elliott McDermott. The six-member freshman class includes two New Englanders up front — former Dexter Southfield forward Ben Raymond (Newton, Mass.) and Belmont Hill grad Ryan McGuire (New Canaan, Conn.).

Cornell

Cornell had its eyes on the prize as the nation’s top-ranked team when it last took the ice in March 2020. Though 14 of the 30 rostered players haven’t played a college game, the Big Red returns three of the top seven forwards from that team including Brenden Locke, a winger on graduated ECAC Player of the Year Morgan Barron’s line at season’s end. The return of senior Max Andreev gives Mike Schafer’s club a pair of 20-point men at center. Fellow forward Ben Berard was the top rookie two years ago, while the leading returning defensemen are his classmates Sam Malinski and Travis Mitchell, the latter whose plus-20 rating tied for the team’s best. Westminster grad Ian Shane is one of three goaltenders vying to play for the first time.

Dartmouth

Reid Cashman finally makes his coaching debut at Dartmouth this winter, but the Big Green has seen 70 of its 93 goals go out the door over the last two years between graduations and Drew O’Connor’s signing with Pittsburgh. Junior Tanner Palocsik paced the team’s returners with 24 points as a defenseman and senior Jeffrey Losurdo scored six times back in 2019-20. Forward Sam Hesler (Boxboro, Mass.) and defenseman Harrison Markell (Andover, Mass.) are two locals in the senior class. Goaltender is a position of inexperience as sophomore Justin Ferguson (Hudson, N.H.) has played in just four college games, but sophomore Clay Stevenson was a BCHL first-team All-Star in 2019-20. A 2021 NCDC All-Star, forward Steven Townley (Quechee, Vt.) is one of nine freshmen.

Harvard

There is plenty of buzz in Cambridge as Harvard still has four of its top seven scorers from two years ago including 2019-20 ECAC Rookie of the Year Nick Abruzzese, whose 44 points were the most by a freshman under 18th-year coach Ted Donato (Dedham, Mass.). Now-senior Casey Dornbach and junior John Farinacci also scored double-digit goals. Junior Henry Thrun (Southboro, Mass.) will anchor the defense after a 21-point debut, and Mitchell Gibson returns in net. Making their Crimson debuts will be a pair of reigning USHL champs for the Chicago Steel in sophomore Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.), the USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year whose 101 points were second in league history, and freshman Matthew Coronato, the league’s leader with 48 goals and a first-round pick of Calgary in July.

Princeton

Princeton strives to improve upon a six-win season when it returns to the ice. The team’s top scorer from 2019-20 was a senior (Jackson Cressey), but both Corey Andonovski and Luke Keenan will return up front to complete their careers as Tigers. Keenan was the leading scorer during ECAC play, and fellow forward Spencer Kersten was the top rookie. Seniors Mark Paolini and Matthew Thom will anchor the defense, working in front of senior goalie Jeremie Forget and a St. Sebastian’s product in junior Aidan Porter (Weston, Mass.). The Massachusetts connection is strong with senior Christian O’Neill (Westwood) and junior Liam Gorman (Arlington) returning, three other natives as sophomores, and Nobles grad Jack Cronin (South Hamilton) debuting as a freshman. Defenseman Noah de la Durantaye played at Deerfield.

Quinnipiac

Quinnipiac remains in solid shape after finishing 17-8-4 and making its sixth NCAA tournament appearance in the past eight seasons. The Bobcats will have their top three goal scorers in sophomore Ty Smilanic, seniors Ethan de Jong (who both netted 14 goals) and Desi Burgart, but top assist man and reigning first-team All-American Odeen Tufto graduated with four-year goaltender Keith Petruzzelli (Wilbraham, Mass.). A 15-goal scorer in 2019-20, senior captain Wyatt Bongiovanni is back after netting five in just nine games last year. Graduate transfer Dylan St. Cyr, who emerged as Notre Dame’s starter late last season, will fill the void in net. The defense lost Peter DiLiberatore to the Vegas Golden Knights, though senior Zach Metsa returns after leading that unit with 26 points and Griffin Mendel comes in from Denver. The incoming class includes former Avon Old Farms defenseman Jack Babbage, former Salisbury forward Jacob Quillan and five transfers.

RPI

RPI has room for plenty of fresh faces after six of its top seven scorers were seniors in 2019-20, helping the Engineers claim a fourth-place finish and win 17 games overall. As the lone returnee among that group, senior Ture Linden looks to build upon a 15-point campaign that earned him the team’s Most Improved Player honor. Forward Zach Dubinsky and New York Rangers defense prospect Simon Kjellberg round out the double-digit point scorers returning for another season in Troy, N.Y. Four Hockey East transfers add experience in blueliners Anthony Baxter (UMass Lowell) and Jack Agnew (Boston College), and forwards Jakob Lee (Merrimack) and TJ Walsh (Northeastern/Shrewsbury, Mass.). Goaltender Linden Marshall, who was the primary starter his freshman year, returns as a graduate student.

St. Lawrence

With just one graduating senior skating in every game, St. Lawrence won its first ECAC Hockey championship in 20 years during the last shortened season. Senior Kaden Pickering and junior Cameron Buhl paced last year’s Saints with seven goals and 15 points, respectively. Four freshmen-turned-sophomores were among the top seven producers returning to defend the title, including defenseman Luc Salem. Greg Lapointe and Nicholas Trela both scored four goals, while two locals contributed to the first-year class in forwards Reilly Moran (Hingham, Mass.) and Max Dorrington (North Reading, Mass.). Senior Emil Zetterquist posted a sparkling .926 save percentage, which was tied for third among Eastern netminders.

Union

Union is another team returning to the ice for the first time since 2019-20. Three of the top six scorers and 11 total players from that 8-25-4 campaign were freshmen, including forward Gabriel Seger and then-ECAC All-Rookie defenseman Dylan Anhorn. Chaz Smedsrud, whose six goals were tied for third on the team with Anhorn, rounded out that group. Northeastern transfer Connor Murphy will add experience to the goaltending position, as previous starter Darion Hanson graduated and transferred to UConn. The freshman class of nine — added to last year’s group of seven — includes forward Thomas Richter (Greenwich, Conn.), the son of legendary NHL goalie Mike Richter, a two-time NCDC All-Star for the Boston Junior Bruins in Colin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.), and goalie Joe Sharib (Natick, Mass.).

Yale

More than a year without Ivy League hockey has caused significant roster turnover at Yale, where coach Keith Allain (Worcester, Mass.) will have only two of the top 10 scorers from 2019-20 — senior forward Justin Pearson (Nashua, N.H.) and defenseman Graham Lillibridge — at his disposal. Pearson is the only returning Bulldog with more than two career goals. Forwards Cole Donhauser and Teddy Wooding (Wrentham, Mass.) played in 20-plus games as freshmen. Notre Dame transfer Ryan Carmichael (Greenwich, Conn.) adds needed experience on defense. Six freshmen and eight sophomores have yet to play collegiately, and the same is true for junior Connor Hopkins (Malden, Mass.), the lone veteran goalie on the roster. Former Berkshire forward Briggs Gammill (New Canaan, Conn.) and defensemen Connor Sullivan (Plymouth, Mass.) are local rookies.

NEHJ's preseason rankings:

1. Harvard
2. Clarkson
3. Quinnipiac
4. Cornell
5. St. Lawrence
6. Colgate
7. RPI
8. Dartmouth
9. Union
10. Brown
11. Princeton
12. Yale

This article appeared in the print edition of the September/October 2021 New England Hockey Journal magazine.