Picks and Prognostications

1 Harvard—The loss of Dominic Moore and Brett Nowak hurts, but Harvard returns more talent than any other team in the league and most of the players have been playing (and winning) together for two straight years. In order for Harvard to actually meet its stated goal of NCAA Tournament wins, the team will have to replace the offensive spark that Moore and Nowak provided from the center position.

2 Cornell—Based on what the team lost last year—arguably the best goalie, defenseman and forward in the league—Cornell should probably be picked lower. But the Big Red’s success is based on an effective offensive and defensive system, not just players, making Cornell the most likely contender to upset the Crimson from atop the ECAC standings.

3 Dartmouth—At first glance, perhaps the best offense in the league. Coach Bob Gaudet returns all-league forwards Hugh Jessiman and Lee Stempniak to anchor an explosive offense. The big question for the Big Green is how it will play in its own end.

4 Brown—The Bears are capable of beating any team in college hockey on any given night, all on account of Yann Danis, the man between the pipes. The team’s trapping style wears on opponents, but its lack of firepower along the forward lines keeps Brown from joining the Big Three (Colors) at the top of this year’s standings.

5 Yale—The loss of Chris Higgins, the co-MVP of the ECAC a year ago, hurts. Tim Taylor ’63, a Harvard alum, still has enough guns on his forward lines to cover for a lackluster defense, but will ultimately falter against the better teams in the postseason.

6 Vermont—Harvard alum, and former Union coach, Kevin Sneddon ’92 takes over for Mike Gilligan. He inherits some up and coming players, including offensive spark

plug Jeff Miles and defenseman Jaime Sifers. Sneddon’s system already seems to be paying dividends; after two tough losses to BC and UNH, the Catamounts tied nationally-ranked BU.

7 Clarkson—The Mark Morris Coach-Hitting-Player roller coaster is gone as is all-league defenseman Randy Jones. George Roll, in his first year at the helm, will have the Knights pointed in the right direction, but he doesn’t yet have the talent to contend with the class of the Ivy League.

8 St. Lawrence—After a very off year, Joe Marsh’s squad looks to start the climb back to the top of the ECAC. The team will play well—the Saints boast one of college hockey’s hardest schedules to tune up for the ECAC’s conference schedule—and Marsh always has them playing hard. But the talent isn’t yet there for a high league finish.

9 Union—Former Harvard assistant coach Nate Leaman takes the reins in his first head coaching job, and started the year undefeated. He inherits a team that went 10-10-2 last year, and the Flying Dutchmen likely exceed that mark with Leaman’s X-and-O skills.

10 Colgate—Coach Don Vaughan is out, temporarily, and Stan Moore is in at head coach, which should help things. It’s a little known fact that the Colgate players have the cleanest fake teeth in all of college hockey.

11 Rensselaer—Also known as RPI, which might well be an anagram of the Engineers chances on the ice this season (Rest in Peace, little Engineers, Rest in Peace). Coach Dan Fridgen has a lot of rebuilding before RPI is in position to challenge any Ivy League school but Princeton.

12 Princeton—The campus at Princeton is supposedly beautiful. At least the Princeton undergrads have some nice scenery to appreciate because they sure as hell don’t have a good hockey team to take their minds off the fact that they committed to living in New Jersey for four years of their lives.