The new ECAC Hockey men's season is upon us, with the league celebrating its first national title in nine years following Quinnipiac’s 3-2 overtime victory over Minnesota in April.
The last time ECAC Hockey celebrated back-to-back men’s national titles was a decade ago, in 2013 (Yale) and 2014 (Union).
This year, there are strong teams in the conference outside of the reigning national champs.
Here are five storylines to watch, along with our rankings of how the conference lines up.
Can Quinnipiac repeat as national champs?
The third trip to the national title game was the charm for the Bobcats. It was a long time coming for head coach Rand Pecknold (Bedford, N.H.), now in his 30th season, and with 615 wins in all.
The big question now is goaltending, after starter Yaniv Perets signed with the Carolina Hurricanes. He led all NCAA Division 1 netminders with a 34-4-3 record and a 1.49 goals-against average in 41 games and tied for the national lead with 10 shutouts. Vinny Duplessis, who spent the past three years at Boston University, is on board after going 15-6-0 with four shutouts through 25 career outings.
Top scorer Collin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.) returns after registering 21 goals and 38 assists for 59 points, along with second-leading scorer Sam Lipkin (14-29-43). Back on the blue line is graduate student C.J. McGee, who will be joined by transfers Davis Pennington and Cooper Moore (Cos Cobb, Conn.).
Can Cornell duplicate its near-Frozen Four run?
Three years after COVID-19 canceled what had been a superlative season for then-No. 1 Cornell, the Big Red finished third in the league last season. It then came within a win of the NCAA Frozen Four, ousting defending champion Denver before falling to BU.
Cornell will need to replace 10 seniors from last year’s surprising squad, but isn’t without reinforcements. Backstopping the Big Red again will be junior goaltender Ian Shane (20-10-1, 1.72 GAA, five shutouts). Gabriel Seger also is back after pacing Cornell with 30 points last year. The team brings in nearly a half-dozen defensemen to supplement returnee Tim Rego (Mansfield, Mass.).
NEW MAGAZINE: Check out our college hockey preview edition
Longtime head coach Mike Schafer celebrated his 500th career win last season and will again pursue Cornell’s first Whitelaw Cup since 2009-10. The Big Red will renew their Red Hot Hockey rivalry with BU in November at Madison Square Garden.
Harvard hopes to erase the ending to last season
The Crimson's campaign ended ignominiously. After being edged by Colgate in the ECAC Hockey championship game, Harvard was routed by Ohio State in the NCAA tournament. It was a stunning conclusion to a year in which Harvard won 24 games, its best season since it made the 2017 Frozen Four.
The loss also ignited an exodus of NHL draft choices, including five of Harvard's top six scorers in John Farinacci, Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.), Alex Laferriere, Matthew Coronato and Henry Thrun (Southboro, Mass.). That talent also helped key a power play that ranked ninth in the nation at 24 percent. Also gone is three-year starting goaltender Mitchell Gibson, who finished with a career record of 47-25-6 before signing with Washington.
Head coach Ted Donato (Dedham, Mass.) was just two wins short of 300 when last season ended. He'll lean on sophomore forward/Toronto draftee Joe Miller (13-15-28) and classmate/Anaheim selection Ian Moore (Concord, Mass.) who put up 19 points from the Crimson blue line. Net-wise, senior Derek Mullahy (Scituate, Mass.) is the most experienced returnee, having gone 8-1-2 with a 2.36 GAA in 13 career appearances.
Changing of the guard at Colgate
For the first time since 1991-92, Don Vaughan will not be behind the Raiders bench, after leading them to their first ECAC title in 33 seasons. Mike Harder, a Colgate alumnus and former Vaughan assistant, takes over.
Despite a shellacking by Michigan in the NCAAs, Colgate still posted a winning record and was the only school to beat eventual national champion Quinnipiac twice. Carter Gylander returns in goal, after posting a 19-15-5 record last year. Top scorer Alex Young (21-18-39) has taken his talents to Arizona State, while second-leading scorer Matt Verboon (16-19-35) also won't be back. Top-scoring defenseman Nick Anderson (3-26-29) is Colgate's leading returning scorer.
Rankings
Here's how we project the ECAC Hockey contenders at the start of this season.
- Quinnipiac
- Cornell
- Harvard
- Colgate
- St Lawrence
- Clarkson
- Rensselaer
- Princeton
- Union
- Yale
- Brown
- Dartmouth
