Re: Colgate Univ offseason speculations
Despite losing some key players, Union and RPI are picked high in the ECAC Hockey preseason polls.
The Dutchmen, who need to replace top-scoring forwards Mario Valery-Trabucco and Jason Walters and defenseman Mike Schreiber were picked to finish third in the coaches and media poll, it was announced Tuesday at Atlantic City's famed Boardwalk Hall and Convention Center. The Dutchmen, who reached the ECACH tournament championship game last season for the first time in their Division I history, received 86 points in the coaches poll, and earned 276 points in the media poll. Union received one first-place vote in the media poll.
It is their highest finish ever in both polls.
While Union lost Valery-Trabucco, Walters and Schreiber to graduation, RPI was hit hard by two key departures last month. ECACH Rookie of the Year Jerry D'Amigo signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, while Brandon Pirri agreed to a contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. Both players had three years of college eligibility.
Still, the coaches and media have plenty of faith in the Engineers, who have the league's Player of the Year, forward Chase Polacek, returning for his senior year. RPI finished fourth in the coaches poll with 79 points, and fifth in the media poll with 211 points.
Two-time defending ECACH regular-season champion Yale is the overwhelming favorite to make it three straight. The Bulldogs earned 11 first-place votes in the coaches poll and got 121 points. In the media poll, Yale got 25 first-place votes and 354 points.
The coaches and media agreed on Cornell (second), Dartmouth (sixth), Quinnipiac (eighth), Brown (11th) and Clarkson (12th). They disagreed on Colgate (fifth in the coaches, fourth in the media), Harvard (seventh in the coaches, 10th in the media), St. Lawrence (ninth in the coaches, seventh in the media) and Princeton (10th in the coaches, ninth in the media).
Polacek was picked in the coaches and media preseason all-conference team. Union's Keith Kinkaid was the media's choice for goalie, while the coaches went with RPI's Allen York.
Yale's Brock Little and Colgate's Austin Smith are the other forwards on both teams. The coaches and media agreed on defenseman Evan Stephens of Dartmouth. The coaches chose St. Lawrence's George Hughes as their other defenseman, while the media went with Cornell's Nick D'Agostino.
Polls
First-place votes in parentheses
Coaches
1. Yale (11) 121
2. Cornell (1) 92
3. Union 86
4. RPI 79
5. Colgate 69
6. Dartmouth 67
7. Harvard 62
8. Quinnipiac 54
9. St. Lawrence 52
10. Princeton 43
11. Brown 34
12. Clarkson 33
Media
1. Yale (25) 354
2. Cornell (2) 288
3. Union (1) 276
4. Colgate (2) 263
5. RPI 211
6. Dartmouth 188
7. St. Lawrence 172
8. Quinnipiac 142
9. Princeton 135
10. Harvard 120
11. Brown 118
12. Clarkson 82