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2022-23 ECAC Hockey -- Contenders everywhere

ARM said:
PSU had several fans last year, and Zed' endures. Mercyhurst has always had representation, and Lindsay is now making sure that the Lakers have quality if not quantity. Like most programs, RIT had fans while it was winning. I don't know that I can remember a single post from anyone claiming to be a Lindenwood fan. The problem in this league is that there is almost as much flux from teams as there is among the fans.
I see what you did there. Shout out to TovarishchLisa for singlehandedly keeping us informed re: UVM. UNH used to have a number of regular posters; I understand why their interest has waned. A lot of the other posters in this league did so while they were students or player parents, and then they drifted away from their team. One would think that Northeastern would have some following by now, but maybe 17 posters don't generate enough buzz to attract more.

That's one of the problems that we face as a forum. For example, CrazyDave is still an engaged UM fan, but he seldom posts here. You need to have sufficient critical mass such that people will stop by in the hope of finding information that they won't find elsewhere.

The larger problem is that the sport as a whole has trouble attracting and retaining fans. If they don't care about women's NCAA hockey, they aren't going to post on this site. The pandemic sure didn't help the sport.
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I caution against being unnecessarily mean to teams / fans who haven't won multiple titles as well. I think that has a lot to do with it. The second a team like, say, Syracuse, makes the NCAA tournament, Minnesota fans are all over them and making the forum an unpleasant place for their fans.
 
NMH said:
I sincerely think folks are underestimating Cornell. Time will tell, but on paper that is a very good team. DD has not always been able to translate that on ice, so I'm cautiously optimistic, but I just think they have one of the most intriguing incoming classes.

Someone asked about upsets - I think teams have to watch out for Brown. They pulled out some big wins last year. They're the team most likely to play spoiler IMO.
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Cornell and Clarkson are always very well-coached and seem to frequently overachieve. Always tough to count them out of the top 4. Colgate and Quinnipiac seem like the two best schools but the ECAC is tricky. Sometimes the best team gets the wrong teams at the wrong time and finishes 2nd or 3rd.

Were it not for injuries, Clarkson might be the deepest team in the conference, though others probably have some better scorers.

From the bottom I'd say RPI is the most likely to crash the playoffs. Union might still finish 12th, but they get better year to year.

With the increase in transfers I find it difficult to judge the ivies until they start play.
 
I was so not surprised by the score of the H/Q game (5-2, or rather 2-5) that I forgot to be really surprised by this (via the Crimson game wrap):
  • No team recorded a penalty today, which is the first time that has occurred since at least 2008-09.
I love the “at least.” Also . . . at Harvard? In the ECAC? In the world of organized hockey?
 
ARM said:
The larger problem is that the sport as a whole has trouble attracting and retaining fans. If they don't care about women's NCAA hockey, they aren't going to post on this site. The pandemic sure didn't help the sport.
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This, in a nutshell, says it all. Women's hockey used to be a big draw here in the East for teams like Harvard, Dartmouth and to a lesser extent, Brown when the programs were winning consistently. You could count on seeing up to 1000 people attend a game and up to 2000 if Harvard tangled with Dartmouth. But when each program started to slip, there went the fan interest. You will be lucky to see 300 people at a Harvard game these days.
 
In response to Skate79, it would help if Harvard didn't restrict access to the rink during games and charge for tickets. I was there this weekend for an unrelated event and was with a large group. We wanted to go into the rink to watch the hockey game for a bit, and we were asked to pay regardless of how long or short we planned to stay. I would say there were no more than 100 people in the rink (at most!). If you want to drum up interest and support, let anyone in that wants to watch or even wants to just take a look around.
 
Skate79 said:
This, in a nutshell, says it all. Women's hockey used to be a big draw here in the East for teams like Harvard, Dartmouth and to a lesser extent, Brown when the programs were winning consistently. You could count on seeing up to 1000 people attend a game and up to 2000 if Harvard tangled with Dartmouth. But when each program started to slip, there went the fan interest. You will be lucky to see 300 people at a Harvard game these days.
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Attendance has really declined at RPI as well. I think that there are a couple of other factors at play: 1) the Covid interruption got fans out of the habit of attending games: and 2) the increased quality of video broadcasts means that fans from off campus (e.g. parents and friends of players) are less inclined to travel any distance to watch a game live.
 
tedlasso said:
In response to Skate79, it would help if Harvard didn't restrict access to the rink during games and charge for tickets. I was there this weekend for an unrelated event and was with a large group. We wanted to go into the rink to watch the hockey game for a bit, and we were asked to pay regardless of how long or short we planned to stay. I would say there were no more than 100 people in the rink (at most!). If you want to drum up interest and support, let anyone in that wants to watch or even wants to just take a look around.
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Ted, while I understand your frustration, most schools need to charge for every event, be it hockey or something else. Because Ivy schools don't draw large crowds for any sport they offer to student-athletes, it falls to the endowment to fund any shortfalls. Which in the case of women's hockey, is significant.
 
hab said:
Attendance has really declined at RPI as well. I think that there are a couple of other factors at play: 1) the Covid interruption got fans out of the habit of attending games: and 2) the increased quality of video broadcasts means that fans from off campus (e.g. parents and friends of players) are less inclined to travel any distance to watch a game live.
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No question the pandemic had a major impact on colleges (the Times reported last week that school applications are slipping and have not recovered post-pandemic). And with ESPN+, you can watch practically every game on a team's schedule. Still, there is something about reconnecting with humanity at a sporting event that is special and hopefully in the near future, this will translate into increased attendance. I'm not holding my breath.
 
Before conference play gets underway this weekend I want to go on record as predicting that Cornell will win the ECAC and go to the final four. Already strong, they scooped up an incredible group of freshmen, including 4 from the Canada U18 gold medal team and one from the US silver medal team.
 
hab said:
Before conference play gets underway this weekend I want to go on record as predicting that Cornell will win the ECAC and go to the final four.
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That's a nice pick. The problem with landing on any single team in this year's ECAC to win the title is discounting all of the other teams that then won't win it. I guess there could be a four-way tie at the top or some such. Colgate hasn't done anything wrong thus far. Quinnipiac makes it so hard to generate offense by keeping opponents bottled up. Princeton has possibly the best player in the NCAAs, but the schedule maker didn't do them any favors with a Colgate/Cornell starter and Yale the next weekend.

Should be a fun ride. It's odd how Harvard has hosted the Bobcats already but doesn't entertain Princeton until February. Don't typically see travel partners so unpartnered. I guess Harvard and Dartmouth aren't all that close in proximity for Q.
 
ARM said:
That's a nice pick. The problem with landing on any single team in this year's ECAC to win the title is discounting all of the other teams that then won't win it.
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Yes...it is a "pick". There seems to be broad agreement that there are as many as 6 teams in the ECAC that could contend for the top. I am trying to get some folks to come out and identify a team that they think might pull away from the pack. On paper, at least, it seems like Cornell has that potential.
 
hab said:
Yes...it is a "pick". There seems to be broad agreement that there are as many as 6 teams in the ECAC that could contend for the top. I am trying to get some folks to come out and identify a team that they think might pull away from the pack. On paper, at least, it seems like Cornell has that potential.
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Well I won’t make a pick but I’ll say this.
teams can barely get shots on Colgate it seems. If you can’t get shots how can you score?

I don’t know a ton about how Quinny and Colgate are different - perhaps the smothering D plus more goal scorers plus a reliable goalie to replace Schroeder.

Clarkson has had the benefit of a softer schedule. They are good, but their top ten days may be limited.

Yale should be good but anything is possible. They burst on to the scene last year in an Olympic year. If a regression is likely for anyone maybe it’s them.

Princeton- yes I know they’ll have Fillier. They should be excellent but are the pieces around her as good as her last ncaa days 2 years ago? I honestly don’t know, need to read about these guys. Hard to believe her last ncaa days were March 2020.

Cornell- good for all the reasons you listed.

I’ll go with Colgate, Quinnipiac or Cornell.
 
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Before their first game (at Harvard, Friday) I want to go on record predicting Yale will give everyone fits this season as they try to reprise their stellar trip to the FF last year. Yale. (Remember? In their first-ever appearance they lost to OSU 2-1 in the semis.) They remain loaded, though the big question is how to replace Meloni in goal.
 
The ECAC is loaded, as everyone has already mentioned. Only two ECAC teams, Princeton and Yale, have players on this list:

https://www.ncaa.com/news/icehockey...-way-too-early-patty-kazmaier-award-watchlist

There has been a lot of discussion of Fillier already. But the exact same team, without her, did not perform very well last year. I guess we shall see if she can make an impact by herself, not surrounded by Olympians.

Colgate has looked pretty unbeatable so far, but let's see what happens when they get into the meat of the ECAC schedule. The Friday night game between Princeton and Colgate will be super interesting.
 
ARM said:
That's a nice pick. The problem with landing on any single team in this year's ECAC to win the title is discounting all of the other teams that then won't win it. I guess there could be a four-way tie at the top or some such. Colgate hasn't done anything wrong thus far. Quinnipiac makes it so hard to generate offense by keeping opponents bottled up. Princeton has possibly the best player in the NCAAs, but the schedule maker didn't do them any favors with a Colgate/Cornell starter and Yale the next weekend.

Should be a fun ride. It's odd how Harvard has hosted the Bobcats already but doesn't entertain Princeton until February. Don't typically see travel partners so unpartnered. I guess Harvard and Dartmouth aren't all that close in proximity for Q.
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It has to do with the Women's Beanpot which falls on a Tuesday. Harvard splits up one or two pairs of weekend games to ensure they don't have to play five games in seven days.
 
hab said:
Before conference play gets underway this weekend I want to go on record as predicting that Cornell will win the ECAC and go to the final four. Already strong, they scooped up an incredible group of freshmen, including 4 from the Canada U18 gold medal team and one from the US silver medal team.
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I've been sayin'!!!!
 
Better watch out for the USVI women's hockey team at the next Olympics? They will come out of nowhere like the Jamaican men's bobsled team?
 
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