The first half the ECAC Hockey season concludes on Friday when Dartmouth travels to take on Hockey East’s Merrimack.
While the results on the ice haven’t been there for many of the league’s teams – eight schools enter the break with an overall record of .500 of worse – the fact all 12 conference members have returned to action has to be considered a win in itself.
The number of teams struggling to produce consistently in the early going shouldn’t be surprising, given that only four teams played last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and most teams that didn’t play opened this year with a lot of roster turnover. No matter how good a school’s coaching staff, it’s going to take some time to get adjusted to so many new players and find the right role for everyone.
Dartmouth is one of those teams, but the Big Green have had the added challenge of a new coaching staff implementing their style and systems with an unfamiliar roster. Dartmouth (2-8) has been competitive in many of its games, but the results haven’t been there throughout the first half.
“We are still learning to compete for a full 60 minutes and we are still learning the importance of details,” Dartmouth coach Reid Cashman said.
The Big Green have gotten strong individual performances from junior Mark Gallant, who leads the team with a career-high six goals and freshman goalie Clay Stevenson, who was injured for much of the first half, but has a .918 save percentage in five games.
“We have 28 tremendous young guys that have bought into what we’re trying to do as a program,” Cashman said. “So we see growth every day, but we also see great teaching moments every day. We need to get the program to a point where we have the growth without the teaching moments.”
It remains to be seen if Dartmouth can cut back on its teachable moments in the second half, but if Stevenson stays healthy, the Big Green have a solid foundation to build upon.
Here are some other thoughts from around the league as the first half concludes:
How far can the top teams go?
Through the first several months of the season, Quinnipiac and Cornell have not only been the top two teams in ECAC Hockey, but two of the top teams in the country; each teams ended the first half with only one loss.
Quinnipiac is getting it done through a veteran roster bolstered by graduate transfers, while Cornell has a lot of new faces, but hasn’t missed a beat from two years ago, when the Big Red ended the season as the top ranked team in the DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Poll.
The overall weak play of many of the league’s teams has hurt the Big Red, as Cornell is 19th in the PairWise despite its 9-1-1 record.
The Bobcats and Big Red haven’t faced each other yet; they’ll play the first time this season Jan. 22 at Lynah Rink.
Will Colgate be able to put it all together?
Colgate ended the first half with an 8-10-2 record, but it feels like the Raiders should be better than that.
Colgate’s offense has been markedly improved from past seasons, but the team has had some injuries and struggled with untimely turnovers, which has led to some inconsistent results. Sophomore Carter Gylander has been solid in goal, so the Raiders could be poised for a strong second half if they can stay healthy and protect the puck better.
How far will the Saints go?
St. Lawrence’s overall record this season (4-7-4) is almost identical to its record last season (4-8-2) when it beat Colgate and Quinnipiac in the playoffs to capture the program’s first ECAC title in 20 years. That feat was going to be harder to repeat with a full league season, but with most of their roster returning from last season, the Saints seemed poised to at least improve on last year’s record.
St. Lawrence’s scoring output is down a bit from last season, but the biggest drop-off has been in goal. Senior Emil Zetterquist had a .928 save percentage last year, but that’s dropped to .895 this season. However, made 37 saves in the Saints’ final game of the first half, a 4-3 win against Colgate. If Zetterquist can regain last year’s form, the Saints should be better in the second half.
Back to Lake Placid
While it wasn’t unexpected, it’s still nice to see the league championship stay in Lake Placid. Last week, ECAC Hockey officially announced that it had signed a three-year agreement with the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority to keep the tournament in Lake Placid through 2024. This year’s championship will be held March 18-19, 2022.
