{"id":29672,"date":"2008-02-14T12:33:24","date_gmt":"2008-02-14T18:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2008\/02\/14\/this-week-in-the-ecac-east-and-nescac\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:10","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:10","slug":"this-week-in-the-ecac-east-and-nescac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwproxy.uscho.com\/2008\/02\/14\/this-week-in-the-ecac-east-and-nescac\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in the ECAC East and NESCAC"},"content":{"rendered":"
OK welcome to the insanity that is the league standings at this time of the year in both the ECAC East and NESCAC. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like your team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s position in the standings? Just hope they have a good weekend and almost anything can happen. <\/p>\n
With just four games left in the regular season, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really getting interesting now and if you weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t scoreboard watching before this week (don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny it) you almost have to now, just to figure out who is where.<\/p>\n
Coming off an impressive 3-0 win at Middlebury last Saturday, Norwich has a six point lead over second place Babson and unless they completely fall apart, they could clinch the top spot in the East this weekend. <\/p>\n
And now the fun begins with second through fourth separated by just three points and second through sixth separated by just five points in the standings. Home ice and playoff seeding are all on the line in these final two weekends. So, in essence, the playoffs have already begun as teams look to grab points and earn the all important tiebreakers with conference rivals.<\/p>\n
Oh, so the ECAC East isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t close enough for you? Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s take a look at the standings on the NESCAC side of the fence where things are just a bit tighter across the board. <\/p>\n
Two points separate first place Middlebury from fourth place Amherst with Bowdoin and Colby sandwiched in the middle. Amazingly, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even tighter in the lower half of the potential playoff bracket as just five points out of a home-ice position we find fifth place Wesleyan holding a one point advantage over eighth place Trinity with Williams and Conn. College smack in the middle trying to improve their position and play their very best hockey leading into March.<\/p>\n
We are coming down the home stretch and with just two weekends of hockey to be played in the regular season. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all on the line for just about everybody — now\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the time to kick it up a notch! <\/p>\n
Last Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 4-0 win over the second place Babson Beavers has Tom Carroll\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s New England College team starting their patented late season run into the playoffs. This year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s squad has all of the ingredients for success into the post-season with a potent offense, stingy defense, solid goaltending and efficient special teams.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are pretty healthy right now,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d stated Carroll. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Or at least we are getting there. This really is the time of year when we want to get on a run and carry a high level of play right into the conference playoffs. We have been playing pretty well and know we will have to play at our best hockey each night out there and really concentrate on the things we can control — our play and the game we are playing in.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Leading the way for the Pilgrims are a couple of seniors who bring big game talent to the rink every night and cause anxiety from opposing coaches with what they can create for themselves and their teammates. <\/p>\n
Brian Pouliot (12 goals, 17 assists, 29 points) and Mike Carmody (8-15-23) are as good a tandem as there is in the conference in leading their respective lines to great production at even strength and even more productivity on the power play.<\/p>\n