It's a new year and many talented players have departed New Haven (and who can blame them?)
Their expectation: home ice. Their dream: another strong season establishes Yale as a serious power for years to come.
GP G A P PIM Pos --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Hamilton, Jr 33 27 20 47 28 C Jeff Brow, Jr 33 13 17 30 24 W Ben Stafford, So 34 9 12 21 6 C
GP Min W L T GAA Sv% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trevor Hanger, Jr 4 196 3 0 0 1.53 .946 Alex Westlund, Sr 32 1917 20 9 3 2.32 .919
Clarkson's last losing season was during the Ford Administration. In the 90's they are 210-85-27. They are the ECAC's perennial best NCAA seed -- and their perennial disappointment.
The Golden Knights were nudged out for honors again last year -- finishing second to Yale in the regular season and then losing in double overtime to Princeton in the Lake Placid final. Defeated by Colorado College in the NCAA First Round, the Golden Knights went home yet again with a sparkling record (23-9-3 NCAA, 16-4-2 ECAC), and nothing to show for it.
So, back they come again. Another year, and more reloading. Ho hum. The goaltending is untested but it isn't pessimistic to say that they probably have another blue chipper on the way.
Their expectation: a top three finish, a strong NC record, and another NCAA bid. Their dream: they finally pull it together, win the conference, and get to Anaheim for the NCAA Final Four.
GP G A P PIM Pos --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ben Maidment, Sr 34 11 21 32 16 LW Erik Cole, So 33 11 19 30 51 LW Willie Mitchell, So 33 9 17 26 10 D Matt Reid, Jr 31 16 8 24 26 RW Phil Roy, Jr 32 9 15 24 46 C
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A roller-coaster regular season ended in a bitter three game loss at home to Cornell in the pentafinals. And with Matt Garver defecting from Troy's fetid swamps, RPI loses quite a lot of its offense (the rest graduates this year).
Their expectation: home ice. Their dream: consistency during the season and a win or two at Lake Placid get the Engineers another ticket to the NCAA's.
GP G A P PIM Pos --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alain St. Hilaire, Sr 29 10 28 38 26 F Mark Murphy, Sr 35 8 27 35 63 F Danny Riva, Sr 35 10 18 28 16 F Steve Caley, Jr 34 2 25 27 26 C Brad Tapper, So 34 14 11 25 62 F
GP Min W L T GAA Sv% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anthony Pergolotti, Sr 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 1.000 Joel Laing, Jr 19 1076 9 8 2 2.95 .909 Scott Prekaski, Jr 20 1040 9 5 2 3.17 .904
Or, hey, maybe it is.
Their expectation: a winning season. Their dream: another year of experience pays off with home ice and a trip back to Lake Placid.
GP G A P PIM Pos --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stephane Piche, Sr 33 11 12 23 22 F B.J. Kilbourne, Sr 34 7 13 20 46 F Andreas Moborg, So 34 5 15 20 32 D
GP Min W L T GAA Sv% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Allen, So 27 1473 8 13 4 3.34 .897 Marty Phillips, Sr 7 338 1 4 0 3.73 .870
Now comes this NHL draft season, and two of the Crimson (Moore and Bala) are taken in the second round. Something interesting is happening in Cambridge, and interesting here is not a welcome term.
Their expectation: a winning season. Their dream: the team that looks so pretty on paper lives up to it on the ice, and Harvard gets back to the NCAA show.
GP G A P PIM Pos --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Moore, So 33 10 23 33 46 F Chris Bala, So 33 16 14 30 23 LW Rob Millar, Sr 32 7 19 26 24 F Ben Storey, Sr 33 9 16 25 56 D
GP Min W L T GAA Sv% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- J.R. Prestifilippo, Jr 23 1394 9 12 2 3.44 .886 Oliver Jonas, So 10 598 5 5 0 3.81 .868 Mike Ginal, Sr 1 3 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Their expectation: improvement in the standings and another trip to the ECAC pentafinals. Their dream: steady improvement leads the Fighting Saints back to their winning ways and they make it back to Lake Placid.
GP G A P PIM Pos --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bob Prier, Sr 28 15 12 27 34 W John Poapst, Sr 28 8 13 21 43 D
GP Min W L T GAA Sv% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eric Heffler, Sr 23 1339 8 13 2 2.85 .918 Sean Coakley, So 5 100 1 0 0 5.44 .847 J. Symington, So 7 370 0 6 0 6.71 .828
The question now is if the denizens of Providence can stick around in the home ice hunt, or whether they will slip backwards. If they can, we might be on the verge of something novel in ECAC hockey -- a dash to the top for five of the six Ivy squads.
Their expectation: who knows what to expect?. Their dream: Lake Placid, and a serious chance to make the nationals.
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GP Min W L T GAA Sv% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scott Stirling, Sr 21 1174 9 8 1 2.66 .920
But before that, Princeton's incredible underdog run through Lake Placid was something to behold. As they outlasted Cornell, Yale, and Clarkson to capture their first banner.
Their expectation: a winning season. Their dream: The Tigers parlay last year's miraculous March into a strong regular season and home ice.
GP G A P PIM Pos ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Halpern, Sr 36 28 25 53 46 C Scott Bertoli, Sr 36 9 29 38 82 LW Steve Shirreffs, Sr 36 9 24 33 38 D Benoit Morin, Jr 35 11 13 24 105 LW
GP Min W L T GAA Sv% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nick Rankin, Sr 2 20 0 0 0 2.99 .923 Craig Bradley, Jr 4 151 1 1 0 4.76 .833
GP G A P PIM Pos --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Curtis Wilgosh, Sr 29 6 20 26 54 F Scott Peach, Sr 29 9 12 21 38 F
GP Min W L T GAA Sv% --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Chen, So 1 4 0 0 0 0.00 1.000 Eric Almon, Jr 16 952 7 6 3 2.84 .898 Jason Wong, Jr 14 799 4 7 2 3.00 .884
We preview Our Heroes in detail on this page.
Their expectation: a painful transition in the wake of Elliott's departure. Their dream: the defense holds, the phenom forwards remind everybody of Derraugh-Andison, and the team with the highest upside in the conference resumes their trip towards legitimate (and longstanding) national contention.
GP G A P PIM Pos ------------------------------------------------------------------- Doug Steinstra, Jr 32 13 15 28 56 F Ryan Moynihan, Jr 33 14 12 26 32 F Kyle Knopp, Sr 33 6 20 26 10 F
GP Min W L T GAA Sv% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ian Burt, So 6 307 1 4 0 3.91 .881
This team was actually in contention for the RS title at the halfway point last year. Then three tough games against Cornell (1-1-1) was followed by a horrendous slide down the stretch, and life just doesn't look that much better for this year. What the Red Raiders do is score, score, score. Well, that's what they do when they win. But they are still an eminently beatable team, and that's just what the ECAC learned after January, 98.
Their expectation: last year's second-half freefall projected over an entire season. Their dream: help teleports into net, and the league's most dangerous offense starts putting up some punishing numbers en route to a home ice berth.
GP G A P PIM Pos --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jed Whitchurch, Sr 35 6 29 35 4 C Andy McDonald, Jr 35 13 19 32 26 F Cory Murphy, So 35 8 19 27 38 D Dan Wildfong, Sr 32 6 15 21 46 LW
GP Min W L T GAA Sv% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shep Harder, Jr 15 598 3 4 0 4.21 .872
Their expectation: night in the ruts. Their dream: a schedule featuring 22 games against Cornell.
GP G A P PIM Pos ------------------------------------------------------------------- Brent Ozarowski, Sr 32 8 12 20 36 F
GP Min W L T GAA Sv% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leeor Shtrom, Sr 13 715 1 9 1 3.86 .892