Apologies for the presentation this week, but the real world has been clutching and grabbing. I thought we were cracking down on this stuff? Here’s some of the best of the web to get you prepared for the upcoming weekend in ECAC Hockey and a few original thoughts.
• Cornell and Yale meet Saturday in Ithaca in the biggest game of the weekend. That was previewed in this week’s INCH Friday Four-cast as well as the New Haven Register and Ithaca Journal. The New Haven Register article also includes some notes on Quinnipiac.
• The Boston Globe continues to explore the issue of a declining number of college players produced by the Commonwealth.
• In New York’s Capital District, the Albany Times Union featured Mario Valery-Trabucco who was this week’s INCH National Player of the Week. The Troy Record previewed RPI’s weekend.
• From the North Country and the Watertown Daily Times – Clarkson’s Matt Beca is a bright spot in a dismal season for the Golden Knights and St. Lawrence could have Kyle Flanagan back in the lineup.
• Around the Ivies, The Daily Princetonian helped inspire this Web site and has a preview of the Tigers’ trip Clarkson and St. Lawrence; The Crimson discusses the slumping Harvard team; and The Dartmouth has a combined preview for the Big Green men’s and women’s teams.
THOUGHTS FOR THE ROAD
• On a weekend in which many of the western-based teams that regularly play on regional sports networks (Minnesota, Denver, North Dakota) were not televised, ECAC Hockey had a chance for some national exposure when Union and Clarkson aired on NHL Network and both Quinnipiac games were shown on CBS College Sports. Friday’s game at Union, an 11-2 Dutchmen win, may have retained some interested eyeballs based on the magnitude of the blowout and curiosity as to how many goals the Dutchmen would eventually score. A pair of less-than-thrilling tussles in Quinnipiac didn’t provide a lot of attractive hockey, but Cornell goalie Ben Scrivens probably gave himself a boost in Hobey Baker consideration with his shutout of the Bobcats with a lackluster Cornell squad playing in front of him that evening. Of course, Scrivens was yanked the following night in a loss at Princeton. Also, far too many blue seats were visible in Quinnipiac’s barn. Friday’s game was announced as a sellout, with Saturday’s tilt announced around 600 people short of capacity.
• Keep an eye on Colgate over the remaining three weeks of the season. The Raiders have one game each against Yale, Cornell and Union and can play an important spoiler’s role down the stretch. Princeton is 4-1-0 in its last five games and appears to me to be the team most likely to pull a first and second round upset once the playoffs begin.
